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PSYC 207 Midterm 1 > Reading 4 (Group 2) > Flashcards

Reading 4 (Group 2) Flashcards

1
Q

What did english researcher sir henry dale discover in 1906? What did he call it? What did he later find about it?

A

a substance in the pitutary gland that could speed up the birthing process. He called it oxytocin from the greek words for “quick” and “childbrith labour”

it promoted the production of breast milk

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2
Q

What do we know know about oxytocin?

A

under many circumstances, it has the ability to produce the affects we associate with the state of calm and connection

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3
Q

In animal experiments, what has oxytocin been shown to do?

A

it increased the mother’s interaction with her young and created a bond between them.

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4
Q

Is oxytocin simply a hormone that circulate through the bloodstream to influence various functions?

A

no it also appears in the brain as a neurotransmitter, or signaling substance, working through a large network of nerves that connect with many different areas of that organ.

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5
Q

Is oxytocin able to influence many vital operations in the body?

A

yes.

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6
Q

Can oxytocin affect the fight or flight mechanism?

A

yes. it can lead to the brain and nervous system responsible for these mechanisms producing an opposite effect.

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7
Q

Was oxytocin one of the first hormones whose chemical construction was mapped in the mid twentieth century?

A

yes.

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8
Q

What substances similar to oxytocin and vasopression do reptiles produce?

A

mestocin and vasoticin

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8
Q

What is oxytocin composed of? What is it closely related to in structure?

A

nine amino acids and it is closely related in structure to another biochemical vasopression, differing from it by only 2 amino acids.

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8
Q

is oxytocin and vasopression an ancient substance?

A

from an evolutionary perspective, yes.

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8
Q

In what species of mammals is oxytocin found?

A

it is found, entirely unchanged chemically, in all species of mammals. (with the exception of a slightly different molecular structure in a few species)

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9
Q

Why does an earthworm have oxytocin?

A

to stimulate its egg laying

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9
Q

Why has vasopression been recognized as an important element in the fight or flight mechanism in mammals?

A

it keeps the body’s fluid volume at a balanced levle and helps to raise blood pressure. Along with adrenaline, vasopression is part of the body’s internal “power drink” that stimulates defensive actions and the physical and behavioural adaptations needed for struggle and boundary setting, behaviours often associated with the male sex.

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9
Q

What does the fact that oxytocin and vasopression have existed for such a long time in animals indicate?

A

that these substances are of fundamental importance and perform vital functions for both humans and other animals.

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10
Q

Is oxytocin only produced by females? how can it be easily released to a similar extent in both sexes?

A

No. It is produced by males and females in many different situations.

can be easily released in bot hsexes through pleasant warmth and rhythmic touch.

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11
Q

Is there a connection between oxytocin and estrogen?

A

yes.

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12
Q

is there a connection between vasopression and testosterone?

A

yes.

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13
Q

What do oxytocin’s effects often make us think of?

A

traditionally female qualities like receptivity, closeness, openness to relationship, and the giving of nurturing and nourishment

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14
Q

Is oxytocin correlated with blood pressure, and women’s own descriptions of the intensity of variosu feelings?

A

yes.

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15
Q

What does oxytocin fuel?

A

a coordinating and modulating system that works through the blood stream and through many nerve branches linking to important control areas of the brna.

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15
Q

What are 2 things that oxytocin levels are naturally influenced by?

A

heredity and life situation.

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15
Q

What is the level of oxytocin in the blood corellated with in nursing mothers?

A

physical manifestations, and subjective experiences of calm, lack of stress, and ability to interact with their babies.

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16
Q

What other neurotransmitters does oxytocin influence and is influenced by?

A

seratonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline

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17
Q

What do the feedback mechanisms in the oxytocin system enable oxytocin producing cells to recieve and deliver?

A

communications through nerve and chemical contact with the surrounding environemtn.

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18
Q

Why is oxytocin easy to promote?

A

because it is transmitted ot these cells from the body’s outside, inside, and sensory organs

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19
Q

Can thoughts, associations, and memories set the oxytocin system off?

