EXAMS + SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION!
LECTURE#5 !
PSY280: BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY!
DR. OLLIE HULME, SPRING 2011, SFU!
Details!
Lectures:!
Mon, 12.30-2.20!
Wed, 12.30-1.20!
Essential!
Office hours:!
Wed 1.40-3.40pm!
Room RCB 6242!
Recommended!
Prerequisites:!
Psyc100!
Exams:!
Midterm#1 30%, ~ Wed 9th Feb!
Midterm#2 30%, ~ Wed 16th March !
Final 40% ~ exam period (april 13-24)!
Multiple choice + essays!
Non-cumulative!
Internet: !
If questions, check website first hyooom.com!
If not answered, and if answerable in few lines email
ollie.hulme@gmail.com!
All else in person!
Follow announcements on Twitter @PSY280!
Materials!
Biological Psychology
6th ed. Breedlove
Substantial updates to 6th ed.
therefore recommended over
5th ed.
Companion website at
biopsychology.com/6e/
Additional
reading
Lecture
Material
Alternatives to hardback
Looseleaf textbook
Interactive ebook
CourseSmart ebook
Textbook
Material
Course outline!
Scope & outlook
Approach, History, Issues 1
Biological foundations
Neuroanatomy 2
Neurophysiology 3
Neurochemicals 4
Hormones 5
Evolution &development
Evolution 6
Development 7
Perception
Touch 8
Pain 8
Hearing 9
Taste & smell 9
Vestibular system 9
Vision 10
Action
Lower Motor system 11
Upper Motor system 11
Action selection 11
Regulation
Sex 12
Homeostasis 13
Sleep 14
Emotions & Disorders
Emotion 15
Addiction 16
Depression 16
Schizophrenia 16
Cognitive
Learning & memory 17
Attention 18
Decision making 18
Language 19
Special topics
(reading beyond book)
Consciousness - reading
Happiness
Neuroaesthetics
Numbers = Textbook Chapter
CV points!
2 Student Assistants:
Provide feedback / input for improving course
Act as representative if other students want to
communicate through them
~30 mins every couple of weeks
Helps me write more detailed reference
Email me or see me after class
Roadmap!
Exam guide
Synaptic transmission
Midterm1!
30% of final grade!
Wed 9th Feb!
Review session = Mon 7th Feb!
Content: Biological Foundations!
Everything up to today + neurochemicals + hormones !
Lectures 1-7, Chapters 1-5!
Midterm1: Format!
In class – 50mins!
Exam booklet – closed book!
2 part (aprox 25 mins per part):!
1. 20 x Multiple choice (20 marks) – testing broad knowledge and
understanding, only based on material in slides and videos for
lectures 1-7!
2. 1x Mini essay (20 marks) – more detailed knowledge and deeper
understanding only based on 2 textbook chapters (+ equivalent
slides + lectures) – answer = page of ~a4 !
Multiple choice sample!
What ion is responsible for the rapid depolarisation phase of the
action potential?!
a) K+!
b) Cl-!
c) Ca2+!
d) Na+!
e) None of the above!
Excitatory post-synaptic potentials (EPSPs)…!
a) Always cause action potentials!
b) Decrease the probability of action potentials!
c) Inhibit the neuron!
d) Increase the probability of action potentials!
e) Cannot cause action potentials!
Mini essay format!
You will choose to specialise in answering either question 1, 2 or
3, which will require you to know 2 chapters from text book (+
equivalent slides & videos)!
Q1: which could ask you about either…!
Approaches, Issues + History (ch1) or Neuroanatomy (ch2)!
Q2: which could ask you about either…!
Neuroanatomy (ch2) or Neurophysiology (ch3)!
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Q3: which could ask you about either… !
Neurochemicals (ch4) or Hormones (ch5) !
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50% probability of being asked either topic – you don’t know
ahead of time what you will be asked therefore you have to revise
both
Example1: mini-essay Qs!
Q1 [Approaches (ch1) or Neuroanatomy (ch2)]!
What are the different approaches taken by biological
psychology and how do they differ?!
