ABPG1103 INTRODUCTION TO

PSYCHOLOGY

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

Define biological psychology;

Describe the structures and functions of neurons
and nerves;
Explain the organisation of the nervous system
the Central Nervous System (CNS) and the
Peripheral Nervous System (PNS);
Identify the main components of the brain regions
and their functions;
Discuss the functions of the endocrine system; and
Explain the genetic influence on human
development from the psychological perspective.

Azzyr: I sometimes find myself in a

state where everything seems bright
and cheerful. But at other times
(although nothing has changed), I
find my surroundings seem dark and
dreary, and my family describe me
as depressed and down. Why do I
have such states of mind (moods or
feelings or dispositions), and what
causes all these strange effects?

DEFINING BIOLOGICAL
PSYCHOLOGY

Biological factors and the body

do influence ones behaviour,
emotions and cognition

It is important for us to recognise

biological psychology as one of the
significant fields of psychology
because understanding human or
animal behaviour will help us to
further appreciate who we are as
individuals. In order to understand
ones behaviour and mental
processes, we have to rely on the
relationship between psychological
processes and the underlying
physiological events.

How Do You Define

Biological Psychology

bios meaning life,

and logos meaning study.
Biology is thus the scientific
study of living organisms.
Basically, biological psychology
uses biology as an approach to
understand human and animal
behaviours.

How Do You Define

Biological Psychology

Biological psychology is defined

as the study of behaviour and
experience in terms of genetics,
evolution, and physiology,
especially of the nervous
system (American Heritage
Dictionary).

How Do You Define

Biological Psychology

biological psychology is the scientific

study that is primarily concerned with
the relationship between the
psychological processes and the
underlying physiological events or,
the mind-body phenomenon.
Biological psychology is also known
as physiological psychology,
psychobiology, biopsychology or
behavioural neurosciences.

What Does Biological

Psychology Study?

Physiological Aspects
Physiological aspects emphasise the
function of the brain and the rest of the
nervous system in activities such as
thinking, learning, feeling, sensing and
perceiving which are recognised
characteristics of humans and animals.
For example, how do prescribed drugs
for treating depression affect behaviour
through their interaction with the nervous
system?

What Does Biological

Psychology Study?

Genetic Aspects
Genetic aspects rely on the
transmission of traits from parents to
offspring through genes, and the
functional units of hereditary material
that are found in all living cells.
For example, we may want to know
whether high intelligence is inherited
from one generation to the next.

NEURONS AND NERVES

What is a neuron? A neuron is a

nerve cell that makes up our nervous
system. The main function of the
neuron is to transmit information
throughout the body. These highly
specialised nerve cells are
responsible for communicating
information in both chemical and
electrical forms. Neurons or nerve
cells are found in the brain, spinal
cord and nerves

How Do Neurons Transmit

Messages

Dendrites Cell body Axon Terminal

buttons
Axons convey information from the cell
body and dendrites receive information.
The point where the cells meet to relay
information (between axon and dendrite) is
a synapse. The information is sent from the
axon of the sending cell to the dendrite of
the receiving cell by transmission of
chemical molecules called
neurotransmitters.
A neurotransmitter, which is a chemical that
is released from a nerve cell, transmits an
impulse from a nerve cell to another nerve,
muscle, organ, or other tissue.

What are Firing Neurons?

The firing of the neuron is based on an all-ornone law where messages are sent out when
triggered, otherwise the neuron remains in a
resting state. During the resting state, there is
more negative electrical charge (about
70milivolts) in the neuron. When messages arrive
at any given neuron, the positive charged ions
are allowed to enter the neuron and change the
charge status of the neuron.
When a certain level of charge ion is reached, the
neuron produces action potential. Action potential
is an electric nerve impulse that travels through a
neuron when it is set off by a trigger, changing the
cells charge from negative to positive. The
impulse will travel down on the axon and gets
released by the terminal button.

Where Neuron Meets Neuron?

