Comments on: Prairie Voles, early stress and sexual behavior

By: Warren

Warren — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 13:42:06 +0000

Eddy, we don’t know. I will post another paper perhaps later today that debunks the maternal stress theory for men so on that point, some work has already been done.
See the paper on child abuse and herpes in children. Some early stressors apparently leave their mark on the immune system, although we do not know for how long.

By: Eddy

Eddy — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 04:45:46 +0000

If it does follow through that stress can impact sexual behavior is that impact irreversible? Is the area of the brain and/or nervous system that was impacted permanently impacted? (Like the ‘grooves’ that ongoing depression leaves in the brain.) Would the absence of stress only stop reinforcement or would it also begin to diminish the present impact?
With the cows and the milk, I surmised that that particular impact wasn’t permanent. Take away the stress…add to sense of contentment…production enhanced.

By: carole

carole — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 04:23:39 +0000

Wow, the hairworms and the grasshoppers I hadn’t heard about.
As for twins–blood sugar levels are affected by all kinds of things so I can see how one twin could be affected and not the other. After all, even monozygotic twins are often quite different in birth weight and not even MZ twins develop at the exact same rate.
Just to take guesses at a few variables among many: the blood glucose levels themselves; the stage of brain cell development; the relative strength or weakness of the mother’s immune system. etc. Often it’s the confluence of several biological occurrences that causes something–happenstance. Even whether you and I come down with symptoms of a common rhinovirus is often determined by several chance factors, including the state of our immune system at the time the virus makes contact with us and of course, the relative virulence or benignity of the virus.

By: Drowssap

Drowssap — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 04:06:31 +0000

Video: Hairworms infect grasshoppers and manipulate their behavior
“It is one of the most spectacular instances known of behavioral manipulation of a host by a parasite”
“It is the parasites genes that are being expressed in the behavioral phenotype of the infected host that instruct it to jump”
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This one is awesome… unless you happen to be a cricket, grasshopper or spider.

By: Drowssap

Drowssap — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 03:48:10 +0000

Hormones absolutely do have an impact on behavior regardless of what might theoretically push them up or down in the womb. Obviously genes and socialization have an impact on behavior as well. --- What else can impact behavior? Well.... as weird as it might sound parasites can. Although Greg Cochran has mentioned that this might be how SSA works I don't think he is right. Nevertheless the fact this is not only possible but happens ALL THE TIME is pretty amazing. NatGeoVideo: Parasites take control of ants brains and direct their behavior, AMAZING!

By: Drowssap

Drowssap — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 03:36:20 +0000

Carole

For a long time, I have wondered if there are more consequences of high and low blood sugar levels in all of us than we have previously thought.

It definitely could be that or something just like that. But if prenatal blood sugar caused SSA it would have to be outside the normal range one way or the other. And that leads to the question of why is this out of whack during a critical time like pregnancy?
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The other problem is that for identical twins if one is gay the other is straight 3 out of 4 times. That’s doesn’t sound prenatal or at least not entirely prenatal.

By: carole

carole — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:57:55 +0000

For a long time, I have wondered if there are more consequences of high and low blood sugar levels in all of us than we have previously thought.
Mothers-to-be who get quality pre-natal care are monitored for gestational diabetes, and we do know many of the birth defects caused by gestational diabetes; however, what about the effects we don’t know? Each and every day, we realize just how much we don’t understand about our glucose levels.
Even a non-diabetic has times when his or her blood sugar plummets to unacceptable levels and when it rises to unacceptable levels. I can’t help thinking that blood sugar levels, even in those who aren’t tagged as “diabetic,” during pregnancy, have effects we’ve not yet discovered.
I looked up “stress hormones” and discovered the primary one is cortisol, a hormone which regulates blood sugar. When we are under stress, the hypothalamus sends signals to the endocrine system and one of the most important stress hormones, cortisol, kicks in. Cortisol’s job is to increase the glucose in our blood stream.
Those of you with friends or family members with diabetes…you know what neuropathy is. The nerve cells are damaged by spikes in blood sugar levels over a long period of time. Diabetics often lose feeling in their fingers, toes, and even up their legs. Neuropathy affects their internal organs as well. This happens over a long period of time, as far as we know, even in those who were not thought to have been diabetic. By the time they are diagnosed, damage has been done.
What if brain cells in the fetus (or in an infant or in a toddler) were zapped by bad blood sugar levels? What if the fetus, the infant, or the child didn’t have to be a diabetic for this to happen? As I said, there are many times when the blood sugar levels of even non-diabetics is out of kilter. Who knows what damage is done?
I decided to mention this because cortisol is a stress hormone and because I have never seen a study that eliminated the possibility that blood sugar levels during pregnancy or in early life could be related to SSA.
While diet varies from culture to culture and always has, and while there are indeed some cultures in which diabetes is not a problem, I am talking here of bad blood sugar levels that are transitory in nature. When you don’t eat or sleep properly, even a so-called “healthy” person has bad blood sugar levels.
Just food for thought, that’s all.

By: Drowssap

Drowssap — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:51:02 +0000

Warren
Here is my 2 cents on SSA and hormones.
SSA can’t be triggered by a normal level of hormones for the same reason that SSA can’t be triggered by a normal childhood. If it’s normal it’s also common and if it’s common you can bet our bodies and minds are optimized to handle it. It’s the rare or unexpected event (biological or otherwise) that humans or any other species have a hard time with.
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So IMHO if it’s hormones it has to be an odd level of hormones or maybe just bad timing of hormones. But even in that case why would this happen in 3% of male births? That is staggeringly common, way to common to be a normal part of human biology. It would need an outside triggering mechanism. This mechanism could be anything but since SSA has been around forever pathogens would have to be at the top of the short list.
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Or one last possibility, normal hormones + common genes = lifelong SSA. It would be an amazing, one of a kind exception but I suppose until we know the truth anything is possible.

By: Drowssap

Drowssap — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 03:50:32 +0000

Eddy

LOL. Don’t let this be cause for a detour but it kinda fits. Story on the news tonight said that cows that are named produce more milk than those that aren’t. It doesn’t seem to be the naming, of course. Stress seems to be the culprit that inhibits the milk-producing hormone.

That is actually an awesome example of how stress can work in the real world. increased stress = less milk production makes a lot of sense However increased stress = no milk production wouldn't work in the natural world because most animals are under stress and they still need milk for their babies. By comparison: increased stress = less attraction to women could easily be true. But increased stress = lifelong SSA makes no evolutionary sense at all.

By: Eddy

Eddy — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 02:02:12 +0000

LOL. Don’t let this be cause for a detour but it kinda fits. Story on the news tonight said that cows that are named produce more milk than those that aren’t. It doesn’t seem to be the naming, of course. Stress seems to be the culprit that inhibits the milk-producing hormone.