Biological and Cognitive Bases of Psychology
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Charles Darwin - Theory of evolution
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Natural Selection is a theory developed through his observations of the fitness of species characteristics to its environment
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Natural selection and fitness
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Animals that have certain traits that get an advantage
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Evolution is a slow process
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Fitness - organisms that are going to survive
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not good enough that you survive, must pass traits on
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obtain food for yourself
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physical traits
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camo
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all these adaptation make your chance greater for survival
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passing on genes to the next generations
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some genes less useful, but are needed for reproduction
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make animals more desirable to the opposite sex
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example: abs, plumage of peacocks
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are then passed on with greater frequency due to their association with greater mating sucess
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when males fight with other males to win over the female
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pressure on males to succeed
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not always a physical deal - example: Satin bird
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in this process, if members of one sex are attracted to certain qualities in mates
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example: brilliant plumagem, signs of good health, or even intelligence
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female can select the winner
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which one has the best genes/traits
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first brain cell: 700 mya
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cell moving towards heat or light
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starts getting collection of brain cell to work together and produce basic brain function
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first brain cell: 250 mya
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first primate brain: 7 mya
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humans and chimpanzees share common ancestors about 7 million years ago
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modern humans are relatively recent in geological record
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substantial physiological and cognitive changes compared to earlier species
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irst primate to show distinctly human characteristics
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walk on two legs, chimpanzee walk on 2 but not very well
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spending a lot of time on the ground than in trees on 2 legs
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how smart, overall: as a modern chimpanzee
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judged by tool use and tool making
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chimpanzee can use tools but do not make them
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australopithecus, could also not make them, but could use them
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homo habilis (handy human) manufacture simple stone tools
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homo erectus (upright human) around on earth longer than we have been around
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neanderthals - better stone tools and higher intelligence
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adaptations to a changing environment
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bipedalism
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change in diet -> smaller facial muscles and teeth
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not just focusing on meat but now fruit
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allows cooking to soften the meal, we don't have big teeth = everything gets smaller
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smaller facial muscles and teeth -> greater range of vocalization -> language
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small changes to mouth, more room for vocal track
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produce language
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cognitive ability
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better tool making ability
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social organization -> culture
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from early to modern humans, brain size and cognitive ability increases
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every cell in an organisms body contains the genetic blueprint for that organism
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human body -> cell -> chromosomes -> DNA -> Gene
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gene -> protein -> expression
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genotype - blueprint examples: blue eyes, plans is housed the gene themselves
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phenotype - the physical expressions of the genotype example: person has blue eyes
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complex things break down to simple ideas
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four basic bases, which are linked to each other
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adenine bonds with thymine
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cytosine bonds with quanine
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the sequence of bases in gene determines which amino acids are used to build the specified protein
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sequences of bases code for specific amino acids
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bases -> amino acids -> proteins
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amino acids
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linked together by a peptide bond
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a polypeptide amino acids chain forms a protein
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proteins are required to maintain cell function
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proteins typically degrade within days
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DNA ->mRNA -> Amino acid chain
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transcription and traslation
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mRNA leaves nucleus and moves to endoplasmic reticulum
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translates into different amino acids that need to be built
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ribosomes move along translates the mRNA and codes for amino acids
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codon codes for a specific amino acid
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amino acids are chained together to make protein
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golgi body is packaged into vesicles and transported into different parts of the cell
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introduce or remove genes of an embryo
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knock in / knock out : Fur colour in mice, gene for genetic disorder,
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knock in : mouse that is supposed to have white fur, introduce genes for black fur
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knock out : turn off gene
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genetic disorder, develop treatment, common practice in neuroscience
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the mammalian brain is structurally similar across species
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animals models used to mimic human diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's
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introduce a gene into a rat then you can test treatment and you are not dealing with human subjects
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"maze bright" and "maze dull rats"
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selective breeding
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maze bright = rats that picked up learning the maze well
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maze dull = rats that did not learn it well
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only breed maze bright
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generation later keep smart rat together and non-smart together
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completed in 2003
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human genetic code contains less than 30,000 genes
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4 bases that make it all up
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to what degree are human abilites genetically determined vs. linked environement
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genetics vs. what are you doing
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studying genetic disorders in identical twins
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monozygotic
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share the same genetic code
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identical twins raised apart share many of the same physical and personality traits
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individuals experiences
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measures data of identical twins who were raised apart and live in different environment
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can it be explained by genes or environment
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you tend to see the same traits in this twin which is a strong genetic link
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behavioural genetics are used to study genetic influence on a host of different behaviours
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strong influence of genetics but does not answer the whole story: learning disabilites, mental disabilites
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how a person experience can effect their gene
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genes can explain variation between certain traits behaviours but not all
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epigenetic drift - differences
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when you observe the twin boys at a genetic level they are almost identical as well
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older in lifem you start to see differences. similarity start to become epigenetic drift because the different experinces they are having in life
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having their effects in this process
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DNA transcription
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histone modification - DNA does not get transcribed like it should. results in the protein that was not intended
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DNA modification
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they all represent how the plan can be changed
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critical during development when genes have to turn on and off at a precise interval
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silent genes to let it develop into a mature gene
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diseases linked to environmental exposure are difficult to track
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different people respond differently
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person may not have a genetically exposed to lung cancer but if they take up smoking
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