Chapter 13: Mental Illness
I found the section on the history of treatment for depression especially interesting because of the "depression helmet" pictures that have been going around online. The helment was just approved by the FDA to treat depression and is available in Arizona.
Electroconvulsive Therapy was first used in the 1930s to induce seizures that would alleviate or diminish depressive symptoms. Now the delivery method varies, but has been shown to improve patient's mood in the short term. However, memory impairment can follow. A more minor strategies is repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulations. It was introduced in the mid 80s. rTMS uses a large electromagnet on the scalp to depolarize neurons. Side effects include headaches.
Monday, April 8, 2019
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Chapter 12
Chapter 12: Learning, Memory, and Decision Making
One thing I found interesting about this chapter was the recent discovery that specific cells in the hippocampus have been found to respond to a specific person. Even though that gives the impression that individual cells hold specific memories, the textbook said it was most likely that sets of neurons make up memory networks for specific concepts.
I also really enjoyed that the study on bird brains and memory process was illustrated exclusively in play dough. In this study they found out that birds referred back to the amount of time that had passed in order to decide which food to retrieve from where it had be previously buried. This was something I did not know prior to Bio Psych and it adds to my appreciation of birds because that is very impressive to me.
One thing I found interesting about this chapter was the recent discovery that specific cells in the hippocampus have been found to respond to a specific person. Even though that gives the impression that individual cells hold specific memories, the textbook said it was most likely that sets of neurons make up memory networks for specific concepts.
I also really enjoyed that the study on bird brains and memory process was illustrated exclusively in play dough. In this study they found out that birds referred back to the amount of time that had passed in order to decide which food to retrieve from where it had be previously buried. This was something I did not know prior to Bio Psych and it adds to my appreciation of birds because that is very impressive to me.
Monday, March 25, 2019
Chapter 11
Chapter 11: Affiliative and Reproductive Strategies
The thing I found most interesting about this chapter was the higher rate of bisexuality and homosexuality in babies with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). It's a genetic condition resulting from higher-than-normal levels of androgens during gestation. In my high school psychology class we talked about another study where homosexuality in men was heightened due to changes during gestation. I think research in this area is very exciting because it helps support the idea that sexuality is not a choice which is something I firmly believe.
The thing I found most interesting about this chapter was the higher rate of bisexuality and homosexuality in babies with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). It's a genetic condition resulting from higher-than-normal levels of androgens during gestation. In my high school psychology class we talked about another study where homosexuality in men was heightened due to changes during gestation. I think research in this area is very exciting because it helps support the idea that sexuality is not a choice which is something I firmly believe.
Monday, March 18, 2019
Chapter 9
Chapter 9: Sleep, Wakefulness, and Conscious Awareness
This chapter covered all things sleep. It was very interesting to learn about the African tribe !Kung who do not have any social rules regarding sleep. Members stay awake for as long as they can and only sleep when they feel like it (including the children) which is vastly different than in our society where parents dream of having their children on tight sleeping schedules. I wish the textbook would have discussed if as a culture their sleeping pattern has rendered them were more or less exhausted than us.
I also really enjoyed the section on Death and The End of Consciousness. It stated that it is only a recent update to define death by a lack of brain function, before it was thought to be the absence of a heartbeat. I will try not to romanticize that sentiment, but I feel like a lot can be said on why people felt their heart held the spirit of life. This section also reminded me of that one time people thought a gif from The Walking Dead was a real MRI of someone dying.
This chapter covered all things sleep. It was very interesting to learn about the African tribe !Kung who do not have any social rules regarding sleep. Members stay awake for as long as they can and only sleep when they feel like it (including the children) which is vastly different than in our society where parents dream of having their children on tight sleeping schedules. I wish the textbook would have discussed if as a culture their sleeping pattern has rendered them were more or less exhausted than us.
I also really enjoyed the section on Death and The End of Consciousness. It stated that it is only a recent update to define death by a lack of brain function, before it was thought to be the absence of a heartbeat. I will try not to romanticize that sentiment, but I feel like a lot can be said on why people felt their heart held the spirit of life. This section also reminded me of that one time people thought a gif from The Walking Dead was a real MRI of someone dying.
