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User:Sheridandvis81/Behavioral neuroscience

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Behavioral neuroscience, also known as biological psychology,[1] biopsychology, or psychobiology,[2] is part of the broad, interdisciplinary field of neuroscience, with its primary focus being on the biological and neural substrates underlying human experiences and behaviors, as in our psychology. Derived from an earlier field known as physiological psychology,[3] behavioral neuroscience is the application of applies the principles of biology to the study of the physiological, genetic, and developmental mechanisms of behavior in humans and other animals.[4] Behavioral neuroscientists examine the biological bases of behavior through research that involves neuroanatomical substrates, environmental and genetic factors, effects of lesions and electrical stimulation, developmental processes, recording electrical activity, neurotransmitters, hormonal influences, chemical components, and the effects of drugs. Important topics of consideration for neuroscientific research in behavior include learning and memory, sensory processes, motivation and emotion, as well as genetic and molecular substrates concerning the biological bases of behavior. Subdivisions of behavioral neuroscience include the field of cognitive neuroscience, which emphasizes the biological processes underlying human cognition. Behavioral and cognitive neuroscience are both concerned with the neuronal and biological bases of psychology, with a particular emphasis on either cognition or behavior depending on the field.[3]

History

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Behavioral neuroscience as a scientific discipline emerged from a variety of scientific and philosophical traditions in the 18th and 19th centuries. René Descartes proposed physical models to explain animal as well as human behavior. Descartes suggested that the pineal gland, a midline unpaired structure in the brain of many organisms, was the point of contact between mind and body. Descartes also elaborated on a theory in which the pneumatics of bodily fluids could explain reflexes and other motor behavior. This theory was inspired by moving statues in a garden in Paris.[5]

Other philosophers also helped give birth to psychology. One of the earliest textbooks in the new field, The Principles of Psychology by William James, argues that the scientific study of psychology should be grounded in an understanding of biology.[citation needed][6]

The emergence of psychology and behavioral neuroscience as legitimate sciences can be traced from the emergence of physiology from anatomy, particularly neuroanatomy. Physiologists conducted experiments on living organisms, a practice that was distrusted by the dominant anatomists of the 18th and 19th centuries.[7] The influential work of Claude Bernard, Charles Bell, and William Harvey helped to convince the scientific community that reliable data could be obtained from living subjects.[citation needed][7]

 

Even before the 18th and 19th centuries, behavioral neuroscience was beginning to take form as far back as 1700 B.C.[8] The question that seems to continually arise is: what is the connection between the mind and body? The debate is formally referred to as the mind-body problem. There are two major schools of thought that attempt to resolve the mind–body problem; monism and dualism.[9] Plato and Aristotle are two of several philosophers who participated in this debate. Plato believed that the brain was where all mental thought and processes happened.[8] In contrast, Aristotle believed the brain served the purpose of cooling down the emotions derived from the heart.[9] The mind-body problem was a stepping stone toward attempting to understand the connection between the mind and body.

Another debate arose about localization of function or functional specialization versus equipotentiality which played a significant role in the development in behavioral neuroscience. As a result of localization of function research, many famous people found within psychology have come to various different conclusions. Wilder Penfield was able to develop a map of the cerebral cortex through studying epileptic patients along with Rassmussen.[9] Research on localization of function has led behavioral neuroscientists to a better understanding of which parts of the brain control behavior. This is best exemplified through the case study of Phineas Gage.

The term "psychobiology" has been used in a variety of contexts, emphasizing the importance of biology, which is the discipline that studies organic, neural and cellular modifications in behavior, plasticity in neuroscience, and biological diseases in all aspects, in addition, biology focuses and analyzes behavior and all the subjects it is concerned about, from a scientific point of view. In this context, psychology helps as a complementary, but important discipline in the neurobiological sciences. The role of psychology in this questions is that of a social tool that backs up the main or strongest biological science. The term "psychobiology" was first used in its modern sense by Knight Dunlap in his book An Outline of Psychobiology (1914).[10] Dunlap also was the founder and editor-in-chief of the journal Psychobiology. In the announcement of that journal, Dunlap writes that the journal will publish research "...bearing on the interconnection of mental and physiological functions", which describes the field of behavioral neuroscience even in its modern sense.[10]

Neuroscience is considered a relatively new discipline, with the first conference for the Society of Neuroscience occurring in 1971. The meeting was held to merge different fields focused on studying the nervous system (ex. neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, physiological psychology, neuroendocrinology, clinical neurology, neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, etc.) by creating one interdisciplinary field. In 1983, the Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association, was split into two separate journals: Behavioral Neuroscience and the Journal of Comparative Psychology. The author of the journal at the time gave reasoning for this separation, with one being that behavioral neuroscience is the broader contemporary advancement of physiological psychology. Furthermore, in all animals, the nervous system is the organ of behavior. Therefore, every biological and behavioral variable that influences behavior must go through the nervous system to do so. Present-day research in behavioral neuroscience studies all biological variables which act through the nervous system and relate to behavior.[3]

