Unit 2: Biological Bases of Behavior

Part 1: Biological Bases of Behavior

● Everything psychological is simultaneously biological.
● Nurture works on what nature provides.

Module 9:

Biological Psychology and Neurotransmission

Biology, Behavior, and Mind
● The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates correctly located the mind in the brain.
● Aristotle believed that the mind was located in the heart.
● In the early 1800s, German physician Franz Gall proposed that phrenology, studying
bumps on the skull, could reveal a person’s underlying brain size and associated mental
abilities and character traits.
● Phrenology became popular to the point that there were 29 phrenological societies.
● Phrenology succeeded in focusing attention on the localization of function, the idea that
various brain regions have particular functions.
● Our adaptive brain is wired by our experiences.
● Among the body’s cells are nerve cells that conduct electricity and talk to one another by
sending chemical messages across a tiny gap that separates them.
● Specific brain systems serve specific functions (though not the functions Gall supposed)
● We integrate information processed in these different brain systems to construct our
experiences of sights and sounds, meanings and memories, pain and passion.
● We are a system composed of subsystems, composed of even smaller subsystems.
● We are biopsychosocial systems.
Neural Communication
● The information system of humans and other animals operate similarly, so much so that
you could not distinguish between small samples of brain tissues from a human and a
monkey.
Neurons
● Neurons (queen bee): A nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous
system.
● Cell Body: The part of a neuron that contains the nucleus; the cell’s life-support
center.
● Dendrites (listen): A neuron’s often bushy, branching extension that receive and
integrates messages, conducting impulses toward the cell body.
● Axon (speak): The neuron extension that passes messages through its branches
to other neurons or to muscles or glands.
● Myelin Sheath: A fatty tissue layer segmentally encasing the axons of some
neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed as neural impulses hop from
one node to the next.
● Glial Cells (worker bee): Cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and
protect neurons; they also play a role in learning, thinking, and memory.
The Neural Impulses
● Action Potential: A neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an
axon.
● Neural impulses can travel 2 miles per hour to 200 miles per hour.
● In a neuron’s chemistry-to-electricity process, ions are exchanged.
● This positive-outside/negative-inside state is called the resting potential.
● The axon’s surface is selective about what it allows through its gates or
selectively permeable.
● When a neuron fires axon depolarization takes place, resulting in a domino
effect.
● Most neural signals are excitatory (gas); however, some are inhibitory (brake).
● Threshold: The level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse.
● Refractory Period: In neural processing, a brief resting pause that occurs after a
neuron has fired; subsequent action potentials cannot occur until the axon
returns to its resting state.
● All-Or-None Response: A neuron’s reaction of either firing (will a full-strength
response) or not firing.
How Neurons Communicate
● Sir Charles Sherrington noticed that neural impulses were taking an
unexpectedly long time to travel a neural pathway. Inferring that there must be a
brief interruption in the transmission.
● Synapse: The junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the
dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron. The tiny gap at this junction is
called the synaptic gap or synaptic cleft.
● Neurotransmitters: Chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between
neurons. When released by the sending neurons, neurotransmitters travel across
the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby
influencing whether that neuron will generate a neutral impulse.
● Reuptake: A neurotransmitter’s reabsorption by the sending neuron.
How Neurotransmitters Influence Us
● A particular brain pathway may use only one or two neurotransmitters and
particular neurotransmitters affect specific behaviors and emotions.
● Endorphins: “morphine within” -natural, opiate-like neurotransmitters linked to
pain control and to pleasure.
How drugs and Other Chemicals Alter Neurotransmission
● Agonist: A molecule that increases a neurotransmitter’s action.
● Antagonist: A molecule that inhibits or blocks a neurotransmitter’s action.
Some Neurotransmitters and Their Functions
● Acetylcholine (ACh): Enables muscle action, learning, and memory.
● Dopamine: Influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion.
● Serotonin: Affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal.
● Norepinephrine: keeps control of alertness and arousal.
● GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid): A major inhibitory neurotransmitter.
● Glutamate: A major excitatory neurotransmitter; involved in memory.
 ● Endorphins: Neurotransmitters that influence the perception of pain or
pleasure.

