BEHAVIORAL PHYSIOLOGY
Physiology is
behavioral. As Fritjof Capra so elegantly said in his book
The Web of Life (1996),
“…the
organizing activity of living systems, at all levels of life, is mental
activity”
Behavior is
physiological. As David Beales, A UK physician, said at the
Royal Society of Medicine (March, 2004),
“Why is it
that we physicians don’t look at physiology for understanding symptoms without
pathology,
or what we often call ‘unexplained symptoms?
If we did, most of our patients wouldn’t go off in despair to
complementary healthcare practitioners, and we might even earn back their
respect.”
Science is about
practical explanation. Science is about
prediction. Theories are not right or
wrong, in science.
They are more
useful, less useful, or not useful.
Understanding physiology from a behavioral perspective is useful.
Introduction of
“meaning” in physiology is useful.
“Behavioral
physiology” is a systems approach to understanding physiology. It
is the application of behavioral principles to physiological functioning. It is about how physiology processes
information, information about “itself,” and information about its
environment. It makes adjustments accordingly. In biological terms these adjustments
comprise “adaptation” and “homeostasis.” In behavioral terms these adjustments
constitute what is known as “learning,” which includes the principles of
attention, motivation, emotion, memory, perception, and reinforcement. Homeostasis, from this perspective, is “self-regulation.”
Learning is a
fundamental life process. It means
physiological reconfiguration. All living things, including cells, learn. This is fact, and is not theory or wishful
thinking. Physiological reconfiguration,
learning, is a creative process.
Creative process means intelligent evolvement of new biological
mechanisms, “on the fly,” so to speak.
It means immediate adaptation, without having to wait for genetics. It also means evolution based on emerging new
principles, the science of consciousness.
These principles are about “meaning,” and speak to much more than simple
survival.
Science is about
questions, not just answers. Implicit in
poor questions are faulty assumptions.
For example: how does the mind affect the body? Implicit in this question is the assumption
that they exist separately. Unproductive
science is the result. Thus, the
behavioral input into the acid-base H-H equation goes unrecognized. And, “unexplained symptoms and deficits”
remain unexplained. Talking
about physiology in behavioral terms is practical.
Copyrighted by
Behavioral Physiology Institute,