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Biological approach - Coggle Diagram
Biological approach
NEUROPLASTICITY
Brain's ability to adapt
cortical remapping (Maguire et al 2000)
16 right-handed male, london taxi drivers
mean years as a taxi driver was 14.3
MRI scans to see the brain neuroplasticity
50 non-taxi drivers in the control group
RESULTS: more matter in the posterior hippocampus (hippocampus memory) (posterior retrieval of spatial information). control group more anterior hippocampus matter (learning new spatial information). redistribution
to see whether there was a cause-effect, the did a correlational study and the matter in posterior hippocampus correlated with the time spent as a taxi driver
MRI IS ACCURATE
Making and breaking of synaptic connections
Reasons for changes include genetic (genetic mutation or malfunction) and environmental (brain injury, damage, or acquiring new skills)
LOCALIZATION
Broca 1861
Case study on a person who lost their ability to speak due to a developed gangrene
could understand speech but not produce speech
Broca's aphasia
did it on 25 people with similar problem before localizing the aphasia
Later autopsy revealed the gangrene to be in the left frontal lobe, shown to be responsible for speech articulation
later research (modern technology) showed the lesion was broader than originally thought (paul broca wanted to keep the brain intact)
case studies take time and lack replicability but also unique and thus important
BRAIN DAMAGE LEADS TO A LOSS OF A FUNCTION
Brain's parts
frontal speech production (broca)
temporall speech comprehension (wernicke)
occipital sight
brain stem (breathing, heartbeat)
cerebellum coordination
parietal sensory
LIMBIC SYSTEM REGULATE BEHAVIOR AND EMOTION
LOCALIZATION IS LIMITED SINCE OTHER PARTS MIGHT PLAY A PART IN FUNCTIONS, IT IS NOT STATIC (NEUROPLASTICITY)
HORMONES
Chemicals
oxytocin is released directly to bloodstreams, made by hypothalamus and stored & regulated by the pituitary gland in the braiin
plays a role in sexual reproduction, childbirth, social bonding
love hormone
scheele et al 2012
86 heterosexual men, single and in a relationship
placebo and oxytocin administered, double blind
two tasks
stop-distance paradigm
attractive woman, asked to approach until uncomfortable
men with oxytocin administered and in a relationship stayed further away 71 vs. 59
control group no difference
approach-avoidance task
50cm away from screen, 4 types of photos
positive social (attractive women
positive non-social (landscapes
negative social (mutilations)
negative non-social (dirt)
can zoom in, zoom out
men in relationships zoomed out more
oxytocin selectively inhibits approach to certain stimuli (attractive women)
in some cultures it is natural to be close to strangers
PHEROMONES
CHEMICALS SECRETED BY ONE AFFECT THE OTHERS
Mating behavior, fertility in other species, in humans debatable
Cutler, Friedmann and McCoy (1998)
sociosexual behavior
volunteer samplin
38 men, divided into two, not too attractive or unattractive, relatively social with women, 25-42 years, not taking medication, good health, shaving regularly, heterosexual
a questionnaire to see if the person fit the criteria
bring aftershave, use for two weeks
after two weeks they administered either ethanol or ethanol with pheromones and use it for six weeks
SYNTHETIC PHEROMONE, IS IT ACCURATE TO REAL LIFE
47% reported more sexual intercourse, no pheromones 9.5%
increased attractiveness of men to women
done vice versa, same results
Demand characteristics and participant bias as they may have figured the experiment out
men shouldnt smell like anything else in order to know it is the pheromone talking
GENES
nature and nurture
twin studies allow the study of environment since the genetic makeup is the same
Kaminsky et al (2008) war law twin
MZ monozygous, 100% identical twins
Epigenetics is the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work.
difference in phenotype, observable characteristics
WAR TWIN CHANGED HER GENES
war twin, adventurous, married late, no kids, surrounded by war and horrors, law twin worked in a law firm, anxiety, married young, two kids.
gene part of the stress centre had changed, altering ability to handle stress
the gene was suppressed
NEUROTRANSMITTERS
a chemical substance which is released at the end of a nerve fibre by the arrival of a nerve impulse and, by diffusing across the synapse or junction, effects the transfer of the impulse to another nerve fibre, a muscle fibre, or some other structure.
Fisher, Aron and Brown 2005
17 participants, intensely in love, 7.4 months on average
HONEYMOON PHASE
Brain's reward system was particularly active, more passionate->more activity
motivation to win a specific mating partner->you see something you see as worth winning or "owning"
semi structured interview,questionnaire, compared to fMRI scans
in fMRI scans the participants looked at their loved ones for 30 seconds->filler task->neutral photo->repeated six times
BEHAVIOR IS THE PRODUCT OF PHYSIOLOGY