A Biological Explanation for Aggressive Behavior Essay

A Biological Explanation for Aggressive Behavior - Essay Example Based on the premise that chemicals such as hormones or pharmaceutical agents affect neuronal responses such as mood and behavior, it tries to explain how the body’s internal chemical reactions have overt effects on how humans react to the environment. In the study done by Drs. Kruk, Hala ´sz, Meelis and Haller on the â€Å"Fast Positive Feedback Between the Adrenocortical Stress Response and a Brain Mechanism Involved in Aggressive Behavior,† the relationship between the body’s stress response and aggressive behavior is looked at. It was the aim of their experiment to test whether there was a â€Å"mutual stimulatory interaction between brain mechanisms controlling aggressive behavior and the stress response† (Kruk, Meelis, Halà ¡sz and Haller 2003). The investigations cross traditionally disparate domains of psychology as it takes an in-depth look at the connection between Behavioral, Social and Clinical Psychology – the link between integrativ e physiological investigation (e.g., in the role of specific neural structures, such as the hippocampus, in eliciting the stress response), frustration and aggression, and even psychopharmacology. Theoretically, it tried to prove that aggression is more of a biological response, and as such could be controlled, or even induced, by pharmacological means. The Experiment and the Results In the experiment, 53 rats were used as the main participants for five different experiments aimed to study whether stimulating the brain's aggression mechanism raised blood levels of a stress hormone and whether higher levels of the same hormone led to the kind of aggression elicited by that mechanism (Willenz 2004). Rats, whose neurophysiology is similar to ours were prepared by means of surgically implanting electrodes designed to stimulate the aggression-related part of the rat, his hypothalamus, a mid-brain area associated with emotion. Opponent rats were given an intraperitoneal injection of morphine before encounters with their electrode - implanted counterparts in order to produce profound sedation and analgesia during attacks (Kruk, Meelis, Halsz and Haller 2003). A series of five different experiments whereby the hypothalamus was electronically stimulated and measurements on the level of corticosterone (a substance akin to cortisol which humans produce under stress) present and the concomitant increase or absence of aggressive response in the rats in the presence or absence of an enemy or another attacker was undertaken. In the first two experiments, the rats' hypothalamuses were stimulated and their response to the absence and presence of an aggressive and non-aggressive opponent were measured. The results showed that "that activating the hypothalamic aggressive area is in itself a sufficient condition to obtain a considerable adrenocortical response. The confrontation with an opponent apparently is not required. The small increase observed in the absence of stimulation and opponent is probably due to an anticipatory stress response to the introduction into the test cage, a setting where these rats had fought before" (Kruk, Meelis, Halsz and Haller 2003). In the next two experiments, they determined the effects of a surge in plasma corticosterone and assessed the duration of their effects on attack thresholds. It was found that the levels of plasma c orticosterone induced attack behavior in the rats. The last experiment tried to determine what would happen if the rats underwent an adrenalectomy and the stress response was chemically induced

The Dangers Of Smoking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Dangers Of Smoking - Essay Example Therefore, it will be the express intent of this author to focus upon the risk of cancer, breathing diseases, up to and including emphysema, and heart disease that smoking has been known to trigger. Moreover, the analysis will also consider the secondary health affects that smoking can visit upon the individual exposed to â€Å"secondhand† smoke or passive smoking. Through such an analysis, the far reaching and broad health impacts that smoking portends can readily be noted. Whereas many individuals are of the opinion that smoking is a dangerous process that threatens the overall health and well-being of the individual, the fact of the matter is that the overall scope of danger that smoking represents is much greater than most individuals realized. Accordingly, as a means of categorizing this danger and promoting a level of understanding with respect to the full range of damaging impact that smoking can have upon the individual, this brief analysis will consider and discuss th e litany of negative health impacts that smoking engenders. ... will make is one that I based on a logical framework of understanding the known risks which smoking provides to both the smoker and to those that inhale the second-hand smoke. Firstly, it must be understood that smoking accounts for nearly ? million deaths each and every year within the United States. This is a figure that is larger than the overall number of people that succumb to HIV/AIDS, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle death, suicide, or murders combined. As such, the overall scope of the damage that smoking can have upon an individual is profound and affects their life in a number of different ways. Most obviously, high rates of lung cancer can almost entirely be attributed to smoking. Current estimates place this number from 80-90% of all lung cancer cases; depending upon what demographic and gender is measured. Regardless of the actual number, the statistics that have been provided show that smoking is invariably attributed to high rates of lung cancer and death. Yet, this statistic oftentimes confuses individuals who assume that lung cancer is the only means through which smoking can adversely impact upon the overall health of an individual. However, smoking also increases the chances of developed coronary heart disease by up to several times the normal rate. Moreover, a vast percentage of all deaths that are the result of chronic obstructive lung disease are normally caused by cancer. Yet, of all of the health impacts that can be felt, it is the health impact of cardiovascular disease that is the most overlooked. Due to the impact that nicotine has as well as the artery hardening properties of prolonged exposure to first or second hand cigarette smoke, the narrowing of blood vessels helps to put smokers at high risk for any type of blockage or