Biopsychology seeks to explain human behavior and experience and to view them in a biological context to the body.
What is biopsychology?
Biopsychology attempts to explain human behavior and experience and view them in a biological context to the body. The processes in the brain and central nervous system play a major role in biopsychology. Of interest to biopsychology are the connections between basic biological processes and the reactions of humans in their behavioral patterns, involving the processes of all body organs, with priority given to all processes in the brain. Biopsychology thus represents a subfield of psychology, but also of neuroscience. In particular, the activity of the organism on feelings, behavior, dreams and thinking are considered in more detail. Likewise, mental states are considered and their influence on biological functions and structures.
Methods and currents
Of course, the processes in the brain and central nervous system play an essential role. In biopsychology, the human being is the focus of study. The pioneers of this sub-discipline of psychology were the works of psychologists William James and Wilhelm Wundt, who are among the founders of modern and scientific psychology. While biopsychology has a central underlying theme, it can nevertheless be divided into several related subfields. One main area is physiological psychology, which studies what neural behavioral mechanisms occur once the nervous system is manipulated. The focus here is on theory building and its associated explanatory models that have emerged from the results of various experiments. Typically, such studies take place at the biological level, specifically as interventions on the brain to observe the effects in the behavioral parameter by a very specific manipulation. For this purpose, animal experiments are informative about which human behavior is inferred, e.g., results of a visual perception and response, what happens when memory learns new conditions, or what interactions exist between behavior and hormones. The human brain differs from the animal brain mainly in cortical development and size. Therefore, various responses and principles of human brain activity can be derived from those of an animal brain. Since damage to the brain, e.g. by medical intervention, injury or disease, always affects human behavior, neuropsychology is also an important major field of biopsychology. Here, conclusions can be drawn about the behavior of a healthy person by observing and analyzing behavioral disturbances in the event of brain damage. Among other things, it is deciphered which brain region is responsible for which mental and emotional processes, e.g. for learning, attention or memories. This, in turn, can be used to improve the condition of a sick person. Successes of neuropsychology are, for example, the treatment of speech disorders after a traumatic brain injury or stroke. Equally influential is psychophysiology, which studies the relationship between physical and mental processes. These can include feelings, behaviors, even changes in consciousness, and the associated connection to brain activity, circulation, motor function, respiration, and hormone secretion. Indicators should be better identified, which in turn allow access to mental processes of a non-verbal nature, e.g. what effects sleep, stress or other strains have on the brain and body and what diseases are associated with them, including their accompanying circumstances. Psychopharmacology investigates the effects of medications, psychotropic drugs and narcotics on the human brain and nervous system. Therefore, it is also a subfield of biopsychology. Such chemical substances are not necessary for average cell function, but the effects they have on the experience and behavior of humans and the site of action of the central nervous system can be used to gain insights into what happens in the body when its own psychoactive substances are activated.The interaction between hormone and immune systems, brain and perception, central nervous system and behavior then in turn provide information about the not so easy to decipher processes in e.g. psychosomatic diseases or the physical and psychological effects in anxiety states. Comparative psychology also plays a role, studying the genetics and evolution of different species and their behavior, including, for example, primates or various bird species. So does cognitive neuroscience, which studies human memory and its neural mechanisms, neuroanatomy, which explores the structure of the central nervous system, or neurochemistry, which looks at the chemical basis of brain activity.
Diagnosis and examination methods
Biopsychology uses all these subfields to establish a medical diagnosis about them, for which in turn both biopsychological research and animal experiments are helpful. Information about brain function is provided in particular by imaging techniques. Learning processes, memory storage and stimulus processing are used for brain research, which in turn illustrates changes in blood flow, energy consumption or metabolic processes in specific brain regions and are measured by imaging methods such as electroencephalography, magnetoencephalography, positron emission tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. Other methods are electrophysiological, such as the use of an EEG, whereby different states of brain activity can be identified, which in turn are used to make assumptions about the spatial distribution of neuronal activity. Cardiovascular activity, muscle movement, and eyes are also examined in this way. In the field of animal testing, invasive procedures are used for research, which necessitates penetration below the surface of the body, which is why such procedures are not performed on humans. In this way, certain brain regions can be selectively switched on or off by electrodes and an electrically generated voltage. This is used to test which triggers on behavior have the destruction of certain tissues or brain regions and what happens when the connection of certain brain areas to the rest of the nerve central system is interrupted or completely blocked.
