behavior and of the methods of behavioral research. It is their behavioral
orientation and expertise that make their contribution to neuroscience unique.” -
Pinel ...
Psychology • Scientific study of overt actions and internal mental and emotional processes Neuroscience • Scientific study of the nervous system Biopsychology • A division of neuroscience that is the scientific study of the biology of behavior
“Biopsychologists are neuroscientists who bring to their research a knowledge of behavior and of the methods of behavioral research. It is their behavioral orientation and expertise that make their contribution to neuroscience unique.” -Pinel
1. Critical Thinking • The identification and evaluation of evidence to guide decision making and what to do and believe
Examples • Judge the credibility of a source • Critique the methodology of a research study • Critique the claims made by a research study
• Compare and contrast different research studies • Decide the usefulness of a concept to one’s life
2. Attribution • The process of explaining yours and others’ behavior • Explaining the reasons why you or someone acts the way they act
Ultimatum Game DM1 • You have $10 • You have to offer DM2 some amount of money ($0-10) DM2 • You will receive the amount of money that is offered • If you deem the offer to be unfair, you can reject it and neither you or DM1 will get any $
Ultimatum Game DM2 • Think for a moment and decide on a rejection threshold – that is, write down a minimum amount that you would accept without rejecting DM1’s offer • Do not show it to anyone else
Is there a biological basis for generosity ?
Zak, Stanton, & Ahmadi (2007) Introduction • In 2005 over $260 billion was given to U.S. Charities • In 2005 65 million helped volunteer charities
Introduction Generosity: offering more to another than he or she expects or needs. Altruism: helping another at a cost to oneself • Someone may give a homeless person 25 cents (altruism) or ten dollars (altruism and generosity)
Zak, Stanton, & Ahmadi (2007) Introduction Empathy: The ability to understand and be aware of the feelings, thoughts, and experiences of another person • Giving charitably activates brain regions associated with reward centers and empathy (Moll et al., 2006)
Introduction Oxytocin (OT): A neurotransmitter and hormone synthesized in the hypothalamus • Facilitates attachment formation to offspring (humans and nonhumans), sexual partners, and strangers * Increases trust and reciprocity
Zak, Stanton, & Ahmadi (2007) Specific Research Question Will elevated levels of OT increase generosity?
Zak, Stanton, & Ahmadi (2007) Method • 68 male college students (average age = 21.8 yrs) • ½ DM1’s infused with Oxtocin intranasally • ½ DM1’s infused with saline (placebo) • Randomly assigned to dyads
Method •Did not interact with partner, decisions were made at computers • All participants first completed the UG then the DG
Zak, Stanton, & Ahmadi (2007) Ultimatum Game (UG) • All participants wrote down a rejection threshold before beginning • DM1: $10 • DM2: Rejected or accepted the offer • Requires “perspective taking” by DM1 • Measure of generosity
Zak, Stanton, & Ahmadi (2007) Method Dictator Game (DG) • DM1: $10 • DM2: Must accept whatever is offered • ALL participants played the role of DM1 • Does not require “perspective taking” • Measure of altruism
Method Dependent Variables (Measurements) 1. Amount of money offered in the Ultimatum Game 2. Amount of money offered in the Dictator Game
Zak, Stanton, & Ahmadi (2007)
Infusion of OT intranasally increased monetary offers by 21% in the Ulitmatum Game
• Infusion of OT intranasally did not significantly the monetary offers in the Dictator Game
Zak, Stanton, & Ahmadi (2007) Discussion • Stingy offers activate a brain region associated with disgust • OT selectively affected the understanding of how another would experience a negative emotion, and seemed to have motivated a desire to reduce DM2’s experienced negativity
Empathy-Generosity Hypothesis OT → Increased empathy → Increased generosity Alternate Explanations? • Decreased cognitive capacity?
• OT increases risk aversion?
What is the connection between the mind and the brain?
Dualism • The belief that the brain and mind are different kinds of substance that exist independently Materialism • Everything that exists is material or physical – mental events don’t exist
Mentalism • Only the mind exists, the physical world is a manifestation of the mind Identity Position The view that mental processes and brain processes are the same thing, described in different terms
“Stimulation of any brain area provokes an experience, and any experiences evokes brain activity. As far as we can tell, you cannot have mental activity without brain activity.” –Kalat, p. 6
Mind-Brain Connection • The mind is brain activity
1. Physiological Psychology • Study of the neural mechanisms of behavior by directly manipulating the nervous system of nonhuman animals (e.g., lesions, invasive recording)
Video • Lecture 1_Physiological Psyc_Rat Amygdala 1
(Time 0:00, 1:05, 2:35) • Lecture 1_Physiological Psyc_Rat Amygdala 2
Neuroscientists have found that other animals are capable of making similar instinctive safety decisions. In a study published online the week of Nov. 29 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Univ. of Washington researcher Jeansok Kim demonstrates that rats weigh their odds of safely retrieving food pellets placed at varying distances from a perceived predator. "When animals go out to forage, they're taking a risk," says Kim, a UW psychology professor. "They're leaving the safety of their nests, venturing out where there may be predators that could eat them."
