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Hormones and Behavior

Hormones like adrenaline, cortisol, melatonin, neuropeptide Y, oxytocin, and testosterone influence behaviors. Hormones are secreted by glands into the bloodstream and produce effects that last longer than neurotransmitters. Research has found correlations between hormones like testosterone and behaviors like aggression, stress response, sleep, social bonding, and dominance.

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106 views21 pages

Hormones and Behavior

Hormones like adrenaline, cortisol, melatonin, neuropeptide Y, oxytocin, and testosterone influence behaviors. Hormones are secreted by glands into the bloodstream and produce effects that last longer than neurotransmitters. Research has found correlations between hormones like testosterone and behaviors like aggression, stress response, sleep, social bonding, and dominance.

Uploaded by

Vedant
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Hormones & Behavior

The Biological Approach to Understanding Behavior


Hormones
Hormones are another class of chemicals that affect behaviour. Unlike neurotransmitters, hormones
are not released by the terminal buttons of a neuron; instead, they are secreted by glands in the
endocrine system.

So epinephrine (adrenaline) is released by the adrenal gland into the bloodstream as a hormone
whereas norepinephrine (noradrenaline) is released by neurons in the brain as a neurotransmitter.

Hormones are released directly into the bloodstream;


as a result, they take longer to produce changes in
behaviour than neurotransmitters. However, they also
produce effects that last a lot longer than an action
potential.
Hormones can only produce reactions in certain cells –
known as target cells - that have an appropriate
receptor site for the hormone. When the hormone
binds to the target cell, it either increases or
decreases its function.
Hormones
Adrenaline Secreted by the adrenal glands; responsible for arousal and the "fight or flight" response. Plays a
role in emotional memory formation.

Cortisol Secreted by the adrenal glands; helps control blood sugar levels, regulate metabolism, reduce
inflammation and assist with memory formation.

Melatonin Secreted by the pineal gland; signals the relaxation and lower body temperature that help with
a night of restful sleep.

Neuropeptide Y Produced by the hypothalamus; acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain. Stimulates food intake,
reduces anxiety and stress, reduces pain perception, affects the circadian rhythm. Higher levels
of NPY appear to be linked to higher levels of resilience.

Oxytocin Produced by the hypothalamus and secreted by the pituitary gland. When it affects the brain, it
acts as a neurotransmitter. Plays a role in mother-child attachment; believed to play a role in
social bonding and trust between people.

Testosterone Produced by the testes; plays a facilitative role in aggressive behaviour - that is, it doesn't cause
aggression, but higher levels of testosterone result in higher levels of aggression.
What is Stress?
Describe what stress feels like?

If you experience a traumatic event. The body’s “fight or flight” response kicks in and your
heart starts beating faster. This is because stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol are
released from the adrenal gland. When adrenaline reaches the brain it activates the amygdala
to send a message that something important or dangerous has happened. The amygdala is
believed to play an important role in emotional aspects of memory in that it attaches emotional
significance to otherwise neutral stimuli.
Generally, researchers believe that an “emotional memory” is better remembered and they
argue that this is because the amygdala is in communication with other brain regions when a
memory is created.
https://youtu.be/FBnBTkcr6No
The flight-or-fight response is what is known as a
hormone cascade – that is, hormones triggering
more hormones.
The release of adrenaline is part of the
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis – or HPA axis
for short. When a stimulus threatens us – the
hypothalamus responds by activating the pituitary
gland.
The pituitary gland then releases a hormone that
activates the adrenal glands, which are located on
top of your kidneys. As a result, both cortisol and
adrenaline are released into the bloodstream.
Cortisol is responsible for dumping glucose into
your bloodstream in order to provide energy, and
adrenaline increases the heart rate, blood pressure
and respiration. This reaction has evolved to help
humans survive in the face of danger so that they
can quickly escape an immediate threat.
McGaugh & Cahill (1995)

https://youtu.be/JuCMRhT15uQ
McGaugh & Cahill (1995)
Newcomer et al (1999)
Newcomer et al (1999)
Newcomer et al (1999)
Males are more aggressive than females in almost
every species. Why is this?
One possible reason could be in the influence of the
male sex hormone, testosterone. Testosterone is
produced in the testes of males, which could be why
males are more aggressive than females.

