About the Book
Biopsychologyclearly presents the fundamentals of the study of the biology of behavior and makes the topics personally and socially relevant to the student.
Written in a friendly, engaging, narrative — and at times autobiographical — tone, the Sixth Edition continues to make the field of biopsychology accessible and appealing. By emphasizing four interwoven themes throughout the book, the major recent developments in the rapidly changing field of biopsychology come alive clearly and completely for students.
Table of Contents:
1. Biopsychology As a Neuroscience: What Is Biopsychology, Anyway?
What Is Biopsychology?
What Is the Relation Between Biopsychology and the Other Disciplines of Neuroscience?
What Types of Research Characterize the Biopsychological Approach?
What Are the Divisions of Biopsychology?
Converging Operations: How Do Biopsychologists Work Together?
Scientific Interference: How Do Biopsychologists Study the Unobservable Workings of the Brain?
Critical Thinking About Biopsychological Claims.
2. Evolution, Genetics, and Experience: Thinking About the Biology of Behavior.
Thinking About the Biology of Behavior: From Dichotomies to Relations and Interactions.
Human Evolution.
Fundamental Genetics.
Behavioral Development: The Interaction of Genetic Factors and Experience.
The Genetics of Human Psychological Differences.
3. The Anatomy of the Nervous System: The Systems, Structures, and Cells That Make Up Your Nervous System.
General Layout of the Nervous System.
Cells of the Nervous System.
Neuroanatomical Techniques and Directions.
Spinal Cord.
The Five Major Divisions of the Brain.
Major Structures of the Brain.
4. Neural Conduction and Synaptic Transmission: How Neurons Send and Receive Signals.
The Neurons Resting Membrane Potential.
Generation and Conduction of Postsynaptic Potentials.
Integration of Postsynaptic Potentials and Generation of Action Potentials.
Conduction of Action Potentials.
Synaptic Transmission: Chemical Transmission of Signals from One Neuron to Another.
The Neurotransmitters.
Pharmacology of Synaptic Transmission.
5. The Research Methods of Biopsychology: Understanding What Biopsychologists Do.
Methods of Visualizing and Stimulating the Living Human Brain.
Recording Human Psychophysiological Activity.
Invasive Physiological Research Methods.
Pharmacological Research Methods.
Genetic Engineering.
Neuropsychological Testing.
Behavioral Methods of Cognitive Neuroscience.
Biopsychological Paradigms of Animal Behavior.
6. The Visual System: From Your Eyes to Your Cortex.
Light Enters the Eye and Reaches the Retina.
The Retina and Translation of Light into Neural Signals.
From Retina to Primary Visual Cortex.
Seeing Edges.
Seeing Color.
7. Mechanisms of Perception, Conscious Awareness, and Attention: How You Know the World.
Principles of Sensory System Organization.
Cortical Mechanisms of Vision.
Audition.
Somatosensation: Touch and Pain.
The Chemical Senses: Smell and Taste.
Selective Attention.
8. The Sensorimotor System: How You Do What You Do.
Three Principles of Sensorimotor Function.
Sensorimotor Association Cortex.
Secondary Motor Cortex.
Primary Motor Cortex.
Cerebellum and Basal Ganglia.
Descending Motor Pathways.
Sensorimotor Spinal Circuits.
Central Sensorimotor Programs.
9. Development of the Nervous System: From Fertilized Egg to You.
Phases of Neural Development.
Postnatal Cerebral Development in Human Infants.
Effects of Experience on Early Development, Maintenance, and Reorganization of Neural Circuits.
Neuroplasticity in Adults.
Disorders of Neurodevelopment: Autism and Williams Syndrome.
10. Brain Damage and Neuroplasticity: Can the Brain Recover from Damage?
Causes of Brain Damage.
Neuropsychological Diseases.
Animal Models of Human Neuropsychological Diseases.
Neuroplastic Responses to Nervous System Damage: Degeneration, Regeneration,
Reorganization and Recovery.
Neuroplasticity and the Treatment of Nervous System Damage.
11. Learning, Memory, and Amnesia: How Your Brain Stores Information.
Amnesic Effects of Bilateral Medial Temporal Lobectomy.
Amnesia of Korsakoff's Syndrome.
Amnesia of Alzheimer's Disease.
Amnesia After Concussion: Evidence for Consolidation.
Neuroanatomy of Object-Recognition Memory.
Hippocampus and Memory for Spatial Location.
Where Are Memories Stored?
Synaptic Mechanisms of Learning and Memory.
Conclusion: Infantile Amnesia and the Man Who Remembered H.M.
12. Hunger, Eating, and Health: Why Do Many People Eat Too Much?
Digestion and Energy Flow.
Theories of Hunger and Eating: Set Points Versus Positive Incentives.
Factors That Determine What, When, and How Much We Eat.
Physiological Research on Hunger and Satiety.
Body Weight Regulation: Set Points Versus Settling Points.
Human Obesity.
Anorexia Nervosa.
13. Hormones and Sex: Whats Wrong with the Mamawawa?
The Neuroendocrine System.
Hormones and Sexual Development.
Three Cases of Exceptional Human Sexual Development.
Effects of Gonadal Hormones on Adults.
The Hypothalamus and Sexual Behavior.
Sexual Orientation, Hormones, and the Brain.
