Behavioral Endocrinology

Behavioral endocrinology is a rapidly advancing area of research. The discipline basically involves the study of how different hormones affect human and animal behavior. Its origins can be traced back about 150 years. In 1849, a Swedish scientist, A. A. Berthold, performed a landmark experiment on roosters. Since that time, progress in the fieldboth in Europe and the United Stateshas occurred at varying rates. More recently, different technological innovations have led to a variety of new discoveries. This work serves to more precisely define the nature of hormonal influences on behavior. However, despite the significant advances which have been achieved, the research has yet to determine specific methods by which misguided human behavior can be effectively controlled through hormonal manipulation.

During the 1800s, researchers in anatomy and physiology began to focus their attention upon the "glands of internal secretion." At that time, certain of the "endocrine glands" had yet to even be discovered (1:328). Moreover, investigators could only speculate as to the various functions of those glands that were well known. In addition to their behavior, hypotheses often associated the glands with specific animals' morphologic and physiologic characteristics as well (1:328).

In 1849, however, A. A. Berthold, Professor of Physiology at the University of Gottingen provided the "first proof of endocrine fun

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deferens of older animals he could induce renewed vigor. He claimed that after vasoligation, older animals' testes displayed seminiferous tubule degeneration with concomitant proliferation of the interstitial tissue. This interstitial tissue contains the testosteronesecreting Leydig cells. Steinach concluded that the changes reflected enhanced output of the male hormone. This, he predicted, could cause increased levels of general activity and "heightened reactivity to various sorts of external stimuli." Unfortunately though, American researchers were unable to replicate Steinach's microscopic results. Eventually, the work led to Steinach's downfall as a behavioral endocrinologist. Regardless of the scientific community's opinion though, Steinach's research did compel many thousands of older men in both the United States and Europe to have their vas deferens ligated (1:331332). Steinach generally believed in the "centralistic" approach to hormonal actions. He thought that sex hormones stimulated and inhibited the central nervous system. Such assumptions may have originally been drawn by experiments conducted in Germany by M. E. B. Schrader. Schrader (1892) investigated the male frog's clasp reflex. His work, and
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Approximate Word count = 1790
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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