by Brad Norman

Created on: April 10, 2009

Biopsychology is a fascinating science that bridges biology with psychology. It is also known as neuroscience or behavioural neuroscience. Biopsychology studies the biological and neuronal basis for various behaviours and psychological processes, including brain disorders.

Though there is some debate as to the cause of many phsycological disorders, in biopsychologic, it seeks to find a physical cause. This is because it supports the idea that the brain controls all the behaviours, thoughts and emotions that a person experiences. If something is abnormal about either of those things, it it assumed that it is a product of some physical basis. Though it still maintains the idea that environment and experience does play a role, there is always a physical cause as well. This physical cause could be mutated genes, toxins, or bacterial infections. However, sometimes faulty genes are found in people who show no signs of particular disorders. It is thought in these cases that the disorder is a result of a biology-experience interaction. Genetics may offer only a predisposition to the disorder, while experience acts as the trigger to develop the disorder.

One major area of biopsychology involves neurotransmitters and their effects on different brain regions. Neurotransmitters are chemicals, usually proteins, that are released from the terminal bulbs of neurons. When these chemicals interact with receptors on adjacent neurons, they can have a wide range of effects. Some neurotransmitters are inhibitory (decrease firing of other neurons) or excitatory (increase firing of other neurons). As a result of biopsychological research, some psychological disorders, such as depression of anxiety, have been linked to abnormal levels of specific neurotransmitters. By understanding the functions of different neurotransmitters and how to correct abnormalities, biopsychological research has led to the development of drugs effective at treating such disorders.

In addition to neurotransmitters, biopsychology also looks at the physical structure of some neuron and how such structures are different in patients with certain disorders. For example, patients with multiple sclerosis have been found to have less myelin surrounding some of their neurons. Myelin is an insulating substance that surround neurons, similar to the rubber coating on copper wires. By studying normal neurons and how myelin is deposited on them, biopsychologists hope to find a way to reverse or stop the loss of myelin in patients suffering from such disorders.

Every behaviour, thought, and emotion is on some level controlled by the nervous system and the cells that compose it. Biopsychology studies these behaviours and how they are controlled by the nervous system. Its ultimate goal is to pin down the causes of such behaviours, and thus correct disorders which affect those behaviours.

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