Module 10:

The Nervous and Endocrine Systems

The Nervous System
● Nervous System: The body’s speedy, electrochemical communication network,
consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous system.
● Central Nervous System (decision maker): The brain and spinal cord.
● Peripheral Nervous System (transmitting):The sensory and motor neurons that connect
the central nervous system to the rest of the body.
● Nerves: Bundled axons that form neural cables connecting the central nervous system
with muscles, glads, and sense organs.
● Sensory (afferent) Neurons (million): Neurons that carry incoming information from the
body’s tissues and sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord.
● Motor (efferent) Neurons (million): Neurons that carry outgoing information from the
brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands.
● Interneurons (billion): Neurons within the brain and spinal cord; they communicate
internally and process information between the sensory inputs and motor outputs.
The Peripheral Nervous System
● Somatic Nervous System: The division of the peripheral nervous system that
controls the body’s skeletal muscles. Also called the skeletal nervous system.
● Autonomic Nervous System: The park of the peripheral nervous system that
controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs. Its sympathetic
division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms.
● Sympathetic Nervous System: The division of the autonomic nervous system that
arouses the body, mobilizing its energy.
● Parasympathetic Nervous System: the division of the autonomic nervous system
that calms the body, conserving its energy.
The Central Nervous System
● Our brain has some 86 billion neurons.
● Our brain works in groups called neural networks.
● The spinal cord is a two-way information highway connecting the peripheral
nervous system and the brain.
● Ascending neural fibers send up sensory information.
● Descending neural diners send back motor-control information.
● Reflexes: A simple, automatic response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-
jerk response.
● Another neural circuit enables the pain reflex.
The Endocrine System
● Endocrine System: The body’s “slow” chemical communication system; a set of glands
that secrete hormones into the bloodstream.
 ● Hormones: Chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands, travel
through the bloodstream, and affect other tissues.
● Some hormones are chemically identical to neurotransmitters.
● The nervous system is speedier than the endocrine system.
● The endocrine system’s message outlasts the nervous system’s message.
● Adrenal Glands: A pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secrete
hormones (epinephrine and norepinephrine) that helps arouse the body in times of
stress.
● Pituitary Gland: The endocrine system’s most influential gland. Under the influence of
the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland regulates growth and controls other endocrine
glands.
● Brain -> Pituitary -> Other Glands -> Hormones -> Body and Brain.
● The nervous system directs endocrine secretions, which then affect the nervous system.

Module 11:
Studying the Brain, Older Brain Structures, and the Limbic System
The Tools of Discovery: Having Our Head Examined
● Lesion: Tissue destruction. A brain lesion is a naturally or experimentally caused
destruction of brain tissue.
● EEG (electroencephalogram): An amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity
sweeping across the brain’s surface. These waves are measured by electrodes placed
on the scalp.
● MEG (magnetoencephalography): A brain imaging technique that measures magnetic
fields from the brain's neural electrical activity.
● CT (computer tomography) Scan: A series of X-ray photographs taken from different
angles and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice of the
brain’s structure (also called a CAT Scan).
● PET (positron emission tomography) Scan: A visual display of brain activity that detects
when a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task.
● MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) A technique that uses magnetic fields and radio
waves to produce computer generated images of soft tissues. MRI scans show brain
anatomy.
● FMRI (functional MRI): A technique for revealing blood flow and, therefore, brain activity
by comparing successive MRI scans. fMRI scans show brain function as well as
structure.
Types of Neural Measures
● EEG: Electrodes placed on the scalp measure electrical activity in neurons.
● MEG: A head coil records magnetic fields from the brain’s natural electrical
currents.
● CT: X-rays of the head generate images that may locate brain damage.
● PET: Tracks where a temporarily radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain
of the person given it performs a given task.
● MRI: People sit or lie in a chamber that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to
provide a map of the brain structure.
 ● fMRI: Measures blood flow to brain regions by comparing continuous MRI scans.
Older Brain Structures
● Occur without any conscious effort.
The Brainstem
● Brainstem: The oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the
spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; the brainstem is responsible for
automatic survival functions.
● Medulla: The base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing.
● The pons help coordinate movement and control sleep.
The Thalamus
● Thalamus (airport): The brain’s sensory control center, located on top of the
brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and
transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla.
● Receives information from all of the senses except smell.
The Reticular Formation
● Reticular Formation: A nerve network that travels through the brainstem into the
thalamus and plays an important role in controlling arousal.
The Cerebellum
● Cerebellum: The “little brain” at the rear of the brainstem, functions include
processing sensory input, coordinating movement output and balance, and
enabling nonverbal learning and memory.
The Limbic System
● Limbic System: Neural system located below the cerebral hemispheres; associated with
emotions and drives.
The Amygdala
● Amygdala: Two lima-bean-sized neural clusters in the limbic system; linked to
emotion.
The Hypothalamus
● Hypothalamus: A neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several
maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the
endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion and reward.
● Tunes into the blood chemistry of your body.
The Hippocampus
● Hippocampus: A neural center located in the limbic system; helps process for
storage explicit (conscious) memories of faces and events.
● Seahorse Shaped

