3PhysioPsych/BioPsych What are the genetic changes?

Rhia Anna L. Tadena "Rhai" These hereditary (or inherited)

mutations are in almost every cell of the
[email protected]
person’s body throughout their life.
scientific study of the biology of
behavior. In a sense, all psychology is
biology. It is a biological approach to the If a parent carries ad gene mutation
study of psychology rather than a in their egg or sperm, it can pass to their
psychological approach to the study of child. These hereditary (or inherited)
biology. So, it focuses on all overt activities mutations are in almost every cell of the
of an organism as well as all the internal person’s body throughout their life.
processes that are presumed to underlie Hereditary mutations include cystic
them (e.g., learning, memory, motivation, fibrosis, hemophilia, and sickle cell disease.
perception, emotion). It also tackles
genetics, evolution, hormones, body
physiology, and brain mechanisms. Genetics, Evolutionary Psychology,
BioPsych also tackles the relationship and Behavior
between mind and brain, the roles of nature
Behavior Genetics: Predicting Individual
and nurtures, and the ethics of research.
Differences
What are chromosomes, DNA, genes,
Physiological/Biological and the human genome? How do
Psychology: Evolution and Genetics behavior geneticists explain our
individual differences?
Foundations of Biopsychology is a
lively and engaging introduction to how the Environment:
brain produces behaviour.
Every nongenetic influence, from
Biological psychology is the study of prenatal nutrition to the people and things
the physiological, evolutionary, and around us.
developmental mechanisms of behavior
Environmental Consequences:
and experience.
 Situation
 Experiences
Genetics and Evolution  Calamities
Evolutionary genetics is the study of  Dealing with others
how genetic variation leads to evolutionary
change. It includes topics such as the Hereditary:
evolution of genome structure, the genetic
basis of speciation and adaptation, and The genetic transfer of characteristics
genetic change in response to selection from parents to offspring
within populations.
Behavior Genetics: Identical (monozygotic) twins:
Study of the relative power and limits Develop from a single fertilized egg
of genetic and environmental influences on that splits in two, creating two genetically
behavior. (Nature & Nurture). We have the identical organisms. Shares one placenta.
choice to choose differently.
Identical twins share the same
conception and uterus, and usually the
same birth date and cultural history.
Gene: Our Codes for Life
Chromosomes:
Threadlike structures made of DNA
molecules that contain the genes.

DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid):

Complex molecule containing the
genetic information that makes up the
chromosomes.

Genes:
Biochemical units of heredity that
make up chromosomes; segments of DNA
capable of synthesizing proteins

Genome:
Fraternal (dizygotic) twins:
All the genetic material in an
Develop from separate fertilized eggs
organism’s chromosomes
Genetically no closer than brothers
When genes are expressed, they
and sisters, but they share a prenatal
provide the code for creating the proteins
environment. Merged to two placentas.
that form our body’s building blocks.
Studies of twin in adulthood show
that identical twins are more alike than
Twin and Adoption Studies fraternal twins in:
How do twin and adoption studies  Having disorders, such as autism
help us understand the effects and spectrum disorder
interactions of nature and nurture?
Identical Versus Fraternal Twins
  Personality traits such as The study of environmental
extraversion (sociability) and influences on gene expression that occur
neuroticism (emotional instability) without a DNA change

Biological Versus Adoptive Relatives Epigenetics Influences Gene Expression

Studies conducted with adopted children Life experiences beginning in the

for whom the biological relatives are known womb lay down epigenetic marks---often
organic methyl molecules---that can affect
Adopted children seem to be more
the expression of any gene in the associated
similar to their genetic relatives than their
DNA segment (From Champagne, 2010)
adoptive relatives
The environment shared by a family’s
children has virtually no discernible impact
on their personalities.

Does the home environment have any

impact?
Despite the strong impact of genetics
on personality, parenting has an influence
on:

 Religious Beliefs
 Values
 Manners
 Attitudes
 Politics
 Habits

How do heredity and environment

work together?
Genes and environment-nature and
nurture-work together
Genes are self-regulating; rather
than acting as blueprints that lead to the
same result no matter the context, genes
react
Genes and experience interact
Epigenetics
Evolutionary Psychology: Understanding Natural Selection and Adaptation
Human Nature
Natural selection and adaptation
How do evolutionary psychologists
Genes selected during our ancestral
use natural selection to explain
history give us a great capacity to learn and
behavior tendencies?
therefore to adapt to life in varied
Behavior genetics explore the genetic environments.
and environmental roots of human
The tight genetic leash that
differences
predisposes a dog’s retrieving, a cat’s
Evolutionary psychologists instead pouncing, or a bird’s nesting is looser in
focus mostly on what makes us so much humans
alike as humans.
Adaptive flexibility in responding to
different environments contributes to the
ability to survive and reproduce.
Evolutionary Psychology:
The study of the evolution of
behavior and the mind, using principles of How Natural Selection Works
natural selection
Begin with a species’ genome, which
Evolutionary psychologists use contains a variety of genes that shape traits.
Charles Darwin’s principle of natural
Conditions make it difficult for
selection to understand the roots of
individuals with some traits (some versions
behavior and mental processes
of those genes) to survive long enough to
reproduce.
Natural Selection: Other individuals thus have their
traits and genes “selected” to spread in the
The principle that those chance
population.
inherited traits that better enable an
organism to survive and reproduce in a
particular environment will most likely be
Understanding Human Nature
passed on to succeeding generations
Evolutionary Success Helps Explain
Nature has indeed selected Similarities
advantageous variations from the new gene
Our Genetic Legacy
combinations produced at each human
conception plus the mutation (random As success-enhancing genes were
errors in gene replication_ that sometimes selected over time, behavioral tendencies
result. But especially in human, genes and and thinking and learning capacities
experience together wire the brain. emerged that prepared our Stone Age
ancestors to survive, reproduce, and send
their genes into the future.
As inheritors of this prehistoric
genetic legacy, we are genetically
predisposed to behave in ways that
promoted our ancestors’ surviving and
reproducing, ways that may be mismatched
with our contemporary lifestyle.
In what ways might this be problematic?

Evolutionary Psychology Today

Darwin’s theory of evolution has
become one of biology’s organizing
principles
The theory lives on in the second
Darwinian revolution, the application of
evolutionary principles to psychology.
Darwin anticipated this, foreseeing
“open fields for far more important
researches. Psychology will be based on a
new foundation.”

Brain Structure and Function

Neuron and Neurotransmitters
Neuroendocrine System