Neurons can communicate without being

attached to each other. There are gaps
between neurons, termed as synapses. A
synapse is a chemical connection that
bridges the gap between two neurons.
Thus, when the impulse reaches the
terminal button, it will release
neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are
the chemicals that carry messages across
the synapse to the dendrite (and
sometimes the cell body) of a receiver
neuron that will travel to the next NUERON

Types of neurotransmitters

Excitatory Message
These neurotransmitters promote the
development of action potential and the firing of
the neuron.
Inhibitory Message
These neurotransmitters produce chemical
information that decreases the likelihood of the
development of action potential or firing of the
neuron.
Both types of neurotransmitters can be accepted
at the site simultaneously, thus if there are more
excitatory messages than inhibitory ones, the
neuron will fire. In contrast, if there are more
inhibitory messages than excitatory ones, the
neuron will remain at its resting state. These
processes take just several milliseconds.

Central Nervous System

(CNS)

The central nervous system is a

bundle of nerves that leaves the
brain and runs down the length of
the back and is the main means for
transmitting messages between the
brain and body. The CNS consists of
the brain and the spinal cord and
communicates with the rest of the
body through the peripheral nervous
system (PNS).

spinal cord,

It is made up primarily of vertebrae, discs

and the spinal cord. Acting as a
communication conduit for the brain,
signals are transmitted and received
through the spinal cord. When an injury to
the spinal cord occurs, the flow of
information from that point down stops.
This interruption in instructions to the arms,
legs, and other parts of the body will
prevent the individual from moving, and
sometimes breathing, and obstructs or
stops any sense of feeling or touch

Peripheral Nervous
System
Somatic Nervous System

The peripheral nerves that

transmit information to our
skin and muscles are called
the somatic nervous system.
They are responsible for
voluntary movements such as
dancing, writing and jumping.

Peripheral Nervous System

Autonomic Nervous System
The autonomic nervous system
controls our internal organs such as
our heart, lungs and kidneys. The
term autonomic refers to involuntary
and automatic. This means that it is
partly automatic. We are unaware of
these activities although they are
controlled by our brain and spinal
cord.

Autonomic Nervous System

Sympathetic Nervous System
The sympathetic nervous system is
controlled by a chain of neurons
lying outside our spinal cord. It
increases our heart rate and
breathing rate which prepares our
body for fight or flight activities. In
other words, this division is
responsible for managing stressful
emergency situations (fight or flight
response).

Parasympathetic Nervous
System

he parasympathetic nervous system

is controlled by neurons at the top
and bottom levels of our spinal cord.
It decreases our heart rate,
THE BRAIN AND ITS FUNCTIONS
increases digestive activities and
promotes activities we do while
resting. In other words, this division
is responsible for calming the body
after the emergency situation is
resolved.

THE BRAIN AND ITS

FUNCTIONS

Cerebellum
The cerebellum is smaller than the cerebrum at
1/8 of its size. It is involved in the coordination of
voluntary motor movement, balance and
equilibrium and muscle tone. It is located towards
the back of the brain and just above the brain
stem.
Brain stem
The brain stem sits beneath the cerebrum and in
front of the cerebellum. It plays a vital role in
basic attention, arousal and consciousness. All
information to and from our body passes through
the brain stem on the way to or from the brain.

What are the Main

Components of the Brain?

Forebrain

The forebrain is the largest

division and consists of the
cerebrum, thalamus and
hypothalamus. Refer to Figure
2.19 for the position of the
thalamus and hypothalamus in
the forebrain

Forebrain

Forebrain -Cerebral cortex

Frontal lobe
Associated with reasoning,
planning, parts of speech,
movement, emotions and
problem solving.
Parietal lobe
Associated with orientation,
recognition and perception
of stimuli.

Forebrain -Cerebral cortex

Occipital lobe
Associated with visual
processing.
Temporal lobe
Associated with perception
and recognition of auditory
stimuli, memory and
speech.

Forebrain-Thalamus

The thalamus is known as the

final relay station for perceptual
data before it is passed on to the
cerebral cortex. It receives input
from diverse brain areas,
primarily including all the senses
except olfaction. It is also
responsible for regulating motor
control

Forebrain-Hypothalamus

The hypothalamus is an
important control centre for the
sex drive, pleasure, pain,
hunger, thirst, blood pressure,
body temperature and other
visceral functions

The Limbic System

Hypothalamus- For description.

Hippocampus-Involved with memory
phenomena, especially with the
formation of long-term memory.
Amygdala -Plays an important role
on the mediation and control of
major affective activities like
friendship, love and affection, and on
the expression of mood and, mainly,
on fear, rage and aggression.

