UNIT-TWO

Biological Bases Of Behavior

 Importance of Biology in psychological understanding
of behaviors, neurons, nervous system, structure and
functions of central nervous system, Endocrine system
and its importance.
 Biological/Physiological bases of behavior
 The communication link between the body and brain helps us to
understand many areas of psychology. It assists to find out an
individual’s nature of personality, causes of abnormal behavior,
responses to stress, and adjustment effectiveness.

 Behavior of an individual is guided mainly by biological and socio

cultural factors. Heredity and environmental influence or the
interaction of both are responsible for the causation and
occurrence of human behavior.
 Biological factor include:
 Heredity
 Role of nervous system
 Neurotransmitters
 Different hormones secreted by glands
 Biological bases of behavior is the scientific study of how people and animals
body function in particular way.
 The mechanism of the human body not only directs the functioning of the
sense organs and the process of growth and maturation but also influences the
complex process such as thinking, learning and emotional responses i.e
cognitive.
Importance of biology in psychological understanding of behavior
 It is helpful to the study of physiological, genetic and developmental
mechanisms of behavior in human and animals. It gives insight into heredity
factors to describe behavior. Eg. Twin studies in personality and intelligence
highlight genetic influences in shaping human behavior.

 It typically investigates at the level of neurons, neurotransmitters, brain

circuitry and the basic biological process that underline normal and abnormal
behavior.

 Some of the experiment in physiological basis of behavior involve non-human

animal model such as monkey, rats etc. which provide better understanding on
human pathology(the science of diseases).
 It makes us clear about various psychophysical maladjustments
by understanding biological science. Example-Drugs habit, Heart
disease, Headaches, Cancer, Hypertension etc.

 It helps us to understand variation of behavior of each individual

which is the product of mind and body relationship. Eg. Some
people have long time memory while other forgets the simple
things immediately. When man feels the earthquake, he is afraid
and starts running unconsciously and other may not feel it or may
stay passively.

 Finally, understanding biopsychology helps to manage and

develop healthy life style.
 Cell
 The human body is composed of different types of cells like Bone
Cells, Muscle Cells, Blood Cells, Body Cells, Nerve Cells etc.

 All neurons are cells but all cells are not neurons. Each type
consists millions of tiny cells, and forms a single unit which has a
specialized function.

 The duty of carrying electrical messages from one part of the

body to the other has been assigned to Nerve Cells/ Neuron.
 Neuron
 Neuron is a cell of nervous system. It consists of all the nerves in
our body, together with our Brain and Spinal Cord.

 A nerve cell with all its branches is called a Neuron . It is the basic
unit of nervous system. It is defined as the structural and functional
unit of nervous system that process and transmits information .
Neuron is like any other cell in the body having nucleus. The duty of
carrying Electrical Messages from one part of body other has been
assigned to neuron.

