The RAE defines the psychobiology (or biopsychology) as a «discipline that studies the biological bases of psychic facts.» In simple terms, we can describe this scientific discipline as a branch of psychology that studies the biological origins of human behavior.
Today, it seems more than logical to think that our behavior, our emotions and our thoughts are closely related to biology. After all, we know that the nervous system It is responsible for reacting to external stimuli and generating responses.
However, this has not always been the case. In fact, until a few centuries ago, humans did not know that the brain is, basically, the engine of our lives.
In this context it is easy to understand why Psychobiology is a relatively new scienceIts origin dates back to the late 19th century and early 20th century, and we can say that one of its most important influences was Charles Darwin.
Through the publication of his well-known work «The Origin of Species», the ideas of Darwin They spread throughout the world. Thanks to him, we know today, among other things, that:
- Small changes occur between individuals of the same species (what is known as evolution)
- Living beings We largely inherit characteristics from our parents.
- Through the survival of the fittest individualsspecies manage to adapt to survive in the changing conditions of our planet.
In a research published in 1963, Robert Watson stated that one of Charles Darwin's greatest contributions to psychology (and, therefore, to psychobiology) was «his emphasis on instincts as Biological elements that determine certain behaviors«.
Later, the contributions of scientists such as Santiago Ramón y Cajal, who studied the plasticity of the brain, helped develop what we know today as psychobiology.
What differentiates psychobiology from other branches of psychology?
In general, all branches of psychology focus on the study of human behavior and emotionsHowever, the close relationship of psychobiology with biology has slightly distanced it from other branches of psychology for the following reasons:
- It has an emuch more biological approach. We could say that the most important thing about psychobiology is not what it studies, but how it studies it.
- It is the most branch interdisciplinarysince it is related to other sciences such as biochemistry or neuroanatomy.
- He also studies the functioning of the brain. other living beingsIn fact, one of its distinctive features has been experimentation with both humans and other animals.
- Try to explain how the biological functions of different organisms influence your mind.
- Their research methods They differ from those of the rest of the branches.
What are the main research methods in psychobiology?
- Experimental research
Experimental research is a quantitative method in which, while maintaining a series of variables, the changes produced in others are studied. That is, experimental research studies the causes of certain events.
- Observational research
Observational research, on the other hand, is characterized by the researcher does not intervenesimply observe and measure the different variables that you intend to study.
Both types of research They can be performed on both humans and animals. This is because the brains of animals such as rats or dogs share certain characteristics with those of humans, so the results obtained in animal studies can often be applied to the human brain.
Furthermore, both experimental and observational research can be:
- Applied: those investigations that aim to solve a certain problem or explain a certain phenomenon.
- Basic: whose objective is to increase knowledge.
Thanks to research in psychobiology, diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and schizophrenia have been explained. These diseases also affect many animal species.
What are its branches?
The researchers Pinel and Barnes They consider that psychobiology can be divided into different branches:
- Physiological psychology It studies the causal relationships between the nervous system and behaviour. In other words, it explains our behaviour through our brain processes. It is a branch very close to neuroscience that mainly studies the brain, hormones and neurons.
- Psychopharmacology studies the effect of drugs on behavior. It is key when treating psychological disorders, such as depression, with drugs.
- Neuropsychology: This discipline is a bridge between psychology and neurology. It mainly studies the effects that different lesions of the central nervous system have on human behavior and emotions.
- Psychophysiology studies the physiological bases of human psychology using methods such as resonance imaging, electroencephalograms, etc.
- Cognitive neuroscience It emerged in the 1980s and studies the neural mechanisms that give rise to different psychological processes.
- Comparative psychology studies the behavior of animals with the intention of understanding how they have evolved, how they have adapted to the environment, how their brain works, etc. In addition, it compares the behavioral differences between different species.
Why is psychobiology so important?
Emotions were once thought to be dependent on the soul, an abstract and unscientific concept that governed people's desires and behavior.
However, we now know that Our emotions are a product of our brainOur nervous system reacts to what happens to us by generating a response that begins in the limbic system and passes through different structures, such as the hippocampus and the cerebellum, responsible for memory.
When we are affected by a mental problem, such as depression, our emotions change. We feel sad and unmotivated and these feelings affect our way of relating to others, our routines and even our physical appearance.
It turns out that We depend on what happens in our brainThat is precisely why psychobiology is so important: because we need to know what is going on inside our heads in order to solve problems that we consider emotional.
Of course, that doesn't mean that our behavior only It is a product of biology. We are a mixture of characteristics acquired through genetics and those learned through socialization. However, it is true that even what we obtain from the environment is processed by our nervous system, which generates biological processes as well.
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