Module 12:

The Cerebral Cortex

● Cerebral Cortex: The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral
hemispheres; the body’s ultimate control and information-processing center.
● As we move up the ladder of animal life, the cerebral cortex expands.
Structure of the Cortex
● Frontal Lobes: The portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved
in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgment.
● Parietal Lobes: The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward
the rear; receives sensory input for touch and body position.
● Occipital Lobes: The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes
areas that receive information from the visual fields.
● Temporal Lobes: The portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears;
includes the auditory areas, each receiving information primarily from the opposite ear.
Functions of the Cortex
Motor Functions
● Motor Cortex: An area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary
muscle movement (on the opposite side of the body).
Mapping the Motor Cortex
● The brain has no sensory receptors.
● In the 1930s, Otfrid Foerster and Wilder Penfield were able to map the
motor cortex in hundreds of wide awake patients.
Brain-Computer Interfaces
Sensory Functions
● Somatosensory Cortex: An area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers
and processes body touch and movement sensations.
● The more sensitive the body region, the larger the somatosensory cortex area
devoted to it.
● Any visual information you are receiving now is going to the visual cortex in your
occipital lobes, at the back of your brain.
● Any sound you now hear is processed by your auditory cortex in your temporal
lobes.
Association Areas
● Association Areas: Areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary
motor or sensory functions; rather, they are involved in higher mental functions,
such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking.
● Found in all four lobes.
● The prefrontal cortex in the forward part of the frontal lobes enables judgment,
planning and processing of new memories.
● The parietal lobes enable mathematical and spatial reasoning.
● Your memory, language and attention result from the synchronized activity
among district brain areas and neural networks.
● Our mental experiences arise from coordinated brain activity.
The Power of Plasticity
Biology and Experience Interact
● Plasticity: The brain’s ability to change, especially during childhood, by
reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience.
● Your brain is a work in progress.
 Response to Damage
● Most brain-damage effects can be traced to severed brain and spinal cord
neurons or some brain functions that seem preassigned to a specific area.
● Some of the brain’s neural tissues can reorganize in response to damage.
● Neurogenesis: The formation of new neurons.
● Natural promoters of Neurogenesis are exercise, sleep and non stressful but
stimulating environments.

Module 13:

