Lesson 1: Biological Psychology and Neurotransmission

Biological psychology is the study of the physiological, evolutionary, and developmental mechanisms of behavior and
experience. It studies the links between biological (genetic, neural, hormonal) and psychological processes. It is
approximately synonymous with the term’s biopsychology, psychobiology, physiological psychology, and behavioral
neuroscience.

- The term biological psychology emphasizes that the goal is to relate the biology to issues of psychology.
- The word biology is derived from the Greek words/bios/ meaning /life/ and /logos/ meaning /study/ and
is defined as the science of life and living organisms.

 Neuroscience as a field certainly includes much that is relevant to behavior, but it also includes more detail
about anatomy and chemistry. Much of biological psychology is devoted to studying brain functioning.
 Physiology is the study of the body and its parts and how they function.

Further, biological perspective states that all thoughts, feeling & behavior ultimately have a biological cause.

 Biology is defined as the study of life while psychology examines the human mind and its processes, especially those
affecting behavior
 Biological approach combines psychology and biology to provide physiological explanations from human behavior.
 Biological Approach tries to explain how we think, feel, and behave in terms of physical factors within the body.
- It believes that all behavior is caused by physical processes (genes, brain structure\chemicals and hormones).

Relevant to the study of psychology in three ways

1. The comparative- Used to help search to understand human behavior

2. Physiology (The brain)- how the nervous system and hormones work, how the brain functions, how changes in
structure and/or function can affect behavior.
3. The genetic- Determines what people will inherit from their parents

Biological Explanations of behavior

1. Physiological explanation:
- relates the behavior to an activity of the brain or other organs. It correlates with the mechanics of the body. The
chemical reaction that allows hormones to trigger brain activity and the path by which brain activity controls the
movement of muscles through contractions would fall into this category.

2. Ontogenetic explanation:

- comes from Greek roots meaning “to be” and “origin” (or genesis). Thus, an ontogenetic explanation describes
the development of a structure or a behavior. It traces the influences of genes, nutrition, experiences, and their
interactions in molding behavior.

3. Evolutionary explanation:
- patterns of behavior have evolved through natural selection, in the same way that physical characteristics have
evolved. Because of natural selection, adaptive behaviors, or behaviors that increase reproductive success, are
kept and passed on from one generation to the next examines a structure or a behavior in terms of evolutionary
history.

4. Functional explanation:
- describes why a structure or behavior evolved as it did. Within a small, isolated population, a gene can spread by
accident through a process called genetic drift.
 Genetic Drift - evolutionary mechanism whereby random fluctuation in allele frequencies occurs across generations
by chance.
1. Founder effect – the loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new population is established by a very
small number of individuals from a larger population
2. Bottle neck effect – an extreme example of genetic drift that happens when the size of a population is
severely reduced.

Greek philosophers and physicians linked the mind with the brain

▪ Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.) was a Greek physician, at a time when most people attributed sickness to
superstition and the wrath of the gods, Hippocrates taught that all forms of illness had a natural cause. He
established the first intellectual school devoted to teaching the practice of medicine. For this, he is widely
known as the "father of medicine." Further, he said that emotions, thought, and mental health arise from the
brain (Plato agreed 427-347 B.C.)
▪ B. Galen (circa 130-200 A.D.) A. Greek physician, writer and philosopher who became the most
famous doctor in the Roman Empire and whose theories dominated European medicine for
1,500 years. He thought that fluids of the brain in ventricles were responsible for sensations,
reasoning, judgment, memory, and movement.

