Behaviour Modification Disaster

The disasters in behaviour modification happens due to following reasons:
1. Attempt to change a behavior despite of its indispensability. For example ruling out fat in our diet despite of the fact that it should be reduced but removing it from the menu is not at all desirable.
2. Try to Imitate Others- This type of  change never lasts long. There were many people who wanted to look like John Travolta in late seventies but I doubt if any of them tried to continue that look after 2 or 3 years.
3. Pretentious Behavior: There are many people who learn to hide their true emotions after going through some corporate training or self help book. Corporate Trainings are meant to teach you to look positive aspects of worse things in your life.  However, too much suppression of emotion trap such fools in the endless cycle of adversity where they even forget to talk negatively about the real negativeness of life. The only outbursts that these people have is abnormal blood pressure or depression.
4. Modification in Daily Routine: You read somewhere that you should sleep for 7 hours, get up early in the morning , take a long walk, visit religious place and other blah blah plans for improving the quality of life. You get impressed that once you introduce the behavioural changes things would improve but the very intent of these changes add extra burden in your daily life and that is of implementing these changes which never happen properly.
5. Inspiration or Infatuation: You hear the blah blah of your favorite politician or actor or celebrity and decided to follow the life of truthfulness, trust, wisdom, enlightenment. While getting impressed you even forget that the person might be speaking a well rehearsed script to impress others. But you know things happen , I would not be amazed if people want to follow and learn about fidelity and upbringing of children from the likes of Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Bill Clinton, Narendra Modi etc.

Behaviour Modification- Fast Vs Slow

Behaviour Modification is the integral part of personal development. What ever be the aspect of life- social, financial, technological, health, thought we do need to modify ourselved to match up with the demands posed upon us by the contemporary society.

Temporary Change of Behavior of American Female Soldiers in Afghanistan

However, this modification process must be smooth, blindly jumping into each and every facet of modification is neither prudent nor necessary. While modifying your behaviour you must keep in your mind if you really want to persist with the modified behaviour. In case the modification is not required for long time and needed for instant then you must learn it through quick process without getting into too much reasoning and deep knowledge about the benefits of your modification. This type of modification is often required when we go on holiday tour to places where the culture is different from our own culture. For example wearing short skirts by girls in America will never raise an eye brow but the same attire can result in death sentence in several countries of the world. So behaviour modification would be a necessity for survival in those countries.

Slow process of behaviour modification is highly beneficial if you want to make changes in yourself for a long time. For example if you want to integrate exercise and physical work out as integral part of your life then for successful integration you should start slow and progress smoothly. The integration would be more concrete and long lasting if you also enjoy knowing about the benefits that you get from your new exercise regime. If you start fast with shallow attitude it is highly likely that the initial tempo of behaviour modification would be lost and real change in behaviour would not happen.

Living in New Culture

Five main strategies to avoid continuous conflict in the new culture:

Integration : It refers to an attitude in in which there is an interest in both, maintaining one’s original culture and identity, while staying in daily interaction with other cultural groups. In this case, there is some degree of cultural integrity maintained while interacting with other cultural groups.

Assimilation : It refers to an attitude, which people do not wish to maintain their cultural identity, and they move to become an integral part of the other culture. In this case, there is loss of one’s culture and identity.

Separation  : It refers to an attitude in which people seem to place a value on holding on to their original culture, and wish to avoid interaction with other cultural groups. In this case, people often tend to glorify their cultural identity.

Marginalisation : It refers to an attitude

in which there is little possibility or interest in one’s cultural maintenance, and little interest in having relations with other cultural groups. In this case, people generally remain undecided about what they should do, and continue to stay with a great deal of stress.

Genes and Behavior Pattern

Every chromosome stores thousands of genetic commands in the form of genes. These genes dictate much of the course of an organism’s development. They contain instructions for the production of specific proteins, which regulate the body’s physiological processes and the expression of phenotypic traits. The observable traits of an organism are called phenotype (e.g., body built, physical strength, intelligence, and

other behavioural traits). The traits, which can be passed on to the offspring through genetic material are called its genotype. All biological and psychological characteristics that a modern man possesses are the result of genotype inheritance with phenotypical variations.