The Limbic System

Pituitary gland
Is very small and only about the
size of a pea. It plays an
important role to produce and
release various types of
hormones into our body, for
example, a hormone that
controls the amount of sugars
and water in our body.

Midbrain
The midbrain is the smallest division and
it makes connections with the other two
divisions and alerts the forebrain to
incoming sensations.
Hindbrain
The hindbrain is made up of the
cerebellum, pons and medulla. It is
involved in sleeping, waking, body
movements and the control of vital
reflexes such as the heart rate and blood
pressure.

Split Brain Phenomenon

The corpus callosum connects the two hemispheres of the

brain. Each hemisphere controls the muscles on the other
side of the body.
For example, the left side of each retina sees the right
side of the world and is then routed to the left hemisphere.
The right side of each retina sees the left side of the world
and then goes to the right hemisphere.
About 95% of us have our left hemisphere controlling our
ability to speak, while our right is mute. Though controlling
the muscles of the other side of the body, the two
hemispheres can easily communicate and coordinate if
the corpus callosum is intact.
However, if the corpus callosum is not intact (injured or
severed), there will be a problem in communication
between the two hemispheres, resulting in a split brain
phenomenon

THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM

What is the endocrine system? The

endocrine system is closely related to the
autonomic nervous system. It is a chemical
communication network that sends
messages throughout the nervous system
via the bloodstream. In other words, it is a
set of glands that produce hormones and
release them into our blood. The endocrine
system produces hormone chemicals that
circulate through the blood and affect the
functioning or growth of other parts of the
body.

The Differences
Neurotransmitters
Neurotransmitters: the release is cell
to cell
EndocrineHormones:
released into the blood stream.
These hormones regulate the body's
growth, metabolism (the physical
and chemical processes of the
body), and sexual development and
function.

GENETIC -Psychological
Explanation at the Gene
Level
Chromosomes

Our cells contain chromosomes (refer Figure 2.31) which

are strands of hereditary material. Chromosomes are long
pieces of DNA found in the centre (nucleus) of cells. The
DNA is the chemical that holds the genes. It is considered
the building blocks of the human body. Genes are
responsible for controlling the chemical reactions that
direct an individuals development.
Chromosomes come in pairs. Normally, each cell in the
human body has 23 pairs of chromosomes (46
chromosomes in total). Half the chromosomes come from
the mother and the other half come from the father.
The male sperm penetrates the female egg cell and it
becomes a zygote through the process of conception.
Each zygote has 23 pairs of chromosomes which are rodshaped structures that contain the basic hereditary
information. In other words, chromosomes are
responsible for the characteristics of individuals.

We know that everyone has two

of each gene one received
from the father and another one
from the mother. If the pair is the
same, it is called Homozygous.
If the pair is different it is called
Heterozygous for that particular
trait.

Homozygous

Homozygous means the two

alleles for a gene match. It
means that you have identical
alleles for a trait (like one
dominant allele from each of
your parents for a certain trait).
Example: BB or bb

Heterozygous
Heterozygous means the two
alleles for a gene are different. It
means that you have different
alleles for a trait (like one
dominant allele from your father
and one recessive allele from
your mother for a certain trait).
Example: Bb.

Types of Genes
Dominant genes
(Gene that affects the childs trait)
One parent has a single, faulty
dominant gene (D), which
overpowers its normal counterpart
(d), affecting that parent. When the
affected parent mates with an
unaffected and non-carrier mate
(dd), the offspring are either affected
or not affected, but they are not
carriers.

Recessive genes
(Can only affect the childs trait if
both genes are recessive)
Both parents carry a normal
gene (N), and a faulty, recessive
gene (n). The parents, although
carriers, are unaffected by the
faulty gene. Their offspring are
either affected, not affected, or
carriers.

Direct Influence
Generally, a single gene has almost complete
control of the outcome. Our environment has
almost no effect. Examples of this include eye
colour, hair texture and skin colour.
Indirect Influence
No one gene has control of the outcome. Rather,
the genes can influence a behaviour by
influencing other characteristics that are
associated or opposite to it. For example; a gene
that makes you inattentive and restless will
interfere with behaviours that involve sitting for
long periods such as attending a lecture.