When talking about what psychobiology is, it refers to the study of the behavior of animals and human beings, from a biological point of view. The living beings capable of learning according to this field of study are mammals (even humans) and birds. This is recognized primarily as a biological science and later as a social science, which emphasizes the study of behavior and other processes of the mind.

What is psychobiology

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It is the science that studies human and animal behavior from a biological perspective, in which behavior will have an active and adaptive relationship in the environment, being able to evolve. In addition to behavior, this science studies mental processes, experiences and the relationships that they have with brain phenomena. Thanks to it, the behavior that an individual will have under certain conditions already studied can be predicted.

The definition of psychobiology establishes that its problems involve both behavioral facts and brain processes. This science uses neuroscience, so it involves physics and chemistry, as well as mathematics and biology. In other words, it studies the mental processes that occur in the brain, an organ that can be studied from the point of view of biology.

The characteristics of the behavior between the species will vary according to certain factors:

• Phylogenetic, which refers to the evolutionary history of the species and the adaptations that it has achieved for its survival.
• Ontogenetic, which is the interaction between genetic properties and the environment.
• Epigenetic, which are related to the circumstances that it has gone through during the course of its life since its gestation.

Among the branches of science that are related to psychology are behaviorism, mentalism and psychobiology, the latter being the one with the greatest scientific inference. The relationships between the processes of the mind and the behavior of the object of study in this area have aroused the interest of specialists in the areas of psychology, philosophy, neurologists, theologians and experts in cognitive science.

Biopsychology, as this science is also known, is complemented by the different areas of psychobiology, in which they can be rescued:

• The genetics of behavior (influence of genes).
• The psychobiology of development (immediate interactions of the environment in behavior).
• Physiological psychology (physiological changes that occur during behavior).
• The neuropsychology (nerve structures related to certain mental processes).
• Sociobiology (biological bases of social behavior).
• The ethology (behavioral observation under natural conditions).
• Psychophysiology (described later).

Goals of psychobiology

The objectives of the concept of psychobiology are the following:

• It seeks to describe the behavior and expose it neurologically, to explain it with foundations.
• Predict mental and behavioral events through the creation of theories based on biology.
• Identify which are the biological aspects that affect the behavior of the individual, and in what way the evolutionary aspect has influenced.
• Through basic and applied research, it seeks to satisfy the curiosity of the student and generate a specific benefit for a population, respectively.
• Cover topics related to the mind and its physical functioning, such as: the evolution of the brain, its functioning and nervous system, the understanding of perception and senses.
• Study basic behaviors, such as sex and reproduction.
• Analyze addictions from the point of view of the effects that psychotropic substances have on the body and behavior.
• Understand the teaching and learning processes to improve the strategies of both processes.

Methodology of psychobiology

The method used on what is psychobiology, is the scientific one, specifically of neuroscience, psychophysiology and behaviorism. It is based on the scientific method because it has brain processes under observation, and is complemented by the experimental method.

The origin of psychobiology

In ancient times, the brain had not been recognized as the origin of behavior and experience. However, in the 6th century, the Greek philosopher Alcmaeon of Crotona (6th century) discovered that the activities of thought were in this organ, but this was not accepted until many years later.

With the arrival of electricity in the 18th century, this type of energy began to be observed, which made the scientists of the time think that perhaps the brain was activated in the same way, with which they came to the conclusion, after a number of experiments, that nervous energy is electrical. It was also concluded that the brain is an important part of the

circuit that is the body of a living being.

In the nineteenth century, Charles Darwin (1809-1882), described in his work "The Origin of Species", the impact of the environment to make changes in certain aspects. In the 20th century, scientific psychology began to fill in the empty spaces, adding, thanks to technology, studies on neurons and the principles of psychology, in which the role of behavior for adaptation, with nervous origin, was explained.

