Suggested readings:
· Shapiro, M. S. (2019).
Biopsychology: Fundamentals and Contemporary Issues
, 1st Edition.
Flatworld Publishing.(opens in a new window) ISBNs: 9781453392942 (digital and online); 1453392939 (paperback)
· Sacks, O. (2021).
The man who mistook his wife for a hat : And other clinical tales
.(opens in a new window) Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
Assignment 1 – Apa 1 page
explore recognizable links between the brain and human behavior we’ll reflect on:
1. how relationships between brain and behavior are studied today, and
2. how basic and applied research in biopsychology provides an avenue for progress towards more compassionate mental healthcare.
Part 1
Answer the following two questions:
1. What were some of the earliest ways of thinking about relationships between the brain and behavior that caught your attention in Chapter 1 of the textbook?
2. After Rene Descartes provided a convincing case that the brain organizes human behaviors, others-like Galvani in the 1780’s-eventually explored these relationships in a scientifically
reductionist
style. For example, Galvani demonstrated that an electrical pulse could generate the movement of a leg. Explain why that incredible demonstration by Galvani is important, but also provide a reasonable explanation for why a holistic approach is also needed to further compliment an understanding of what actually “controls”
when
a leg is moved.
Part 2
For the second part of your, first take a moment to reflect on what has been learned about the brain since the beginning of the scientific revolution.
Next, describe how exciting new insight about the functions of our brain might relate to how we treat severe mental illnesses. Be sure to share your perspective on why we eventually, albeit recently, put
behavior
into a health category. As humans, do you think we developed a sense of behavioral health quickly enough? Also describe how you would respond if someone were to ask you about the current status of available treatments for mental health, would you say they are
Assignment 2 – 1 page
we explored how different types of cells are represented within our nervous system: an incredibly diverse and dynamic world of cells. Please reflect on:
1. how neurons are different from other cells in the human body, and
2. how glial cells provide essential services for the healthy functioning of our nervous system.
Be sure to include all details outlined below.
Part 1
Specifically, in the first part name and describe in some detail at least
four specialized cellular components of a typical neuron, being sure to include the
dendrites. Based on what you have learned this week, speculate one possible consequence of a neuron having half of the number of dendrites than another otherwise identical neuron.
Part 2
It may have seemed surprising this to learn that there are literally tons of proteins that not only function
within cells like our favorite neurons and glia, but that large numbers of proteins are also strategically located within these
cells’ membranes. We will be talking a lot more about membrane-bound proteins in the future. But for now, let’s just consider how dynamic and critical the continuous production, digestion, and recycling of proteins actually is for brain cells. Specifically, in the case of oligodendrocytes, the manufacturing of myelin—that insulation along axons of nearby neurons—is vitally important for supplying neurons with an ability to communicate with each other. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disorder whereby motor and cognitive functions are gradually and permanently impaired for an individual.
In this second part, provide an explanation for how a disorder like MS is largely caused by an inability of oligodendrocytes to continue providing myelinated tissue in the adult brain. In other words, at this time in our course how would you try to convey a relationship between oligodendrocytes, the production of an incredibly important protein called myelin, and our ability to physically move around with purpose?
Assignment 3 – 1 page
The evolution of the brain has depended on the allowance of strategies that pertain to, well,
survival. In Chapter 2 we read about the amygdala helping to remember things like environmental threats or stimuli that produce a fear response. This can be plenty helpful when learning that lions and other big cats are not
sleeping in the early mornings and later in the evenings. The unconscious shiver produced on a beautiful morning in a lush orchard may just turn out be lifesaving if it prompted the right memory back in the year 10,000 BCE.
Prompt
answer the following questions:
Part 1
1. What if cells in the amygdala never developed an ability to change with experience? In other words, what if they could not undergo any biological processes associated with learning?
2. How would
not having an ability to predict a possible threat affect human behaviors today?
3. Conversely, consider what it might be like to have a really enhanced, out-of-this world, phenomenal, super-sensitive capability to learn everything and anything that might be considered a threat?
Part 2
1. In what ways is the human brain different from other species (non-primate and non-human primate)?
2. What seems to be the most developed features of the human brain?
3. Why is a convoluted brain better than a smooth one? For this last question please be sure to cite at least one reference to support your argument. Your reference can pertain to any publication you care to find and delve into.
Assignment 4 – 1 page
Explain how action potentials are generated and then propagated along axons. Include what the difference would be in an action potentials’ strength between myelinated and unmyelinated fibers. Try to include the role nodes of Ranvier play in this propagation. Briefly describe how action potentials trigger neurotransmitter release at synapses and the subsequent impact of their release on postsynaptic neurons.
Topic 2
Alcohol affects a specific type of receptor called the GABA-A receptor on the neuron’s membrane. The GABA-A receptor provides a very strong
inhibitory signal; thus, it generally pushes the negative charge of neurons even further below their usual resting state. Based on what we have been reading this week (and last week), how would you describe the effects of alcohol at a low dose (below the ‘legal limit of 0.08 BAC) and its ability to reduce social anxiety?
Keep in mind how we’ve discussed that too much excitation is frequently associated with psychological disorders and maladaptive mental processes that occur in, for instance, generalized anxiety and clinical depression. Feel free to mention how people noticeably change in response to a little bit of alcohol. Remember, we are talking about low doses of alcohol here, not intoxicating, behaviorally disruptive doses of alcohol!
