The fascination that the human brain holds is not simply that it is large or complicated or that it is intricately and elegantly organized. While these things may be true, its mystery lies in the fact that it controls our feelings, thoughts, and behaviors and everything from childhood puppy love or what sports or hobbies interest us to that weird dream you had the other night. As Donald McKay (1967) pointed out, here, in a bare two-handsfull of living tissue, we find an ordered complexity sufficient to embody and preserve the record of a lifetime of the richest human experience. In a very real sense, our brains contain the secrets of ourselves. Within this complex organ, the ultimate explanation of mental life and behavior must be sought.
Today, the mysteries of the brain are being revealed by scientific research. Recent tools made available by advances in physical and engineering sciences have aided biological science enormously, and the study of the biological basis of behavior is proceeding rapidly. Because of the rate at which our knowledge base is growing, traditional distinctions between the academic disciplines investigating different aspects of the brain have given way to a more integrated and general approach, an approach now called behavioral neuroscience.
Behavioral Neuroscience is an interdisciplinary area of study the study that spans the fields of Biology, Psychology and Chemistry. The emphasis of this program of study is on the biological bases of human and animal behavior, which include the study of neural functioning at the molecular, cellular, and neuroanatomical systems level. Internationally, the field is focused on a variety of topics and researchers have opportunities to study the brain from a biochemical, cellular, genetic, developmental, behavioral, or cognitive neuroscience perspective. Individuals graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Neuroscience may pursue a variety of exciting careers or seek additional training in graduate programs in neuroscience, psychology, neuropsychology, pharmacology, or the allied health fields.
Students will be able to explore both human and animal behavior, the relationship between the brain and behavior, nerve cell structure and function, learning, memory, and cognition, and the neurological and behavioral effects of both therapeutic and recreational drugs. The major immerses students in an examination of fundamental concepts and principles in contemporary neuroscience as it relates to both normal and abnormal behavior, including an opportunity to consider the philosophical implications of physiology to our understanding of the mind.
Graduates of the behavioral neuroscience major are well-positioned to pursue careers that require quantitative and analytical thinking as well as substantive knowledge in human and animal behavior. The major also provides preparation for those who have an interest in pursuing advanced graduate and/or professional training in psychology, neuroscience, human medicine, veterinary medicine, the pharmaceutical science, or research with animals.
The New Founders America Needs
What I told the first students at The University of Austin.
Bari Weiss
Before I begin, I must recognize that we are currently sitting on the ancestral home of the Apache and that my pronouns are she, her and hers.
Also I am a cis-¬gendered woman, a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, generally able-bodied though my eyesight is less than 20/20 and I can't run
more than half a mile. Also, my own family was displaced by Cossacks at some point in the mid-1800s in what is now called Poland and we're
still waiting for an apology. [Click here for more]
Boys and Girls have Different Expectations about Friendship, and These Gender Differences Increase during Adolescence
Social Psychology
Beth Ellwood
Boys and girls want different things from their friendships, according to a study published in the
Journal of Early Adolescence. The findings revealed
that girls place more importance on intimacy and support from their friends, while boys place more importance on enjoyment and companionship. Notably,
these gender differences were most apparent among junior high schoolers compared to elementary students. [Click here for more]
How a Scientist-Artist Transformed Our View of the Brain
Laura Sanders
Spanish anatomist Santiago Ramon y Cajal is known as the father of modern neuroscience. Cajal was the first to see that the brain is built of discrete cells,
the “butterflies of the soul," as he put it, that hold our memories, thoughts and emotions.
With the same unflinching scrutiny that Cajal applied to cells, biographer Benjamin Ehrlich examines Cajal's life. In The Brain in Search of Itself,
Ehrlich sketches Cajal as he moved through his life, capturing moments both mundane and extraordinary.
Some of the portraits show Cajal as a young boy in the mid-19th century. He was born in the mountains of Spain. As a child, he yearned to be an artist despite
his disapproving and domineering father. Other portraits show him as a barber-surgeon‚apprentice, a deeply insecure bodybuilder, a writer of romance stories,
a photographer and a military physician suffering from malaria in Cuba. [Click here for more]
Classes developed and (usually) taught by David Compton. David Compton partcularly enjoys research, data analysis, and the process of discovery.
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Utilizes the developmental approach as a framework for viewing the adult years. Issues include models of adult psychosocial development, psychobiological concerns (sensation, perception, memory, intelligence, and cognition), personality, marriage, retirement, psychopathology, and death and dying.
These courses are a two-semester sequence that presents a thorough review of the methodologies common to the field of psychology and affiliated areas of science. Emphases will include conducting an empirical research project, collection and analysis of data, with a focus on experimental methods and the use of univariate and multivariate inferential statistics (3 hrs lecture, 1 hr laboratory).
TAn examination of the current theories, methods, and research in in the field of behavioral neuroscience. Course topics will include a consideration of neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, neurotransmitters and neuropsychological processes. A number of the biological mechanisms that underlie psychological processes will also be explored, with topics ranging from learning and memory to sleep and dreaming.
This course examines basic learning and motivation processes that enable humans and animals to acquire new knowledge and adapt to environmental demands. These learning processes include classical and instrumental conditioning, habituation, sensitization, and reinforcement. Course content will focus on the current state of our knowledge about the neurobiological basis of learning and memory. The molecular and cellular basis of learning in invertebrates and vertebrates from a behavioral and neural perspective will be explored.
An introduction to the basic principles of genetics as they relate to the study of behavior. The course provides an examination of the role heredity plays in driving individual differences in behavior, and the mechanisms by which these influences operate within the organism.
The purpose of this class is to introduce students to the major classes of psychotherapeutic agents as well as the various drugs of abuse of concern in society. Discussions of the therapeutic indications, mechanisms of action, and side effects of these drugs are considered.
This course is designed to provide the qualified student with the opportunity to independently conceptualize, design, perform primary data collection, analyze, and produce a manuscript concerned with an original empirical research question under the supervision of faculty. .
Launched in late 1993, Callisto Publishing was developed by David Compton to promote the behavioral sciences as well as neuroscience.
Information to be added here....
PhD & MS, University of Georgia; BA, Concord University.
BioLogos explores God's Word and God's World to inspire authentic faith for today. Our vision is faith and science working hand in hand.
The American Scientific Affiliation, or ASA, was founded in 1941 as an international network of Christians in the sciences. As scientists, members of the ASA take part in humanity‚ exploration of nature, its laws, and how it works.
Founded in 1969, the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) now has more than 36,000 members in more than 95 countries.
That sense of wonder drives BrainFacts.org. We are a public information initiative of The Kavli Foundation, the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, and the Society for Neuroscience, global nonprofit organizations dedicated to advancing brain research.
The Dana Foundation is a private philanthropic organization dedicated to advancing neuroscience & society by supporting cross-disciplinary intersections such as neuroscience and ethics, law, policy, humanities, and arts. Learn more about our new focus.
Psych Central sift[s] through the science and provide you with only the most credible information validated by their medical review team.
“PsyPost is an independently-owned psychology and neuroscience news website dedicated to reporting the latest research on human behavior, cognition, and society.