 In the early 1900s scientist Santiago discovered nervous cells. The

human brain is composed of about 150 billion nerve cells. Neurons
come in a variety of sizes and shapes.
 Information travels in the nervous system through three types of neurons called
sensory neuron, motor neuron and inter neuron.
 Sensory Neurons:- These are called afferent neurons that send information from
the body’s tissues and sensory organ inward to the brain and spinal cord, which
process the information. It responds to touch, sound, light and all other stimuli
affecting the cells of the sensory organs.
 Motor Neurons:- These are called efferent nerve cell(motion producing) that
carry the motor impulses (sudden desire) from central neurons system to
peripheral organs like; muscles, glands, blood vessels etc.
 Inter Neurons:- These are also known as association or connector neurons. These
are completely contained within central nervous system(brain and spinal cord)
and convey messages between parts of the systems. In this type of neuron, the
size of Dendrites and Axons may be long or short.
Functions of Neurons
 Neuron receives the change that occurs around the environment
of an organism.
 It circulates the changed information all over the body.
 Finally, coordinate to adopt to that changed situation.
 Eg. If you touch a candle flame, receptors in your finger send a message up,
through your hand and arm to the spinal cord and the brain. The brain records
pain and sends message back down to various parts of the body. The mouth
spells ouch, the arm and hand jerk away from the flame, and the finger hurts.
(All happens in milliseconds)
The basic parts and functions of Neuron
 The cell body/Soma :- It is shaped roughly like a sphere or pyramid . It is the
central part of neuron. It consists the nucleus, chromosome of the nerve cell
and its nutritional mechanism.
FUNCTIONS:- It keeps nucleolus alive and determines whether transmit
impulses to other neuron or not. It has cytoplasm that shapes the cell, preserves
and provides nourishment and help in contraction, secretion and excretion.
 Dendrites :- They are usually short and thick extension of cell body and
receiving ends of the neuron. It is a fiber that looks like the branches of tree. A
neuron has many Dendrites and Dendrites has many branches.
FUNCTIONS:- They receive signals or information from the receptors like the
nose, eyes, ears, skin or from other neurons and carry them towards the cell
body.
 Axon :- It is the thin cylinder of Cytoplasm which extends for some
distance from the cell body and then extends like a branch.
FUNCTIONS :- It transmits electrical signals to other neurons and to
muscles and glands
 Cell Membrane :- The cell membrane is like a fence that surrounds the
entire neuron, giving it shape, and keeping the cells internal fluids
inside. It has small pores to allow some substances to pass through it.
FUNCTIONS :- To enclose the whole cell. It is the outer cover.
 Nucleus :-
FUNCTIONS:- This is the carrier of genetic influence. Nucleus keeps
cells alive and also helps in reproduction.
 Myelin Sheath:- This is whitish, fatty protein of some axons.
FUNCTIONS:- It helps for Neural Transmission. Its main function is to
speed up the transmission of the messages.
 Terminal Branches:-
FUNCTIONS:- It makes the impulses to travel to different Neurons.
 Neurotransmitters:- When a neuron receives a signal like heat,
pressure, light etc from adjacent neurons or from sensory
receptors, it fires or becomes active.
 NERVOUS SYSTEM
 The nervous system is our processing system which keeps us in
contact with the outside world.

 The nervous system is the part of human body that coordinates

the voluntary action to transmit signals between the different parts
of body.

 Humans’ nervous system is made up of different nerve cells. The

number of these nerve cells in a human nervous system has been
estimated at 100 to 200 billion. They are basically alike in structure
but appear in different lengths, sizes and shapes designed for
specialized functions.
 Division of Nervous System
Nervous System

Central Nervous System Peripheral Nervous System

(CNS) (PNS)

