Introduction to the course
Biomedicine is a branch of medical science that applies biological and physiological principles to
clinical practice
Although there is no universally agreed upon definition of ‘biomedicine,’ it is often conceptualized as
the search for therapeutic/medical innovations in the laboratory
Biomedical sciences aims to improve quality of life through medical innovation.
The body is a machine. If one certain part is broken, maybe we can fix it like a machine.
Pasteur: laboratory revolution in micro-organism and pasteruisation (rabies vaccine)
Koch: Laboratory revolution in Koch postulates to identify pathogens (tuberculosis, cholera)
Fleming: invented penniclin
Basic and clinical research are linked: the production of knowledge about therapeutics always
requires a clinical phase (Löwy, 1996)
Biomedicine as Practice
Diagnosis, Etiology, interventions
> Increasingly focused on metrics (cholesterol, genes, etc) rather then symptoms
Clinical trials / meta-analysis
> The single most important event in integrating hospitals and patients into the biomedical
enterprise was the development of the randomized clinical trial (RCT)
Risk and Enhancement
> Hormone replacement therapy, started off as therapy for severe symptoms of
menopause, to become a preferred treatment to keep the skin of postmenopausal
women supple
‘reductionism,’
an ontological claim that a whole organism is ‘nothing more’ than the sum of its parts; second
epistemological claim that the organism is best explained by reference to its parts;
a methodological claim that the organism is best investigated by its parts
‘Holism’
Holism is the idea that the properties of a system cannot be adequately explained by taking just the
sum of its component parts. 'The whole is more than the sum of its parts'.
Science is divided up in disciplines.
Interdisciplinarity: collaboration between scientific disciplines.
Source of inspiration – broadening of horizons
New combinations lead to innovation
Improve research quality – enriches
Address interesting complex scientific questions or topics that you cannot answer from a
monodiscipline
Objectivism: Reality can be observed, presenting facts as truth. Knowledge can be formulated into
laws. Single reality.
,Constructivism: Truth and meaning are constructed by the person. Interpretations of the world.
Researchers are inherently view the world through their frame of reference. Multiple realities and
meaning is not stable.
Scientific discipline has:
Ontology: The art of being: the ‘properties' of things; What are objects anyway?
Epistemology: The art of knowing: the way in which we are able to know; how do we perceive reality?
(methodology)
Conceptology: The art of understanding: the meaning of definitions; which words/language do we
use?
Objectivism Constructivism
Ontology Health phenomena are external Health phenomena are established by
facts beyond our influence social actors
Epistemology Discover irregularities in Describe perspectives of actors and social
external reality interactions.
Conceptolog Truth, discover, laws, Visions, describe, perspectives, cohesion,
y mechanisms, objective subjective
Different perspectives, different types of knowledge. We need to integrate them
Integration of disciplines:
From different disciplinary perspectives
Working on the same complex problem/topic
Synthesis of concepts and methodologies
Neurobiology
Central nervous system: Spinal cord and brain
Peripheral nervous system: all other nervous tracks
Somatic nervous system: controlling the body (sensory organs, skeletal muscles, joints, skin).
Produces movements, SNS transmits incoming sensory information (vision, hearing, pain,
temperature, touch, position + movement of body parts) to CNS
Cranial nerves
Spinal nerves
Autonomic nervous system: ANS innervates body’s internal organs (heart, blood vessels, lungs,
airways, intestines…)
Sympathetic division: fight or flight
Parasympathetic division: rest and digest
The nervous system arises from one of the three basic germ layers: the ectoderm.
, The ectoderm folds inward to create the neural tube
The central nervous system arises from the neural tube
The peripheral nervous system arises from the neural crest cells
CNS (three-part structure) originates from a tube
Forebrain = prosencephalon
Midbrain = mesencephalon
Hindbrain = rhombencephalon
Newer levels partly replicating work of older more primitive ones
Each region adds different dimension to behavior
Biomedicine is a branch of medical science that applies biological and physiological principles to
clinical practice
Although there is no universally agreed upon definition of ‘biomedicine,’ it is often conceptualized as
the search for therapeutic/medical innovations in the laboratory
Biomedical sciences aims to improve quality of life through medical innovation.
