Basics of Biopsychologyclearly presents the fundamentals of the study of the biology of behavior and makes the topics personally and socially relevant to the student.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction to Biopsychology How Biopsychologists Think about Behavior 1.1         What is Biopsychology? 1.2         Human Evolution 1.3         Fundamental Genetics 1.4         Thinking about the Biology of Behavior: Mind-Brain and Nature-Nurture Issues   Chapter 2 Anatomy of the Brain The Systems, Structures, and Cells that Make Up Your Nervous System 2.1         General Layout of the Nervous System 2.2         Cells of the Nervous System 2.3         Neuroanatomical Techniques and Directions 2.4         The Spinal Cord 2.5         The Five Divisions of the Brain 2.6         Major Structures of the Brain   Chapter 3 Neural Activity and How to Study It How Neurons Work 3.1         The Neuron’s Resting Membrane Potential 3.2         Postsynaptic Potentials and Action Potentials 3.3         Conduction of Action Potentials 3.4         Synaptic Transmission: Chemical Transmission of Signals from One Neuron to Another 3.5         The Neurotransmitters 3.6         How Biopsychologists Study the Brain   PART 2:  Sensory and Motor Systems   Chapter 4 The Visual System How We See 4.1         Light Enters the Eye and Reaches the Retina 4.2         The Retina and Translation of Light into Neural Signals 4.3         From Retina to Primary Visual Cortex 4.4         Seeing Edges 4.5         Seeing Color 4.6         Cortical Mechanisms of Vision: Beyond Primary Visual Cortex   Chapter 5 Mechanisms of Perception Hearing, Touch, Taste, Smell, and Attention:  How You Know the World 5.1         Principles of Sensory System Organization 5.2         Auditory System 5.3         Somatosensory System: Touch and Pain 5.4         The Chemical Senses: Smell and Taste 5.5         Selective Attention   Chapter 6 The Sensorimotor System How You Do What You Do 6.1         Three Principles of Sensorimotor Function 6.2         Sensorimotor Association Cortex 6.3         Secondary Motor Cortex 6.4         Primary Motor Cortex 6.5         Cerebellum and Basal Ganglia 6.6         Descending Motor Pathways 6.7         Sensorimotor Spinal Circuits 6.8         Central Sensorimotor Programs   PART 3:  Plasticity of the Brain   Chapter 7 Development of the Nervous System From Fertilized Egg to You 7.1         Phases of Neurodevelopment 7.2         Postnatal Cerebral Development in Human Infants 7.3         Effects of Experience on the Early Development, Maintenance, and Reorganization of Neural Circuits 7.4         Neuroplasticity in Adults 7.5         Disorders of Neurodevelopment: Autism and Williams Syndrome   Chapter 8 Brain Damage and Neuroplasticity Can the Brain Recover from Damage? 8.1         Causes of Brain Damage 8.2         Neuropsychological Diseases 8.3         Animal Models of Human Neuropsychological Diseases 8.4         Neuroplastic Responses to Nervous System Damage: Degeneration, Regeneration, Reorganization, and Recovery 8.5         Neuroplasticity and the Treatment of Nervous System Damage   Chapter 9 Learning, Memory, and Amnesia How Your Brain Stores Information 9.1         Amnesic Effects of Bilateral Medial Temporal Lobectomy 9.2         Amnesia of Korsakoff’s Syndrome 9.3         Amnesia of Alzheimer’s Disease 9.4         Amnesia after Concussion: Evidence for Consolidation 9.5         Neuroanatomy of Object-Recognition Memory 9.6         The Hippocampus and Memory for Spatial Location 9.7         Where Are Memories Stored? 9.8         Synaptic Mechanisms of Learning and Memory 9.9         Conclusion: Infantile Amnesia and the Biopsychologist Who Remembered H.M.   PART 4:  Biopsychology of Motivation   Chapter 10 Hunger, Eating, and Health Why Do Many People Eat Too Much? 10.1         Digestion and Energy Flow 10.2         Theories of Hunger and Eating: Set Point versus Positive Incentives 10.3         Factors That Determine What, When, and How Much We Eat 10.4         Physiological Research on Hunger and Satiety 10.5         Body Weight Regulation: Set Points versus Settling Points 10.6         Human Obesity 10.7         Anorexia and Dieting   Chapter 11 Hormones and Sex What’s Wrong with the Mamawawa? 11.1         The Neuroendocrine System 11.2         Hormones and Sexual Development 11.3         Three Cases of Exceptional Human Sexual Development 11.4         Effects of Gonadal Hormones on Adults 11.5         Neural Mechanisms of Sexual Behavior 11.6         Sexual Orientation, Hormones, and the Brain   Chapter 12 Sleep, Dreaming, and Circadian Rhythms How Much Do You Need to Sleep? 12.1         Physiological and Behavioral Events of Sleep 12.2         REM Sleep and Dreaming 12.3         Why Do We Sleep, and Why Do We Sleep When We Do? 12.4         Comparative Analysis of Sleep 12.5         Circadian Sleep Cycles 12.6         Effects of Sleep Deprivation 12.7         Four Areas of the Brain Involved in Sleep 12.8         The Circadian Clock: Neural and Molecular Mechanisms 12.9         Drugs That Affect Sleep 12.10       Sleep Disorders 12.11       The Effects of Long-Term Sleep Reduction   PART 5:  Biopsychology of Health   Chapter 13 Health Psychology Addiction, Emotions, and Stress:  Impact of Psychological factors on Health 13.1         Principles of Drug Addiction 13.2         Effects on Health of Five Commonly Abused Drugs 13.3         Addiction and the Neural Mechanisms of Motivation 13.4         Introduction to the Biopsychology of Emotion 13.5         Stress and Health 13.6         Brain Mechanisms of Emotion   Chapter 14 Lateralization, Language, and the Split Brain The Left Brain and the Right Brain of Language 14.1         Cerebral Lateralization of function: Introduction 14.2         The Split Brain 14.3         Differences between the Left and Right Hemispheres 14.4         Cortical Localization of Language: The Wernecicke-Geschwind Model 14.5         Evaluation of the Wernicke-Geschwind Model 14.6         The Cognitive Neuroscience approach to Language 14.7         The Cognitive Neuroscience Approach and Dyslexia   Chapter 15 Behavioral Neuroscience of Psychiatric Disorders The Brain Unhinged 15.1         Schizophrenia 15.2         Affective Disorders: Depression and Mania 15.3         Anxiety Disorders 15.4         Tourette Syndrome 15.5         Clinical Trial: Development of New Psychotherapeutic Drugs   Epilogue Appendix I: The Autonomic Nervous System Appendix II: Some Functions of Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Activation Appendix III: The Cranial Nerves Appendix IV: Functions of the Cranial Nerves Appendix V: Nuclei of the Thalamus Appendix VI: Nuclei of the Hypothalamus