2. Psychopharmacology • Study of the effects of drugs on the brain and behavior
3. Neuropsychology • Study of the psychological effects of brain damage in humans • The Case of Jimmie G., the Man Frozen in Time
4. Psychophysiology • Studies the relation between physiological activity and psychological processes in human subjects • Non-invasive techniques (EEGs, muscle tension, HR, etc.)
How many of you have ever experienced stress or anxiety when taking a test? Did you notice how your body was reacting physiologically?
Holroyd, Westbrook, Wolf, and Badhorn (1978) Introduction Test Anxiety: * Cognitive Component: Feelings of inadequacy, helplessness, worry, anticipation of loss of status or esteem, self-critical attentional focus (self-preoccupation) * Physiological Component: State of physiological arousal
Holroyd, Westbrook, Wolf, and Badhorn (1978) Previous Research • Has not established a specific relationship between physiological arousal and cognitive functions of test anxiety • The assumption: test-anxious individuals experience higher levels of physiological arousal.
Is this really true? • However, previous studies only assess arousal responses of testtakers from self-report measures *Confound: increased attention to arousal cues
Holroyd, Westbrook, Wolf, and Badhorn (1978) Research Questions 1. What are the physiological indices of the cognitive aspects of test anxiety? 2. How do physiological responses to anxiety affect test performance? 3. Do test-anxious and non-anxious individuals differ in their physiological responses to high-stakes testing?
Holroyd, Westbrook, Wolf, and Badhorn (1978) Method Participants • 72 F, enrolled in intro psyc • Test Anxiety Scale administered at beginning of quarter • High test-anxious (n = 36) • Low test-anxious (n = 36)
Procedure • Participants sat at a table, electrodes were attached, subjects sat for 12 min. to acclimate to environment
Holroyd, Westbrook, Wolf, and Badhorn (1978) Experimental Conditions 1. Evaluative (measure of intelligence, “should be easy” 2. Nonevaluative (experimenters unconcerned w/performance – they will be difficult) Dependent Variable Time to solve 8 difficult anagrams
broni ueylbaj
_________ _________
Holroyd, Westbrook, Wolf, and Badhorn (1978) Physiological Measurements • Skin conductance • Spontaneous skin responses • Heart Rate • Heart Rate Variability (HRV) – the naturally occurring beatto-beat changes Cognitive Measurements • State anxiety
• Worry
Holroyd, Westbrook, Wolf, and Badhorn (1978) Results • High test-anxious individuals had higher levels of state anxiety • High test-anxious women performed worse than low testanxious individuals in these conditions: *Evaluative
*Nonevaulative
Holroyd, Westbrook, Wolf, and Badhorn (1978)
Research Questions 1. What are the physiological indices of test anxiety?
Results • Only HRV was correlated with test anxiety
Holroyd, Westbrook, Wolf, and Badhorn (1978)
Research Questions 1. What are the physiological indices of test anxiety?
2. How do physiological responses to anxiety affect test performance?
Results • Only HRV was correlated with test anxiety • HRV was significantly correlated to test performance for high-anxious women • Increased levels of HRV were associated with lower levels of anxiety and faster anagram solution times
Holroyd, Westbrook, Wolf, and Badhorn (1978)
Research Questions 3. Do test-anxious and nonanxious individuals differ in their physiological responses to evaluative (high-stakes) testing?