A given gene can exist in several different forms. Change of a gene from one form to another is called mutation.  The type of mutation that occurs spontaneously in nature provides variation in genotypes and permits the evolution of new species. Mutation permits recombination of new genes with the genes already present. This new combination of genes structure is then put to test in the environment, which can select out those genotypes that turn out to be best fitted for the environment.

Chromosomes- How it influences Behavior

Chromosomes are the hereditary elements of the  body.  They  ar e  threadlike-pair ed structures in the nucleus of each cell. The number of chromosomes per nucleus isdistinctive, and is constant for each living organism. The gametic cells (sperm and ovum) have 23 chromosomes but not in pairs. A new generation results from the fusion of a sperm cell and an egg cell.

At the time of conception, the organism inherits 46 chromosomes from parents, 23 from the mother and 23 from the father. Each of these chromosomes contains thousands of genes. However, the sperm cell (fathers’) differs from the egg cell (mother’s) in one important respect. The 23rd chromosome of the sperm cell can be either the capital X or Y type of the english alphabet. If the X type sperm fertilises the egg cell, the fertilised egg will have an XX 23rd chromosome pair, and the child will be a female. On the other hand, if a Y type sperm fertilises the egg, the 23rd chromosome pair will be XY, and the child will be a male.

Chromosomes are composed mainly of a substance called Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA). Our genes are composed chiefly of DNA molecules. The two genes that control the development of each trait are situated at the same locus, one on each chromosome of a particular pair. The exception is the sex chromosomes, i.e. the pair of chromosomes that determines an individual’s sex.

Genetics of Behavior

We inherit characteristics from our parents in the form of genes. A

child at birth possesses a unique combination of genes received

from both parents. This inheritance provides a distinct biological blueprint and timetable for an individual’s development. The study of the inheritance of physical and psychological characteristics from ancestors is referred to as genetics.  The child begins life as a single zygote cell (mother’s ovum fertilised by father’s sperm). Zygote is a tiny cell with a nucleus in its center containing chromosomes. These chromosomes with all genes are inherited from each parent in equal numbers.

Gonads- Hormones of Reproduction

Gonads refer to testes in males and ovaries in females. The hormones secreted by these glands control and regulate sexual behaviours and reproductive functions of males and females. Secretion of hormones of these glands is initiated, maintained and regulated by a hormone, called gonadotrophic hormone (GTH) secreted by the anterior pituitary. The secretion of GTH starts at the age of puberty (10 to 14 years in human beings) and stimulates gonads to secrete hormones, which in turn stimulates development of primary and secondary sexual characteristics.

The ovaries in females produce estrogens and progesterone. Estrogens guide the sexual development of the female body. Primary sexual   characteristics   r elated   with reproduction, such as development of ovum or egg cell, appear on every 28 days or so in the  ovary of a sexually matur e female. Secondary sexual characteristics, such as breast development, rounded body contours, widened pelvis, etc., also depend on this hormone. Progesterone has no role in sexual development. Its function is related with

preparation of uterus for the possible reception of fertilised ovum.

The hormonal system for reproductive behaviour is much simpler in the male because there is no cyclic pattern. Testes in males produce sper m continuously and secrete male sex hormones called androgens. The  major  andr ogen  is  testoster one. Testosterone prompts secondary sexual changes such as physical changes, growth of facial and body hairs, deepening of voice, and increase in sexually oriented behaviour. Increased aggression and other behaviours are also linked with testosterone production.

The normal functioning of all hormones is crucial to our behavioural well-being. Without a balanced secretion of hormones, the body would be unable to maintain the state of internal equilibrium. Without the increased secretion of hormones during the times of stress, we would not be able to react effectively to  potential dangers in our environment. Finally, without the secretion of hormones at specific times in our lives, we would not be able to grow, mature and reproduce.

