Neural Ans Hormonal Mechanisms Flashcards

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1
Q

What role does the limbic system play in aggression? And where is it found?

A
  • central part of the brain

- limbic system processes emotional responses

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2
Q

What part of the brain moderates the level of testosterone in response to trigger from the environment?

A

The pre - frontal Cortex

  • more specifically the amygdala.
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3
Q

Name a piece of research to support the limbic system?and what did they find?

A
  • raine (1997)
  • scanned 41 murders and 41 controlled participants.
  • using pet scans
  • found malfunction in some of the murders limbic systems linking the limbic system to aggressive behaviour.
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4
Q

What is likely to happen if the amygdala is damaged in anyway?

A
  • the person will become more aggressive.
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5
Q

What is serotonin?

A
  • serotonin is a neurotransmitter that regulates the feeling of well - being.
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6
Q

What is an example of drug that lowers serotonin? What does it do and what are the problems?

A
  • Prozac.
  • it reduces the serotonin levels
  • the problem with it is it can make you feel depressed and feel more aggressive. In some cases.
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7
Q

What is the problem with research on serotonin?

A
  • the research is unclear suggesting both lowering the serotonin levels and increasing then leads to aggressive behaviour.
  • unclear results.
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8
Q

What is the CURRENT feeling around what serotonin does?

A
  • Crockett and Passamonti (2011)
  • found that lower serotonin levels = less control of the frontal Cortex.
  • less serotonin = less control of emotional response.
  • Meaning the lower the serotonin levels the more aggressive you will be.
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9
Q

Name research into serotonin in regards to animals? And what did they find?

A
  • Huber (1997)
  • increased serotonin in crayfish and times how much longer they continued to fight.
  • he compared crayfish will serotonin VS crayfish with normal levels of serotonin.
  • found that crayfish with added serotonin fought for longer.
  • however Huber was unsure whether they fought for longer due to increase aggression or natural response unable to mediate the trigger.
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10
Q

Name a piece of research into serotonin in regards to humans. And what did they find?

A

Cherek (1996)

  • found men who take drugs to increase serotonin had lower levels of aggression.
  • suggesting a link. But a weak link.
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11
Q

Give 2 evaluative points.

A

❌ extrapolation issues - research mainly done on animals because it is too unethical to increase aggression in humans because of stress and anxiety. Hard to generalise to humans also.

❌ Biochemistry is very deterministic. This suggests people could be over ridden without there control. This causes problems for the legal system as they can’t blame any criminals if they couldn’t control what they had done wrong.

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12
Q

What type of hormone is testosterone?

A

It is an androgen

  • (male hormone)
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13
Q

What is the enzyme associated with aggression and what does it do? And where is it found?

A
  • Aromatase enzyme
  • it is found in the limbic region (amygdala)
  • Aromatase metabolises testosterone in the brain to create an adequate response to an environmental trigger.
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14
Q

What happens if Aromatase is reduced?

A
  • if reduced there is not enough enzyme to metabolise the testosterone so there will a smaller effect and response to emotions experienced.
  • this means less aggression experienced
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15
Q

What do the levels of testosterone also affect?

A
  • the orbital frontal cortex
  • high testosterone = decreased activity in the orbital frontal cortex.
  • testosterone lowers serotonin levels = less serotonin = more aggressive
  • testosterone isn’t isolated it affects other bio chemicals.
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16
Q

What is research into testosterone?

A

Conor + Levine (1969)

  • used rats and castrated them at birth to see if they were aggressive. They were not. = passive. Even after testosterone injections had not aggression.
  • then castrated rats who were fully developed. They were passive but returned to their former aggression when injected with testosterone.
  • showing testosterone is sensitive to the development process
17
Q

Name 2 evaluative points on the research on testosterone in aggression.

A

❌ Extrapolation issues - use of rats hard to generalise due to different physiological aspects. Humans very complex to why we become aggressive.

❌ certain brain structures are different in animals. For example. Cingulate gyrus an area in the brain in cats and dogs which is irritable and linked with aggression, in monkeys it’s associated with fear.

18
Q

What do genes determine in regards to testosterone and aggression?

A
  • determine levels of testosterone and the speed of which it can be metabolised.
  • also determines number of receptors and how sensitive they are.
19
Q

What types of study do genetic factor experiments use?

A
  • twin studies/ adoption studies

- also use controlled studies using bred animals for research to reduce social behaviour and imitation.

20
Q

What is key about the genotype and phenotype?

A
  • the genotype may be aggressive but the phenotype prevents this if nothing terrible has happened to the person before.
21
Q

How does the MAOA gene affect the body?

A
  • it affects the levels of neurotransmitters.
22
Q

What is MAOA and what does it it do?

A

MAOA is an enzyme that breaks down neurotransmitters such as dopamine, noradrenaline and serotonin.

  • controlled by the MAOA gene.
23
Q

What are the two types of MAOA gene? What is the difference?

A

MAOA - H

MAOA - L

H has a high amount of enzyme

L has a low amount of enzyme

24
Q

What fraction of men have the MAOA -L gene?

A

1/3 of men in western areas.

25
Q

What is key for the aggressive behaviour of someone with the MOAO - L for them to become aggressive?

A
  • abused as a child can stimulate the aggressive behaviour from the MAOA -L gene.
  • more likely to commit a violent crime.
26
Q

Name a piece of research into the MAOA gene.

A

Moffit (1992)

Studied 442 New Zealand men.

From birth to 26 years old

Kept a record if the MAOA - L gene was present

  • found ones who suffered abuse as a child and had the MAOA - L gene were 9x more likely to commit an aggressive crime.
27
Q

Give two evaluative points in regards to the MAOA gene in aggression.

A

❌ Android centric and lacks ecological validity. Only 1/3 of men are accounted for. 2/3 of men and all the women don’t have the gene and are not accounted for. So can’t be generalised to everyone.

✅ helps to explain evolutionary theory as many people who have the gene are thought to take more risks and stand out more, making them more attractive and find reproducing easier.