Discovering the Human Brain
The development of technologies in the field of medicine has become quite a natural process since the society has sought to understand the human body better for many thousands of years. The emergence of new possibilities has provided access to the study of even the most complex areas to which the human brain belongs. In particular, fMRI is one of the most modern and in-demand methods for analyzing brain activity. As Freberg (2015) claims, this technique can help in diagnoses of many serious disorders like schizophrenia, epilepsy, etc. Nevertheless, there is a question that may arise when studying this and similar methods: do they have more benefits or costs?
As for the benefits of such techniques for studying the activity of the brain, there are at least two advantages. First, such verification methods provide a detailed mapping of all areas of the brain (Harris, 2010). Due to this fact it is not a problem for a specialist to see the area with a particular pathology. Secondly, the convenience of procedures is another advantage. A patient does not need to visit several doctors and take part in the whole complex of studies. For instance, it is enough only to go through the procedure of fMRI and to identify all possible problems or their absence during one session.
Nevertheless, such techniques have some shortcomings, albeit not very significant. For example, a patient sometimes has to spend in a closed space for about 45 minutes, and sometimes longer (Harris, 2010). Moreover, as Freberg (2015) notes, not all modern neurophysiological procedures are highly accurate. If it is about fMRI, then, as a rule, there are no problems. However, for instance, EEG technology hasn’t changed considerably in the last few years regarding the study of the human brain. Therefore, not all the techniques are of absolute value, but most of them are useful and effective.
Nervous System and Behavior
As it is known, the human brain is almost a perfect organ in the human body since many people consider its possibilities to be practically limitless. Besides, the stimulation of the brain and its particular areas allows achieving even better results of its work. Freberg (2015) introduces the concept of the biological correlates of behavior when most of our actions are conditioned by the activity of the brain. It is demonstrated in video experiments on rats where rodents were subjected to certain changes (Davidson Films, Inc., 2010). Hence an entirely logical question arises: what exactly is the relationship between the brain activity and human behavior?
The video describes an experiment where several rats were placed in a cage with normal conditions, and one lived in a cage in a poorer environment. The results of the study showed that those rodents, which lived in a more favorable environment, showed an increase in their cortical thickness, in contrast to the rodent that lived in worse conditions. Such results have a scientific justification. Behavioral functions are closely interrelated with the development of the brain, and the study of this phenomenon in the case of rats confirms this (Freberg, 2015). Physiological instincts, which are inherent not only in animals but also in humans, are primarily determined by the level of activity of one of the most important organs of the body and directly depend on its characteristics.
One example of this relationship is the emotions that a person experiences. For instance, sadness and melancholy, which is born in our brain, inevitably influence the behavior. A person becomes more passive and quiet. However, if we take joy and happiness as an example, the situation will be different: the brain demonstrates a higher dynamics, and the human behavior is characterized by activity and moral uplift. All these factors show that biological psychology is an integral part of people’s lives, and its study plays a rather significant role in the study of the human nature.
References
Davidson Films, Inc. (2010). Older brains, new connections (Davidson Films, Inc.) [Video file]. Web.
Freberg, L. (2015). Discovering behavioral neuroscience: An introduction to biological psychology (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Harris, Fil. (2010). Introduction to fMRI [Video file]. Web.