 The ventricles of the brain are a communicating network of cavities filled with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
and located within the brain parenchyma. The ventricular system is composed of 2 lateral ventricles, the
third ventricle, the cerebral aqueduct, and the fourth ventricle

Biology, Behavior and Mind

Interdisciplinary Connections

Franz Gall

- Early 1800’s
- Phrenology – studying bumps on the skull, could reveal a person’s mental abilities and character traits
- Gall related that he was exasperated by fellow students who, although less intelligent than himself, received
higher grades because they were better memorizers.
- large and protruding eyeballs.
- People with good verbal memories might have particularly well-developed “organs of verbal memory”
- greater intelligence was associated with larger brains

Figure 1: A wrongheaded theory

Despite initial acceptance of Franz Gall’s speculations, bumps on the skull tell us nothing about the brain’s
underlying functions. Nevertheless, some of his assumptions have held true. Though they are not the functions Gall
proposed, different parts of the brain do control different aspects of behavior, as suggested here (from The Human
Brain Book).

Mark Twain – humorist who used a false name

his popularity made phrenology succeeded in focusing attention on the localization of function— the idea that
various brain regions have particular functions.

By studying the links between biological activity and psychological events, biological psychologists are
announcing discoveries about the interplay of our biology and our behavior and mind at an exhilarating pace. Within
little more than the past century, researchers seeking to understand the biology of the mind have discovered that:

▪ the body is composed of cells.

 ▪ among these are nerve cells that conduct electricity and “talk” to one another by sending chemical messages
across a tiny gap that separates them.
▪ specific brain systems serve specific functions (though not the functions Gall supposed).
▪ we integrate information processed in these different brain systems to construct our experience of sights and
sounds, meanings and memories, pain and passion.
▪ our adaptive brain is wired by our experience.

Neural Communication

RELATED RESEARCH

Science of behavior and mental processes was conducted in 1972. Rosenzweig, Bennett, and Diamond conducted
research with rats that showed that enriched environments contributed to more complex neural connections in the
cortex. This study shows that neural complexity could be influenced by environmental factors, showing how nature and
nurture interact.

Neurons

Our body’s neural information system is complexity built from simplicity.

1) Neuron – a nerve cell; the basic building block\working unit of the nervous system.
- are cells within the nervous system that transmit information to other nerve cells, muscle, or gland cells. Most
neurons have a cell body, an axon, and dendrites.
2) Dendrites – a neuron’s bushy, branching extensions that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell
body. Neurons can have more than one set of dendrites, known as dendritic trees. How many they have generally
depends on their role.
3) Axon – the neuron extension that passes messages through its branches to other neurons or to muscles or glands.
4) Myelin sheath – a fatty tissue layer segmentally encasing the axons of some neurons; enables vastly greater
transmission speed as neural impulses hop from one sausage-like node to the next.
5) Action potential – a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon
6) Cell body – cell’s life support

 Neurons differ, but all are variations on the same theme. Each consists of a cell body and its branching fibers.
Dendrites listen. Axons speak.

Unlike the short dendrites, axons may be very long, projecting several feet through the body. A neuron carrying
orders to a leg muscle, for example, has a cell body and axon roughly on the scale of a basketball attached to a rope 4
miles long. Much as home electrical wire is insulated, some axons are encased in a myelin sheath, a layer of fatty tissue
that insulates them and speeds their impulses. As myelin is laid down up to about age 25, neural efficiency, judgment,
and self-control grow (Fields, 2008).

 If the myelin sheath degenerates, multiple

sclerosis results: Communication to muscles
slows, with eventual loss of muscle control.

Cell Body
 - Also known as a soma, the cell body is the neuron’s core. It carries genetic information, maintains the neuron’s
structure, and provides energy to drive activities.
- contains a nucleus and specialized organelles. It’s enclosed by a membrane which both protects it and allows it
to interact with its immediate surroundings.

Axon

- a long, tail-like structure which joins the cell body at a specialized junction called the axon hillock. Many axons
are insulated with a fatty substance called myelin. Myelin helps axons to conduct an electrical signal. Neurons
generally have one main axon.