Adrenal Gland

This gland is located above each kidney. It has two parts, adrenal  cortex  and adrenal medulla, each secreting different hormones. The secretion of adrenal cortex is controlled and regulated by Adrenocorticotrophic Hormone (ACTH) secreted by anterior pituitary gland. When the secretion of adrenal cortex goes down, anterior pituitary gets the message and increases the secretion of ACTH, which stimulates the adrenal cortex to secrete more hormones.The adrenal cortex secretes a group of hormones, called corticoids, which are utilised by the body for a number of physiological purposes, e.g., regulation of minerals in the body, particularly sodium, potassium, and chlorides. Any disturbance in its function seriously affects the functions of the nervous system.

Adrenal medulla secretes two hormones, namely epinephrine  and norepinephrine (also known as adrenaline and noradrenaline, respectively). Sympathetic activation, such as increased heart rate, oxygen consumption, metabolic rate, muscle tone, etc., take place through the secretion of these two hormones. Epinephrine and norepinephrine stimulate the hypothalamus, which prolongs emotions in an individual even when the stressor has been removed.

Pancreas- The Behavioral Influence

The pancreas, lying near the stomach, has a primary role in digestion of food, but it also secretes a hormone known as insulin. Insulin helps the liver to break down glucose for use by the body or for storage as glycogen by the liver. When insulin is not secreted in proper amount, people develop a disease, called diabetic mellitus or simply diabetes.

Thyroid Gland

This gland is located in the neck. It produces thyroxin that influences the body’s metabolic rate. Optimum amount of thyroxin is secreted and regulated by an anterior pituitary hormone, the Thyroid Stimulating Hormone. (TSH). The steady secretion of this hormone maintains  the  production  of  energy, consumption of oxygen and elimination of wastes in body cells. On the other hand, underproduction of thyroxin leads to physical and psychological lethargy. If thyroid gland is removed in young animals, their growth is stunted and they fail to develop sexually.

Spinal Cord

The spinal cord is a long rope-like collection of nerve fibers, which run along the full length inside the spine. Its one end is connected with the medulla of the brain and another is free at the tail end. Its structure all along its length is similar. The butterfly shaped mass of grey matter present in the centre of the spinal cord contains association neurons and other cells. Surrounding the grey matter is the white matter of the spinal cord, which is composed of the ascending and descending neural tracts. These tracts (collections of nerve fibers) connect the brain with the rest of the body. The spinal cord plays the role of a huge cable, which exchanges innumerable messages with the CNS. There are two main functions of the spinal cord. Firstly, it carries sensory impulses coming from the lower parts of the body to the brain; and motor impulses originating from the brain to all over the body. Secondly, it performs some simple reflexes that do not involve the brain. Simple reflexes involve a sensory nerve, a motor nerve, and the association neurons of the grey matter of the spinal cord.

Cerebrum- Intelligence, Thought Process

The  cer ebrum  is  divided  into  two symmetrical halves, called the Cerebral Hemispheres. Although the two hemispheres appear identical, functionally one hemisphere usually dominates the other. For example, the left hemisphere usually controls language behaviour. The right hemisphere is usually specialised to deal with images, spatial relationships, and pattern recognition. These two hemispheres are connected by a white bundle of myelinated fibers, called Corpus Callosum that carries messages back and forth between the hemispheres.

