Biological Perspective

Key Researchers and their findings

Paul Broca

James Lange Theory

Roger Sperry

Tiffany Field

Dr. Schanberg

E. Roy John

Psychotropic Drugs

By Hiroshi

Name: Paul Broca

Perspective: Biological

Key Studies:

• Contribution to neurology
• Localization of brain areas
• Brain anatomy

Main experiments

                  Studied a patient at the Bicetre Hospital named " Tan" who had a neurosyphilitic lesion in one side of the brain, which controlled speech.

Key findings:

• Brain is separated in to different parts which are responsible for different activities
• Localization of the language (speech) control area. (Named Broca’s area after his name)

Paul Broca’s research and findings are important to the biological perspective since his findings helped and reinforced the idea that every human behavior has a physiological cause. It was also an amazing discovery for the school of biology since he supported the idea that the brain is separated to different areas, which are responsible in controlling specific behaviors of the human body. Broca’s findings  also helped a lot in the application of the perspective to the real world. Because scientists and psychologist now knew that some answers of abnormal behaviors can be found in specific areas of the brain.

By Pati

James Lange Theory

Biological Perspective

“We don’t run from the bear because we are afraid, we are afraid because we run from the bear”

William James came up with his theory of Emotion in 1884. He said that the traditional views of emotion, such as that that of Descartes, had the true sequence of events inverted.

Any theory of emotion shows a certain sequence of events that goes on to show how emotions are aroused. The theories before James would see a series of events as, we see a frightening animal, are afraid, and run; while James proposed that we see the animal, run, and then feel fear.

According to James emotion is a composite of sensations formed by muscular activities and the visceral responses, which are associated with the escape mechanism of living beings.

Implications:

Emotional experiences occur after bodily changes

Differentiation between different emotions corresponds to different patterns of physiological responses

http://www.erin.utoronto.ca/~w3psyuli/PSY327/BWLecture03.ppt

by Gia:

Roger Sperry

Biological Psychology

Key studies:

-          The split brain surgery

-          Conscious of memory

-          Brain circuit growth

Key findings:

-          Through the split-brain surgery he found that there is a connection between the left hemisphere and the right hemispheres of the brain

-          That the split between these two halves would help in the management of epilepsy

-          That one side of the brain was verbally and rationally  oriented (left hand side) and the right hand side was more spatial, metaphorical and intuitive

-          He worked mainly on cats and then on epileptic patients which had had their corpus callosum cut and therefore their seizures had seized but they had organizational problems.

Aport to biological psychology…

-          The possibility that the two hemispheres work on different ideas.

-          The concept that cutting the corpus callosum does help epilepsy but interferes with the recognition visually as well as mentally of different objects.

-          Basically a corpus callosum that was cut, that person could see a spoon with the right eye but could express what it was. Sperry explained there were some spatial problems.

http://www.britannica.com/nobel/micro/560_58.html

http://titles.cambridge.org/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521261023

By Gaby P

Tiffany Field

Perspective: Biological

Key Studies

• Research relating to the importance of touch and its application in healthcare, especially when involving physical contact with patients.
• Participants: rat pups and premature infants.

Key Findings

• Demonstrated that premature infants, developmentally delayed infants, infants exposed to cocaine during the prenatal period, and other "at risk" infants respond in dramatic ways to the simple sensation of touch.
• Premature infants that are regularly massaged gain weight faster and go home from neonatal intensive care units sooner than other premature infants.
• Touch therapy has particular relevance with regards to stress reduction, pain relief, growth and development, immune function and auto-immune disorders.

Why is it important to this particular perspective?

• Contributed to the understanding of early child development.

 By Gaby C

Dr. Schanberg

Biological Perspective

Key Findings:

The primary is to identify the biological mechanisms involving CNS regulation of ontogenic growth and development of cell and organ systems.

-He investigated the role of trophic factors (neurotransmitters, neuropeptides and hormones) in mediating perturbations in cell growth and function, as induced by maternal deprivation, various stress conditions and neuroactive drugs.

-His basic experimental approach utilizes assessment of multiple physiological and biochemical parameters in developing organ systems as indices of altered functional maturation of those systems caused by manipulation of sensory input or pharmacological agents.

-Major behavioral paradigm is maternal separation and its effect on maturational processes - primarily cell growth and development - and the neuropeptides and cell signal transduction systems that mediate these effects.

