1. Biopsychology as a Neuroscience

1. Evolution, Genetics, and Experience
2. Anatomy of the Nervous System
3. Neural Conduction and Synaptic Transmission
4. The Research Methods of Biopsychology

1. The Visual System
2. Sensory Systems, Perception, and Attention
3. The Sensorimotor System

1. Development of the Nervous System
2. Brain Damage and Neuroplasticity
3. Learning, Memory, and Amnesia

1. Hunger, Eating, and Health
2. Hormones and Sex
3. Sleep, Dreaming, and Circadian Rhythms
4. Drug Use, Drug Addiction, and the Brain's Reward Circuits

1. Lateralisation, Language, and the Split Brain
2. Biopsychology of Emotion, Stress, and Health
3. Biopsychology of Psychiatric Disorders

• The authors focus on four broad themes outlining the text: Thinking Creatively About Biopsychology, Clinical Implications, Evolutionary Perspective, and Neuroplasticity.
• Themes Revisited sections at the end of each chapter summarise the ways in which the text's major and emerging themes relate to the chapter's subject.

• Exclusive illustrations, many created by co-author John Pineland and his artist/designer wife, Maggie Edwards, reinforce key content.
• Personal and social messages encourage students to relate personally to the research findings, particularly in chapters on eating, sleeping, sex, and drug addiction.

An emphasis on key themes provides the framework for the study of biopsychology

• The authors introduce two new themes emerging from biopsychology literature: 1) Thinking about Epigenetics and 2) Consciousness.
• The text incorporates 950 new citations of articles and books, reflecting recent developments and reshaping the content material.

Highlights of content changes include the following:

• Chapter 4: A new section on ultrasound-based imaging techniques.
• Chapter 7: Thoroughly updated and now entitled Sensory Systems, Perception, and Attention, with updated coverage on the subcortical auditory pathways and the effects of auditory cortex damage.
• Chapter 9: Extensive updates to the coverage of stem cells and neurodevelopment.
• Chapter 10: A new section on traumatic brain injuries.
• Chapter 12: An updated discussion on why some people gain weight and some do not.
• Chapter 15: A new discussion of the current epidemic of opioid abuse.
• Chapter 18: A thoroughly updated chapter covering the role of genetic, epigenetic, and neural factors for each psychiatric disorder, with expanded coverage on theories of bipolar disorder, updated coverage on drug therapies for anxiety disorders and Tourette's disorder, and more.