The Biology of Psychology

Phrenology lead people to believe that (a) the brain influenced personality and (b) specific parts of the brain were responsible for different traits.

    The History of Phrenology on the Web

The case of Phineas Gage made more people aware of the relationship of the brain to personality.

    Phineas Gage Information Page

    The American Crowbar Case

The major systems of the brain:

Frontal lobes:

Other lobes

Right and Left hemispheres

Limbic system

Conclusions about the brain's organization

Ways to help you remember the brain's organization

Look at the history of our efforts to understand the brain

Take a look at some pictures of the brain.

Glance through this visual guide to the brain. (Move your cursor over the pictures of the brain in the middle of the page. )

Be aware that, sometimes, differences are exaggerated and oversimplified

a. Right/Left brain differences

b. Sex differences in the brain

Watch this video to understand how recent advances in the brain help us understand people who have unusual characteristics.

Go through this nice tour of brain basics--and how Alzheimer's disease affects the brain.

Note: If you want to see pictures of the human brain, click here. For more technical photographs, click here .

The elements of the brain: Neurons, neurotransmitters, and synapses

• "Narrated Neurons" (a--very basic-- tour of the neurons and the brain)

Basic parts of the neuron

Cell body (soma):

Dendrites:

Axon:

The "all-or-none" law of neural firing:

Why stimuli differ in intensity

1.

2.

The role of the synapse

How we can interfere with neural transmission:

Drug therapy for depression

A site to help you learn the parts of the neuron

A short video that makes fun of the  medicalizing of behavior "problems"

Implications of the view that we are our brains for:

Personality

Daily life

Understanding mental problems

Therapy

• Label the parts of a neuron.

• Explain the difference between our autonomic and somatic nervous systems.

• Explain the difference between the left and the right hemispheres.

• Explain the relationship between the frontal lobes and the limbic system.

• know about major, relatively recent techniques for observing the brain, such as PET, MRI, and CAT scans. (one application of brain imaging techniques)
• Explain how neurons send messages.

• Describe the "all-or-none" principle.

• Explain how we know about the functions of the right and left brains.

• Explain how heredity can affect personality and behavior.

• Describe at least three ways that drugs can affect neural communication.

• Describe the similarities and differences between the brains of humans and the brains of lower animals, such as cats.

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