Biological Bases of Behaviour I

obligatory courses

The aim of this obligatory course is to present how biological psychology explains behaviour. Throughout the lecture we will survey explanations related to the physiology of the nervous system, especially the brain, genetic factors and endocrine activity, to name a few.

We will look at the morphology and the anatomy of the nervous system, the principles of neural transmission, and the functional organisation of the central nervous system (CNS).

The course will also outline basic concepts in evolutionary theory and ethology - the science of animal behaviour.

Number of hours 30 h Lecture + 30 h Seminar

It is no exaggeration to say that what makes us human is our large and complex brains. From a biological point of view all our experiences and actions are the result of neural activity and the study of human behavior would not go far without the study of brain structure and function. The content of the course maps well onto subjects investigated by biological psychologists. Thus the aim of this course is firstly to present how biological psychology explains behavior. We will survey different explanations related to the physiology of the nervous system at different levels of organization: from genes, cells and neurotransmitters to large-scale networks spanning the entire brain.

The second aim is to show students how scientific knowledge arises from individual experimental studies employing a range of methods. The converging methods approach is unique to biological psychology, thus we will look at the contribution of genetics, animal models, neurophysiology, neuroimaging and patient studies.

Throughout the course we will look at morphology and the anatomy of the nervous system, the principles of neural transmission, and the functional organisation of the central nervous system (CNS). Subsequent themes cover different sensory systems: vision, hearing, proprioception and smell as well as the neural basis of learning and memory and of motor control. We will conclude with a brief outlook on comparative studies of animal behavior, basic concepts in evolutionary theory and a critical look on the field of evolutionary psychology.

1. Students will know the anatomy and functional organisation of the peripheral and central nervous system.

2. They will know functional relationships between brain activity and motor, cognitive or emotional processes.

3. They will have well-organised knowledge on theory of evolution and evolutionary processes and molecular genetics in relation to human motor, cognitive and emotional processes.

4. Student will know the principles of psychophysiological and neuroimaging research methods and biological mechanisms underlying electrical and hemodynamic brain responses.

5. They will know basic concept related to ethological description of animal behaviour.