While it is also produced in the ovaries of females,


this is at a much lower rate. Perhaps it doesn’t come
as a surprise that there have also been correlations
found between violent crime and testosterone levels
(e.g. Dabbs et al., 1997 as cited in Batrinos, 2012)

Numerous animal studies have shown that


castration (cutting out the testicles) will reduce the
aggressive tendencies in males.
If we have high testosterone levels when we’re threatened by someone and we’re
motivated to deal with that social threat, our amygdala is more activated. This will result
in an increase in emotional and physiological arousal (e.g. increase in adrenaline
and heart rate).
So if we’re approaching a threat, we want to deal with it and we have high levels of
emotional and physiological arousal, we may be more likely to react aggressively
because showing aggression would be a good way to deal with the threat.
Albert et al. 1986
Albert et al. (1986) wanted to investigate the
effects of changing testosterone levels on the
aggressiveness of male rats. They placed rats in
cages and identified the alpha males. An alpha
male is the leader of the colony. In animals, this
is typically the biggest and strongest. So the
researchers identified the alpha males and they
measured their aggression levels when there
was a non-aggressive rat placed in the same
cage. They measured aggression by recording
behaviours such as biting.
After they measured the aggression levels they divided the alpha males into four
separate groups to undergo four separate surgeries:

A. Castration
B. Castration followed by implanting of tubes with testosterone
C. Castration followed by implanting of empty tubes
D. A “sham” castration followed by implanting of empty tubes (this means they would
have cut open the rat and sewn it back up without actually removing the testicles).

They then measured the change in aggression when non-aggressive rats were
introduced to the cage. Those that had the operations that reduced testosterone levels
(e.g. Group A and C) had a decrease in aggressiveness (e.g. attacking and biting) but
those that had the operations that kept testosterone levels in tact (Group B and D) didn’t
have a significant change in aggression levels.

This evidence by itself demonstrates a correlation between testosterone and


aggression. It was followed by a second operation so that those that had the surgery
that decreased testosterone had another operation that increased testosterone (e.g.
Group C had their tubes filled with testosterone). Those alpha rats that had their
testosterone replaced showed returned levels of aggressiveness similar to those in the
“sham” castration group.
Moreover, the researchers observed that when a subordinate male (one that is not the alpha)
is placed in the same cage as an alpha rat that has been castrated the lower rat (subordinate)
becomes the dominant (alpha) rat in the cage. Also, when a rat that had the sham operation
is put in a cage with a castrated rat, the sham operation rat shows higher levels of
aggression. This suggests that testosterone may facilitate behaviour associated with social
dominance in rats. By experimenting on rats, researchers are able to determine correlations
between biological factors and behaviour. Albert et al. were able to manipulate levels of
testosterone and conclude that levels of testosterone affect aggression.
Critical thinking extension
If you are asked to “ explain how testosterone influences behaviour”, the
above research is rather limited. It suggests that testosterone does influence
aggression but it doesn’t provide much insight into how it does.

However, if you are asked to explain how research suggests testosterone


influences behaviour, this research can be used in a very good explanation of
how the research demonstrates testosterone’s role in aggression. However, it is
limited to animal studies so the generalizability to humans needs to be
questioned.

Analyzing the demands of the question in order to identify the explanation/s


required to demonstrate your understanding is really important, especially in
exam situations.
Homework reading:
When a person (usually a man) feels
obliged to protect his or her reputation http://psychology.iresearchnet.com/
by answering insults, affronts, and
social-psychology/cultural-psycholo
threats, oftentimes through the use of
gy/culture-of-honor/
violence
Cohen et al (1996)

Three experiments examined how norms characteristic of a "culture of honor"


manifest themselves in the cognitions, emotions, behaviors, and physiological
reactions of southern White males. Participants were University of Michigan students
who grew up in the North or South. In 3 experiments they were insulted by a
confederate who bumped into the participant and called him an "asshole". Compared
with northerners--who were relatively unaffected by the insult--southerners were (a)
more likely to think their masculine reputation was threatened, (b) more upset (as
shown by a rise in cortisol levels), (c) more physiologically primed for aggression (as
shown by a rise in testosterone levels), (d) more cognitively primed for aggression,
and (e) more likely to engage in aggressive and dominant behavior. Findings highlight
the insult-aggression cycle in cultures of honor, in which insults diminish a man's
reputation and he tries to restore his status by aggressive or violent behavior.

http://www.simine.com/240/readings/Cohen_et_al_(2).pdf
Studies :
https://www.themantic-education.com/ibpsych/2016/10/25/key-study-testost
eronethe-brain-and-aggression-goetz-et-al-2014/

Single-Dose Testosterone Administration Impairs Cognitive Reflection in Men

Gideon Nave, Amos Nadler, David Zava, Colin Camerer

https://digest.bps.org.uk/2017/09/07/how-short-term-increases-in-testosteron
e-change-mens-thinking-style/?fbclid=IwAR38M7rhfhxD2FYF_0qCHNdk46GH
z6FElVYNyvDcT7ncJumd_VkVwEmP5BA

How to answer questions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4O6CPnJs9Y


References:

● https://www.thinkib.net/psychology/page/22422/hormones
● https://www.thinkib.net/psychology/page/25862/lp-4-memory-and-hormones
● https://www.thinkib.net/psychology/page/24255/mcgaugh-cahill-1995
● https://www.thinkib.net/psychology/page/28454/newcomer-et-al-1999
● Albert, D. J., M. L. Walsh, B. B. Gorzalka, et al. “Testosterone Removal in Rats
Results in a Decrease in Social Aggression and a Loss of Social Dominance.”
Physiology & Behavior. U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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