Lobes of Cerebral Cortex:

The Frontal lobe is mainly concerned with cognitive functions, such as attention, thinking, memory, learning, and reasoning, but it also exerts inhibitory effects on autonomic and emotional responses. The Parietal  lobe is mainly concerned with cutaneous sensations and their coordination with visual and auditory sensations. The Temporal  lobe is primarily concerned with the processing of auditory information. Memory for symbolic sounds and words resides here. Understanding of speech and written language depends on this lobe. The Occipital lobe is mainly concerned with visual information. It is believed that interpretation of visual impulses, memory for visual stimuli and colour visual orientation is performed by this lobe. Physiologists and psychologists have tried to identify specific functions associated with specific brain structures. They have found that no activity of the brain is performed only by a single part of the cortex. Normally, other parts are involved, but it is also correct that there is some localisation of functions, i.e. for a particular function, a particular part of the cortex plays a more important role than the other parts. For example, if you are driving a car, you see the road and other vehicles by the function of your occipital lobe, hear the horns by the function of your temporal lobe, do many motor activities controlled by parietal lobe, and make decisions by the help of frontal lobe. The whole brain acts as a well coordinated unit in which different parts contribute their functions separately.

 

Forebrain- Associated Structures

It is considered to be the most important part of the brain because it performs all cognitive, emotional, and motor activities. We will discuss four major parts of the forebrain: hypothalamus, thalamus, limbic system, and cerebrum.

Hypothalamus : The hypothalamus is one of the smallest structures in the brain, but plays a vital role in our behaviour. It regulates physiological processes involved in emotional and motivational behaviour, such as eating, drinking, sleeping, temperature regulation, and sexual arousal. It also regulates and controls the internal environment of the body (e.g., heart rate, blood pressure, temperature) and regulates the secretion of hormones from various endocrine glands.

Thalamus : It consists of an egg-shaped cluster of neurons situated on the ventral (upper) side of the hypothalamus. It is like a relay station that receives all incoming sensory signals from sense organs and sends them to appropriate parts  of  the cortex for processing. It also receives  all outgoing motor signals coming from the cortex and sends them to appropriate parts of the body.

The Limbic System : This system is composed of a group of structures that form part of the old mammalian brain. It helps in maintaining internal homeostasis by regulating body temperature, blood pressure, and blood sugar level. It has close links with the hypothalamus. Besides hypothalamus, the limbic system comprises the Hippocampus and Amygdala. The hippocampus plays an important role in long-term memory. The amygdala plays an important role in emotional behaviour.

The Cerebrum : Also known as Cerebral Cortex, this part regulates all higher levels of cognitive functions, such as attention, perception, learning, memory, language behaviour, reasoning, and problem solving. The cerebrum makes two-third of the total mass of the human brain. Its thickness varies from 1.5 mm to 4 mm, which covers the entire surface of the brain and contains neurons, neural nets, and bundles of axons. All these make it possible for us to perform organised actions  and  cr eate  images,  symbols, associations, and memories.

Midbrain

The midbrain is relatively small in size and it connects the hindbrain with the forebrain. A few neural centres related to some special reflexes and visual and auditory sensations are found here. An important part of midbrain, known as Reticular Activating System (RAS), is responsible for our arousal. It makes us alert and active by regulating sensory inputs. It also helps us in selecting information from the environment.

 

The Central Nervous System- Hind Brain, Fore Brain, Mid Brain

The central nervous system (CNS) is the centre of all neural activity. It integrates all incoming sensory information, performs all kinds of cognitive  activities,  and  issues  motor Brain scanning reveals that while some mental functions are distributed among different areas of the brain, many activities are localised also. For example, the occipital lobe of the brain is a specialised area for vision.

The CNS comprises (a) brain and (b) spinal cord.  It is believed that the human brain has evolved over millions of years from the brains of lower animals, and this evolutionary process still continues. We can examine the levels of structures in the brain, from its earliest to the most recent form in the process of evolution. The limbic system, brain stem and cerebellum are the oldest structures, while Cerebral Cortex is the latest development in the course of evolution. An adult brain weighs about

1.36 kg and contains around 100 billion neurons. However, the most amazing thing about the brain is not its number of neurons but its ability to guide human behaviour and thought. The brain is organised into structures and regions that perform specific functions.

