Bio 150 Lecture Notes

Introduction

• Scenario description: 40-year-old man, bizarre behavioral changes
  • Physical violence, affair, embezzlement
• Possible explanations
  1. Deep-seated personality issues
  2. Midlife crisis
  3. Genetic mutation

Important Concepts

• Genetic influence on behaviors (e.g., sexual orientation, political opinions, religiosity)
• Belief in God, soul, evil, free will
• Biological basis for sex differences in aggression and intelligence
• Interaction between nature and nurture

Key Points of the Course

1. Body Influences Brain: Hormonal changes and their impact on behaviors (e.g., menstrual cycle, brain tumors, junk food, steroids)
   • Cases demonstrating these influences
   • Court cases using these biological explanations
2. Brain Influences Body: Psychological states affecting physiological responses (e.g., heart rate)
   • The reciprocal relationship between brain and body
   • The course’s focus: interconnections and influences between physiology and behavior

Understanding Human Behavior

• Complexity and messiness of understanding human social behavior
• Use of categories to simplify complex continuous information
• Categorical thinking: pros and cons
  • Aids memory and evaluation
  • Problems: over-simplification, ignoring similarities/differences, missing bigger picture

Examples and Dangers of Categorical Thinking

• Different languages and their sound categories affecting perception and memory
• Test example: phone number pattern recognition
  • Disrupted accuracy when pattern is broken
• Challenges different in human behavior compared to animals

Course Objective

• Avoiding categorical thinking
• Emphasizing the multifaceted origins and influences on behavior
• Understanding behavior from multiple angles (neurons, hormonal levels, environmental stimuli, early development, genetic makeup, etc.)

course Structure

• First half: Introduction to various disciplines and buckets (evolutionary theory, molecular genetics, ethology, brain functions, endocrinology)
• Second half: Examination of specific behaviors (sexual behavior, aggression, parental behavior, mental disorders, language use)
  • Focus on comprehensive understanding from multiple perspectives
• Designed without prerequisites to allow accessibility to all students
• Catch-up sections for those without a background

Logistics

• Weekly sections and reviews
• No formal paper assignments
• Midterm and final exam (multiple-choice questions)
• Emphasis on interdisciplinary understanding for the final
• Resources: Coursework website for handouts, lecture notes, Q&A, announcements

Reading Material

• Two assigned books:
  1. By the course instructor (Robert Sapolsky)
  2. "Chaos" by James Gleick
  • Importance: radical new way of understanding biology
  • Mixed reviews from students

Additional Info

• Alternative sections available for each major topic to help with comprehension
• Online resources to minimize paper usage
• TAS: skilled in various disciplines, leading sections
• Examinations: Evening midterm and final exams to cover different parts of the course comprehensively
• Office hours, additional sections for deep dives into specific topics