Monday, February 25, 2019
Chapter 6 and 7
Chapter 6: Sensation, Perception, and Adaptation
As a person with a high interest in art the Adaptive Functions of Color Vision was exciting to read because I had never heard of it before---and I took color theory! Mark Changizi's "skin theory of color vision" says that we have color vision because it allows us to better understand someone's health (yellow for sick) or emotion (red when angry or embarrassed) based on the colors displayed by their skin. Colors we often use to describe the skin (red, blue, yellow, green) align with the colors that rods and opponent cells respond to!! Another supporting point for this theory is that non-human primates with trichromatic color vision have no fur on their face, while primates who have retained dichromatic color vision have full facial hair. All of which is incredibly fascinating to me.
Chapter 7: Movement
I have anxiety myself and it was interesting to read about the effects our minds have on how we move. An example the textbook gave was on Alicia Sacramone, the Olympic gymnast, who had to wait before she could start her beam routine. It said that her motor memory was likely disrupted which could be what caused her to mess up. Beilock did research on athletes and speculated that those who had high-level automaticity (requiring less cortical input) but then take time to really think about what they are doing disrupt "the movement machine." I use to be in gymnastics as a kid and it was probably for the best that I didn't stick with it. I tend to be an over thinker, so that mixed with flinging my body through the air just doesn't seem like a good mix after reading this chapter.
As a person with a high interest in art the Adaptive Functions of Color Vision was exciting to read because I had never heard of it before---and I took color theory! Mark Changizi's "skin theory of color vision" says that we have color vision because it allows us to better understand someone's health (yellow for sick) or emotion (red when angry or embarrassed) based on the colors displayed by their skin. Colors we often use to describe the skin (red, blue, yellow, green) align with the colors that rods and opponent cells respond to!! Another supporting point for this theory is that non-human primates with trichromatic color vision have no fur on their face, while primates who have retained dichromatic color vision have full facial hair. All of which is incredibly fascinating to me.
Chapter 7: Movement
I have anxiety myself and it was interesting to read about the effects our minds have on how we move. An example the textbook gave was on Alicia Sacramone, the Olympic gymnast, who had to wait before she could start her beam routine. It said that her motor memory was likely disrupted which could be what caused her to mess up. Beilock did research on athletes and speculated that those who had high-level automaticity (requiring less cortical input) but then take time to really think about what they are doing disrupt "the movement machine." I use to be in gymnastics as a kid and it was probably for the best that I didn't stick with it. I tend to be an over thinker, so that mixed with flinging my body through the air just doesn't seem like a good mix after reading this chapter.
Monday, February 18, 2019
Chapter 5
Chapter 5: Neural Development, Neuroplasticity, and Recovery of Function
Epigenetics are something we have been discussing since the beginning of the semester but we had not really gone into depth into the topic until now. It was by far the most interesting part of the chapter for me because I grew up through the school system with the mentality that changes only took course over several generations. Epigenetics is about how things like starvation or abundant food, high-licking rodent mothers, or even extreme stress can have long-term effects on descendant children. How is this possible? DNA methylation and Histone Acetylation (a remodeling mechanism). Epigenetics may be in place to help speed up the process of changing the DNA code which is necessary in a quick and ever-changing environment.
Epigenetics are something we have been discussing since the beginning of the semester but we had not really gone into depth into the topic until now. It was by far the most interesting part of the chapter for me because I grew up through the school system with the mentality that changes only took course over several generations. Epigenetics is about how things like starvation or abundant food, high-licking rodent mothers, or even extreme stress can have long-term effects on descendant children. How is this possible? DNA methylation and Histone Acetylation (a remodeling mechanism). Epigenetics may be in place to help speed up the process of changing the DNA code which is necessary in a quick and ever-changing environment.
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Germs in Your Gut Are Talking to Your Brain
Article Response
This article was summed up pretty nicely by the title. Dr. Cryan and other scientists are in the early stages of relating microbes in our stomachs to a variety of influences on our bodies and our brains. Dr. Cryan said his idea was not well received initially which is unfortunate but somewhat understandable. The idea that something so tiny could potentially play a role in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Depression, Schizophrenia, Autism, etc is incredible.