The Somatic Nervous System

This system consists of two types of nerves, called cranial nerves and spinal nerves. There are twelve sets of cranial nerves which either emanate from or reach different locations of the brain. There are three types of cranial nerves - sensory, motor, and mixed. Sensory nerves collect sensory information from receptors of the head region (vision, audition, smell, taste, touch, etc.) and carry them to the brain. The motor nerves carry motor impulses originating from the brain to muscles of the head region. For example, movements of the eyeballs are controlled by motor cranial nerves. Mixed nerves have both sensory and motor fibers, which conduct sensory and motor information to and from the brain.

There are thirty one sets of spinal nerves coming out of or reaching to the spinal cord. Each set has sensory and motor nerves. Spinal nerves have two functions. The sensory fibers of the spinal nerves collect sensory information from all over the body (except the head region) and send them to the spinal cord from where they are then carried out to the brain. In addition, motor impulses coming down from the brain are sent to the muscles by the motor fibers of the spinal nerves.

Peripheral Nervous System - Brief Information

The PNS is composed of all the neurons and nerve fibers that connect the CNS to the rest of the body. The PNS is divided into Somatic Nervous System and Autonomic Nervous System. The autonomic nervous system is further divided into Sympathetic and Parasympathetic systems. The PNS provides information to the CNS from sensory receptors (eyes, ears, skin, etc.) and relays back motor commands from the brain to the muscles and glands.

Reflex Action- Spinal Cord Control

A reflex is an involuntary action that occurs very  quickly  after  its  specific  kind  of stimulation. The reflex action takes place automatically without conscious decision of the brain. Reflex actions are inherited in our nervous  system  through  evolutionary processes, for example, the eye-blinking reflex. Whenever any object suddenly comes near our eyes, our eyelids blink. Reflexes serve to protect the organism from potential threats and preserve life.

Though several reflex actions are performed by our nervous system, the familiar reflexes are the knee jerk, pupil constriction, pulling away from very hot or cold objects, breathing and stretching. Most reflex actions are carried out by the spinal cord and do not involve the brain.

Nerve Impulse- How it Travels

Information travels within the nervous system in the form of a nerve impulse. When stimulus energy comes into contact with receptors, electrical changes in the nerve potential start. Nerve potential is a sudden change in the electrical potential of the surface of a neuron. When the stimulus energy is relatively weak, the electrical changes are so small that the nerve impulse is not generated, and we do not feel that stimulus. If the stimulus energy is relatively strong, electrical impulses are generated and conducted towards the central nervous system. The strength of the nerve impulse, however, does not depend on the strength of the stimulus that started the impulse. The nerve fibers work according to the “all or none principle”, which means that they either respond completely or do not respond at all. The strength of the nerve impulse remains constant along the nerve fiber.

Evolution of Human Behavior

In this world, there are millions of different species of organisms differing in a variety of ways. Biologists believe that these species were not always like this; they have evolved to their present form from their pre-existing forms. It is estimated that the characteristics of modern human beings developed some 2,00,000 years ago as a result of their continuous interaction with the environment.

Evolution refers to gradual and orderly biological changes that result in a species from their pre-existing forms in response to the changing adaptational demands of their environment. Physiological as well as behavioural changes that occur due to the evolution process are so slow that they become visible after hundreds of generations.

Evolution occurs through the process of natural selection. You know that members of each species vary greatly in their physical structure and behaviour. The traits or characteristics that are associated with high rate of survival and reproduction of those species are the most likely ones to be passed on to the next generations. When repeated generation after generation, natural selection leads to the evolution of new species that are more effectively adapted to their particular environment. This is very similar to the selective breeding of horses or other animals these days. Breeders select the fittest and the fastest male and female horses from their stock, and promote them for selective breeding so that they can get the fittest horses. Fitness is the ability of an organism to survive and contribute its genes to the next generation.

Three important features of modern human beings differentiate them from their ancestors: (i) a bigger and developed brain with increased capacity for cognitive behaviours like perception, memory, reasoning, problem solving, and use of language for communication, (ii) ability to walk upright on

Biological and Cultural Roots

An important determinant of our behaviour is  the biological structures that we have inherited from our ancestors in the form of developed body and brain. The importance of such biological bases becomes obvious when we observe cases in which brain cells have been destroyed by any disease, use of drug or an accident. Such cases develop various kinds of physical and behavioural disabilities. Many children develop mental retardation and other abnormal symptoms due to transmission of a faulty gene from the parents.

