Biology is the science of life. That includes the structure, function, growth and evolution of a living organism, for example humans.
There are many levels of study in biology that include botany, zoology, and the study of cells in a molecular level. Psychology is the science that studies mental processes and behavior. Like Biology, there are many levels of study in psychology that may include animal psychology, child psychology, ect. But what we may not take into consideration is that biology and psychology play a big role with one another.
Biological psychology or biopsychology is the study that analyzes the biological aspect of human behavior. The patterns of behavior, which is the psychological part, come from the functioning in our brain of which our nervous system controls, which is the biological part. For example, schizophrenia is diagnosed based on the patient’s behavior and reported experiences. The psychological diagnoses of schizophrenia include positive and negative behavioral symptoms.The positive symptoms are hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech and thinking. The negative symptoms are alogia, which is poverty of speech, avolotion, disinterest in social life, and affective flattening, no emotional expression.
Aside from medications, psychosocial therapy, i. e family therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy and other interventions are used to treat this disorder. Those who are diagnosed with schizophrenia have changes in both brain structure and chemistry.MRI, CT and PET scans are tools that are used to diagnose schizophrenia by imaging the brain and also detecting brain functions, which brings in the biological relation to the illness. When an image of the brain is taken, neurologists measure neural activity, observe and compare any changes in the brain from a healthy “normal” brain to a schizophrenic “abnormal” brain to correctly diagnose and treat the patient.
In conclusion, it’s very imperative that psychology and biology relate to one another. It opens many doors to medical breakthroughs.
