Pinel encourages interactive learning and creative thinking. His clear and engaging presentation makes the material personally and socially relevant to the reader.
Biopsychology is an introduction to the study of the biology of behavior; it focuses on the neural mechanisms of psychological processes. The defining feature of Biopsychology is its unique combination of cutting-edge biopsychological science and student-oriented discourse. Rather than covering topics in the usual textbook fashion, it interweaves the fundamentals of the field with clinical case studies, personal implications, social issues, helpful metaphors, and memorable anecdotes. Biopsychology is a friendly mentor that speaks directly to students, enthusiastically describing recent advances in biopsychological science.
The emphasis of Biopsychology is on broad themes, rather than details. Four especially important themes are highlighted throughout the text by distinctive theme tabs: (1) clinical implications (2) neuroplasticity,(3) the evolutionary perspective (4) thinking creatively.
For undergraduate junior/senior level courses in Behavioral Neuroscience, Physiology of Behavior, Biopsychology, Human Neuropsychology, or Physiological Psychology.
I What is Biopsychology?
01. Biopsychology as a Neuroscience
II Foundations of Biopsychology
02. Evolution, Genetics, and Experience
03. Anatomy of the Nervous System
04. Neural Conduction and Synaptic Transmission
05. The Research Methods of Biopsychology
III Sensory and Motor Systems
06. The Visual System
07. Mechanisms of Perception: Hearing, Touch, Smell, Taste, and Attention
08. The Sensorimotor System
IV Brain Plasticity
09. Development of the Nervous System
10. Brain Damage and Neuroplasticity
11. Learning, Memory, and Amnesia
V Biopsychology of Motivation
12. Hunger, Eating, and Health
13. Hormones and Sex
14. Sleep, Dreaming, and Circadian Rhythms
15. Drug Addiction and the Brain's Reward Circuits
VI Disorders of Cognition and Emotion
16. Lateralization, Language, and the Split Brain
17. Biopsychology of Emotion, Stress, and Health
18. Biopsychology of Psychiatric Disorders