As human beings, we not only share a biological system, but also certain cultural systems. These systems are quite varied across human populations. All of us negotiate our lives with the culture in which we are born and brought up. Culture provides us with different experiences and opportunities of learning by putting us in a variety of situationsor placing different demands on our lives. Such experiences, opportunities and demands also influence our behaviour considerably. These influences become more potent and visible as we move from infancy to later years of life. Thus, besides biological bases, there are cultural bases of behaviour also.

 

Studying about Human Behavior- The Right Strategy

Human beings, the homo sapiens, are the most developed organisms among all creatures on this earth. Their ability to walk upright, larger brain size relative to body weight, and the proportion of specialised brain tissues make them distinct from other species. These features have evolved through millions of years and have enabled them to engage in several complex behaviours.

Scientists have attempted to study the relationship of complex human behaviour with the processes of the nervous system, particularly of the brain. They have tried to discover the neural basis of thoughts, feelings, and actions.  For learning human behavior we must keep note of the biological as well as cultural or human aspect of the behavior development.

By understanding the biological aspects of human beings,  we are be able to appreciate how brain, environment and culture interact to generate unique forms of behaviour.  For better understanding we must  understand the general description of the nervous system in an evolutionary perspective. We must also  study the structure and functions of the nervous system. the knowledge about the endocrine system, and its influence on human behaviour is  also an important aspect.  Understanding of cultural influence on behavior is an  important aspect. Finally an  analysis of the processes of enculturation, socialisation, and acculturation  will prepare anyone for studying further about the human behavior.

Culture and Biology- Influence on Behavior

An important determinant of our behaviour is  the biological structures that we have inherited from our ancestors in the form of developed body and brain. The importance of such biological bases becomes obvious when we observe cases in which brain cells have been destroyed by any disease, use of drug or an accident. Such cases develop various kinds of physical and behavioural disabilities. Many children develop mental retardation and other abnormal symptoms due to transmission of a faulty gene from the parents.

As human beings, we not only share a biological system, but also certain cultural systems. These systems are quite varied across human populations. All of us negotiate our lives with the culture in which we are born and brought up. Culture provides us with different experiences and opportunities of learning by putting us in a variety of situations

or placing different demands on our lives. Such experiences, opportunities and demands also influence our behaviour considerably. These influences become more potent and visible as we move from infancy to later years of life. Thus, besides biological bases, there are cultural bases of behaviour also

The Autonomic Nervous System

This system governs activities which are nor mally  not  under  dir ect  control  of individuals. It controls such internal functions as breathing, blood circulation, salivation, stomach contraction, and emotional reactions (Figure 3.4). These activities of the autonomic system are under the control of different structures of the brain.

The Autonomic Nervous System has two divisions:   Sympathetic   division   and Parasympathetic division. Although the effect  of one division is opposite to the effect of the other, both work together to maintain a state of equilibrium.

The sympathetic division deals with emergencies when the action must be quick and powerful, such as in situations of fight or flight. During this period, the digestion stops, blood flows from internal organs to the muscles, and breathing rate, oxygen supply, heart rate, and blood sugar level increases.

The Parasympathetic division is mainly concerned with conservation of energy. It monitors the routine functions of the internal system of the body. When the emergency is over, the parasympathetic division takes over; it decelerates the sympathetic activation and calms down the individual to a normal condition. As a result all body functions like heart beat, breathing, and blood flow return to their normal levels.

Neurons- How do they Function

Neuron is the basic unit of our nervous system. Neurons are specialised cells, which possess the unique property of converting various for ms of stimuli into electrical impulses. They are also specialised for reception, conduction and transmission of information in the form of electrochemical signals. They receive information from sense organs or from other adjacent neurons, carry them to the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), and bring motor information from the central nervous system to the motor organs (muscles and glands).