Results • The only measure that successfully differentiated high and low test-anxious women was HRV
Holroyd, Westbrook, Wolf, and Badhorn (1978) Discussion • HRV may be an physiological index of test anxiety (and predicts the deficits in cognitive activity associated with test anxiety) What Does That Mean? • People who have low test anxiety may still experience high degrees of physiological arousal. Thus, deficits in cognitive and attentional processes do not arise merely from maladaptive levels of autonomic arousal. • Test anxiety can be conceptualized as a cognitive and attentional phenomenon, not merely a state of elevated physiological arousal
Bradley and colleagues (2010) The Heart • Large role in emotion generation (our bodies generate emotions…not just the other way around) The heart operates as a primary and consistent generator of rhythmic information patterns that affect the function of the brain and body as a whole.” (Bradley et al., 2010) • Signals traveling from the heart to the brain affect autonomic signals in the brain stem then cascade up to limbic system and cortex
Bradley and colleagues (2010) What is Heart Rate Variability? • Encodes info about heart-brain interactions • Higher levels of HRV correlated with higher performance on cognitive tasks (Thayer et al., 2009)
Bradley and colleagues (2010) HRV • Pattern of wave also important • Frustration – erratic HRV • Positive emotions – ordered HRV rhythm
Bradley and colleagues (2010) Implications • If you can change the HRV, you can improve cognition activity and emotional states and improve and performance on exams
5. Cognitive Neuroscience • Focuses on the neural basis of cognitive processes (learning, memory, attention, perception)
What is the neurochemical activity that underwrites stress during exams? How can this affect performance?
Vedhara and colleaugues (2000) Research Question • Does cortisol affect memory recall? Cortisol • Hormone secreted by the adrenal glands • The “stress hormone” *Fight or flight *Stress-related changes
Vedhara and colleaugues (2000) Cortisol • Small amounts beneficial *A quick burst of energy for survival reasons *Heightened memory functions
*A burst of increased immunity *Lower sensitivity to pain
Vedhara and colleaugues (2000) High Levels of Cortisol & Cognitive Functions • Acute increases – deficits in attention and memory • Cortisol induced participants suffered memory impairment (Newcomer et al., 999) • High-cortisol level subjects had impairment on divided attention (Bohnen et al., 1998)
Vedhara and colleaugues (2000) Method • 60 undergraduate students • Cortisol levels measured prior to and during real-life exam • 3 cognitive tasks *Memory recall
*Selective attention *Divided attention
Results • Cortisol levels decreased during exam period • Increased memory recall
6. Comparative Psychology • Studies the behavior of different species to understand the evolution, genetics, and adaptiveness of behavior • Look to other species to understand human behavior
Divisions of Biopsyc coming together Converging Operations • Integrating multiple divisions of biopsyc to understand the biology-behavior connection
Divisions of Biopsyc coming together Jimmie G. Korsakoff ’s Syndrome – severe memory loss • Commonly occurs in alcoholics • Alcohol believed to be the cause • Experiments (on rats) revealed alcohol not responsible, rather Thiamine (vitamin b) deficiency *Similar patterns of brain damage How can this help us?
Human and Nonhuman Subjects Do you think the following research scenarios are ethical or unethical in nonhuman subjects? • Inducing addiction to methamphedamine or cocaine to study the neurological effects of the drugs? • Cause damage to or remove structures in the brain • Sever nerves to study the mechanisms of sensation
• Test the effects of new drugs that may cause damage to an animal’s body
Human and Nonhuman Subjects Class Discussion Do you support or oppose research on nonhuman subjects? If you support it, what would be your criteria for ethical research?
Human and Nonhuman Subjects “Researchers cannot escape the logic that if the animals we observe are reasonable models of our own most intricate actions, then they must be respected as we would respect our own sensibilities.” –Ulrich, 1991, p. 197
Research Ethics • All research is regulated by independent committees that enforce strict ethical guidelines
http://www.apa.org/science/lead ership/care/guidelines.aspx 1. Justification of the Research 2. Personnel 3. Care and housing of animals 4. Acquisition of animals
5. Experimental procedures 6. Field research 7. Educational use of animals
1. Underlying mechanisms of behavior are similar across species and sometimes easier to study in nonhuman species 2. We are interested in animals for their own sake 3. What we learn about animals sheds light on human evolution 4. Certain experiments cannot use humans because of legal or ethical restrictions
Human and Nonhuman Subjects Advantages of Humans 1. Follow instructions 2. Report subjective experiences 3. Less expensive (seriously) 4. Have a human brain
“The brains of humans differ from the brains of other mammals primarily in their overall size and the extent of their cortical development. In other words, the differences between the brains of humans and those of related species are more quantitative than qualitative, and thus many of the principles of human brain function can be derived from the study of nonhumans.” -Pinel
Human and Nonhuman Subjects Advantages of Nonhumans 1. Brain–behavior connection is simpler 2. Insights gained from a comparative approach 3. Possible to conduct research that cannot be done on humans Nonhuman Subjects • Rats most commonly used. Mice, cats, dogs, and nonhuman primates also used
