Animal research may provide information that supporting understanding

Biological Psychology:

3 Principles –

1. Emotions and behaviours are products of the endocrine and nervous system.

• Localization of function
• Neurotransmitters.
• Hormones.

Environment ft. Physiology:

• Brain Plasticity.
• Mirror Neurons.

Cognition ft. Physiology:

• Amnesia.

1. Animal research may provide information that supporting understanding.
2. Behaviour can be genetically inherited.

• Twins (MZT – DZT)
• Evolution

Research Methods:
The biological level of analysis consists of physiological processes, which cannot be directly observed. 
Experiments: Most scientific research method, determines causes and effects in the relationship between IV and DV. 

• Laboratory setting.
• Field Setting.
• Natural setting.

• Raine et al: LOF – NGRI
• Berthold: Hormones – Testosterone Roosters.
• Rosenzweig and Bennett: Brain Plasticity – Rats’ stimulation.

Case Studies: Studies that go in depth of and individual or small group to obtain enriched data. They cannot be replicated. Interviews and observations are used to get more info.

• Broca: LOF – “Tan”
• Harlow: LOF – Phineas Gage: Personality.
• Dr. Money: Gender – Brenda/David.

Ethical considerations:
Ethics must be considered to ensure participants are not harmed and study is ethically valid. 

• Protection of participant – mentally and physically.
• Consent – agreement or permission.
• Right to withdraw – at any moment.
• Confidentiality – restrictions on certain type of info.
• Deception – Avoided. (If results are biased it can be accepted).
• Debriefing – Deception must be revealed and justified.

Dr. Money:

• MZT twins.
• Penis is burnt off during circumcision.
• Rose as a girl – Brenda.
• At 14 Brenda changes to David.
• Money published this study as part of his theory – gender is neutral, and environment determines it.
• No consent from participants.
• No debriefing.
• Lack of confidentiality.
• Participant protection:
  - Castration.
  - Forced to be a girl.
  - Confusion.
  - Twins Suicide.

Schacter and Singer:

• Deception – participants were told they’d be tested on vision.
• Injected adrenaline instead of suproxin.
• Consent – no consent from the participants of injecting adrenaline.
• Didn’t know the study was investigating two-factor theory of emotion.
• Participants were not protected; they may have had harmful reaction to adrenaline.

APA Guidelines: Animal Research

Berthold:

• Did not protect participants since they were castrated (roosters).
• Consent – not possible, they are animals.
• Withdrawal – animals could not express their right to withdraw.
• Debrief – did not know they were in a study.
• Welfare of roosters was not monitored.
• This knowledge helped human understanding on behaviour.

Rosenzweig and Bennett:

• Consent – not possible, they are animals.
• Withdrawal – animals could not express their right to withdraw.
• Debrief – did not know they were in a study.
• Distress to rats for depriving environment.
• Welfare of rats was not monitored.

Localization of Function:

Certain areas of the brain correspond to certain functions of the body: behaviour, emotions and thoughts are controlled by a specific part of the brain.

STUDIES:

Paul Broca – Tan

• Longitudinal study.
• Patient could just say the syllable “Tan”.
• Tan died and an autopsy was performed.
• Several damages on the frontal area.
• Broca’s area = Speech abilities.

Harlow – Phineas Gage

• Railroad worker had an accident.
• Brain and skull were damaged.
• Personality affected: rude and aggressive behaviour.
• No autopsy performed.
• No controlled case study.

Raine et al. – NGRI

• Investigate if NGRI murders present abnormalities on brain.
• NGRI vs. control group.
• PET scan used.
• Performed tasks for 32 minutes.
• NGRI presented less activity on:
  -Parietal cortex

-Prefrontal cortex.

-Amygdala.

Milner – HM

• HM suffered from epilepsy.
• Surgery to decrease epilepsy.
• Removed parts of temporal lobe.
• Consequences: Anterograde and retrograde amnesia.
• Case study.