The body is a machine. If one certain part is broken, maybe we can fix it like a machine.
Pasteur: laboratory revolution in micro-organism and pasteruisation (rabies vaccine)
Koch: Laboratory revolution in Koch postulates to identify pathogens (tuberculosis, cholera)
Fleming: invented penniclin
Basic and clinical research are linked: the production of knowledge about therapeutics always
requires a clinical phase (Löwy, 1996)
Biomedicine as Practice
Diagnosis, Etiology, interventions
> Increasingly focused on metrics (cholesterol, genes, etc) rather then symptoms
Clinical trials / meta-analysis
> The single most important event in integrating hospitals and patients into the biomedical
enterprise was the development of the randomized clinical trial (RCT)
Risk and Enhancement
> Hormone replacement therapy, started off as therapy for severe symptoms of
menopause, to become a preferred treatment to keep the skin of postmenopausal
women supple
‘reductionism,’
an ontological claim that a whole organism is ‘nothing more’ than the sum of its parts; second
epistemological claim that the organism is best explained by reference to its parts;
a methodological claim that the organism is best investigated by its parts
‘Holism’
Holism is the idea that the properties of a system cannot be adequately explained by taking just the
sum of its component parts. 'The whole is more than the sum of its parts'.
Science is divided up in disciplines.
Interdisciplinarity: collaboration between scientific disciplines.
Source of inspiration – broadening of horizons
New combinations lead to innovation
Improve research quality – enriches
Address interesting complex scientific questions or topics that you cannot answer from a
monodiscipline
Objectivism: Reality can be observed, presenting facts as truth. Knowledge can be formulated into
laws. Single reality.
,Constructivism: Truth and meaning are constructed by the person. Interpretations of the world.
Researchers are inherently view the world through their frame of reference. Multiple realities and
meaning is not stable.
Scientific discipline has:
Ontology: The art of being: the ‘properties' of things; What are objects anyway?
Epistemology: The art of knowing: the way in which we are able to know; how do we perceive reality?
(methodology)
Conceptology: The art of understanding: the meaning of definitions; which words/language do we
use?
Objectivism Constructivism
Ontology Health phenomena are external Health phenomena are established by
facts beyond our influence social actors
Epistemology Discover irregularities in Describe perspectives of actors and social
external reality interactions.
Conceptolog Truth, discover, laws, Visions, describe, perspectives, cohesion,
y mechanisms, objective subjective
Different perspectives, different types of knowledge. We need to integrate them
Integration of disciplines:
From different disciplinary perspectives
Working on the same complex problem/topic
Synthesis of concepts and methodologies
Neurobiology
Central nervous system: Spinal cord and brain
Peripheral nervous system: all other nervous tracks
Somatic nervous system: controlling the body (sensory organs, skeletal muscles, joints, skin).
Produces movements, SNS transmits incoming sensory information (vision, hearing, pain,
temperature, touch, position + movement of body parts) to CNS
Cranial nerves
Spinal nerves
Autonomic nervous system: ANS innervates body’s internal organs (heart, blood vessels, lungs,
airways, intestines…)
Sympathetic division: fight or flight
Parasympathetic division: rest and digest
The nervous system arises from one of the three basic germ layers: the ectoderm.
, The ectoderm folds inward to create the neural tube
The central nervous system arises from the neural tube
The peripheral nervous system arises from the neural crest cells
CNS (three-part structure) originates from a tube
Forebrain = prosencephalon
Midbrain = mesencephalon
Hindbrain = rhombencephalon
Newer levels partly replicating work of older more primitive ones
Each region adds different dimension to behavior
