This course surveys the relationship of the nervous system to behavior. Our prime interest is human behavior, but much of the information must come from observations on animals. Our interest is in explaining how changes in the nervous system influence behavioral change.
Some important changes are chemical.
The drug user wants to change his brain chemistry for recreational purposes. The psychiatrist wants to change the patient s brain chemistry for therapeutic reasons. The dieter wants to change brain activity to lose weight for health or cosmetic reasons. All of these subjects are approached from a scientific point of view. This course deals with a variety of topics including evolution of the brain, genetic influences, brain development, and the biological basis of learning and memory, mental illness and emotion.