Tierney et al: 

• Bilingual compensations for brain damage.
• MA had a left hemisphere brain damage.
• MA vs. 12 control participants
• Sign language fluent.
• MA’s right hemisphere was much more active, since language was developed in the right hemisphere due to his damage on the left.

Neurotransmitters:

 Are defined as the natural chemical messengers, which transfer information from neuron to neuron.

Serotonin – Mood, depression, aggression, appetite, sleep, happiness.

• Kasamatsu & Hirai:
  - Monks did not eat or drink water for 72hrs.
  - Blood sample was taken before and after.
  - 48hrs later they reported hallucinations.
  - Serotonin levels increased activating hypothalamus and frontal cortex.

Acetylcholine – Mood, memory, learning, Alzheimer disease.

• Martinez & Kesner:
  -Trained rats to go through maze and get food.
  - Three conditions: 1. Acetylcholine was blocked. 2. Cholinesterase was blocked. (Cleans acetylcholine) 3. Control group.
  - Group 2 had a faster and better development that the other 2 groups.
  - Group 1 had a slow and bad development. 

Noradrenaline – Mood, heart rate.

Dopamine – Mood, pleasure, motivation.

Hormones:

Are defined as natural chemical released by glands, which circulate in the bloodstream.

Adrenaline – “Fight or flight response”, external threat deal.

• Schacter & Singer:

• Adrenaline was injected.
• Groups informed of adrenaline effects did not change behaviour much.
• Placebo participants did not change behaviour.
• No informed participants showed high levels of change in behaviour.
• Euphoria and anger.

Testosterone – Aggressive behaviour and male traits.

• Arnold Berthold:

• Castrated roosters.
• Three conditions: 1. Control group. 2. Transplanted testes. 3. Replanted testes.
• Control group acted less aggressive that other two conditions, though the nerve connections never reconnected between testes and rooster.

Brain Imaging:

It is used to examine the activity on human brain, in order to see correlations with behaviour:

• MRI: Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  - Introduced Brain Plasticity.
  - Magnetic fields, and radio waves to produce 3D image in a computer.
  - Allows researcher to see structures within the brain.

Maguire et al: London Taxi Drivers.
Milner: H.M. Epilepsy – Retrograde and Anterograde amnesia after surgery.

Strengths:

• Excellent resolution.
• Non-invasive
  Practical.
• Safer.
• Repetition is allowed.

Limitations:

• Expensive
• Correlation but not cause.
• Slight movement affects imaging.
• Not for everyone.

•  PET: Positron Emission Topography
  - Introduced cognitive process of language.
  - Radioactive glucose injection: Red for most active, Blue for least active.
  Raine et al: NGRI murders. 
  Tierney et al: 
  - Bilingual compensation for brain damage.
  - MA had a left hemisphere brain damage.
  - MA vs. 12 control participants, all fluent in sign language.
  - MA’s right hemisphere was much more active, since language was developed in the right hemisphere due to his damage on the left.

Strengths:

• Good resolution.
• On going activities in brain (thinking).

Limitations:

• Very expensive.
• Invasive.
• Longer than MRI.

Brain Plasticity:

Is the ability of the brain to rearrange connections between its neurons caused by interactions with the environment (experiences and learning).  

• Rosenzweig and Bennett:
  - Rats exposed for 30-60 days to enriched or deprived environment stimulations.
  - Rats’ brains were weighted.
  - Rats in enriched environment showed a thicker cortex and a heavier frontal lobe than non-stimulated rats.
  - Caused by thinking, planning, decision making.
• Gaser and Schlaug:
  - Compared brains of professional musicians.
  - Grey matter volume was higher in professional musicians than non-musicians. 
• Draganski:
  - 2 conditions.
  - 1 group spent 3 months juggling practice.
  - Control group.
  - MRI scans showed increase in volume for practice group.
• Maguire et al:
  - Taxi drivers in London brain compared to non-taxi drivers.
  - MRI scans.
  - Higher volume on grey matter Taxi drivers, due to all the connections from streets they have to memorize.

Mirror Neurons:
Neurons that fire when we perform an action and when we observe someone perform an action. Accidentally discovered in 1980’s by Rizzolati.

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