What Is Biopsychology?

Biopsychology is an interdisciplinary branch of psychology that analyzes how the brain, neurotransmitters, and other aspects of our biology influence our behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. This field of psychology is also sometimes known as physiological psychology, behavioral neuroscience, or psychobiology.

Biopsychologists often examine how biological processes interact with emotions, cognitions, and other mental functions. The field of biopsychology is related to several other areas, including comparative psychology and evolutionary psychology.

Brief History of Biopsychology

While biopsychology might seem like a fairly recent development thanks to the introduction of advanced tools and technology for examining the brain, the roots of the field date back thousands of years to the time of the early philosophers.

This is not just a historical debate, however. The question remains an important topic in psychology and neuroscience today. It questions how the subjective experiences of the mind, including emotions and thoughts, interact or arise from the brain and body's physical processes.

Philosophers' Views on Biopsychology

One important thing to remember is that it is only fairly recently in human history that people have come to understand the actual location of the mind.

Aristotle, for example, taught that our thoughts and feelings arose from the heart. Greek thinkers such as Hippocrates and later Plato suggested that the brain was where the mind resides and that it served as the source of all thought and action.

Later thinkers such as Rene Descartes and Leonardo da Vinci introduced theories about how the nervous system operated. While these early theories were later proven wrong, they did establish the important idea that external stimulation could lead to muscle responses.

It was Descartes who introduced the concept of the reflex, although later researchers demonstrated it was the spinal cord that played a critical role in these muscle responses.

Link Between Biopsychology and Human Behavior

Researchers also became interested in understanding how different parts of the brain control human behavior. One early attempt at understanding this led to the development of a pseudoscience known as phrenology.

While phrenology became quite popular, other scientists soon dismissed it as a pseudoscience. However, the idea that certain parts of the brain were responsible for specific functions played an essential role in the development of future brain research.

The famous case of Phineas Gage, a railroad worker who experienced a devastating brain injury, also influenced our understanding of how damage to certain parts of the brain could impact behavior and functioning.

Newer Biopsychology Research

Since those early influences, researchers have continued to make important discoveries about how the brain works and the biological underpinnings of behavior.

Research on evolution, the localization of brain function, neurons, and neurotransmitters have advanced our understanding of how biological processes impact thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

If you are interested in the field of biopsychology, then it is essential to understand biological processes, basic anatomy, and physiology. Three of the most important components to understand are the brain, the nervous system, and neurotransmitters.

The Brain and Nervous System

The central nervous system (CNS) is composed of the brain and spinal cord. The outermost part of the brain is known as the cerebral cortex. This portion of the brain is responsible for functioning in cognition, sensation, motor skills, and emotions.

The brain is comprised of four lobes:

• Frontal lobe: This portion of the brain is involved in motor skills, higher-level cognition, and expressive language.
• Occipital lobe: This portion of the brain is involved in interpreting visual stimuli and information.
• Parietal lobe: This portion of the brain is involved in the processing of tactile sensory information such as pressure, touch, and pain as well as several other functions.
• Temporal lobe: This portion of the brain is involved in the interpretation of the sounds and language we hear, memory processing, as well as other functions.

Another important part of the nervous system is the peripheral nervous system, which is divided into two parts:

• The motor (efferent) division connects the central nervous system to the muscles and glands.
• The sensory (afferent) division carries all types of sensory information to the central nervous system.

Another component of the nervous system is the autonomic nervous system, which regulates automatic processes such as heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure. There are two parts of the autonomic nervous system:

• The parasympathetic nervous system: This brings your body back to a state of rest and regulates processes such as digestion.
• The sympathetic nervous system: This controls the "fight or flight" response, a reflex that prepares the body to respond to danger or stress in the environment.

Neurotransmitters

Also important in the field of biopsychology are the actions of neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters carry information between neurons and enable chemical messages to be sent from one part of the body to the brain, and vice versa.

There are a variety of neurotransmitters that affect the body in different ways. For example, the neurotransmitter dopamine is involved in movement and learning. Excessive amounts of dopamine have been associated with psychological disorders such as schizophrenia, while too little dopamine is associated with Parkinson’s disease.

Tests Used in Biopsychology

Researchers utilize several different tests to study the human brain and nervous system. Brain imaging techniques can be categorized into two main categories: techniques that study the electrical activity in the brain and techniques that study changes in blood flow in areas of the brain associated with brain activity. Two that are commonly used are:

fMRI

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) involves scanning the brain to measure blood flow by examining blood oxygenation and flow. Higher blood flow and oxygenation in an area of the brain indicate higher activity levels.

EEG

An electroencephalogram (EEG) is used to measure electrical currents on the surface of the brain. It can be used to monitor activity levels and detect changes in consciousness.

Using an EEG, researchers can observe event-related potential (ERPs), which are spikes in activity related to specific stimuli or thoughts

Career Opportunities in Biopsychology

If you are interested in a career in the area of biopsychology, then you have quite a few different options. Some who enter this type of field choose to work in research where they might work at a university, drug company, government agency, or other industry.

Others choose to work with patients to help those who have experienced some type of brain damage or disease that has had an impact on their behavior and functioning.

The following are just a few of the career specializations that are related to biopsychology:

• Behavioral neuroscientist: Analyzes how the brain, nervous system, and other organs impact behavior
• Cognitive neuroscientist: Investigates brain activity and scans to research how people think, learn, and solve problems
• Comparative psychologist: Looks at the behaviors of different species and compares them to each other and to humans
• Evolutionary psychologist: Examines the evolutionary bases of behavior
• Neurologist: Treats patients with damage or disease that affects the brain and nervous system

Biopsychology is one way of thinking about human psychology. This perspective has allowed researchers to gain a greater understanding of how the brain and nervous system influence human behavior.

By studying normal brain functioning as well as how brain disease and injury influence behaviors, feelings, and thoughts, researchers are able to come up with new ways of treating potential problems that people may experience.