Types of Neurons

1. Sensory neurons: the nerve cells that are activated by sensory input from the environment
- The inputs that activate sensory neurons can be physical or chemical, corresponding to all five of
our senses. Thus, a physical input can be things like sound, touch, heat, or light. A chemical input
comes from taste or smell, which neurons then send to the brain
- Most sensory neurons are pseudo unipolar, which means they only have one axon which is split
into two branches.
2. Motor neurons: of the spinal cord are part of the central nervous system (CNS) and connect to
muscles, glands and organs throughout the body. There are in fact two types of motor neurons:
i. Lower motor neurons, those neurons that travel from spinal cord to muscle
ii. Upper motor neurons, those that travel between the brain and spinal cord
 Motor neurons have the most common type of ‘body plan’ for a nerve cell -they are multipolar, each
with one axon and several dendrites.
3. Interneurons: are the ones in between -they connect spinal motor and sensory neurons. As well as
transferring signals between sensory and motor neurons, interneurons can also communicate with
each other, forming circuits of various complexity. They are multipolar, just like motor neurons.

HOW ITS IMPULSES ARE GENERATED

 Neurons transmit messages when stimulated by signals from our senses or when triggered by chemical signals from
neighboring neurons. In response, a neuron fires an impulse, called the action potential—a brief electrical charge
that travels down its axon.

 Like batteries, neurons generate electricity from chemical events. In the neuron’s chemistry - to- electricity process,
ions (electrically charged atoms) are exchanged. The fluid outside an axon’s membrane has mostly positively
charged ions; a resting axon’s fluid interior has mostly negatively charged ions. This positive - outside/negative-
inside state is called the resting potential. Like a tightly guarded facility, the axon’s surface is very selective about
what it allows through its gates. We say the axon’s surface is selectively permeable.
 When a neuron fires, however, the security parameters change: The first section of the axon opens its gates, rather
like sewer covers flipping open, and positively charged sodium ions flood through the cell membrane
 This depolarizes that axon section, causing another axon channel to open, and then another, like a line of falling
dominos, each tripping the next.
 During a resting pause called the refractory period, the neuron pumps the positively charged sodium ions back
outside. Then it can fire again. The mind boggles when imagining this electrochemical process repeating up to 100 or
even 1000 times a second. But this is just the first of many surprises.
 Refractory period – a period of inactivity after a neuron has fired.

 Neuroglia or glial cells

- another category of neural cells that provide the support network of cells surrounding the neurons and blood
vessels of the brain and nervous system. They are thought to outnumber typical neurons 10 to 1.
There are 3 types of neuroglia in the body:

1) Oligodendroglia – cells found in the central nervous system (CNS) that produce myelin, a protective covering of
axons that speeds neural transmissions.
2) Schwann cells – perform the same function as oligodendroglia, but are found in the peripheral nervous system
(PNS). Aside from location, the main difference between Schwann cells and oligodendroglia is that only Schwann
cells can help axons regenerate.
3) Astrocytes – star-shaped and form most of the matrix in which neural cells are embedded and envelop blood
vessels in the brain. They also absorb dead neural cells.

How Neurons Communicate

Scientists once believed that the axon of one cell fused with the dendrites of another in an uninterrupted fabric.
Then British physiologist Sir Charles Sherrington (1857–1952) noticed that neural impulses were taking an unexpectedly
long time to travel a neural pathway. Inferring that there must be a brief interruption in the transmission, Sherrington
called the meeting point between neurons a synapse.

 Synapse – the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving
neuron. The tiny gap at this junction is called the synaptic gap or synaptic cleft.

 Neurotransmitters – chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons. When released by the
sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron,
thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse.

 the axon terminal of one neuron is in fact separated from the receiving neuron by a synaptic gap (or synaptic cleft)
Spanish anatomist Santiago Ramón y Cajal marveled at these near -unions of neurons, calling them “protoplasmic
kisses.”
 “Like elegant ladies air- kissing so as not to muss their makeup, dendrites and axons don’t quite touch,” notes poet
Diane Ackerman.
 Within 1/10,000th of a second, the neurotransmitter molecules cross the synaptic gap and bind to receptor sites on
the receiving neuron—as precisely as a key fits a lock. For an instant, the neurotransmitter unlocks tiny channels at
the receiving site, and ions flow in, exciting or inhibiting the receiving neuron’s readiness to fire.
 reuptake, the sending neuron reabsorbs the excess neurotransmitters.

