[course description] [outline of lecture topics and readings] [fall 1997 schedule] [discussion section leaders, times and locations] [discussion section overview]

Introduction to Biopsychology

Psychology 330 - Fall 1997

The University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan

DISCUSSION SECTION LEADERS:

DISCUSSION SECTION TIMES AND LOCATIONS:

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Biopsychology combines the traditional psychological fields of Comparative Psychology and Physiological Psychology. It is the study of how psychological processes relate to the brain and to evolution. Physiological psychology is concerned with how brain processes cause psychological processes and behavior, and with how psychological events are encoded in the brain. Comparative psychology is concerned with the nature of psychological processes, such as perception and cognition, across different species, and with how psychological processes have been influenced by evolutionary selection pressures.

This 4-credit course examines 1) how the brains and behavior of various species, including ourselves, have been shaped by evolution and 2) how psychology and behavior are related to brain structure and neural function. It is intended to provide broad exposure to biopsychology for the student who already has had introductory psychology. Some basic familiarity with biology concepts (high-school or introductory college level) is recommended, but biology courses are not a prerequisite for this course.

READING:

The texts for this course are Biological Psychology by J. Kalat (6th Edition is brand new; 5th edition is also fine) and The Selfish Gene by R. Dawkins (either 1st or 2nd edition). For the reading list, the 6th edition of Kalat is marked in bold font and the 5th edition in italics for parts where they differ. Finally, there is a course pack of selected articles that you should obtain from Michigan Document Services (on South University).

GRADING

There will be three exams, containing multiple-choice and short-answer questions, which contribute a total of 70% of your course grade. Discussion sections contribute the remaining 30% of your grade. The exams will be on Wednesday October 8 (in class), Monday November 17 (in class), and Wednesday December 17 (4:00-6:00 p.m. [Final]). The three exams are worth, respectively, 20%, 25%, and 25% of the course grade. Lectures are represented most heavily in exams. Readings contribute approximately 1/3 and discussion sections 1/10 of the exam material.

DISCUSSION SECTION:

Discussion sections are used for several purposes. In discussion section, your section leader will supplement the lecture with additional detail on a few topics that are especially interesting or controversial (for example: human psychological disorders, the evolutionary basis of human behavior). These topics will form the basis of the Discussion Quiz. When we cover brain structure (neuroanatomy) in lecture, you will have an opportunity to examine brain structure for yourself in discussion section. Led by your TA, you will be able (in small groups) to dissect a sheep brain and compare its structure to that of a human brain. Participation in the dissection is optional but you will be expected to know about brain structures and to be able to recognize them on the Quiz. Finally, in discussion sections you will view films and have an opportunity to review lecture topics. Your section leader will describe discussion section activities in your first meeting.

Tutorials: Later in the semester, you may meet with your section leader for tutorial sessions in small groups of 3-5 students to help you plan plan your project presentation or term paper.

Discussion Grading: Your discussion/tutorial section contributes 30% to your final course grade. This part of your grade is based on 3 sources:

1) a Quiz based on material presented during discussion sections (the quiz is scheduled during the week of November 4 in your regular discussion section [worth 10%]);

2) Two "Reaction Essays" (3 or 4 pages each on topics of special interest; topic selection will be discussed in section; each worth 5% of your final grade, 1st essay due in lecture Sept. 17 and 2nd essay due Oct. 1);

3) a Depth Topic Project: either one Term Paper (10 pages) or one 'conference poster' presentation or one oral group presentation (10-15 min per group) on a topic chosen from the list in your coursepack (presented in discussion section near the end of the semester). Your section leader will describe the quiz, reaction essays, and poster presentation / group oral presentation / term paper option in detail during your discussion section. Whichever one you choose will be worth 10% of your final grade.

Options for Depth Topic projects:

You will choose your format (poster / group presentation / term paper) and topic, and prepare an outline, consultation with your discussion leader. A list of potential topics is in your coursepack. You can develop a topic not on the list if you get approval from your section leader. Posters may be done with a partner, and your section leader will help you find one. Oral presentation groups will also be assigned by your section leader. Regardless of format, you should find and read 2-5 articles related to your topic. Some relevant articles are listed at the end of each Kalat chapter. Your section leader or Prof. Berridge can also direct you if you need help. By midsemester, you will make a brief outline of your topic and sources. Outlines must be turned in to your section leader in the week of Oct. 6. Your section leader will discuss your outline with you in tutorial to help you plan your project. Toward the end of the semester you will turn in your paper or present your poster or your oral project. Papers are due November 12 (late papers may be assessed a penalty). Presentations will be scheduled during discussion sections. Oral groups should also hand in a 1 page 'Group Resume' listing the members and the particular contributions made by each member.

Reaction Essay Topics (Choose 1 from 1A or 1B. Chose another from 2A or 2B)

1a.) Are psychological processes like thoughts, sensations, and emotions, identical to brain processes? Or do psychological processes have an irreducible property, which is always "left over", and is essentially different from a brain process?

1b.) Is it ever ethical to use animal studies to improve our understanding of human brain function, disorders, or therapies? Are there particular conditions that would determine whether your answer is yes or no?

2a.) Can evolutionary principles that explain social behavior in animals (e.g., selfish gene, kin selection, reciprocal altruism, sexual selection) also be applied to human behavior? Is human culture also a product of these principles? Or is human culture exempt from selfish gene selection, kin selection, and other principles of evolutionary psychology?

2b.) Is it ethical to treat psychological problems through drugs? Would it be ethical to impose drug therapy for severe depression or schizophrenia if the patient was unwilling? When drugs fail, is it ethical to use other biological treatments for psychological disorders, such as electroconvulsive shock therapy or psychosurgery, which may have long-lasting or permanent consequences?