By Tina:

E. Roy John

Biological Perspective

Key Studies:

• Program Director of The Quantitative EEG Research Program

http://www.consciousness.arizona.edu/hameroff/Ham/Ideas/Other_side/other_side.htm

• The first paper by John and colleagues describes a study in which EEG data were recorded from 176 patients undergoing general anesthesia with a variety of different anesthetic techniques: 1) “purely gas inhalation (isoflurane, desflurane and sevoflurane), 2) intravenous anesthesia with propofol infusion, and 3) nitrous oxide inhalation and intravenous narcotics. A set of quantified EEG measures were identified independent of anesthetic type which were followed during specifically designated periods: 1) consciousness prior to and during induction of anesthesia, 2) just after loss of consciousness, 3) stable anesthetic (unconscious) state prior to return of consciousness, and 4) just after return of consciousness.

Key Findings:

http://www.consciousness.arizona.edu/hameroff/Ham/Ideas/Other_side/other_side.htm

• Two papers by E. Roy John and colleagues in this issue illustrate that general anesthesia is a direct avenue toward understanding not only the neural correlate, but also the molecular mechanisms of consciousness. Unlike normal sleep, anesthetized patients generally are insensitive to stimuli of any kind, do not dream, have no sense of the passage of time, and generally awake with their consciousness completely unaffected (after drug effects have worn off) with no memory of events during the surgical procedure.

Why is it important to this particular perspective?:

·        The QEEG Program was developed because other techniques of brain scan were faulty and/or ineffective. It is engaged in studying the changes in brain electrical activity which accompany loss and recovery of consciousness due to the action of a wide variety of commonly used anesthetic regimens, during different kinds of surgical procedures.

http://www.lexicor.org/science.htm

·        Research has shown that the electrical activity of the brain is an accurate indicator of brain chemistry. Using QEEG and powerful computer analysis, scientists have created an objective form of mental health evaluation

·        "Of all the imaging modalities, the greatest body of replicated evidence regarding pathophysiological concomitants of psychiatric and developmental disorders has been e provided by EEG and QEEG studies." (A comprehensive literature review in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 1999)

·          Research by leading scientists in the field found that this procedure yields, " … a level of specificity and sensitivity that is comparable to sonograms, blood tests, MRIs and other diagnostic measures commonly used in clinical practice."

-         Robert Thatcher, PhD, Norman Moore, M.D., E. R. John, PhD, F. Duffy, M.D., et. al. Clinical Electroencephalography, 1999

·        Quantitative EEG measures the minute electrical activity of the brain and then compares that unique electrical pattern to known databases of “normal” and "abnormal" patterns. This type of computer-driven statistical analysis is particularly useful in evaluating difficult or borderline cases. This cost-effective diagnostic tool provides an objective means — based on actual physiological characteristics — of assessing cognitive disorders.

 BY Lyse:

Psychotropic Drugs

Drugs which affect the mind.

There are four main groups of psychotropic drugs: anti-anxiety drugs, anti-depressants, anti-psychotics and mood stabilizers.

Anti-anxiety drugs (tranquillizers and sleeping tablets)

Tranquillizers and sleeping tablets are very effective for short term, but can quickly become less effective and even produce the symptoms they are designed to reduce (rebound effect.) They can also be very addictive.

Tranquillizers are quite commonly used to treat people with dementia, especially when there are particular problems with disturbed thoughts and seeing, hearing or smelling things that are not there. Dementias are progressive problems and drugs useful at one point may cease to be so later.

Anti-depressant drugs

Anti-depressants are used to help relieve persistent low mood and other symptoms of depression, and also to improve motivation. They can be very effective but most have side-effects. They are not addictive.

With all antidepressants, patients tend to become tolerant to the side-effects during treatment, and the risks can be further reduced by starting treatment with a low dose and raising it gradually. Most patients are continued on antidepressant treatment for at least 6 months, even when they have started to feel better, to avoid the risk of relapse.

Anti-psychotic drugs

Anti-psychotic drugs (also known as neuroleptics) are used to treat schizophrenia, the manic phase of bi-polar disorder (manic depression) and other conditions where psychotic symptoms occur. Anti-psychotics are sometimes called “major tranquillizers” but this term is misleading because these drugs do more than just tranquillize. They are not addictive. Atypical anti-psychotic drugs are very effective and no not have that many side-effects.

Mood-stabilizing drugs

Mood stabilizing drugs are used to stabilize mood, like their name suggests. They are used to treat bi-polar affective disorder (manic depression) and severe depression. Lithium is extremely effective for most people with a diagnosis of severe bi-polar affective disorder. Carbamazepine is sometimes used as an alternative to lithium in preventing the symptoms of manic depression, and is particularly effective in people with rapid swings between mania and depression.