Dr. Sisodia, a skeptic of Dr. Cryan, performed an experiment on mice where they were given antibiotics that would kill off most of the mice's bacteria in their guts. What they found in these Alzheimer prone mice was that their brains had far less of the protein clumps that are linked to dementia. Dr. Sisodia was surprised by the results.
However, this along with the other research discussed in the article does not prove cause and effect. Scientists do not want to give the impression that a cure for the aforementioned diseases is in the near future. Dr. Costa-Mattioli warns parents against going for store bought probiotics because only some strains of L. reuteri alter mice behavior. Much more research still needs to be done according to biologist Katarzyna B. Hooks, "We have the edges of the puzzle, and we're now trying to figure out what's in the picture itself."
This article was summed up pretty nicely by the title. Dr. Cryan and other scientists are in the early stages of relating microbes in our stomachs to a variety of influences on our bodies and our brains. Dr. Cryan said his idea was not well received initially which is unfortunate but somewhat understandable. The idea that something so tiny could potentially play a role in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Depression, Schizophrenia, Autism, etc is incredible.
Dr. Sisodia, a skeptic of Dr. Cryan, performed an experiment on mice where they were given antibiotics that would kill off most of the mice's bacteria in their guts. What they found in these Alzheimer prone mice was that their brains had far less of the protein clumps that are linked to dementia. Dr. Sisodia was surprised by the results.
However, this along with the other research discussed in the article does not prove cause and effect. Scientists do not want to give the impression that a cure for the aforementioned diseases is in the near future. Dr. Costa-Mattioli warns parents against going for store bought probiotics because only some strains of L. reuteri alter mice behavior. Much more research still needs to be done according to biologist Katarzyna B. Hooks, "We have the edges of the puzzle, and we're now trying to figure out what's in the picture itself."
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Chapter 4
Chapter 4
This chapter was over neuropsychopharmacology, drugs, and drug addiction. Both of which I do not know too much about. Before a drug can be developed the pharmacokinetics (how the drug is absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and eliminated by the body) and the pharmacodynamics (its effects on the body) must be understood. Then for it to be considered safe, there are a series of questions must be answered.
I found the section on cocaine to be very interesting because I was unaware of its history (minus the part about Coca-Cola) and all of the effects it has on the body. For instance, I did not realize it had a different form than the white powder we think of today. Imagining people chewing coca leaves leaves is amusing. Cocaine can lessen hunger and fatigue while increasing alertness and a sense of euphoria. It is no wonder people get curious. It's also interesting to me that while alcohol is a depressant it has an initial stimulating affect on people. I wish the text had covered why exactly that is more. While alcohol is the most abused drug, marijuana is the most used illegal substance. Both of which I could have guessed as they seem to be the less frightening.
Drug addiction is a vicious cycle. I think treatment programs are a great alternative to throwing offenders in jail. Addiction is a huge problem and I hope that we will continue to normalize conversations about it.
This chapter was over neuropsychopharmacology, drugs, and drug addiction. Both of which I do not know too much about. Before a drug can be developed the pharmacokinetics (how the drug is absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and eliminated by the body) and the pharmacodynamics (its effects on the body) must be understood. Then for it to be considered safe, there are a series of questions must be answered.
I found the section on cocaine to be very interesting because I was unaware of its history (minus the part about Coca-Cola) and all of the effects it has on the body. For instance, I did not realize it had a different form than the white powder we think of today. Imagining people chewing coca leaves leaves is amusing. Cocaine can lessen hunger and fatigue while increasing alertness and a sense of euphoria. It is no wonder people get curious. It's also interesting to me that while alcohol is a depressant it has an initial stimulating affect on people. I wish the text had covered why exactly that is more. While alcohol is the most abused drug, marijuana is the most used illegal substance. Both of which I could have guessed as they seem to be the less frightening.
Drug addiction is a vicious cycle. I think treatment programs are a great alternative to throwing offenders in jail. Addiction is a huge problem and I hope that we will continue to normalize conversations about it.
Monday, January 21, 2019
Chapter 3
Cells and Circuits
One thing that I have especially found exciting is Cajal's drawings of neurons in the brains of various species. Specifically, how art has contributed to science. After countless drawings he came up with the idea that there was some sort of gap separating the neurons which would later go on to be named the synapse. I found a video that does a great job of explaining Cajal's and Golgi's contributions. What they had to figure out next was the language neurons were using. This language turned out to be a synaptic transmission of neurochemicals, Henry Dale and Otto Loewi are credited with the discovery. What I cannot get over is that Loewi's study came to him in a dream. Incredible.