Nearly 12 billion neurons are found in the human nervous system. They are of many types and vary considerably in shape, size, chemical composition, and function. Despite these differences, they share in common three fundamental components, i.e. soma, dendrites, and axon.

The soma or cell body is the main body of the nerve cell. It contains the nucleus of the cell as well as other structures common to living cells of all types (Figure 3.1). The genetic material of the neuron is stored inside the nucleus and it becomes actively engaged during cell reproduction and protein synthesis. The soma also contains most of the cytoplasm (cell- fluid) of the neuron. Dendrites are the branch- like specialised structures emanating from the soma. They are the receiving ends of a neuron. Their function is to receive the incoming neural impulses from adjacent neurons or directly from the sense organs. On dendrites are found specialised receptors, which become active

when a signal arrives in electrochemical or biochemical form. The received signals are passed on to soma and then to axon so that the information is relayed to another neuron or to muscles. The axon conducts the information along its length, which can be several feet in the spinal cord and less than a millimeter in the brain. At the terminal point the axon branches into small structures, called terminal  buttons.  These buttons have the capability for transmitting information to another neuron, gland and muscle. Neurons generally conduct information in one direction, that is, from the dendrites through soma and axon to the terminal buttons.

The conduction of information from one place to another in the nervous system is done through nerves, which are bundles of axons. Nerves are mainly of two types: sensory and motor. Sensory nerves, also called afferent nerves, carry information from sense organs to central nervous system. On the other hand, motor nerves, also called efferent nerves, carry information from central nervous system to muscles or glands. A motor nerve conducts neural commands which direct, control, and regulates our movements and other responses. There are some mixed nerves also, but sensory and motor fibers in these nerves are separate.

Adrenal Gland

This gland is located above each kidney. It has two parts, adrenal  cortex  and adrenal medulla, each secreting different hormones. The secretion of adrenal cortex is controlled and regulated by Adrenocorticotrophic Hormone (ACTH) secreted by anterior pituitary gland. When the secretion of adrenal cortex goes down, anterior pituitary gets the message and increases the secretion of ACTH, which stimulates the adrenal cortex to secrete more hormones.

The adrenal cortex secretes a group of hormones, called corticoids, which are utilised by the body for a number of physiological purposes, e.g., regulation of minerals in the body, particularly sodium, potassium, and chlorides. Any disturbance in its function seriously affects the functions of the nervous system.

Adrenal medulla secretes two hormones, namely epinephrine  and norepinephrine (also known as adrenaline and noradrenaline, respectively). Sympathetic activation, such as increased heart rate, oxygen consumption, metabolic rate, muscle tone, etc., take place through the secretion of these two hormones. Epinephrine and norepinephrine stimulate the hypothalamus, which prolongs emotions in an individual even when the stressor has been removed.

 

 

Hindbrain- Main Structures

Medulla Oblongata : It is the lowest part of the brain that exists in continuation of the spinal cord. It contains neural centres, which regulate basic life supporting activities like breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure. This is why medulla is known as the vital centre of the brain. It has some centres of autonomic activities also.

Pons : It is connected with medulla on one side and with the midbrain on the other. A nucleus (neural centre) of pons receives auditory signals relayed by our ears. It is believed that pons is involved in sleep mechanism, particularly the sleep characterised by dreaming. It contains nuclei affecting respiratory movement and facial expressions also.

Cerebellum : This highly developed part of the hindbrain can be easily recognised by its wrinkled surface. It maintains and controls posture and equilibrium of the body. Its main function is coordination of muscular movements. Though the motor commands originate in the forebrain, the cerebellum receives and coordinates them to relay to the muscles. It also stores the memory of movement patterns so that we do not have to concentrate on how to walk, dance, or ride a bicycle.

