Psychology is different to other sciences in that it doesn't have one particular theory or approach, but there are six main approaches: psychodynamics, behaviorism, gestalt/cognitive psychology, humanistic psychology, socio-cultural psychology, and biopsychology (Benson, 2001). Biopsychology is a term used to refer to various biological approaches to psyhology that have arisen in the 20th century (Dewsbury, 1991). Biopsychology, also called physiological psychology, neuropsychology, and biological psychology, attempts to explain behavior on the basis of chemicals and nerves in the brain and body (Benson, 2001). Biopsychologists consider the mind and consciousness as activities of the brain. There is no clear definition of psychobiology, and historically, most authors using the term have advocated biological approaches only as they relate to the dynamics of the whole organism (Dewsbury, 1991).
Examples of the type of studies considered psychobiology are the split brain techniques reported by Roger Sperry in 1964 (Benson, 2001); studies using angiograms, computerized axial tomography (CAT scans), which began in the 1970s, positron emission tomography (PET scans), which began in the 1980s, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), begun in the early 1980s most being hospital-based examples of psychobiology. The EEG electroencephalogram (EEG), first used in 1929, is another example. The study of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, acetylcholine (ACh), and serotonin (5-HT) has shown them to be important chemicals which can alter moods, and the study of endocrine glands such as the adrenal glands, which help cope with stress, and affect mood and energy levels, and the testes, which produce testosterone, an important sex-determining hormone, are also part of the study of psychobiology. Even genetics is part of the study of psychobiology because animals studies have shown it is possible to breed for certain characteristics such as i...