In addition to things that fascinate me: mirror neurons. The textbook talked about how they develop in infants and how repetition helps strengthen the connections between the sensory and motor neurons so that mirror neurons can be activated from more than one sensory and motor areas.
It is all a very intricate process and disruption of these neural transmissions can lead to things like epilepsy.
One thing that I have especially found exciting is Cajal's drawings of neurons in the brains of various species. Specifically, how art has contributed to science. After countless drawings he came up with the idea that there was some sort of gap separating the neurons which would later go on to be named the synapse. I found a video that does a great job of explaining Cajal's and Golgi's contributions. What they had to figure out next was the language neurons were using. This language turned out to be a synaptic transmission of neurochemicals, Henry Dale and Otto Loewi are credited with the discovery. What I cannot get over is that Loewi's study came to him in a dream. Incredible.
In addition to things that fascinate me: mirror neurons. The textbook talked about how they develop in infants and how repetition helps strengthen the connections between the sensory and motor neurons so that mirror neurons can be activated from more than one sensory and motor areas.
It is all a very intricate process and disruption of these neural transmissions can lead to things like epilepsy.
Monday, January 14, 2019
Chapter 2
The purpose of this chapter was to break down the organization of the brain starting from the neuron all the way up to complex bodily systems. There are so many intricate details within this chapter and I am happy to have a background in biology so that all of the information was not brand new. I am very familiar with the cell diagram, the story of Phineas Gage, and the four parts of the Cerebral cortex. What I found most fascinating in this chapter was Gazzaniga and Sperry's study on split-brain patients and their confirmation that the brain used contralateral control. It's interesting to me how some things like language and visual-spatial processing are designated to specific sides while things like ethical judgement require both hemispheres. It makes sense though, simple tasks do not require as much as tackling an ethical dilemma.
One thing I absolutely did not know prior to the reading was the story of the first vaccination or how the word vaccination initially came about. Dr. Edward Jenner was one observant fellow to say the least and I am surprised the boy's mother allowed Dr. Jenner to inject her son with the cowpox virus. Our immune system's and the intensive memory for pathogens is truly incredible.
One thing I absolutely did not know prior to the reading was the story of the first vaccination or how the word vaccination initially came about. Dr. Edward Jenner was one observant fellow to say the least and I am surprised the boy's mother allowed Dr. Jenner to inject her son with the cowpox virus. Our immune system's and the intensive memory for pathogens is truly incredible.
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
Chapter 1
Introduction to Biological Psychology
After reading through the first chapter I am excited to expand my knowledge in this area of Psychology. What I found most interesting was the the section on environmental impacts on the brain. In the Enriched Environment studies, rats living in cages with no stimulating objects were less social and had a decrease in physical activity. Then when their brain's development was analyzed, those that had lived in the enriched environment had thicker areas and more connections in their brains. This struck me because when I was doing research on children in the Chattanooga area we found that students performing well in school tended to have a significantly higher vocabulary than those students who were under-performing. The difference was caused by the amount of words these children were exposed to at home so again a richer environment leads to enriched minds. Our brains are simultaneously the most vulnerable and resilient part of us because it is constantly adapting in response to infinite variables. It's a wonder any of us turn out high functioning.
Anytime I have a paranormal experience I will think back on the story of Poe and his potential exposure to toxic levels of carbon monoxide.
In addition, I find heredity fascinating. I did not know prior to the chapter that it was once believed that heredity was transmitted through our blood (Darwin) or that Mendel spent seven years breeding his pea plants before he started to get a grasp on how genes were expressed/suppressed. I love that through the study of plants we were able to learn more about ourselves as well. Art imitates life on this topic through a specific video game I am quite fond of. One of the many things you can do in Animal Crossing is breed flowers and like Mendel we all just had to patiently observe the phenotypes until players started figuring out the game's algorithm.
As for what I am excited to explore further throughout this course:
-Emotional Expression
-Emotional Expression
-Reproductive Strategies (specifically the section on biparental species, found in only 3-5% of mammalian species.)
-Mental Illness
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