Chapter 1: Behavioral Endocrinology Intro

Question 1

Frank Beach

Answer 1

Father of Behavioral Endocrinology

1911-1988

Coined the term

Question 2

Behavioral Endocrinology

Answer 2

The study of hormone-behavior interactions

Multidisciplinary

Emerged with the publication of Hormones and Behavior (Beach, 1948)

Frank Beach, 1911-1988

Question 3

Historical Roots of Behavioral Endocrinology:

Aristotle

Answer 3

“Birds have their testicles inside…Birds are castrated at the rump. If you burn this area twice or thrice with hot irons, then, if the bird be full grown, his crest grows sallow, he ceases to crow, and forgoes sexual passion; but if you cauterize the bird when young, none of these male attributes or propensities will come to him as he grows up. The case is the same for men: if you mutilate them in boyhood, the later-growing hair never comes, and the voice never changes but remains high pitched; if they be mutilated in early manhood, the late-growth of hair quit them except the growth on the groin, and that diminishes but does not entirely depart.”

Question 4

Eunuchs

Answer 4

men castrated before puberty

A eunuch is a man who may have been castrated, typically early enough in his life for this change to have major hormonal consequences.

In some ancient texts, “eunuch” may refer to a man who is not castrated but who is impotent, celibate, or otherwise not inclined to marry and procreate.

Castration was typically carried out on the soon-to-be eunuch without his consent in order that he might perform a specific social function; this was common in many societies.

The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 21st century BCE.

Over the millennia since, they have performed a wide variety of functions in many different cultures: courtiers or equivalent domestics, treble singers, religious specialists, soldiers, royal guards, government officials and guardians of women or harem servants.

Question 5

Castrati

Answer 5

Of European descendence generally.

Castrated usually for the purpose of preserving a high-pitched singing voice.

Question 6

Hijras of India

Answer 6

Considered unlucky people who are lucky to be around.
They are thought to be bad-luck magnets.
Sometimes invited to weddings and other large events or celebrations to suck up or absorb all the bad luck in the area so that there’s only good luck left for the benefit of the guests and hosts.

“Indian cultural sphere that is distinctly different from the conceptual underpinnings of what is perceived as a trans-gender in the West.
The Western and the Japanese society possess a dualistic perspective on gender, which is either male or female.
As Shiva, the Supreme Lord, is occasionally described as a hermaphrodite, gender differentiation within the Indian society, largely comprised of Hindus, is also very peculiar in its kind, seen in the existence of a middle gender that combines both characteristics of a man and a woman.
Hijras can be called the trans-genders of India. Nevertheless, a Hijras will never claim to be a trans-gender, and this underlines the fundamental difference between how a trans-gendered identity is defined in the West.
Just as men and women play their roles in society, Hijras, who are neither men nor women, belong to a special category of gender, and fulfill a socio-cultural role that is only reserved for them.
The most well known role for a Hijra is to bestow in God’s name, “the power to procreate as well as create new life for newly-born male babies and for newly-wed couples.”
Additionally, they provide entertainment through their performance act to those who have gathered around for the occasion.
The Hijras societies are interconnected throughout the country and each community is comprised along territorial lines.”

Question 7

Eunuchs and Castrati tended to be orphans or very poor boys with little to no protection from their families.

Answer 7

vjvrzsg

Question 8

Arnold Adolph Berthold

Answer 8

published the first formal experiment in endocrinology in 1849



Male chickens or roosters display several characteristics that are not typically seen among either female hens or immature chicks of either sex.

Question 9

Berthold’s Experiment

Answer 9

Male chickens or roosters display several characteristics that are not typically seen among either female hens or immature chicks of either sex.

Roosters vs. Capons

Question 10

The relationship between hormones and behavior is bidirectional

Answer 10

Hormones affect behavior and behavior feeds back to affect hormones

Question 11

WHAT ARE HORMONES ?

Answer 11

Chemicals produced and released in very small amount by endocrine glands into the bloodstream

Hormones are not released constantly but instead are released in spurts (pulsatile secretion)

Travel some distance to target organs or tissues

Target cells have specific receptors

Regulates cellular events that lead to activation of enzymatic pathways or to effects on gene expression and protein synthesis

Question 12

Hormone

Answer 12

An organic chemical messenger released from endocrine cells that travels through the blood system to interact with cells at some distance away and causes a biological response.

Question 13

Principal actions of hormones:

Answer 13

Metabolism -
Growth
Developmental processes
Behavior

Question 14

pulsatile secretion

Answer 14

The episodic secretion of hormones in periodic bursts or spurts.

Hormones are not released constantly but instead are released in spurts.

Question 15

Capons

Answer 15

a result of a common farming process to make birds raised for poultry have higher quality meat.

Less tough meat (less sinewy) because no androgens

Question 16

Endocrine gland

Answer 16

A ductless gland from which hormones are released into the blood system in response to specific physiological signals.

Question 17

Hormonal vs. Neural Communication

Answer 17

Hormonal:
Released into circulatory system
Travels long distances (1mm-2m)
Can travel anywhere in the body
Slow, graded 
Mediate long-term processes
Little voluntary control

Neural:
Released locally into synapse
Travels short distances (20-30 nm)
Can travel only along neural tracts
Fast, all or none
Mediates fast changes
Some voluntary control

Question 18

Neural Communication

Answer 18

Released locally into synapse

Travels short distances (20-30 nm)

Can travel only along neural tracts

Fast, all or none

Mediates fast changes

Some voluntary control

Question 19

Hormonal Communication

Answer 19

Released into circulatory system

Travels long distances (1mm-2m)

Can travel anywhere in the body

Slow, graded

Mediate long-term processes

Little voluntary control

Question 20

WHAT IS BEHAVIOR?