Brain Automatic Nervous System

Hindbrain MidB rain

Spinal Cord
Forebrain

Parasympathetic System
Somatic Nervous System
Sympathetic System
 The nervous system can be divided into two major divisions; Central
Nervous System(CNS) and the peripheral Nervous System(PNS)
 The Central Nervous System(CNS)
The CNS is well protected in bony case of skull and spine, which lies within
the body. It is divided into two major parts.
 Brain
 Spinal Cord
 Human Brain:- Human Brain is the Master Tissue of the body. It is located
within the skull. Brain is the largest and important aspects and center of
nervous system. Human brain weighs almost 3 pounds (1.36 kg), which is
quite big and weighty compared to other animals except Elephant and
Whale.
 Brain is compared with CPU of human body. It is composed of three main
divisions.
 The forebrain
 Mid Brain
 Hindbrain
Human Brain
 Forebrain:- 1. Thalamus 2. Hypothalamus 3. Cerebrum
 Midbrain
 Hindbrain:- 1. Cerebellum 2. Pons 3. Medulla
 The Forebrain:- It is at the very top of the brain including Thalamus,
Hypothalamus and Cerebrum.
The Thalamus:-
1. It consists two egg shape structures situated in central core of forebrain.
2. All sensory impulses pass through it to the higher centers. Therefore it is
known as relay station.
3. It receives input from all incoming fibers as seeing, hearing, pressure, pain,
temperature, body position and test except smell.
4. It is also known as sensory switch Board because it transforms and
modifies the inputs before sending to other parts
5. It plays role in alertness and reaction.
Hypothalamus :-
1. It lies below Thalamus.
2. It has key influence on all kinds of emotion(happiness, sadness) as well as
motivational behavior(hunger, sex, thirst)
3. Helps in regulation of Heart Rate, metabolism, temperature etc.
4. It plays important role in maintaining the sexual function, especially in female.
5. It also controls over the activities of the pituitary Gland which is located just
below it.
The Cerebrum:- It lies at the very top of the brain. It is the most complex and
largest part of the brain. It extends from the eyebrows to the middle of the
skull. It is divided into two hemispheres.
The Left Brain and Right Brain which control behavior in the right and left
respectively. The Cerebrum is covered by thick layer of tightly packed neurons
called the Cerebral Cortex.
Cerebral Cortex also known as new brain and has ability to perform the
functions of cognition such as; thinking, reasoning, problem solving. Similarly,
it has role in storing sensory information, controlling body movements,
coordinating all information that occurs to the brain.
  The Midbrain
 Mid brain is the smallest region of brain that works as a bridge between
forebrain and hindbrain and work as a relay station for auditory and visual
information.
 The midbrain is a sort of Bridge connecting the forebrain at the top and
hindbrain at the base.
Functions Of Midbrain
 Sensory information from eyes and ear are passed to other structures of
brain through midbrain.
 All outgoing motor information from forebrain pass through midbrain.
 One of it important structure is Reticular Activiting System(RAS)-this
structure is able to decide which impulses should register consciously and
which should be rejected or repressed. RAS also plays role in sleep. Damage
to RAS often leads to Coma.
 Example, some can study by playing radio set or sleep soundly with a noisy
environment.
 The Hindbrain
The Hindbrain is situated behind and under the Forebrain. It connects the
upper part of spinal cord with the lowest part of the brain. It is composed
of three structures.
 Medulla
 Pons
 Cerebellum
Medulla
It lies nearest to the spinal cord. It controls many important Reflex and
complex process like;
 It controls blood pressure, heart rate, digestion, vomiting and breathing.
 It relays incoming information to other brain centers and outgoing
message to spinal cord.
 It helps in sympathetic and parasympathetic activity of peripheral
Nervous System by increasing or decreasing the blood pressure.
The Pons
 It connects the cerebellum at the top of the brain.
 It assists the breathing, transmitting impulses from the cerebellum to the
higher brain regions and coordinating the activities of both sides of the
brain.
 It plays important role in arousal and sleep.
 It consists of respiratory centers that play role in regulating respiration.
 It controls salivation.
The Cerebellum:- It is composed of two circular hemispheres. It helps in
performing many bodily functions.
 It is responsible for body balance and the coordination of body
movements.
 It coordinates muscles so that movement is smooth.
 It plays vital role in normal speech.
 It plays important role in learning motor skills.
 Movements in playing basketball, football, dancing, typing and playing the
piano etc are controlled by cerebellum.
Spinal Cord
 It is the Central part of Nervous system which lies within the backbone.
Average adult’s spinal cord is 43cm in women and 45cm in male.
 It is rope like structure made up of bundles of long nearly round nerve
fibers.
 The inside of spinal cord has grayish color: while outside the coverings of
myelin sheath gives it a whitish appearance.
Spinal cords function is of two fold
 It works as channel of communication from and to the brain.
 It works as an organ for effective reflex action.
Others
 It plays role in normal sexual functioning.
Reflex Action:- Reflex Action is automatic in nature. They are controlled by
our spinal cord. Normally the messages or impulses caught through the
sensory nerves are conveyed to the brain by the spinal Cord and it is the
brain that takes the decision.
But, sometimes when an immediate action is needed, then the spinal
cord gets the emergency signals and instead of receiving orders from the
brain, it directs the motor nerves to run the muscles for necessary
movement. In this way, the spinal cord helps in exercising reflex
movements.
To sum up, both the brain and spinal cord has two distinct structures,
but there is no definite point of division between them. The spinal cord,
at its upper end gets enlarged as to merge with the lower part of the
brain. The point of nervous system which functions as a joint or
connecting line between the spinal cord and Brain is known as Brainstem.
 The peripheral Nervous System(PNS)
 The Nerve tissues lying outside the bony case of the Central nervous
system come in the region of peripheral nervous system.
 It connects the outer portion of body with CNS. It is compared with
keyboard, mouse, monitor and printer.
 Peripheral helps in passing the sensory impressions to the central
nervous system, as well as in conveying the orders of the central nervous
system to other part of body: Muscles, Glands etc.
Somatic System & Autonomic System
The Somatic System:-
 The activities basically related to muscles that controls movements of the
body are regulated by somatic nervous system.
 The somatic system includes both Sensory and the Motor activity. It
carries information that receptors received from the environment to the
spinal cord, brain and nerves by sensory neuron and passes back the
information to the muscles.
 It is known as ‘voluntary system’. Raising Hand, Reading book etc is an
example. Example, when you read, your eyes scan the words and pick up
the materials. Afferent nerves(sensory neuron) help to convey
information to the CNS to process and choose the words and sentences.
Efferent nerves(motor neuron) then convey this information from the
CNS to the muscles, joints and tendons to make a response.