Brain Hemisphere Organization and the Biology of Consciousness

The Divided Brain
Splitting the Brain
● Corpus Callosum: The large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain
hemispheres and carrying messages between them.
● Split Brain: A condition resulting from surgery that isolates the brain’s two
hemispheres by cutting the fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum)
connecting them.
● In each eye, information from the left half of your field of vision goes to your right
hemisphere, and information from the right half of your visual field goes to your
left hemisphere, which usually controls speech.
● The brain often runs on autopilot, acting first and then explaining itself.
Right-Left Differences in the Intact Brain
● When a person performs a perceptual task there is increased activity in the right
hemisphere.
● When a person speaks or does a math calculation there is increased activity in
the left hemisphere.
● The left hemisphere is skilled at making quick, literal interpretations of language.
● The right hemisphere is skilled at making inferences, modulating our speech, and
orchestrating our self-awareness.
Biology Consciousness
● Consciousness: Our subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment.
● Possibly an evolutionary advantage.
Cognitive Neuroscience
● Cognitive Neuroscience: The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked
with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory and language).
● Even in a motionless body, the brain may still be active.
● The stronger the stimulus, the more areas of the brain it will engage.
Dual Processing The Two-Track Mind
● Dual Processing: The principle that information is often simultaneously
processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks.
● Blindsight: A condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without
consciously experiencing it.
● A visual perception travels enables us to think about the world.
 ● A visual action track guides our moment-to-moment movements.
● 80 to 90 percent of what we do is unconscious.
● Parallel Processing: Processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously;
generally used to process well-learned information or to solve easy problems.
● Sequential Processing: Processing one aspect of a problem at a time; generally
used to process new information or to solve difficult problems.
● In everyday life, we mostly function like an automatic camera, but with a manual
override.

Module 14:

Behavior Genetics: Predicting Individual Differences

Genes: Our Codes for Life
● Behavior Genetics: The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and
environmental influences on behavior.
● Heredity: The genetic transfer of characteristics from parents to offspring.
● Environment: Every nongenetic influence, from prenatal nutrition to the people and
things around us.
● 46 Chromosomes -> 23 From Mom and 23 From Dad.
● Chromosomes: Threadlike structure made of DNA molecules that contain the genes.
● DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid): A complex molecule containing the genetic information
that makes up the chromosomes.
● Genes: The biochemical units of heredity that makes up the chromosomes; segments of
DNA capable of synthesizing proteins.
● Humans have some 20,000 genes that are either active or inactive.
● Environmental events turn on genes.
● Genome: The complete instructions for making an organism, consisting of all the genetic
material in that organism’s chromosomes.
Twin and Adoption Studies
Identical Versus Fraternal Twins
● Identical (monozygotic) Twins: Develop from a single fertilized egg that splits in
two, creating two genetically identical organisms.
● While twins have the same genes, they don’t always have the same number of
genes.
● Most twins share a placenta, but one of every three sets has separate placentas.
● Fraternal (dizygotic) Twins: Develop from separate fertilized eggs. They are
genetically no closer than ordinary brothers and sisters, but they share a prenatal
environment.
● Identical twins are much more alike in extraversion (outgoingness) and
neuroticism (emotional instability).
Separated Twins
Biological Versus Adoptive Relatives
● Genetic relatives are those who share biological parents and relatives
● Environmental relatives are those who share adoptive parents and siblings.
 ● The environment shared by a family’s children has virtually no discernible impact
on their personalities.
● Regardless of personality differences between adoptive family members, most
adoptive family members, most adopted children benefit from adoption.
Heritability
● Heritability: The proportion of variation among individuals in a group that we can attribute
to genes. The heritability of a trait may vary, depending on the range of populations and
environments studied.
● Personality traits are typically 40 percent.
● Intelligence is typically 66 percent.
● Heritability refers to how much difference among people are due to genes.
Gene-Environment Interaction
● Interaction: The interplay that occurs when the effect of one factor (such as environment)
depends on another factor (such as heredity).
Molecular Behavior Genetics
● Molecular Genetics: The subfield of biology that studies the molecular structure
and function of genes.
Searching for Specific Genes Influencing Behavior
● Molecular Behavior Genetics: The study of how the structure and function
of genes interact with our environment to influence behavior.
Epigenetics: Triggers That Switch Genes On and Off
● Epigenetics (erasable): “Above” or “in addition to” (epi) genetics; the study
of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA
change.
● Genes are self regulating.
● Our experiences also create epigenetic marks.