Answer 20

Behavior is usually considered output (i.e. movement), however…..

Nearly any type of output can be considered behavior!

Question 21

Field studies of wild animals in their natural habitat

Answer 21

Ecologically relevant but genetic, social, and environmental variables can’t be controlled.

Question 22

Laboratory studies

Answer 22

Simple Systems Approach

Genetically similar animals in controlled environments

Loss of ecologically relevant context and normal cues.

Can be stressful, time-consuming, and expensive.

Question 23

Stages of Behavioral Research

Answer 23

Divide the Complete Set of Behaviors into Trivial and Relevant.

Analyze the Relevant Behaviors for a Description of the Action and a Description of the Consequence.

Question 24

Levels of Analysis to Examine the Causes of Behavior

Answer 24

HOW?

IMMEDIATE CAUSATION or MECHANISM:
underlying physiological mechanisms responsible for a given behavior

DEVELOPMENT:
full range of the organism’s behavior across the lifetime from conception to death

WHY?

EVOLUTION:
involve many generations of animals and address the ways that specific behaviors change during the course of natural selection, relies on comparing existing species that vary in relatedness

ADAPTIVE FUNCTION:
role that behavior plays in the adaptation of animals to their environment and with the selective forces that maintain behavior

Question 25

Levels of Analysis to Examine the Causes of Behavior:

HOW?

Answer 25

IMMEDIATE CAUSATION or MECHANISM:
underlying physiological mechanisms responsible for a given behavior

DEVELOPMENT:
full range of the organism’s behavior across the lifetime from conception to death

Question 26

Levels of Analysis to Examine the Causes of Behavior

WHY?

Answer 26

EVOLUTION:
involve many generations of animals and address the ways that specific behaviors change during the course of natural selection, relies on comparing existing species that vary in relatedness

ADAPTIVE FUNCTION:
role that behavior plays in the adaptation of animals to their environment and with the selective forces that maintain behavior

Question 27

Stages of Research Example:

What causes zebra finches to sing?


Answer 27

Male zebra finches sing because:

–estrogen levels are high. MECHANISM

–increases the likelihood they will reproduce by attracting females to their territory (improves fitness). ADAPTIVE FUNCTION

–they have undergone puberty. DEVELOPMENT

–they are finches and that all finches sing because they evolved from a common ancestral species that sang. EVOLUTION

Question 28

How might hormones affect behavior?

The outdated hydraulic model

Answer 28

Hormones don’t act like faucets:
It’s not like behavior spews forth if the hormone spigot is turned on.

It’s not that predictive; Environment, experience, genetics, and many other things factor in.

Question 29

It’s not appropriate to say that hormones cause behavior.

Answer 29

it’s not that predictive

Question 30

Hormone-behavior relationships are complex

Answer 30

Hormones change the probability that a particular behavior will be displayed in the appropriate behavioral or social context

Question 31

Estradiol example

All of these are true

Answer 31

Estradiol could make females more easily seen or heard.

Estradiol could change neural architecture, the speed of neural processing, or may influence higher neural processes like motivation and attention.

Estradiol can affect the muscles of a bird’s vocal organs.

Question 32

5 Ways that Individual Differences in Hormone Levels Reflect a Complex Influence

Answer 32

1. Hormone Concentrations
2. Patterns of Hormone Release
3. Numbers & Locations
4. Efficacy of Those Receptors in Triggering Intracellular Events
5. Underlying Personal Genetics that Alter Intracellular Responses to Hormones/Receptor Actions

Question 33

How might hormones affect behavior?

Answer 33

INPUT (Sensory) Systems

Integrators (CNS)

OUTPUT (Effector) Systems

Question 34

The FINCHES

Answer 34

Only male zebra finches sing

Castration reduces singing which is reinstated if testes reimplanted or if birds given Testosterone or Estradiol

Singing behavior is most frequent when Estradiol is high

Finches are great models to study sexual dimorphism

Question 35

Individual Differences in Hormone-Behavior Interactions

Answer 35

Individual differences in the expression of a behavior do not necessarily reflect differences in hormone concentrations in the blood.

A minimal amount of hormone is required to activate enough receptors in the brain to affect behavior, BUT above that threshold individual differences in hormone concentrations generally do not affect behavior

Individual differences in hormone behavior interactions reflect a complex influence of many factors

Question 36

Other ways behavior affects hormones

Answer 36

Stimuli from environment might influence the CNS to evoke the release of hormone

Memories/emotions might be conditioned to release hormones

Question 37

Behavior and even anticipation of behavior can affect hormones and hormonal outcomes

Answer 37

Example: Beard growth and anticipation of sex:

Question 38

Classes of Evidence for Determining Hormone-Behavior Interactions

Answer 38

1. A hormonally dependent behavior should disappear when the source of the hormone is removed or the actions of the hormone are blocked. REMOVAL
2. After the behavior stops, restoration of the missing hormonal source or its hormone should reinstate the absent behavior. REPLACEMENT
3. Hormone concentrations and the behavior in question should be covariant (i.e. behavior observed only when hormone concentrations are high and never/rarely when hormone concentrations are low)*
   SENSITIVITY VARIES

• Difficult to obtain because hormones may have a long latency of action, may be released in a pulsatile manner, and effective amounts are small (micro, nano, or pico)

Question 39

Hormones affect behavior and behavior feeds back to affect hormones

Mice, Monkeys, and Soccer Fans Examples

Answer 39

In mice & monkeys, aggressive encounters like fighting behavior can increase Testosterone levels in the winner but reduce Testosterone levels in the loser.

The same effect has been seen in human soccer fans.
Salivary levels of testosterone leveled after a soccer game.
Narrow victory is even sweeter, and makes a difference in hormonal effects