PSYC 3070 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Circadian Rhythm, Castration, Endocrine System
Document Summary
What is the endocrine system: chemical messengers released into the bloodstream, bind to specific receptors, similar to neurotransmitters but can act over a greater distance and temporal range. Endocrine system function: homeostasis and digestion, sleep and circadian rhythms, stress response, social behavior, sexual differentiantion. Males would never develop beard, would never have a deepening of the voice, be shorter and not have typical sexual behaviors. Berthold"s experi(cid:373)e(cid:374)t: the first formal experiment on the endocrine system. In the first group of chicks he castrated them and they turned into a much more female version of the rooster. In the second group he castrated them and then reimplanted them and they developed normal. In the third group he castrated two bird and reimplanted them on each other and they had normal male development. Hypothalamic-pituitary- gonadal axis: the system of communication between these three endocrine glands as one unit, functions. Gonadotropin- releasing hormone the pituitary: (cid:862)(cid:373)aster gla(cid:374)d(cid:863, anterior.