A

yes.

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20
Q

How is oxytocin system related to fight or flight.

A

it is the opposite.

it operates not to mobilize us for defense but to slow us down to promote growth and recovery

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20
Q

Why does the heartbeat frequency and intensity increase when stressed, angry etc? What else happens?

A

to pump more blood into the muscles.

liver releases stored glucose to provide more energy to the muscles

air passages dialate and you breath more rapidly, increasing your bodies ventalation and elevated oxygen levels in your blood

pupils widen so you can see better in all directions

May become pale from fear or flushed with anger depending on heart beat etc.

blood supply to stomach and intestines is cut off to save energy (not digesting food or storing nutrition)

noradrenaline helps strengthe muscles

adrenaline and cortisol are secreted. (stress hormones)

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21
Q

What does stress (physical and psychology) cause the body to do?

A

causes the body to mobilize its available energy sources so that we can deal with a challenging situation

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22
Q

When is your sympathetic system activated?

A

fear or anger or stress

22
Q

What triggers the brain’s release of oxytocin? What does this promote?

A

pleasant stimuli

plays a key role in promoting body’s calm and connection response.

22
Q

Does meditation lower stress levels?

A

yes.

22
Q

What conditiosn cause oxytocin in both sexes

A

all characterized by peacefullness, relaxation, and a feeling of contentment

23
Q

What happens during the calm and connection response?

A

lower blood pressure, lower levels of cortisol, possibly increased appetite, and digestions (particularly storing nutrition in the body’s fat depot

increased circulation in the skin and mucous membranes

24
Q

Do the effects of the calm and connection response happen immediately? Do they perisst?

A

yes and yes

25
Q

What are the brain and spinal cord composed primarily of?

A

nerve cells called neurons

26
Q

What does each neuron consist of?

A

a cell body with a number of protuberances that send signals. These protuberances are called axons, and those that receive signals are called dendrites.

27
Q

how many neurons do peopel have?

A

over 100 billion

28
Q

how many neurons can a single neuron send and recieve signals from?

A

20,000

28
Q

What happens when a neuron is activated?

A

a weak electircal current passes through it, and the slight negative charge on the neuron’s surface becomes positive for a brief time. When the impulse reaches the nerve ending, chemical messangers (neurotransmitters) are released

29
Q

what is the name of the part of the brain that is usually seen as the highest level?

A

the cortical level of the cerebral cortex

30
Q

What are considered lower brain level?

A

parts of the brain that are older evolutionarily. These are the limbic system and the brain stem.

31
Q

What is the lowest brain level?

A

spinal cord

32
Q

What do the different levels of the brain correspond with?

A

different levels of control over the body.

33
Q

What is the role of the cerebral cortex?

A

it is our memory center and it manages conscious thought processes (executive function). Registering our awareness of touch, and certain emotions

It places humans in a different category than oher animals

34
Q

Is the cerebral cortex by itself responsible for bodily activites?

A

no. we almost always see lower levels of the brain acting with it.

35
Q

What is most of whats happening in the brain controlled by?

A

the lower brain. They are constantly active because theyre what keeps us alive. They operate automatically (heartbeat etc)

36
Q

What part of the brain is in charge when you become frightened, excited, or sexually aroused? what specifically controls these things?

A

the lower level

the hypothalamus and the amygdala

37
Q

What can the spinal cord be thought of as?

A

the link between te different parts of the body and the higher levels of nervous system

37
Q

What controls the reflex action?

A

the spinal cord

38
Q

Does the spinal cord also help to control blood pressure, activity in the gastrointestinal system and the response of our sex organs during sex?

A

yes

39
Q

Summarize the responsibilitiesof the 3 levels of the brain.

A

highest level: responsibility for the most subtle activites (thought, memory, ad planning)

mid-level: controls basic survival and reproduction

lowest level: takes care of the most primative functions (pain and other reflexes)

40
Q

How does love have benefits related to oxytocin?

A

the calm we feel as well as the touch involved with love making, increases our output of oxytocin, which in turn facilitates healing, aids digestion, and produces other anti stress effects.

