REGULATORY BEHAVIOR
The role of the nervous system. The fact that nervous system is the direct and influential regulator of human behavior is widely recognized by scientific communities all over the world.
Actually, all the elements of sophisticated structure of nervous system work in concord in order to provide appropriate behavioral responses for any irritant or provocative. Consequently, the principles of coordinative work of nervous system constitute the issue of paramount importance for psychologists.
Talking more specifically, both central and peripheral nervous system do take part in behavioral regulation. For instance, spinal cord (the constituting part of central nervous system) works not only as link, or so-called bridge, between brain and all body parts, providing signals of great importance, but is also capable of producing independent instant reaction, which is expressed in reflex movements.
Furthermore, brain itself is able to guarantee an adequate behavioral reaction. Actually, the forebrain with cerebrum and cortex are responsible for all the conscious activities, hence their role in behavioral regulation cannot be underestimated. As midbrain serves as the main centre of coordinating information, its role in controlling human behavior is quite understandable. Finally, hindbrain, which regulates such processes as blood pressure, heart rate etc., is one of the main elements, which defines our behavior as well.
In addition, one of combining parts of peripheral nervous system – somatic nervous system – due to sensory receptors is the prerequisite of existing of all aforementioned processes in brain. Last but not least, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system (together – the autonomic nervous system) are responsible for excitation and awakening of body in stressful situations, and in contrary – for calming it down and restoring the energy when stress passed away.
The effect of fear, aggression and anxiety on the specified behavior. However some people do believe that such emotional and behavioral process as fear, anxiety and aggression are exclusively destructive processes, they actually to some extent serve for the sake of our physical and mental health. In fact, as it is stated in one of articles from peer-reviewed journal “Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience”, the main function of fear and anxiety is to act as a signal of danger, threat, or motivational conflict, and to trigger appropriate adaptive responses (Steimer, 2002, p. 233). In other words, their function is quite similar, with the one distinction that fear arises from the known and conscious source, whereas origin of anxiety is unclear for human at first. In this very article are also compared favorable effects of normal anxiety as natural adaptive reaction and adverse results of pathological anxiety, which interferes with the ability to cope with various challenges and/or stressful events, and even alter body condition (e.g., formation of gastric ulcers) (Steimer, 2002, p. 237).
The situation with aggression is quite similar; however, if aggression lasts for too long, its destructive effects on behavior are likely to be even irreparable, taking its toll on previously adequate human behavior.
The relation between hormones and behavior. The role of hormones is literally priceless for the day-to-day processes in human body in general and regulation of human behavior in particular. Actually, without hormones all common physiological and behavioral activities would be impossible to last in normal regime. Therefore, without all those signaling molecules (in particular, corticotrophin, oxytocin, anti-diuretic hormone, thyrotropin, growth hormone-releasing hormone etc.) such activities as metabolism, mood changing, sleeping, digestion, growing up would have no chance to be normally developed. All these processes become possible due to cooperation of hypothalamus and nervous system, which provide the stable homeostasis.
As the effects of each hormone on behavior is impossible to be described in brief and general information about all hormones would be too general as well (because each hormone is responsible for very specific function and process), it is the best solution to illustrate strong ties between hormones and behavior with the example of one particular hormone.
For instance, let’s consider the effects of oxytocin. Peer-reviewed journal on behavioral endocrinology “Hormones and Behavior” dedicates a lot of attention towards multifunctional influence of this very hormone on behavior. In the most current volume of mentioned journal is published article, titled “Intranasal administration of oxytocin increases human aggressive behavior”, which links different aspects of this vey paper. Authors conducted great experiment for verifying the hypothesis concerning oxytocin effect on aggression increasing. 45 participants of experiment completed a monetary game played against a fictitious partner that allows measuring three types of responses (aggressive, individualistic and collaborative) in the context of provocation following the administration of oxytocin or placebo (Ne'eman et. al., 2016, p. 130). The results showed the increasing of aggressive responses in those people, to whom oxytocin was applied.
Another article, published in aforementioned journal, pays attention to specific effect of oxytocin on social behavior. For example, higher-level social-cognitive effects can emerge via a process by which oxytocin's broad influence is channeled into a specific social behavior, authors also research the link between this hormone and such behavioral responses as anxiety and social motivation (Churchland, Winkielman, 2012, p. 393).
All in all, however researches concerning hormones are quite complicated due to their cooperative work with other body modulators, within which it is complicated to distinguish particular effect of particular hormone, many scientific works prove multiple effects of hormone on human behavior.
The effects of regulatory impairments on the specified behavior. Any impairment undoubtedly cannot pass without less or more noticeable effects, as our body is system, in which all the tiniest elements are linked in a very scrupulous and precise way. Regulatory system, particular elements of which are described in this paper, is especially vulnerable for any impairment.
Naturally, any disruption in regulatory system inevitably leads to numerous behavioral disorders – from comparatively minor and insignificant ones to rather serious affects to specified behavior. Nevertheless, as regulatory system is specifically intended to work for autonomous self-correction, there are numerous examples of how this system managed to self-regulate previous impairments. For instance, results of researches concerning the relation between arterial hypertension and autonomous nervous system are illustrated in the peer-reviewed article “Hypertension and Autonomic Control”, where the acute influence of the autonomic nervous sytem in different types of hypertension is revealed (Turri da Silva, 2014, p. 50).
References
1. Churchland, P. S., Winkielman, P. (2012). Modulating social behavior with oxytocin: How does it work? What does it mean?. Hormones and Behavior, 61(3), 392-399.
2. Da Silva Turri N, Giacon, T. R., Vanderlei1, F. M., Vitor, A. L. R., Pastre1, C.M. Vanderle, L.C.M. (2014). Hypertension and Autonomic Control. American Journal of Medical Sciences and Medicine, 2(2), 48-53/
3. Ne'eman, R., Perach-Barzilay, N., Fischer-Shofty, M., Atias, A., Shamay-Tsoory, S.G. (2016). Intranasal administration of oxytocin increases human aggressive behavior. Hormones and Behavior, 80(3), 125-131/
4. Steimer, T. (2002). The biology of fear- and anxiety-related behaviors
The biology of fear- and anxiety-related behaviors
The biology of fear- and anxiety-related behaviors
The biology of fear- and anxiety-related behaviors
The biology of fear- and anxiety-related behaviors
The biology of fear- and anxiety-related behaviors. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 4(3): 231–249.