This is how scientific psychology, biology, genetics, ethology and neuroscience, open the way to this specific branch, since it concatenates the structure of the nervous system that intervenes in behavior and produces evolutionary changes in it, taking into account The habitat.

Characteristics of psychobiology

There are characteristics that explain what psychobiology is:

• Add the problems of mentalism and behaviorism.
• It does not take into account questions about where consciousness is during sleep, coma, and death.
• While mentalism left out the evolutionary biological aspect, psychobiology pays special attention to this aspect.
• Questions are raised about at what point in the life and development of the individual, consciousness is born.
• It questions and seeks answers about brain activity, language development and reasoning.

What is the psychobiology of emotion

This seeks to reveal how emotions originate in man and to elucidate their meaning. It is important to differentiate emotions from feelings, understanding the former as a physical manifestation, while the latter refer to the sensation and the conscious and individual experience that one has in response to the emotion and its effect on the body.

The adaptive evolution of living beings has allowed them to have a high sense of survival, and the psychobiology of emotion explains how emotions and feelings give the ability to respond quickly to, for example, dangerous situations for the species.

According to experts in the area, there are six basic emotions: disgust, which is the least pleasant, makes it possible to condition behavior in the face of something that generates disgust, especially some food; fear, which is produced by danger or threat and protects the individual from a risky situation; the sadness, which is related to pain and loss; surprise is an ephemeral emotion and precedes some other emotion; joy, which is what expresses well-being; and anger, which is the emotion of anger, of helplessness.

However, later on, authors reduced the emotions to four: joy; sadness; anger along with disgust; and surprise with fear. This is due to the facial expressions they generate, in which anger and disgust share characteristics, as well as surprise and fear.

Differences between psychobiology and psychophysiology

Psychophysiology is understood as the science that studies the physiology of psychological processes, that is, the physical processes of the body, especially the brain, in response to behavioral responses.

Among the differences between psychobiology and psychophysiology, the following can be noted:

Psychobiology	Psychophysiology
Study the biological bases of behavior	Study the physiological bases of behavior and the relationship between why there is a certain fear in a human being and what it produces in the body.
It takes into account the evolution, genetics, experience and interaction of living beings.	It focuses on the effects of the individual's central nervous system in terms of the physical manifestation of their own behavior.
Linked to ethology, behaviorism and neuroscience.	Linked to neuroscience and social neuroscience (relationship between psychological events and brain responses).
Study the relationship of the environment in the evolution of behavior.	Study what the mind produces about the physical state.

Furthermore, psychophysiology is related to the psychosomatic medical discipline; electrical and bioelectric signals from the brain are used for its measurement, it is also important to mention that this is a branch of psychobiology

Frequently Asked Questions about Psychobiology

What is called psychobiology?

Psychology and biology are different branches that were unified to understand human behavior from a biological perspective. Psychobiology is responsible for studying the evolution of the brain, the understanding of perceptual and sensory processes, the development and functioning of the nervous system and basic behaviors such as sex or reproduction. This discipline provided insights into a variety of disorders such as schizophrenia and autism.

What is the main goal of psychobiology?

Its main objective is to show each of the biological processes and systems that are involved in human behavior and explain how they have been constituted by natural selection throughout phylogeny, however, this is not limited to only describing behaviors, as it also seeks to build theories capable of predicting mental and behavioral events in biological terms.

What is behavioral psychobiology for?

From an educational point of view, it serves to understand the teaching processes and offer guidelines capable of improving said process. From birth, human beings are programmed to learn emotions and thanks to psychobiology these emotional states can be interpreted.

What is the origin of psychobiology?

The exact date on which this science was born is not known, however, it became an important neuroscientific discipline around the twentieth century, thanks to the publication of the book called "Behavioral Organization" by Donald Hebb.

Is biopsychology and psychobiology the same?

Psychobiology is also known as biopsychology and it is the science that is responsible for studying human behaviors from a biological point of view, in addition, it allows to establish an active relationship with the environment.