Module 15:

Evolutionary Psychology: Understanding Human Nature

● Evolutionary Psychology: The study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using
principles of natural selection.
● Natural Selection: The principle that inherited traits that better enable an organism to
survive and reproduce in a particular environment will (in competition with other trait
variation) most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.
Natural Selection and Adaptation
● Mutations: A random error in gene replication that leads to change.
Evolutionary Success Helps Explain Similarities
● Our shared human traits have a common logic across cultures.
Our Genetic Legacy
● No more than 5 percent of the genetic difference among humans arise from
population group differences.
● Some 95 percent of genetic variation exists within populations.
● We share a universal moral grammar.
 Evolutionary Psychology Today
● The Second Darwinian Revolution: the application of evolutionary principle to
psychology.
An Evolutionary Explanation of Human Sexuality
Male-Female Differences in Sexuality
● Males are more likely than females to initiate sexual activity.
● This sexual overperception bias is strong among men who require little emotional
closeness before intercourse.
Natural Selection and Mating Preferences
● Men pair widely; women pair wisely.
Critiquing the Evolutionary Perspective
● Social Script: A culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations.
● Evolution forcefully rejects genetic determinism.
Reflections on Nature, Nurture, and Their Interaction
● Where there is variation, natural selection, and heredity, there will be evolution.
● We are a product of nature and nurture, but we are also an open system.
● Psychology is rooted in biology, which is rooted in chemistry, which is rooted in physics.

Unit 2: Biological Bases of Behavior

Part 2: States of Consciousness

Module 16:

Sleep Patterns and Sleep Theories

● Sleep: A periodic, natural loss of consciousness - as distinct from unconsciousness
resulting from a coma, general anesthesia, or hibernation.
Biological Rhythms and Sleep
Circadian Rhythm
● Circadian Rhythm: Our biological clock; regular bodily rhythms (for example, of
temperature and wakefulness) that occur on a 24-hour cycle.
● Teens and young adults are evening energized owls.
● Older adults are morning loving larks.
Sleep Stages
● We cycle through distinct sleep stages every 90 minutes.
● REM Sleep: Rapid eye movement sleep; a recurring sleep stage during which
vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical sleep, because the
muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are
active).
● Alpha Waves: The relatively slow brain waves of a relaxed, awake state.
● NREM Sleep: Non-rapid eye movement sleep; encompasses all sleep stages
except for REM sleep.
● Hallucinations: False sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the
absence of external visual stimulus.
 ●Hypnagogic Sensations: Bizarre experiences, such as jerking or a feeling of
falling or floating weightlessly, while transitioning to sleep.
● You relax more deeply and begin 20 minutes of NREM-2 sleep, with its periodic
sleep spindles - bursts of rapid, rhythmic brain-wave activity.
● Then you transition to the deep sleep of NREM-3 for 30 minutes.
● Delta Waves: The large, slow brain-waves associated with the deep sleep of
NREM-3.
REM Sleep
● Your brain’s motor cortex is active, but your brainstem blocks its
messages.
● Paradoxical sleep; the body is internally aroused, with waking-like brain
activity, yet asleep and externally calm.
● As the night goes on, deep NREM-3 sleep grows shorter and disappears,
and REM and NREM-2 sleep periods get longer.
● By morning, we have spent 20 to 25 percent of an average night's sleep
in REM sleep.
What Affects Our Sleep Patterns
● Sleep patterns are culturally and genetically influenced.
● Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN): A pair of cell clusters in hypothalamus that
controls circadian rhythm. In response to light, the SCN causes the pineal gland
to adjust melatonin production, thus modifying our feelings of sleepiness.
● Being bathed in or deprived of light disrupts our 24 hour biological clock.
Why Do We Sleep
● Sleep protects.
● Sleep helps us recuperate by restoring our immune system and repairing brain tissue.
● Sleep helps restore and rebuild our fading memories of the day’s experiences by
consolidating our memories by replaying recent learning and strengthening neural
connections.
● Sleep feeds creative thinking.
● Sleep supports growth.

Module 17:

Sleep Deprivation, Sleep Disorders, and Dreams

Sleep Deprivation and Sleep Disorders
Effects of Sleep Loss
● A Gallup Survey said that 63 percent of adults who reported getting the sleep
they needed also reported being very satisfied with their personal life (as did only
36 percent of those needing more sleep).
● 28 percent of high school students acknowledge falling asleep in class at least
once a week.
● College and university students are also sleep deprived; 69 percent in one
national survey reported feeling tired or having little energy for at least several
days during the two previous weeks.
 ● Less sleep also predicts more conflicts in friendships and romantic relationships.
● Sleep loss is a predictor of depression.
● A large sleep debt makes you stupid.
● A large sleep debt makes you fat.
● Sleep deprivation increases ghrelin, a hunger-arousing hormone, and decreases
its hunger suppressing partner, leptin.
● Sleep deprivation decreases metabolic rates.
● Sleep deprivation increases the production of cortisol, a stress hormone that
stimulates the body to make fat.
● Sleep deprivation enhances limbic brain response to the mere sight of food and
decreases cortical responses that help us resist temptation.
● Sleep deprivation can suppress immune cells that battle coral infections and
cancer.
● Sleep deprivation slows reactions and increases errors on visual attention tasks.
Major Sleep Disorders
● Insomnia: Recurring problems in falling or staying asleep.
● Narcolepsy: A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks. The
sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times.
● Sleep Apnea: A sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of
breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings.
● Night Terrors: A sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance
of being terrified; unlike nightmares, night terrors occur during NREM-3 sleep,
within two or three hours of falling asleep, and are seldom remembered.
● Sleepwalking and sleeptalking are usually childhood disorders and run in
families.
● Sleepwalking happens during NREM-3 sleep.
● Sleeptalking can occur at any stage of sleep.
Dreams
● Daydreams involve familiar details of our life.
● Dreams: a sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping
person’s mind.
What We Dream
● We spend six years of our lives in dreams.
● 8 in 10 dreams are marked by at least one negative event or emotion.
● Sensory stimuli may be instantly and ingeniously woven into the dream story.
Why We Dream
● Sigmund Freud’s wish fulfillment theory.
● Manifest Content: According to Freud, the symbolic, remembered story line of a
dream (as distinct from its latent, or hidden, content).
● Latent Content: According to Freud, the underlying meaning of a dream (as
distinct from its manifest content).
● REM Rebound: The tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep
deprivation.
 Dream Theories
● Dreams help us sort out the day’s events and consolidate our memories,
also known as information processing.
● Regular brain stimulation from REM sleep may help develop and
preserve neural pathways, also known as physiological function.
● REM sleep triggers neural activity that evokes random visual memories,
which our sleeping brain weaves into stories, also known as activation
synthesis.
● Dream content reflects dreamers’ level of cognitive development - their
knowledge and understanding. Dreams simulate our lives, including
worse-case scenarios, also known as cognitive development.

Module 18:

