Final answer:
Phrenology is the outdated and discredited field that linked brain behaviors to skull bumps, while modern neuroscience, including neurobiology and behavioral neurology, is the valid scientific study of the nervous system's influence on behavior.
Step-by-step explanation:
The field of study the student is referring to sounds like phrenology, which historically focused on the concept that various brain areas were responsible for certain behaviors and traits, and these could be determined by the shape of the skull and the bumps on one's head. However, it is crucial to understand that phrenology is now considered a pseudoscience and has been discredited by modern neuroscience.
Today, the legitimate and scientifically supported fields of study that investigate the links between brain areas and behavior include neurobiology, neuroscience, and subfields such as behavioral neurology and psychoneuroimmunology. These disciplines explore how neurological conditions and the interactions within the nervous system influence behaviors, memory, cognition, immune responses, and more. Contemporary neuroscience employs sophisticated methods to understand the complex relationships between brain functions and behavior, a stark contrast to the simplistic and erroneous approach of phrenology.