Biology and Psychology: Understanding the Connection

Running head: BIOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY
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Question 1:
Biological psychology refers to the application of principles of biology to study the
mental process and behavior of the human population. As discussed by Schwartz et al. (2016),
biological science deals with the structure of the body, organs and their functioning whereas
psychology deals with the behavior of the individuals including thought process, feeling and
expression which is because of the body functioning. The normal functioning of each organ of
individuals is influenced by the genetic factors which further reflected through their behavior
before. The functions of a specific gene influence the specific parts of the brain and since the
brain controls our thought process, feelings, and expression, it reflected through our behavior
(Lishner, 2015). Therefore, in order to examine human behavior, it is crucial to study biological
psychology because it will provide the detailed cognitive functions of the brain behind specific
behavior and genetic factors which influence that specific cognitive function.
Question 2:
In any species, cooperation involves pro-social acts which usually provide a fitness
benefit of an actor. These acts are products of a serious of psychological rules that would be
similar in related species if they have a similar natural history (Bear & Rand, 2016). Therefore,
evolution cooperation is the process where groups of an organism work together for providing
benefit to their species or relative species. For example, when a ground squirrel sense danger, it
warns other group members to present nearby but draws attention to itself and increase the
chances of being in danger. However, this theory posed a threat to natural selection while
natural selection favors those who achieve the greatest reproductive success; the corporation

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often decreases the reproductive success of the actor. Therefore, biological psychology offers
assistance to uncover this certain behavior.
Question 3:
A neuron is a cell which carries electrical impulse and it is a basic unit of central nervous
system. Most neurons have a soma, dendrites, axons and a terminal button. The stoma is the cell
body with the branching dendrites. Neurons are connected to one another and tissues by forming
tiny gap called synapses. Neurons communicate with each other through nerve impulses. A nerve
impulse is a sudden reversal of electrical charge of a resting membrane and the reversal of charge
is charge called action potential (Lv et al., 2016). It begins when the neurons receive a chemical
signal from another cell. When a nerve impulse reaches the end of the axon it releases
neurotransmitter and neurotransmitter travel to synapses between axon and dendrites of next
neuron. The binding of neurotransmitters allows the nerve impulses to travel to the next cells
and that’s how the brain communicates with other organs (Maksoud, Liao & Haghighi, 2019).
For example, in the normal neural communication procedure, dopamine is secreted by a neuron
into the synapse and binds to dopamine receptor of nearby neurons. If an individual consumed
cocaine then it attaches to the transporter and blocks the normal signaling process. Consequently,
dopamine rebuilds in synapse and contributes to the pleasurable effect.
Question 4:
A reward system is a group of neural structure which is responsible for a feeling of
motivation. Wanting and desire. The reward system is primarily located in the basal ganglia-
thalamocortical loop and basal ganglion drives the activity of the system. Majority of the
pathway connected in the system are GABAergic medium spiny neurons, glutamatergic

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interneurons, and dopaminergic projection neurons. Reward system is spread in large part of the
brain where nucleus situated in the brain stem, collection of neurons at the upper pons of the
brain stem, the stalk of the pineal group are capable of inducing incentive salience by their
projection to the ventral tegmental area (VTA). Most of the dopamine pathway that projects out
from VTA is part of the reward system. This is also called the brain’s mesolimbic dopamine
system which is stimulated by all kinds of stimuli such sex , food and drug. The dorsal region of
the midbrain substantial nigra is responsible for reward and addictions (Kraus & White-
Schwoch, 2015). Furthermore, the thalamus part and hypothalamus are located in the interbrain
are part of the limbic system and regulates motivation behavior such as hunger and sex. The
basolateral amyloidal, prefrontal cortex and hippocampus are also capable of incentive salience
since amygdala is involved with long term memory. Hence, in the presence of stimuli such as
food and sex, individuals feel rewarded (Yamagata et al., 2015).
Question 5:
The stress response is well documented in the literature although much remains to be
discovered. Traditionally stress responses comprised of two systems such as HPA axis as well as
sympathetic nervous system both and influenced by hypothalamus and amygdala (Starck et al.,
2016). The fast and first acting response is SNS and initial stage of Selye's alarm response
whereas HPA is a slower system which response in terms of endocrine output. When stimulus
responses are observed, hippocampus directly influences hypothalamus whereas amygdala
indirectly influence hypothalamus through bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and SNS
immediately started responding to the stimuli. Consequently, it influences multiple effects such
as energy mobilization, behavioral changes, and pain modulation. On the other hand, HPS when
influence hypothalamus it further releases CRH and the activation of ACTH from the anterior