Psychoactive Drugs
Tolerance and Addiction in Substance Use Disorders
● Psychoactive Drug: A chemical substance that alters perceptions and moods.
● Substance Use Disorder: A disorder characterized by continued substance craving and
use despite significant life disruption and physical risk.
● Tolerance: The diminishing effect with regular use of the same dose of a drug requiring
the user to take larger and larger doses before experiencing the drug’s effects.
● Withdrawal: The discomfort and distress that follows discontinuing an addictive drug or
behavior.
When is Drug Use a Disorder
● Diminished control.
● Diminished social functioning.
● Hazardous use
● Drug action
Types of Psychoactive Drugs
Depressants
● Depressants: Drugs (such as alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates) that reduce
neural activity and slow body functions.
Alcohol
● Acts as a disinhibitor, slowing down brain activity that controls judgment
and inhibitions.
● The urges you would feel if sober are the ones you will more likely act
upon when intoxicated.
● Alcohol Use Disorder: (popularly known as alcoholism) alcohol use
marked by tolerance, withdrawal, and a drive to continue problematic use.
● Slowed neural processing.
● Memory disruption.
● Reduced self-awareness.
● Expectancy effects.
 Barbiturates
● Barbiturates: Drugs that depress central nervous system activity, reducing
anxiety but impairing memory and judgment.
Opiates
● Opiates: Opium and its derivatives, such as morphine and heroin;
depress neural activity, temporarily lessening pain and anxiety.
● The brain eventually stops producing endorphins, its own opiates.
Stimulants
● Stimulants: Drugs (such as caffeine. Nicotine, and the more powerful cocaine,
amphetamines, methamphetamine, and ecstasy) that excite neural activity and
speed up body functions.
● Feel alert.
● Lose weight.
● Boost mood or athletic performance.
Nicotine
● Nicotine: A stimulating and highly addictive psychoactive drug in tobacco.
● Within seven seconds, a rush of nicotine will signal the central nervous
system to release a flood of neurotransmitters.
● Epinephrine and norepinephrine will diminish appetite and boost alertness
and mental efficiency.
● Dopamine and opioids will temporarily calm anxiety and reduce sensitivity
to pain.
Cocaine
● Cocaine: A powerful and addictive stimulant derived from the coca plain;
produces temporarily increased alertness and euphoria.
● It enters the bloodstream quickly, producing a rush of euphoria that
depletes the brain’s supply of the neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin,
and norepinephrine.
Methamphetamine
● Amphetamines: Drugs, such as methamphetamine, that stimulate neural
activity, causing accelerated body functions and associated energy and
mood changes.
● Methamphetamine: A powerfully addictive drug that stimulates the central
nervous system, with accelerated body functions and associated energy
and mood changes; over time, appears to reduce baseline dopamine
levels.
● Triggers the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which stimulates
brain cells that enhance energy and mood, leading to eight hours or so of
heightened energy and euphoria.
● Its after effects may include irritability, insomnia, hypertension, seizures,
social isolation, depression, and occasional violent outbursts.
 Ecstasy
● Ecstasy (MDMA): A synthetic stimulant and mild hallucinogen. Produces
euphoria and social intimacy, but with short-term health risks and longer-
term harm to serotonin-producing neurons and to mood and cognition.
● Triggers dopamine release, but its major effect is releasing stored
serotonin and blocking its reuptake.
● Dehydrating effect.
● It also suppresses the immune system, impairs memory, slows thought,
and disrupts sleep.
Hallucinogens
● Hallucinogens: Psychedelic (“mind-manifesting”) drugs, such as LSD, that distort
perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input.
● Geometric Forms -> More Meaningful Images
● Near-Death Experiences: An altered state of consciousness reported after a
close brush with death (such as cardiac arrest); often similar to drug-induced
hallucinations.
LSD
● LSD: A powerful hallucinogenic drug; also known as acid (lysergic acid
diethylamide).
● The emotions of an LSD trip vary from euphoria to detachment to panic.
Marijuana
● THC: The major active ingredient in marijuana; triggers a variety of
effects, including mild hallucinations.
● It amplified sensitivity to colors, sounds, tastes, and smells.
● They also release disinhibits.
● THC and its by-products linger in the body for more than a week.
● It alleviates chronic pain and chemotherapy-related nausea.
● It is not associated with tobacco-related cancers.
● It is predictive of increased risk fo traffic accidents, chronic bronchitis,
psychosis, social anxiety disorder and suicidal thoughts.
● It likely contributes to impaired attention, learning, and memory.

Module 19:

Understanding Consciousness and Hypnosis* (optional)

Defining Consciousness
● Consciousness: Our subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment.
● It is one part of the dual processing of our two-track mind.
● Our selective attention directs the spotlight of our awareness, allowing us to assemble
information from many sources.
● The continuous “stream of consciousness” was coined by William James.
● Some states of consciousness occur spontaneously (daydreaming, drowsiness, and
dreaming), some are physiologically induced (hallucinations, orgasms, and food or
 oxygen starvation), and some are psychologically induced (sensory deprivation,
hypnosis, and meditation).
Hypnosis
● Hypnosis: A social interaction in which one person (the hypnotist) suggests to another
(the subject) that certain perception, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously
occur.
Frequently Asked Questions About Hypnosis
● Posthypnotic Suggestion: A suggestion, made during a hypnosis session, to be
carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized; used by some clinicians to
help control undesired symptoms and behaviors.
● Hypnotherapy helps people uncover problem-causing thoughts and feelings, or
to change an unwanted behavior.
Explaining the Hypnotized State
Hypnosis as a Social Phenomenon
● An authoritative person in a legitimate context can induce people,
hypnotized or not, to perform some unlikely acts.
Hypnosis as Divided Consciousness
● Stroop effect.
● Dissociation: A split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and
behaviors to occur simultaneously with others.
● Biological influences, psychological influences, and social-cultural
influences all affect hypnosis to some degree.