40
Q

What are the general themes of the cerebral cortex, limbic system, brain stem, and spinal cord?

A
  1. thought (intellectual functions, strategic thinking, interpretation, evaluation, judgement)
  2. feeling (Emotional impulses, feelings, memories, memorization)
  3. instinct (instincts, basic survival functions, automatic functions, reactions)
  4. reflex (transmission of signals, reflexes)
41
Q

Does oxytocin play a key role in human sexual behaviour? How?

A

Yes.

Because of the intensive touching and oral stimulation of kissing. Also, the orgasm itself releases a flood of oxytocin into the blood stream

42
Q

Why can we conclude that oxytocin influences ating behaviour?

A

because injected oxytocin has led to increased mating in rats studies.

43
Q

How is oxytocin involved in women’s eggs?

A

it stimulaes the release of eggs from the ovaries, assists in the transport through the tubes to the uterus, and aids in the production and transport to the sperm

44
Q

What is oxytocin’s fundamental principle?

A

growth

45
Q

What have some studies shown about sexual relations in men and women and oxytocin?

A

oxytocin levels rise powerfully in the blood of both males and females and reach maximum concentration with the release of the orgasm

It may also stimulate the muscle activity related to orgasm in men and women

46
Q

What doses of oxytocin make you feel what?

A

High doses make you feel sleepy
lower doses make you feel unafraid, calm and interested in contact with other animals

47
Q

Why do partners often speak abotu how much they mean to each other after orgasm?

A

because with oxytocin pulsing through the bloodstream it seems like their love will last forever etc.

48
Q

Are the effects of oxytocin during sexual experiences dependant on the context?

A

Yes. The more the encounter contains an element of tension and danger, the more it is influenced by oxytocin’s sister substance vasopressin and so a stress reaction is produced. In cases of sex activities involving pain, the person may feel calm after orgasm but the body likely percieved it as an attack an activates defense mecanisms like high blood pressure, tightened muscles, and even reduced emotional responses and desensitization to touch.

49
Q

What is the risk of oxytocin’s power over sexual encounters?

A

the bond may feel very powerful before the partners know enough to be sure that they are right for each other.

50
Q

What does non-sexual physical touch with people we love provide us with?

A

feeling of security, helps us relax and calm down.

50
Q

How does oxytocin encourage further interaction?

A

when an animal is injected with oxytocin, they are more likely to engage in physical touch with others. This physical touch leads to the secretion of more oxytocin which promotes more interaction.

50
Q

Does being touched and cared for by parent influence feelings of security and bonding, trust, and connection with parent?

A

yes.

50
Q

How does the calm and connection system have a balancing effect in humans and animals?

A

oxytocin lowers the blood pressure and pulse rate, and keeps the bloodstream from being flooded with stress hormones, and helps the body handle food in an optimal way.

This provides an anecdote to the negative effects of a fast paced lifestyle marked by the stress and anxiety that come from competition.

50
Q

Does oxytocin play an important role in the bonding of a mother and her offspring? when is the key period for this?

A

yes. right after birth

51
Q

What are some activities that we can engage in to boost our calm and connection system without negative side effects?

A

getting a massage

acupuncture treatment

exercise

make love

meditate

spend time with people we like

have fun enjoying life

52
Q

What are some unhealthy ways to boost the release of oxytocin?

A

alcohol

mood altering drugs

fatty foods

53
Q

Is it easier for females to recognize a state of calm and connection?

A

yes

54
Q

What does the male sex hormone increase the release of? What is this connected with?

A

vasopressin

connected with aggression, physical activity and defense

55
Q

What is the relationship between estrogen and oxytocin? What does this lead to?

A

estrogen functions as an oxytocin enhancer

This can lead to women feeling more inclined toward activities that promote calm and connection

56
Q

Is over focusing on the fight or flight system exploiting our body’s resources? Why?

A

yes.

we tend to not prioritize the calm and connection system which doesn’t allow for the appropriate rest and restoration.

PSYC 207 Midterm 1 (13 decks)

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