Psychology Studies
Case Study: Phineas Gage
What: Got an iron pole up through the base of his head, through the front brain and exited the top.
So What: He was awake and showed no signs of brain damage. He only lost his left-eye vision. There was no paralysis or language problems. Though, his behavior changed drastically. He could not follow though with plans, became much more agitated and could not maintain social relationships due to impaired social abilities (pornographic language etc.).
Shows that: The balance between his intellectual and emotional abilities had been damaged. The study showed that the frontal lobe affects personal and social behavior.
Neurotransmitters in Learning and Memory,
Martinez and Kesner (1991)
Aim: To determine the role of Acetylcholine in memory.
Participants: Rats in three groups.
Method: Rats were trained to go through a maze in order to get food. When this was done, group one was injected with a acetylcholine blocker (scopolamine), group two with a neurotransmitter that blocks the “cleaning” chemical of the receptors (physostigmine), and the third one was kept a control group. Then the rats were let back into the maze.
Results: The group with scopolamine was slower at getting through the maze, the group with physostigmine was faster then both group one and the control group.
Conclusion: Acetylcholine plays an important role in memory.
THUMBS UP:
Cause and effect.
It has been seen that acetylcholine producing cells are damaged in the early stages of Alzheimer; could be the reason for memory loss.
Multiple groups, including a control.
BUTS:
Is it applicable to humans?
It is assumed memory works the same way in all animals.
Serotonin and Risky Male Behavior in Monkeys,
Higley et al. (1996)
Aim: To investigate the correlation between serotonin and risky behavior in male monkeys.
Participants: 49 male monkeys who migrated to new social groups.
Method: Field study. The monkeys’ serotonin
What: Got an iron pole up through the base of his head, through the front brain and exited the top.
So What: He was awake and showed no signs of brain damage. He only lost his left-eye vision. There was no paralysis or language problems. Though, his behavior changed drastically. He could not follow though with plans, became much more agitated and could not maintain social relationships due to impaired social abilities (pornographic language etc.).
Shows that: The balance between his intellectual and emotional abilities had been damaged. The study showed that the frontal lobe affects personal and social behavior.
Neurotransmitters in Learning and Memory,
Martinez and Kesner (1991)
Aim: To determine the role of Acetylcholine in memory.
Participants: Rats in three groups.
Method: Rats were trained to go through a maze in order to get food. When this was done, group one was injected with a acetylcholine blocker (scopolamine), group two with a neurotransmitter that blocks the “cleaning” chemical of the receptors (physostigmine), and the third one was kept a control group. Then the rats were let back into the maze.
Results: The group with scopolamine was slower at getting through the maze, the group with physostigmine was faster then both group one and the control group.
Conclusion: Acetylcholine plays an important role in memory.
THUMBS UP:
Cause and effect.
It has been seen that acetylcholine producing cells are damaged in the early stages of Alzheimer; could be the reason for memory loss.
Multiple groups, including a control.
BUTS:
Is it applicable to humans?
It is assumed memory works the same way in all animals.
Serotonin and Risky Male Behavior in Monkeys,
Higley et al. (1996)
Aim: To investigate the correlation between serotonin and risky behavior in male monkeys.
Participants: 49 male monkeys who migrated to new social groups.
Method: Field study. The monkeys’ serotonin