Historical Roots of
Biopsychology
Lesson 2
Major Issues in Psychology
 Nature
vs Nurture
 Mind/Brain relationship
 Freewill vs Determinism
The Mind/Brain Problem
What is the relationship between the
mind and the brain?
 or Mind/Body problem
 Where is the seat of consciousness?
 Ancient Egyptians  heart & liver
 Aristotle  heart ~

The Mind/Brain Problem
Dualism
 fundamentally different
 body is physical matter
 mind (soul?) is
nonphysical
 Problem: How do they
interact?
 Rene Descartes
 interactionism
 pineal gland ~

The Mind/Brain Problem
Monism
 only one form of reality
 several types monism
 mentalism, materialism
 Identity position
 operations of brain  mental events
 mind cannot exist independently
 Humans are mechanistic
 behave according to physical laws ~

The Mind/Brain Problem
Monism’s Problem:
 How can a physical system produce
mental states?
 What about free will?
 Modern scientists
 dualists or monists? ~

The Mind/Brain Problem: Dualism
Sir John Eccles
 Nobel Prize (1963)
 Neuroscientist
 Point of interaction:
 supplemental motor area ~

The Mind/Brain Problem
Consciousness
 unique property of brains?
 Or could it exist in other entities?
 Livers?
 Computers?
 No definitive answer yet ~

Biopsychology: History
Trepanation
 Evidence from 10,000 years ago
 Stone surgery
 Mind/Brain related ~

Biopsychology: History
René Descartes (1596-1650)
 Mechanical statues
 reflexes
 testable hypotheses
 Luigi Galvani (1737-1798)
 electrical stimulation of frog leg ~

Biopsychology: History
Francis Gall (1758-1828)
 phrenology
 specifics discredited
 Localization of function supported
 Johannes Muller (1801-1858)
 Localization of function
 Doctrine of specific nerve energies ~

Biopsychology: History
Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894)
 speed of conduction of nerve impulse
 Fritsch & Hitzig (1870)
 Electrical stimulation of brain


muscle movements ~
Biopsychology: History
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
 Natural Selection
 Organisms evolve
 structure
 physiology
 behavior
 Adaptive variations conserved
 Relevance of animal research to
human behavior ~

Biopsychology: History
Paul Broca
 (1824-1880)
 Localization of language function
 left hemisphere
 clinical neuropsychology ~

Biopsychology: History

Santiago Ramon y Cajal (1852-1934)

Nature of the Nervous System
The Neuron Doctrine
 Nervous system made up of discrete
cells
 Otto Loewi (1873-1961)
 Signaling between neurons
 Chemical neurotransmitters ~
