COURSE STRUCTURE
There are 7 lessons in this course:
- Lesson 1 Evolution, Genetics and Experience
- What is biopsychology
- The organism's genetic endowment, experience and perception.
- Adaptation
- Behavioural genetics
- The nature nurture debate
- The human genome
- Benefits of genetic research
- Critical policy and ethical issues
- Lesson 2 Research Methods in Biopsychology
- Behavioural genetics
- Methods of investigating the brain: invasive and non invasive
- Localisation of function
- Neuroanatomical techniques
- Psychophysiological measures
- Other methods
- Lesions
- Lesson 3 Brain Damage
- Causes of brain damage
- Frontal lobe damage
- Damage to other areas and effects
- Types of brain damage
- Case study : Phineas Gage
- Case study: diagnosing epilepsy
- Case study -Alzheimer's disease
- Lesson 4 Recovery from Brain Damage
- Neuro plasticity
- Stages of recovery: unresponsiveness, early responses, agitated and confused, higher level responses,
- Case study: Parkinson's disease
- Parkinson's disease symptoms, diagnosis, prognosis, stages, etc
- Drug treatments for Parkinson's disease
- Complimentary and supportive therapies for Parkinson's disease
- Coping with Parkinson's disease
- Terminology
- Lesson 5 Drug Dependence and the Brain
- Drugs
- Definitions
- Effects of illegal drugs
- Other drugs: steroids, barbiturates, etc
- Physiological and psychological effects of drugs: illicits, stimulants
- Addiction: how drugs work in the brain
- Central nervous system
- Lesson 6 Memory
- Models of memory: multistore model, working memory model, levels of processing model
- Levels of processing model
- Amnesia and types of amnesia
- Case study: traumatic amnesia
- Case study: Korsakoff's syndrome (Alcohol amnesic syndrome)
- Lesson 7 Language
- The brain and language
- Paul Broca
- Carl Wernicke
- Aphasia and Diaphasia
- Apraxia
Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.
WHAT YOU MAY DO IN THIS COURSE
- Viewing behaviour as part genetic and part experiential.
- Discuss how human behaviour is linked to evolution.
- Explain how dominant traits are passed on to offspring by genetics.
- Describe the relationship between gene expression and the genetic code.
- Consider how studies of identical twins shed light on the development of differences among individuals?
- Explain how CT and PET scans are used to obtain images of the brain.
- Determine what invasive research methods have been employed to try and understand the brain and behaviour?
- Consider how drugs are used to understand neurotransmitters and their effect on behaviour?
- Explain how gene knockout and gene replacement techniques are used.
- Outline methods of neuropsychological testing.
- Determine how studying animal behaviour in the laboratory can be useful in understanding human behaviour.
- List and define the most common causes of brain damage.
- Explain the significance of neuron death.
- Explain what happens during neural regeneration and neural degeneration?
- Determine the function of slow and rapid neural reorganisation in the mammalian brain?
- Determine the extent of neurotransplantation of replacement parts in the brain.
- Explain the relationship between physical dependence on drugs and withdrawal syndrome.
- The extent that neural mechanisms seemingly involved in addiction.
- Determine what medial temporal lobe amnesia tell us about implicit and explicit memory?
- Consider cerebral dominance through language lateralisation and left and right-handedness.
- Consider evidence that suggests that the hemispheres of split-brain patients function independently.
- Identify what we now know about lateralisation of function in the left and right hemispheres.
- Evaluate the Wernicke-Geschwind model of cortical localisation of language.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why Study Advanced Biopsychology?
This advanced biopsychology course will further develop your understanding of the impact of physiology and biology on human behaviour.
This course covers complex brain processing systems of memory and language as well as examining how brain damage and substances can impact upon functioning and behaviour.
- Learn about the effects of substances on the brain.
- Learn about the impact of brain damage on thinking and behaviour.
What Will You Learn in This Course?
In this course you will learn about the more complex interactions between brain and behaviour and what happens when things go wrong.
- Learn more about the fascinating field of biopsychology.
- Understand more about how our biology and physiology affects how we think.
- The effects of brain damage and drugs on behaviour.
- The higher cognitive functions of memory and language.
It is not essential, but if you have not studied biopsychology before, studying Biopsychology I before studying this course would be useful.
What Next?
You can enrol today by clicking the “Enrol Now” button above.
Or
Click here to Contact a Psychology Tutor.
Or Request a Prospectus Here.