Psychobiology / Chris Chandler.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Machine generated contents note: Part 1. Nuts and Bolts. Chapter 1. Introduction. The nature of psychobiology. Philosophical grounding. The use of information from other disciplines. The use of animals (and people) in psychobiology with particular reference to Home Office restrictions and how other countries arrange the use of animals. Given the negativity surrounding animal use I would like to have a balanced account of use and abuse of animals. The scientific use of animals should be emphasised to include animal models and validity. Again here there should be an emphasis on the changing role of animals in psychobiology over the decades. Finally I would like to consider the role of psychobiology in Law.. Chapter 2. Evolution and Genetics. This is a chapter that is seldom well done, if done at all in other texts. Darwin et al and the challenge faced with the introduction of evolution. Similarities with other species - comparative psychology. Mendelian genetics and DNA. Animal utilization in genetics (transgenetic etc). Behavioural genetics. Twins etc. Locating genes. The evolutionary accounts of behaviour would continue throughout the book as BOXES to illustrate this view of a behaviour.. Chapter 3 Neural Development. How the genetic code translates into the brain etc. Cellular differentiation. Growth of the brain and Nervous System. Demise of the brain and aging. Neural plasticity (linked to individual chapter). Chapter 4. The Neuron and communication. The basic anatomy of a neuron. Action potential etc and synaptic communication.. Chapter 5. Neuroanatomy and divisions of the nervous system. The basic division of the brain and a brief introduction to some of their functions. The divisions of the nervous system and their functions. An emphasis on communication between these areas will be made. Lateralization. Part 2. Tools of the Trade. Chapter 6. Lesions, Imaging techniques and psychophysiology. Given the use of imaging in psychobiology the different types of imaging will be discussed and illustrated. Psychophysiology needs to be explained as a stand alone method with all the varieties it has, and in combination with imaging. Explain some of the complexities of surgery and the nature of controlled experimental studies.. Chapter 7. Psychopharmacology. How drugs probe brain function etc. Not just clinical agents. Information on clinical trials and the process of drugs. Classification of drugs and pharmacology of drugs.. Chapter 8. Animal learning. This chapter is also a separate chapter from Tools as it has a theoretical account. Basically classical conditioning and operant conditioning. The role of animal cognition... Chapter 9. Drugs and Behaviour: Behaviour and Drugs. Chapters 7 and 8 need to be brought together. For this purpose I shall introduce the reader to the common misconception that drugs influence behaviour and show how the context of a drug is important - this is not something that is done to any great extent in other textbooks. This is somewhat historical but does demonstrate the importance of understanding that what you do in chapter 8 has as much impact on the action of drugs as vice versa. Examples to highlight can be the placebo effect and rate dependency and ADHD... Part 3. Systems and Processes in On-Line Control Chapter 10. Perceptual Systems (input). Visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory and somatosensory. All would deal with the mechanisms of sense plus the interpretation in the brain. Examples throughout and a final section on pain (to include phantom limb pain). Chapter 11. Motor Control (output). This chapter will deal with the neural control of movement and feedback. Therefore it is closely linked to chapter 11. Chapter 12. Executive function. The role of the frontal cortex in behaviour. Focus on case and experimental studies and theoretical accounts e.g. Shallice - Baddeley. This area is not exclusively looked at in other textbooks. I feel that executive functioning is an important area to convey independently and bridges well the theoretical concepts in cognitive science and neuroscience Chapter 13. Neural plasticity, Learning and Memory. These two are put together to demonstrate the changing nature of the brain. The neural encoding of learning and memory will we reviewed, along with classic studies. Temporal lobes - hippocampus. Recovery from brain injury. Part 4. Systems and Processes in Long-Term Control. Chapter 14. Sex. The hormone system and functions. Sexual Differentiation. Activation and organisation periods [lots of examples of when things can go wrong; relate to genetics]. Sexual identity and orientation. Sexual motivation - paraphilias. Chapter 15. Feeding and Drinking. This chapter will focus on the development of hypotheses of both eating behaviour and drinking. Why we need it and what the brain does. This will involve neuroanatomical and psychopharmacological studies. The end of this chapter will look at eating disorders and the psychobiological role in understanding them. Chapter 16. Motivation. A follow on from the previous chapter. This will look at brain reward circuits and how drugs hijack them. This chapter will look at some common methods and drugs linking behaviour and pharmacology. Theoretical models of addiction. Chapter 17. Emotion. Psychological theories and more recent neurological accounts. The main focus will be on fear, but the new literature on love etc can be included. Links back to previous chapter.. Chapter 18. Consciousness and sleep. The main focus will be on sleep and sleep medicine. Additionally different levels of consciousness will be addressed in terms of arousal and mind-expanding pharmaceuticals... Part 5 Clinical Applications. This section will look at the biological basis and treatment of key psychiatric/neurological disorders and link back to relevant earlier chapters. The chapters will have description and diagnosis; epidemiology, aetiology and neuropathology; treatment. Chapter 19. Developmental disorders. ADHD, ASD, Tourettes and genetic disorders. Areas that are seldom covered in detail in other textbooks. Chapter 20. Schizophrenia. DA, glutamate hypofrontality and the use of psychopharmacological agents to help understand. Animal Models. Chapter 21. Affective Disorders. Bipolar and unipolar depression. The changing hypotheses of depression and commonly used drugs. Chapter 22. Anxiety Disorders. Linked to previous chapter. Allows evolution, inverse agonists and GABA to be looked at in more detail. Chapter 23. Neurodegeneration. Look at cortical and sub-cortical Neurodegeneration. Focus on Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and SDAT. .

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