14. Sleep, Dreaming, and Circadian Rhythms: How Much Do You Need to Sleep?
The Physiological and Behavioral Events of Sleep.
REM Sleep and Dreaming.
Why Do We Sleep, and Why Do We Sleep When We Do?
Comparative Analysis of Sleep.
Circadian Sleep Cycles.
Effects of Sleep Deprivation.
Neural Mechanisms of Sleep.
The Circadian Clock: Neural and Molecular Mechanisms.
Drugs That Affect Sleep.
Sleep Disorders.
The Effects of Long-Term Sleep Reduction.
15. Drug Addiction and the Brains Reward Circuits: Chemicals That Harm with Pleasure.
Basic Principles of Drug Action.
Role of Learning in Drug Tolerance and Drug Withdrawal Effects.
Five Commonly Abused Drugs.
Biopsychological Theories of Addiction.
Intracranial Self-Stimulation and the Pleasure Centers of the Brain.
Neural Mechanism of Motivation and Addiction.
A Noteworthy Case of Addiction.
16. Lateralization, Language, and the Split Brain: The Left Brain and Right Brain of Language.
Cerebral Lateralization of Function: Introduction.
The Split Brain.
Differences Between the Left and Right Hemispheres.
Cortical Localization of Language: The Wernicke-Geschwind Model.
Evaluation of the Wernicke-Geschwind Model.
The Modern Cognitive Neuroscience Approach to Language.
Cognitive Neuroscience of Dyslexia.
17. Biopsychology of Emotion, Stress, and Health: Fear, the Dark Side of Emotion.
Biopsychology of Emotion: Introduction.
Fear, Defense, and Aggression.
Stress and Health.
Fear Conditioning.
Brain Mechanisms of Human Emotion.
18. Biopsychology of Psychiatric Disorders: The Brain Unhinged.
Schizophrenia.
Affective Disorders: Depression and Mania.
Anxiety Disorders.
Tourette Syndrome.
Clinical Trials: Development of New Psychotherapeutic Drugs.
Review :
Excerpt from a letter to the author (used with permission)::
"I am currently a 2nd year Psychology student at the University of Western Ontario and I am taking a Biopsychology class...I have to say what an amazing text this is...
I recently switched majors from physiology/medical sciences to psychology and I was confused for a while about what I liked more: biological sciences or psychology. I didn't know I could combine them until I read your textbook. Your book was inspirational for me and I now have a clearer, more defined idea of what I would like to do with my degree and future endeavours. Thank you very much for writing such an interesting textbook that was so clearly aimed to help students understand and appreciate biopsychology. I honestly attribute my new-found interest in biopsychology to the amazing work you put in to this text. Too bad I am several provinces away from B.C, I would have loved to be in one of your classes! Thank you again and I hope to read more of your work in the future."
- Tannis, student at University of Western Ontario
Excerpt from a letter to the author (used with permission)::
"I am doing a Graduate Diploma in Psychology in Brisbane, Australia and just wanted to say that your textbook is particularly interesting and stimulating. I can see that there is passion and clarity in every chapter and your own experiences with the tumour as relayed in Chapter 10 was fascinating. It’s good to know that some texts can have that “human” factor, and this really makes an impact on the reader. "
- Simon, student at Brisbane, Australia
Excerpt from a letter to the author (used with permission)::
"Dr. Pinel:
I just completed a Physiological Psychology class at Chapman University College. Your Biopsychology text was required for the class. It was the BEST textbook I have ever used. I'm 51 years old and have taken many classes in my life so that's saying a heck of lot!!! Believe me, I have certainly never written to the author to complement him on the text. You made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for making a tough class enjoyable."
- Eileen, student at Chapman University
Excerpt from a letter to the author (used with permission)::
"I have just finished reading your book and wanted to thank you for writing it. I like the way you presented the information as if you were "chatting" with me. It was very easy to understand and a fun read. I especially liked all the vignettes and diagrams. They helped me to visualize and understand the topic you were discussing. I also reviewed the CD after every chapter I read and found it to be a helpful tool in preparing for my exams. Before taking this class I was very nervous and unsure of whether or not I would be able to grasp the information. Now class is almost over and I have a 95% in my class. I am taking my final exam tomorrow and I am confident I will do well. I feel that my understanding of the information in your book was due to the way it was written. It was very relaxed and personal, a goal you strived for in writing this book. So again, thanks for sharing your knowledge with me."
- Priscilla, student at Chapman University
Excerpt from a letter to the author (used with permission):
"Dr. Pinel,
I am a student who has just completed a Biopsychology course designed around your textbook (6th ed.) at Birmingham-Southern College. To confess my initial thoughts, I largely began this course because it is one of the requirements of my Psychology major and I gazed rather unexcitedly upon the cover of your textbook, assuming it to be like some of the other repetitive, over-written books I had become accustomed to during my three years at this college. However, as I delved a little deeper into the subject matter, exploring topics from sex and hormones to sleep cycles to neuroplasticity, I began to realize that your textbook is unlike any I had ever used. Not only is the research you include very pertinent to the subject and thought-provoking, but you seem to take the time to include personal notes, stories, and anecdotes that truly set your work apart from other texts. I can tell that Psychology is a field that really excites you, and in turn, I am more excited about my major. I just wanted to send you this small token of my graditude and a thanks for changing my mind about Psychology.
- Jeff Tullis, Birmingham-Southern College 2008"
