10615 Physiology of Behavior

Credits: 6 intermediate credits in Psychology

Prerequisites: none

Recommended: Introduction to Psychology

The course is based on a translation of Physiology of Behavior (9th ed.), by N.R. Carlson (Allyn and Bacon, 2007) and multimedia software, The Biological Foundations of Behavior, as well as examples and exercises on CD.

This year-long course provides basic knowledge about the physiology of behavior – the role of the nervous system in determining behavior. This field, a branch of neuroscience, combines research methods from experimental psychology and physiology.

Topics: Introduction; Structure and functions of cells of the nervous system; Structure of the nervous system; Psychopharmacology; Methods and strategies of research; Vision; Audition, the body senses, and the chemical senses; Control of movement; Sleep and biological rhythms; Reproductive behavior; Emotion; Ingestive behavior; Learning and memory; Human communication; Neurological disorders; Affective disorders.

The software demonstrates the study material using three-dimensional models, animations of physiological processes, video segments, illustrations, activations and additional text. It deals with neural activity, the structure of the central nervous system, research methods, visual information, and control of movement.