The biological perspective focuses on
behavior due to biological influences. This perspective focuses on the brain
including its connections our nervous system which controls mental processes.
The nervous system is responsible for memory, feelings, actions, and reactions
towards the external world. It is divided into the central nervous system which includes the brain and spinal cord,
and the peripheral nervous system which
consists of nerve cells. These nerve cells are called neurons. This neuron consists of a cell body responsible for the cell´s energy, dendrites which receive information from a different neuron, and an
axon which sends a message away. For
messages to be passed between neurons, it must cross a synapse which is a space between two neurons. Then a neuron
releases its neurotransmitters a
chemical message to another neuron. The brain is composed of the hindbrain, midbrain and forebrain mainly. Within the hindbrain the medulla, pons, and cerebellum are found. In the midbrain
the reticular activating system is
found. Within the forebrain the thalamus, hypothalamus, limbic system, cerebrum, and cerebral cortex are found. The sensory and motor areas of the brain are responsible for the control and senses
of certain areas of the body. The biological
perspective is also seen in case
studies.
There is a condition called phantom limb syndrome. In one case
study a man called Derek was suffering from this condition. He was missing and
arm. However he felt it. A known psychologist called Ramachandran experimented with him. He touched certain
parts of him to see if any created a sensory response to his missing arm. As a
result his cheek created this sensory response. The psychologist concluded that
this was because his sensory part of the cheek was just by the sensory part of
his arm. So when Derek lost his arm, these sensory parts in his brain had to be
stimulated so they blended with the sensory neighbor. Another case study shows
a fellow who had a missing arm but even if the arm was not there, he had it
clenched. This was because there is no feedback because there is no arm so the
signals keep going. Through a mirror box, this could be unclenched creating a
perception as if he still had an arm.
There is a condition called blind sight. A case study shows how a
man is blind, but he can see movement. This is because there are two parts in
vision. One part involves the visual cortex which is our conscious part of
sight where we select what is important in what we see. The other part involves
the brain stem which is the reflexive behavior. This part is unconscious and involves
only movement and reflexes. This is how reptiles see, through reflexes,
as well as this gentleman. Another case study involving sight is about Peggy
which suffers from visual neglect. Half
of the visual world is not important for her. This is a problem of consciousness.
There is spatial neglecting in the parietal lobe.
There is a condition called the Kapagra Delusion. In this case study a
man suffered from an accident. After the accident he could recognize his
parents but said they were impostors. This is a visual problem because he could
recognize them but did not feel the emotions he felt with his “real parents”.
This is because from the temporal lobe, the message does not reach amygdala so
he felt no emotions towards his parents. This over time healed itself.
The final case study is about a
man that suffered an accident called John. He had epilepsy. He had an
electrical storm inside of him where he felt the emotions to excess. It is an
earthquake in the brain that was caused by seizures. Sometimes he felt
overpowering, and sometimes extremely sad.
The biological perspective is so
perfect and complicated that a simple change in the brain can make a huge
difference. Also how a change in anatomy can make a change int he brain. After these case studies were read, we could understand that the
brain is made in a specific way. If something slightly is changed, any signal or
any message cannot be sent or is sent incorrectly, it creates an overall huge
change. We could also see how powerful the unconsciousness can be and see whenone is blind. We can see how all the messages have to pass through a series
of steps to reach its final point. We could also see how stimulation is still
being sent or sensed when missing a part. This is how complex the nervous
system is.
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