Q2 [Neuroanatomy (ch2) or Neurophysiology (ch3)] !
What are the key anatomical features of the nervous system? !
Q3 [Chemicals (ch4) or Hormones (ch5)]!
What are the different ways hormones effect the brain and
behaviour? !
Example2: mini-essay Qs !
Q1 [Approaches (ch1) or Neuroanatomy (ch2)]!
From single cells to brain regions, describe the anatomical
features and terminology of the central nervous system !
Q2 [Neuroanatomy (ch2) or Neurophysiology (ch3)] !
Describe the sequence of events leading from synaptic
potentials to release of neurotransmitters in a single cell?!
Q3 [Chemicals (ch4) or Hormones (ch5)]!
What role do the different neurotransmitters play in the brain?!
Do I need to know X?!
Multiple choice:!
If itʼs in slides or videos (lecture 1-7) then itʼs relevant!
Mini-essay:!
If itʼs in 2 chapters or equivalent lecture materials then its relevant !
But donʼt have to know every single detail to answer question well!
Best to focus on good understanding first, then learn some detail
Lectures emphasise most important aspects of chapters.
!
How to write mini-essay !
I will go through this in class on monday
Roadmap!
Exam guide
Synaptic transmission
Core question!
Brain and body:
Molecules, cells,
systems etc.
synapses,
systems
etc.
Everything else:
physical, social, economic,
geographic etc.
How does our biology and its interaction with the environment
relate to mental and behavioural phenomena?
Of the mind:
experience, motivation,
memory, thought, etc.
Observable behaviour:
actions, reactions,
expressions,
verbalisations
Previously…!
Early 1900ʼs!
Synapses, I say
Neuron 1
Neuron 2
Debate raged as to how the signal was transmitted between cells
Was it bioelectric?
Was it chemical?
Otto Loewi!
Professor Loewi was fixated on this
problem
After long day, working hard at the
lab…
He fell asleep in his bed
Dreams!
He dreamt…
Aha!!
Next night!
The dream returns
Aha!!
Not wanting to trust his handwriting
again, rushes down to lab in the
middle of night to begin work
Ottoʼs Idea!
If signal is chemical, one should be able to collect it
from one system + apply it to a seperate system,
and see if it has the same effect
?
Otto Loewi!
So I tried this out on the
vagus nerve
Vagus nerve!
Vagus nerve = part of the
autonomic nervous system
which connects brain to heart
Vagus nerve effects on heart !
Stimulating Vagus decreases heart rate
Heart to heart!
Fluid linking 1st beating heart to a
2nd disconnected beating heart
Heart to heart!
Vagustoff!
Loewi inferred that a chemical called
‘Vagustoff’ was released from the Vagus
nerve to cross the synapse onto cardiac
muscle, causing it to slow
Later identified as Acetyl Choline
Well done old chap!
His discovery was of great
importance for understanding
synaptic transmission of
information, later found to
generalise to brain
Synapse TV!
Action potential  release!
Action potential arrives at
axon terminal 
Change in membrane
potential causes Ca2+
channels to open 
Ca2+ flows into cell …
Vesicle fusion!
Ca2+ causes vesicles to
fuse with membrane 
Causes release of
neurotransmitter into
synapse …
Receptor binding!
Neurotransmitter diffuses
across synapse 
Binds to receptors in postsynaptic membrane …
Receptor TV!
Two classes of receptor!
Ionotropic
Receptor + channel =
Same structure
Metabotropic
Receptor + channel =
Independent structures
Synaptic Potential!
Flow of ions into postsynaptic cell causes
EPSP or IPSP 
Influences action potential!
Synapses
Axon
hillock
Axon
Balance of EPSPs &
IPSPs from synapses
determines the
membrane potential at
the axon hillock
If sufficient depolariation
to cross threshold – this
causes action potential
to fire
Stopping the signal!
To stop
neurotransmitters
continually exciting or
inhibiting the cell…
Degraded (inactivated)
Reuptake (transported
out of synapse
Many addictive drugs
work by interfering with
this process
Next lecture!
Chemical Bases of Behaviour
+ Essay writing guide
Please read ch4 for Monday