THE NEUROSCIENCE PERSPECTIVE: BLOOD, SWEAT, AND FEARS

When we get down to the basics, humans are animals made of skin and bones. The
neuroscience perspective considers how people and non humans function biologically:
how individual nerve cells are joined together, how the inheritance of certain
characteristics from parents and other ancestors influences behavior, how the functioning
of the body affects hopes and fears, which behaviors are instinctual, and so
forth. Even more complex kinds of behaviors, such as a baby’s response to strangers,
are viewed as having critical biological components by psychologists who embrace
the neuroscience perspective. This perspective includes the study of heredity and
evolution, which considers how heredity may influence behavior; and behavioral
neuroscience, which examines how the brain and the nervous system affect behavior.
Because every behavior can be broken down ultimately into its biological components,
the neuroscience perspective has broad appeal. Psychologists who subscribe
to this perspective have made major contributions to the understanding and
betterment of human life, ranging from cures for certain types of deafness to drug
treatments for people with severe mental disorders. Furthermore, advances in methods
for examining the anatomy and functioning of the brain have permitted the
neuroscientific perspective to extend its influence across a broad range of sub fields
in psychology.