Topic areas

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In general, behavioral neuroscientists study similar themes and issues as academic psychologists various neuronal and biological processes underlying behavior[3], though limited by the need to use nonhuman animals. As a result, the bulk of literature in behavioral neuroscience deals with mental processes and behaviors experiences that are shared across different animal models such as:

 

However, with increasing technical sophistication and with the development of more precise noninvasive methods that can be applied to human subjects, behavioral neuroscientists are beginning to contribute to other classical topic areas of psychology, philosophy, and linguistics, such as:

Behavioral neuroscience has also had a strong history of contributing to the understanding of medical disorders, including those that fall under the purview of clinical psychology and biological psychopathology (also known as abnormal psychology). Although animal models do not exist for all mental illnesses, the field has contributed important therapeutic data on a variety of conditions, including:

  • Parkinson's disease, a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that often impairs motor skills and speech.
  • Huntington's disease, a rare inherited neurological disorder whose most obvious symptoms are abnormal body movements and a lack of coordination. It also affects a number of mental abilities and some aspects of personality.
  • Alzheimer's disease, a neurodegenerative disease that, in its most common form, is found in people over the age of 65 and is characterized by progressive cognitive deterioration, together with declining activities of daily living and by neuropsychiatric symptoms or behavioral changes.
  • Clinical depression, a common psychiatric disorder, characterized by a persistent lowering of mood, loss of interest in usual activities and diminished ability to experience pleasure.
  • Schizophrenia, a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a mental illness characterized by impairments in the perception or expression of reality, most commonly manifesting as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions or disorganized speech and thinking in the context of significant social or occupational dysfunction.
  • Autism, a brain development disorder that impairs social interaction and communication, and causes restricted and repetitive behavior, all starting before a child is three years old.
  • Anxiety, a physiological state characterized by cognitive, somatic, emotional, and behavioral components. These components combine to create the feelings that are typically recognized as fear, apprehension, or worry.
  • Drug abuse, including alcoholism.

Research Studies of Interest

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Cognition

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Behavioral neuroscientists conduct research on various cognitive processes through the use of different neuroimaging techniques. Examples of cognitive research might involve examination of neural correlates during emotional information processing, such as one study that analyzed the relationship between subjective affect and neural reactivity during sustained processing of positive (savoring) and negative (rumination) emotion. The aim of the study was to analyze whether repetitive positive thinking (seen as being beneficial) and repetitive negative thinking (significantly related to worse mental health) would have similar underlying neural mechanisms. Researchers found that the individuals who had a more intense positive affect during savoring, were also the same individuals who had a more intense negative affect during rumination. fMRI data showed similar activations in brain regions during both rumination and savoring, suggesting shared neural mechanisms between the two types of repetitive thinking. The results of the study suggest there are similarities, both subjectively and mechanistically, with repetitive thinking about positive and negative emotions. This overall suggests shared neural mechanisms by which sustained emotional processing of both positive and negative information occurs.[11]



References

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  1. ^ Breedlove, Watson, Rosenzweig, Biological Psychology: An Introduction to Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, 6/e, ISBN 978-0-87893-705-9, p. 2
  2. ^ Psychobiology, Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary
  3. ^ a b c d Thompson, R. F. (2001-01-01), Smelser, Neil J.; Baltes, Paul B. (eds.), "Behavioral Neuroscience", International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, Oxford: Pergamon, pp. 1118–1125, doi:10.1016/b0-08-043076-7/03405-7, ISBN 978-0-08-043076-8, retrieved 2024-10-11
  4. ^ Thomas, R.K. (1993). "INTRODUCTION: A Biopsychology Festschrift in Honor of Lelon J. Peacock". Journal of General Psychology. 120 (1): 5.
  5. ^ Carlson, Neil (2007). Physiology of Behavior (9th ed.). Allyn and Bacon. pp. 11–14. ISBN 978-0-205-46724-2.
  6. ^ James, William (1890). The principles of psychology, Vol I. New York: Henry Holt and Co. doi:10.1037/10538-000.
  7. ^ a b Shepherd, Gordon M. (1991). Foundations of the Neuron Doctrine. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-506491-7.
  8. ^ a b "History of Neuroscience". Columbia University. Retrieved 2014-05-04.
  9. ^ a b c Carlson, Neil (2007). Physiology of Behavior (9th ed.). Allyn and Bacon. pp. 11–14. ISBN 978-0-205-46724-2.
  10. ^ a b Dewsbury, Donald (1991). "Psychobiology". American Psychologist. 46 (3): 198–205. doi:10.1037/0003-066x.46.3.198. PMID 2035930. S2CID 222054067.
  11. ^ Brandeis, Benjamin O.; Siegle, Greg J.; Franzen, Peter; Soehner, Adriane; Hasler, Brant; McMakin, Dana; Young, Kym; Buysse, Daniel J. (2023-12-01). "Subjective and neural reactivity during savoring and rumination". Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience. 23 (6): 1568–1580. doi:10.3758/s13415-023-01123-2. ISSN 1531-135X. PMC 10684651. PMID 37726588.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: PMC format (link)
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