Role of Synapse

Information is transmitted from one place to another within the nervous system in the form of a neural impulse. A single neuron can carry a neural impulse up to a distance covered by the length of its axon. When the impulse is to be conducted to a distant part of the body, a number of neurons participate in the process. In this process, one neuron faithfully relays the information to a neighboring neuron. The axon  tip  of  a  preceding  neur on  make functional connections or synapse with dendrites of the other neuron. A neuron is never physically connected with another neuron; rather there is a small gap between the two. This gap is known as synaptic cleft. The neural impulse from one neuron is transmitted by a complex synaptic transmission process to another neuron. The conduction of neural impulse in the axon is electrochemical, while the nature of synaptic transmission is chemical . The chemical   substances   ar e   known   as neurotransmitters.

Endocrine System- Neural Connections

The endocrine glands play a crucial role in our development and behaviour. They secrete specific  chemical  substances,  called hormones,  which  contr ol  some  of  our behaviours. These glands are called ductless glands or endocrine glands, because they do not have any duct (unlike other glands) to send their secretions to specific places. Hormones are circulated by the bloodstream. The endocrine glands form the endocrine system of the body. This system works in conjunction with different parts of the nervous system. The whole    system    is    thus    known    as neuroendocrine system.

Interaction With Other Cultures- Acculturation

Acculturation refers to cultural and psychological changes resulting from contact with other cultures. Contact may be direct (e.g., when one moves and settles in a new culture) or indirect (e.g., through media or other means). It may be voluntary (e.g., when one goes abroad for higher studies, training, job, or trade) or involuntary (e.g., through colonial experience, invasion, political refuge). In both cases, people often need to learn (and also they do learn) something new to negotiate life with people of other cultural groups. For example, during the British rule in India many individuals and groups adopted several aspects of British lifestyle. They preferred to go to the English schools, take up salaried jobs, dress in English clothes, speak English language, and change their religion.

Acculturation can take place any time in one’s life. Whenever it occurs, it requires re-learning of norms, values, dispositions, and patterns of behaviour. Changes in these aspects require re-socialisation. Sometimes people find it easy to learn these new things, and if their learning has been successful, shifts in  their behaviour easily take place in the dir ection of the group that brings in acculturation. In this situation transition to a new life is relatively smooth and free from problems. On the other hand, in many situations people experience difficulties in dealing with new demands of change. They find change difficult, and are thrown into a state of conflict. This situation is relatively painful as it leads to experience of stress and other behavioural difficulties by acculturating individuals and groups.

Psychologists have widely studied how people psychologically change during acculturation. For any acculturation to take place contact with another cultural group is essential. This often generates some sort of conflict. Since people cannot live in a state of conflict for a long time, they often resort to certain strategies to resolve their conflicts. For a long time it was felt that social or cultural change oriented towards modernity was

unidirectional, which meant that all people confronting the problem of change would move from a traditional state to a state of modernity. However, studies carried out with immigrants to western countries and native or tribal people in different parts of the world have revealed that people have various options to deal with the problem of acculturative changes. Thus, the  course of acculturative change is multidirectional.

Changes due to acculturation may be examined at subjective and objective levels. At the subjective level, changes are often reflected in people’s attitudes towards change. They are referred to as acculturation attitudes. At the objective level, changes are reflected in people’s day-to-day behaviours and activities. These are referred to as  acculturation strategies.   In   order   to   understand acculturation, it is necessary to examine it at both levels. At the objective level of acculturation, one can look at a variety of changes that might be evident in people’s life. Language, dressing style, means of livelihood, housing and household goods, ornaments, furniture, means of entertainment, use of technology, travel experience, and exposure to movies, etc. can provide clear indications of change that individuals and groups might have accepted in their life. Based on these indicators, we can easily identify the degree to which acculturative change has entered into an  individual’s or a group’s life. The only problem is that these indicators do not always indicate conscious acceptance of change by individuals or groups; they are held by people because they ar e easily available and economically affordable. Thus, in some cases, these indicators appear somewhat deceptive.