 It consists of number of Motor nerves leading from the central nervous

system for serving the blood vessels, heart glands and other internal
organs of the body and regulating processes such as respiration,
digestion, gland function and emotion.
Autonomic Nervous System(ANS)
 It is the division of peripheral nervous system that connects central
nervous system to internal organs like glands and muscles over which we
have little or no control.
 It handles bodily functions of the heart, blood vessels, glands, lungs and
other organs that function voluntarily, without our awareness. Or ANS is
self control in nature. It is self regulating or autonomous.
Automatic Nervous System has two divisions
 The Sympathetic
 Parasympathetic
Both of these division functions antagonist manner. The sympathetic
division constitutes the fibers coming from the spinal cord on either
sides and carries messages to the muscles and glands, particularly in
stress situations to prepare for an emergency, to get ready to act in
serious situation. It is active during aroused state and prepares the body
to handle emergency situation.
 The sympathetic system increases heart rate.
 It increases blood pressure.
 It increases Sugar, Hormones level in the blood.
Example- When you see a snake suddenly rolling before you while walking
in street, how would you react? Your heart starts to race, your skin erect
and muscles are in tense state. How do you manage this? The
sympathetic system immediately goes active and speeds up when extra
energy is needed to match the situation.
Parasympathetic System
 It is connected to the brain and the lower portion of the spinal cord. It is
active in internal maintenance during relaxed state and is involved in
conserving energy. Parasympathetic division works in an opposite manner
comparing to sympathetic . “It works to store a body’s energy. Or, it directs
the body organs to return to a normal state after an emergency has
passed.”
 As a result, our breathing slows down.
 Heart goes back to beating at its normal rate.
 The stomach muscles relax.
 Digestion begins again.
 Blood pressure is lower.
It slows the process speed up by the sympathetic system. It
helps to promote the general function of nutrition and reproduction and
also daily routine work and homeostasis process(tracing body tendency in
normalness such as : BP 120/80, nerve impulses above 70). In spite of the
opposite nature system sympathetic and parasympathetic are close each
other for maintaining the equilibrium of the body.
Neural Impulses/ Neuro transmitter
Neuro transmitter is a chemical which is released from nerve cell. It
conducts the message of one neuron to another neuron. Thus, they are
vital in regulating human behavior. It transmits impulses from a nerve to
another nerve, muscle, organ and tissue.
How this work is carried on by the neuron?
A neuron in its resting position is supposed to maintain a sort of electrical
equilibrium. It is because inside the cell membrane of the neural, there
are negatively charged Icons and outside the neuron membrane there
are positively charged Icons.
ENDOCRINE SYSTEM AND ITS IMPORTANCE
 Besides the nervous system, the human body possesses a second
major coordinating and controlling system for regulating its
internal mechanisms in the name of Endocrine system.
 This system works quite automatically by means of some specific
body structures called endocrine glands. These glands are quite
different from the duct glands like salivary glands which pour
their secretion through ducts(little tubes) to the body surface
directly.
 The endocrine system is made up of glands that produce and
secrete hormones that regulate the activity of cells or organs.
These hormones regulate the body’s growth, metabolism and
sexual development and function.
 The major glands of the endocrine system are the hypothalamus,
pituitary, thyroid, parathyroids, adrenals, pineal body, and the
reproductive organs. The pancreas is also a part of this system
and has a role in hormone production as well as in digestion.
IMPORTANCE OF ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
 Coordinate, control and regulate internal mechanisms of the
body.
 Regulate the timing of biological functions.
 Affect the functioning of all other glands and control body’s
oxidatation process.
 Counter balance activity of the thyroid and regulate lymphoid.
 Meet emergency situations and regulate specific sex roles and
control sex behaviors.
 Balance sugar level in blood.
 Work in close cooperation with the nervous system for the
development of the typical personality characteristics in an
individual.