Biological Psychology

Course Objectives

• Address questions of how the human brain and nervous system produce our range of behaviors
• Describe the basic anatomy of the brain and central nervous system
• Explain biological mechanisms in sensation, emotions, sleep and dreams, reproductive behavior, memory and higher cognition
• Present current theories on the biological bases of depression, schizophrenia, eating disorders, sleep disorders, visual agnosias, anxiety disorder, amnesias and Alzheimer’s disease

What You Learn

• What biological psychology is and the history of the mind-body problem
• The impact of genetics and the environment on behavior
• Cells of the nervous system and anatomy of the neuron
• The nerve impulse and electric potentials within a neuron
• The synapse and how neurons communicate
• Neurotransmitters and the chemical message
• Drugs and addiction
• Neuroanatomy and the nervous system
• Neuroanatomy and the cerebral cortex
• Research methods
• Brain development: from neurons to the cortex Brain plasticity after damage, stroke Visual coding
• Early visual processing and primary visual cortex
• High-level visual processing and visual agnosia
• Movement control and brain mechanisms
• Movement disorders
• Wakefulness and sleep
• Brain mechanisms underlying biological rhythms
• Sleep: stages, brain mechanisms, disorders and possible functions
• Internal regulation and hunger
• Hunger and eating disorders
• Reproductive behaviors: sex and hormones
• Variations in sexual behavior
• Emotion: arousal, functions and brain areas
• Attack and avoid behaviors
• Anxiety disorders
• Stress
• The HPA axis
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Learning and memory: taxonomy, brain mechanisms, amnesias and dementias
• Cellular mechanisms
• Mood disorders
• Schizophrenia

How You Learn

• Chapter exams
• Article discussions
• Online resources
• Neuroanatomy lab
• Proctored final exam