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OUTLINE OF LECTURE TOPICS

AND ASSIGNED READINGS FOR LECTURE

PART I -FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES

A. Mind-brain relations: history
B. The comparative approach

1. Schematic behavioral understanding of other minds
2. Brains and behavior as evolutionary products
3. Mechanisms vs. Function

C. Ethics of Experimentation (Postponed until Sept 24th)

1. Weighing ends and means
2. Animal experiments vs. Computer models
3. Contemporary laboratory conditions

Readings:

(A) Kalat VI: Introduction & Epilogue (p 17-21 for Sept 24th) Kalat V: Chapter 1 and Appendix C (B) Coursepack papers: Mason: Psychology & animal behavior For September 24th: White; Siegel; Coile and Miller, on animal rights.

PART II - THE EVOLUTION OF BEHAVIOR

A. Evolution

1. Tenets of selection

2. Directions and units of selection
3. Evolutionarily Stable Strategies

B. Inclusive fitness

1. Altruism and kin selection
2. Sexual selection
3. Parent/offspring conflict

C. Behavioral genetics

1. Chromosomes, genes, and monogenic traits
2. Polygenic traits and heritability
3. Gene-brain-behavior relations

Readings:

(A and B) R. Dawkins: The Selfish Gene, Chap. 1-9. (C) Eibl-Eibesfeldt: "Expressive Movements"; Coursepack paper: Alcock: The Genetics of Behavior; Kalat VI: Chapter 1 & pp. 114-127; Kalat V Appendix A: Genetics; pp. 146-163

PART III - NEURONS AND BRAINS

A. Neurons

1. Neuronal structure
2. Resting potentials and action potentials
3. Synapses and graded potentials
4. Neurotransmitters and drugs

B. Brain anatomy

1. Terms and divisions: rhombencephalon, mesencephalon, diencephalon, and telecephalon
2. Major afferents and efferents
3. Internal structure: gross anatomy
4. Differences among vertebrate brains: mammals, birds, etc.
5. Brain Development

Readings:

(A) Kalat Chapters 2 and 3 (B) Kalat Chapter, 4 and 5

PART IV - ACTION

A. Morphology

1.Reflex, oscillator, and servomechanism
2.Combination principles

B. Neural Systems

1.Pyramidal
2.Extrapyramidal

Readings:

(1) Kalat Chapter 8 (2) Coursepack paper: Dawkins, M.: "The organization of motor patterns"

PART V - UMWELT: SENSATION AND PERCEPTION

A. Comparative audition

1. Neural mechanisms for auditory information in moths, frogs, and humans

B. Vision

1. Comparative Color Vision
2. Neural mechanisms of form vision:

a) Retinogeniculostriate system: projections, levels, and receptive fields
b) Extrageniculate systems: tectal, hypothalamic, and rhombencephalic projections

3. Human disorders and visual development

Readings:

Part A: Kalat: Chapter 7; Coursepack paper: Alcock: "Nerve Cells and Behavior Patterns" Part B: Kalat Chapter 6

PART VI -MOTIVATION

A. Sleep, arousal, and the caudal brainstem

1. Central controls of waking and slow-wave sleep: RAS and raphe
2. REM sleep: locus coeruleus and FTG cells

B. Specific motivations and the forebrain limbic system

1. Hunger: LH and VMH embedded in a distributed system
2. Sex

a) Perinatal organization of the brain
b) Preoptic and anterior hypothalamic nuclei

3. Aggression: amygdala, septum, and hypothalamic interaction
4. Reward

Readings:

Sleep & Arousal	Kalat Chapter 9
Hunger	Kalat VI: Skim pp 269- 280, Read pp 281-295 Kalat V: Chapter 10: Skim pp 342-358; Read pp 359-377
Sex	Kalat Chapter 11: Read All
Aggression & Reward	Kalat VI: Skim pp 323-331; Read 332-341; Re-read pp 65-75 Kalat V: Chapter 12: Skim pp 414-426; Read pp 427-447

PART VII - LEARNING

A. Pavlov's cortical model
B. Lashley's maze test: mass action vs. redundant specialization
C. Hippocampal lesions in rats and humans
D. Learning in simple systems: mammalian spines, insect ganglia, and mollusk cells

Readings:

(1) Kalat Chapter 13

PART VIII - COGNITION AND COMMUNICATION

A. Comparative use of signal and symbols

1. Orders of signal intentionality
2. Dolphin vocal communication: failure on a second-order task
3. Chimpanzee cognition: second-order relations, transitive and causal inference

B. Brain and language

1. Hemispheric specialization

a) Visual and auditory feature analysis in domestic chicks, monkeys, and humans by the left and right brain
b) Lateralization of vocal communication in songbirds and humans

2. Neural aphasia in humans

a) Broca's and Wernicke's areas
b) Production, syntactic, and semantic deficits

Readings:

(1) Coursepack paper: Premack: "Language and Intelligence in Ape and Man" (2) Kalat Chapter 14

 

ADDITIONAL READINGS FOR DISCUSSION SESSION

The following readings should be read in advance of the discussion section meetings in which your section leader will talk about the topics listed. You are responsible for their content: questions about them may be asked in the discussion section quiz.

Human Sociobiology	Dawkins, Chapter 11 ("Memes; The New Replicators") Also review Eibl-Eibesfeldt in coursepack ("Expressive Movements")
Recovery of Function	Kalat Chapter 15 (Recovery of function after brain damage)
Depression & schizophrenia	Kalat Chapter 16

The following reading should be read carefully (and more than once) before you attempt to do your sheep brain dissection & comparison to human brain.

Neuroanatomy:

Coursepack "Dissection of the Sheep Brain" Also review Kalat Chapter 4 (Anatomy)

PSYCHOLOGY 330 FALL 1997 SCHEDULE