5 - HORMONES AND SOCIAL LEARNING Flashcards
sources of stress hormones
3
1- adrenal cortex
- controlled by hormones from the pituitary gland (hypothalamus)
- secretes corticosteroids (steroid)
2 - adrenal medulla
- controlled by neural signals from autonomic NS (hypothalamus)
- secretes adrenalin (hormone)
3 - brainstem
- locus coeruleus and LTA (lateral tegmental area)
- secretes noradrenalin (NT counterpart to adrenalin)
what does the adrenal cortex secrete?
corticosteroids
what does the adrenal medulla secrete?
adrenalin
what does the brainstem secrete (locus coeruleus and LTA)?
noradrenalin
fact:
adrenal gland is made up of the adrenal medulla (centre) and the adrenal cortex (surrounds it)
- on top of the kidneys
-
where do stress hormones affect?
4 overall regions, with multiple areas within them
1 - diencephalon
- thalamus (sensory input - first station from sense organs in the brain)
- hypothalamus (ES)
2 - motor systems (movement)
- striatum of basal ganglia
- cerebellum
3 - limbic system (memory and emotion)
- amygdala
- hippocampus
- cingulate cortex
4 - neocortex (thought / planning / interpretation of arousal from body by stress hormones)
what type of arousal are stress hormones involved in?
sympathetic arousal
- increased alertness (more tuned to environment)
- fight or flight response (or mate)
what does a neuromodulator do?
- they affect the neutrons state of readiness
- modulate how neurons respond
- not directly involved in signal transmission
STRESS HORMONES ACT AS NEUROMODULATORS ON THE BRAIN
scary bridge study
dutton and aron, 1974
- neocortex interprets arousal
method
- men either crossed a shaky bridge or stable stone bridge
- female experimenter asks questions and says to call if any follow up questions
result
- more phone calls in shaky bridge
interpretation
- shaky bridge = stress hormones
- interpret fear induced adrenalin rush to sexual arousal
- found woman more attractive
- physiological arousal can have different cognitive-emotional ‘meanings’
- both positive and negative emotions might facilitate learning
model of hormones and social learning
negative interaction
- week 5, pg 3 *
1 - danger situation (real or perceived)
2 - stress response = release adrenalin and cortisol
3 - improved processing and improved memory
(shows how environment affects us on a molecular level)
POSITIVE FEEDBACK LOOP - promotes stress
model of hormones and social learning
positive interaction
week 5, pg 3
1 - danger situation (real or perceived)
2 - stress response = release adrenalin and cortisol
3 - they cause intense processing and improved memory
4 - if social interaction = gains new level of significance and familiarity of people involved
5 - reduces stress / increased relaxation as people involved are familiar (due to increased memory)
6 - promotes feeling of friendship and attraction
7 - feel ‘happiness’
8 - release oxytocin
9 - oxytocin reduces release of adrenalin and cortisol (by inhibiting hypothalamic activity)
NEGATIVE FEEDBACK LOOP - reduces stress
model of hormones and social interaction
including brain structures
1 - danger
2 - primary sensory cortices informed
3 - signals sent to amygdala
4 - signals then sent to hypothalamus via the sympathetic PNS to the adrenal medulla to produce adrenalin
5 - adrenalin has an inhibitory effect on the hypothalamus (can switch off signal to adrenal medulla) = NEGATIVE FEEDBACK LOOP of adrenalin
6 - but adrenalin also effects other things - eg hippocampus - results in more intense processing and better memory
7 - so situation becomes more familiar
8 - if situation is positive = friendship and attraction
9 - processes in septal nuclei = sense of pleasure and calm
10 - hypothalamus directly releases oxytocin = ‘happiness’
11 - oxytocin has negative impact on hypothalamus and its tendency to trigger adrenal medulla to release adrenalin = further reduces adrenalin release
= further increases sense of peacefulness and attraction = POSITIVE FEEDBACK LOOP
OVERARCHING NEGATIVE FEEDBACK LOOP
- counteract stress with a sense of well-being
what does adrenalin promote?
social bonding
- improved learning/memory of salient environmental stimuli
- increases sense of familiarity with those involved
- also might indirectly increase oxytocin levels
oxytocin
a hormone and neuromodulator
- produced by hypothalamus and pituitary gland
- role in social bonding - well-being
- higher levels in romantically or socially attached people
- levels increase dramatically in puberty
- released particularly during orgasm, breastfeeding and other reproduction related activities (eg labour)
examples of activating effect of steroid hormones
- female rat ‘flirting’ with a male (eg ear wiggles)
- female rat adoptions the lordosis position (behaviour estrus) - rat tied to hormonal cycle (humans emancipated from hormonal cycle)