Figure 5 shows serotonin and dopamine pathways throughout the brain. Point out that the function of the
neurotransmitter depends on which part of the brain it acts upon.

 If the NT is acting in the brainstem, it affects basic functions like breathing and heartbeat.
 If it acts on areas in the midbrain, it affects functions like memory and emotion.
 Finally, if it acts on areas in the cortex, higher functions like memory integration, problem solving, and
perception are affected.

Happy Chemicals

1. Dopamine – (REWARD CHEMICAL) enables motivation learning & pleasure.

- Influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion.
o Deficiency results in procrastination, low self-esteem, lack of motivation, low energy, anxiousness, mood
swings, hopelessness and inability to focus
o To increase happiness levels: mediate, long-term goals, exercise, consume L-tyrosine
o Malfunctions:
 - Oversupply linked to schizophrenia.
- Undersupply linked to tremors and decreased mobility in Parkinson’s disease.
2. Oxytocin – (LOVE HORMONE) gives a feeling of trust motivating the building of sustained relationships
o Deficiency results in loneliness, stress, insomnia, lack of motivation, fatigue anxiousness and disconnect of
relationships.
o To increase happiness levels: physical touch, socializing, massage, music, exercise, acupuncture, cold
shower, meditation
3. Serotonin (MOOD STABILIZER) – calm form of accepting yourself with the people around you
- Affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal.
o Deficiency results in low self-esteem, overly sensitive, anxiety\panic attacks, mood swings, hopelessness,
social phobia, obsession, insomnia.
o To increase happiness levels: exercise, cold showers, sunlight, massage, meditate, walk in nature, swimming,
cycling.
o Undersupply linked to depression.
4. Endorphin (PAIN KILLER) – releases brief euphoria to mask physical pain.
o Deficiency results in anxiety, depression, mood swings, aches, insomnia and impulsive behavior
o To increase happiness levels: release of emotion, being artistic, dark chocolate, spicy foods, exercise,
stretching, massage and meditation

Other neurotransmitters

5. Acetylcholine (ACh) – Enables muscle action, learning, and memory.

o Malfunctions results in: With Alzheimer’s disease, ACh – producing neurons deteriorate.
6. Norepinephrine – Helps control alertness and arousal.
o Undersupply can depress mood.
7. GABA (gamma - aminobutyric acid) – A major inhibitory neurotransmitter; blocks or prevent the chemical message
from being passed along any farther. Good for resting and sleeping
o Undersupply linked to seizures, tremors, and insomnia.
8. Glutamate – A major excitatory neurotransmitter; involved in memory.
o Oversupply can overstimulate the brain, producing migraines or seizures (which is why some people avoid
MSG, monosodium glutamate, in food).

How Neurotransmitters Influence Us

A particular brain pathway may use only one or two neurotransmitters, and particular neurotransmitters may
affect specific behaviors and emotions. But neurotransmitter systems don’t operate in isolation; they interact, and their
effects vary with the receptors they stimulate. Acetylcholine (ACh), which is one of the best- understood
neurotransmitters, plays a role in learning and memory. In addition, it is the messenger at every junction between motor
neurons (which carry information from the brain and spinal cord to the body’s tissues) and skeletal muscles. When ACh
is released to our muscle cell receptors, the muscle contracts. If ACh transmission is blocked, as happens during some
kinds of anesthesia, the muscles cannot contract and we are paralyzed.

HOW DRUGS AND OTHER CHEMICALS ALTER NEUROTRANSMISSION

 Endorphins “morphine within”—natural, opiate-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure.

