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The Biological Approach Natasha G-Q, Sophia, Robert and Katie Basically... " You, your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules."Crick 1994 History Louis' Brain In 1840, Louis Leborgne lost the ability to talk. Until his death in 1861, the only word he could say was "Tan" despite understanding speech and following instructions. Paul Broca was interested in Louis and after he died, performed an autopsy on his brain identifying damage in the left frontal lobe. Broca studied a further 25 patients with similar symptoms to "Tan" and concluded the left frontal lobe was responsible for speech. Broca found that certain aspects of behavior are controlled by different areas within the brain. Evolution Charles Darwin travelled to the Galapagos Islands in the mid 19th century and noticed the different shaped beaks of finches on two of the islands. He deduced that the finches were not of different species, but variations of the same species, how they had modified their bodies (or evolved) to survive the environment, this is known as “the survival of the fittest”. Overtime, Darwin saw that the offspring would inherit the traits from their parents sometimes varying in traits i.e. different sight or hearing, different tools, so the species could adapt to survive longer. This is known as natural selection or evolution. In modern times, humans still share similar (if not identical) traits of our ancestors, passing them onto our descendants. Genotype The collection of all the genes with each cell of an individual. Genotype Phenotype BB Brown eyes Same phenotype as below but different genotype Bb Brown eyes Same phenotype as above but different genotype bb Blue eyes Different phenotype and genotype from both above Phenotype A description of your actual physical characteristics. This includes straightforward visible characteristics like your height and eye color, but also your overall health, your disease history, and even your behavior and general disposition. Do you gain weight easily? Are you anxious or calm? Do you like cats? These are all ways in which you present yourself to the world, and as such are considered phenotypes. Genetic Influences for Mental Disorders • Nestadt et al. (2000) found that there is evidence to support biological influences for Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). They found that siblings and children of people suffering with the condition were 11.7 per cent more likely to develop the disorder; unlike the 2.7 per cent of the general population. Neurochemistry and Behaviours • The main focus for neurochemistry are chemicals called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are chemicals such as dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin. OCD • Obsessive compulsive disorder is caused by serotonin in low concentrations, which affects the suppression of the mechanism for task repetition. • It can be treated with selective serotonin uptake inhibitors. (SSRIs) Depressions • Depression is caused by an imbalance in serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline. • It can be treated with monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOIs) and SSRIs. Contributions • The biological approach has helped us understand almost every field of psychology across the 20th century. The human brain is extremely complicated and can influence many types of behaviour. • 1. Neurosurgery-brain surgery is usually a last resort technique as we know so little about the brain. H.M. suffered devastating epileptic fits that in the end a surgical technique that had never been used before was tried out. This technique cured his epilepsy, but in the process the hippocampus had to be removed which left HM with amnesia affecting his short term memory. Now we know the hippocampus is involved in memory. • 2. Electroencrphalograms (EEGs) This is a way of recording the electrical activity of the brain. Electrodes are attached to the scalp and brain waves can be traced. EEGs have been used to study sleep and it has been found that during a typical night’s sleep, we go through a series of stages marked by different patterns of brain wave. • 3. Brain Scans- More recently methods of studying the brain have been developed using various types of scanning equipment hooked up to powerful computers. The CAT scan (Computerised Axial Tomography) is a moving X-ray beam which takes “pictures" from different angles around the head and can be used to build up a 3-dimensional image of which areas of the brain are damaged.