- when flooded with opiate drugs such as heroin and morphine, the brain may stop producing its own natural
opiates. When the drug is withdrawn, the brain may then be deprived of any form of opiate, causing intense
discomfort.

(Pert & Snyder, 1973).

 - discovery about neurotransmitters when they attached a radioactive tracer to morphine, showing where it was
taken up in an animal’s brain
- The morphine, an opiate drug that elevates mood and eases pain, bound to receptors in areas linked with
mood and pain sensations
- confirmed that the brain does indeed produce its own naturally occurring opiates. Our body releases several
types of neurotransmitter molecules similar to morphine in response to pain and vigorous exercise. These
endorphins (short for endogenous [produced within] morphine) help explain good feelings such as the “runner’s
high,” the painkilling effects of acupuncture, and the indifference to pain in some severely injured people.

Strenuous exercise triggers the release of endorphins. Studies of seasoned runners, for example, show that during
a long, difficult workout the nervous system can dip into its endorphin reserve and not only block pain messages, but
also produce the so-called runner’s high. The endorphin system can be brought into action by neurostimulation therapy.
In this pain-reducing technique, wires are pasted to the skin near an injury, and a slight electric current is delivered
through electrodes. Low-frequency, high-intensity impulses stimulate endorphin release. Olympic athletes have used
this method to ease various aches and pains. In February 2010, champion skier Lindsey Vonn competed in the Olympic
downhill with an extremely painful shin injury. Despite the pain, she won a gold medal.

 Agonist a molecule that, by binding to a receptor site, stimulates a response. similar enough to a neurotransmitter
to bind to its receptor and mimic its effects. Some opiate drugs are agonists and produce a temporary “high” by
amplifying normal sensations of arousal or pleasure.
 Antagonist a molecule that, by binding to a receptor site, inhibits or blocks a response.
- Botulin, a poison that can form in improperly canned food, causes paralysis by blocking ACh release. Curare, a
poison some South American Indians have applied to hunting-dart tips, occupies and blocks ACh receptor sites
on muscles, producing paralysis in animals struck by the darts.

Interdisciplinary Connections

Each of the neurotransmitters featured in Table 1 is chemically similar to a drug or other chemical that affects
behavior, cognition, and emotion. Here are similarities the chart does not point out:

▪ Dopamine is similar to cocaine.

▪ Serotonin is similar to LSD and Ecstasy.

Just as our body produces its own painkillers, so, too, does it produce the chemicals necessary for energy,
euphoria, and even hallucinations. In healthy people, these chemicals are balanced to produce normal experiences.
Taking illegal or non-prescribed drugs disrupts this balance, causing abnormal levels of energy, emotion, and sensory
experience.

In order for drugs to have an effect on the body, there must be an accompanying receptor site on a neuron that
matches the structure of that drug. Therefore, the body produces natural chemical substances that are similar to many
of the drugs that affect the body. When we introduce drugs into our bodies, we are either increasing the amount of
these substances in the body or blocking substances that are supposed to work in a specific way.

But not all substances can pass through the body’s blood–brain barrier, which protects the brain from
pathogens and harmful substances. For example, Parkinson’s patients cannot simply take dopamine to alleviate their
symptoms. They must take a precursor of dopamine called L-dopa that will metabolize into dopamine once it reaches
the brain

Interdisciplinary Connections

Each of the neurotransmitters featured in Table 1 is chemically similar to a drug or other chemical that affects behavior,
cognition, and emotion. Here are similarities the chart does not point out:
 Dopamine is similar to cocaine.
 Serotonin is similar to LSD and Ecstasy.
Just as our body produces its own painkillers, so, too, does it produce the chemicals necessary for energy, euphoria, and
even hallucinations. In healthy people, these chemicals are balanced to produce normal experiences. Taking illegal or
nonprescribed drugs disrupts this balance, causing abnormal levels of energy, emotion, and sensory experience.