scholarly journals Sex Steroids as Regulators of Gestural Communication

Endocrinology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 161 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J Tobiansky ◽  
Matthew J Fuxjager
Keyword(s):  
Steroid Hormones ◽  
Sex Steroids ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Body Movement ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Gestural Communication ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Behavioral Endocrinology ◽  
Motor Patterns

Abstract Gestural communication is ubiquitous throughout the animal kingdom, occurring in species that range from humans to arthropods. Individuals produce gestural signals when their nervous system triggers the production of limb and body movement, which in turn functions to help mediate communication between or among individuals. Like many stereotyped motor patterns, the probability of a gestural display in a given social context can be modulated by sex steroid hormones. Here, we review how steroid hormones mediate the neural mechanisms that underly gestural communication in humans and nonhumans alike. This is a growing area of research, and thus we explore how sex steroids mediate brain areas involved in language production, social behavior, and motor performance. We also examine the way that sex steroids can regulate behavioral output by acting in the periphery via skeletal muscle. Altogether, we outline a new avenue of behavioral endocrinology research that aims to uncover the hormonal basis for one of the most common modes of communication among animals on Earth.

scholarly journals Effects of Attentional Focus on Motor Performance and Physiology in a Slow-Motion Violin Bow-Control Task: Evidence for the Constrained Action Hypothesis in Bowed String Technique

2021 ◽  
pp. 002242942110347
Author(s):  
Emma Allingham ◽  
Clemens Wöllner
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Body Movement ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Arm Movement ◽  
Slow Motion ◽  
Attentional Focus ◽  
Electromyographic Activity ◽  
Constrained Action Hypothesis ◽  
Conscious Thinking

The constrained action hypothesis states that focusing attention on action outcomes rather than body movement improves motor performance. Dexterity of motor control is key to successful music performance, making this a highly relevant topic to music education. We investigated effects of focus of attention (FOA) on motor skill performance and EMG muscle activity in a violin bowing task among experienced and novice upper strings players. Following a pedagogically informed exercise, participants attempted to produce single oscillations of the string at a time under three FOA: internal (on arm movement), external (on sound produced), and somatic (on string resistance). Experienced players’ number of bow slips was significantly reduced under somatic focus relative to internal, although number of successful oscillations was not affected. Triceps electromyographic activity was also significantly lower in somatic compared to internal foci for both expertise groups, consistent with physiological understandings of FOA effects. Participants’ reported thoughts during the experiment provided insight into whether aspects of constrained action may be evident in performers’ conscious thinking. These results provide novel support for the constrained action hypothesis in violin bow control, suggesting a somatic FOA as a promising performance-enhancing strategy for bowed string technique.

scholarly journals What Happened to Mirror Neurons?

2021 ◽  
pp. 174569162199063
Author(s):  
Cecilia Heyes ◽  
Caroline Catmur
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Motor Learning ◽  
Brain Stimulation ◽  
Mirror Neurons ◽  
Body Movement ◽  
Mirror Neuron ◽  
Causal Role ◽  
Action Understanding ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Visual Motor

Ten years ago, Perspectives in Psychological Science published the Mirror Neuron Forum, in which authors debated the role of mirror neurons in action understanding, speech, imitation, and autism and asked whether mirror neurons are acquired through visual-motor learning. Subsequent research on these themes has made significant advances, which should encourage further, more systematic research. For action understanding, multivoxel pattern analysis, patient studies, and brain stimulation suggest that mirror-neuron brain areas contribute to low-level processing of observed actions (e.g., distinguishing types of grip) but not to high-level action interpretation (e.g., inferring actors’ intentions). In the area of speech perception, although it remains unclear whether mirror neurons play a specific, causal role in speech perception, there is compelling evidence for the involvement of the motor system in the discrimination of speech in perceptually noisy conditions. For imitation, there is strong evidence from patient, brain-stimulation, and brain-imaging studies that mirror-neuron brain areas play a causal role in copying of body movement topography. In the area of autism, studies using behavioral and neurological measures have tried and failed to find evidence supporting the “broken-mirror theory” of autism. Furthermore, research on the origin of mirror neurons has confirmed the importance of domain-general visual-motor associative learning rather than canalized visual-motor learning, or motor learning alone.

Hormonal Control of Fish Reproductive Behavior: Brain–Gonadal Steroid Interactions

1982 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. S. Demski ◽  
P. J. Hornby
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Behavior ◽  
Sex Steroids ◽  
Anterior Commissure ◽  
Direct Action ◽  
Hormonal Control ◽  
Sufficient Evidence ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Behavioral Systems ◽  
Goldfish Carassius Auratus ◽  
Tentative Model

A number of hormones are known to influence reproductive behavior in teleosts. The best studied in this regard are the sex steroids estradiol and testosterone. Sufficient evidence is available to permit the outlining of possible modes of action of these hormones on mechanisms controlling reproductive responses in fishes. Autoradiographic studies using tritium-labeled steroids have revealed several brain areas with neurons that concentrate testosterone and estradiol in both males and females. An area near the anterior commissure (preoptic region and parts of the area ventralis telencephali) is of primary interest for behavioral systems. Electrophysiological experiments in goldfish (Carassius auratus) have demonstrated that both hormones strongly influence olfactory mechanisms. These effects may be mediated by steroid feedback on brain areas involved in centrifugal control of the olfactory bulbs. The neurological substrates for several behaviors which are thought to be androgen dependent have been studied using classical neurobehavioral methods. These include: spawning and sperm release in goldfish and sunfish (Lepomis sp.) and courtship and nestbuilding in sunfish. As of yet, a direct action of sex steroids on these systems has not been demonstrated; however, they all relate to the steroid-concentrating area mentioned above. Some of the systems are incorporated into a tentative model of the neural–hormonal mechanisms controlling reproductive behavior in male goldfish.Key words: reproductive behavior, fishes, brain, hormones, sex steroids, olfaction

Behavioral Endocrinology: Integrating Mind and Body

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-110
Author(s):  
Peter T. Ellison
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Steroid Hormones ◽  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Endocrine System ◽  
Behavioral Endocrinology ◽  
Paternal Behavior ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
Primary Focus

Abstract The nervous system and the endocrine system interact to integrate behavior and physiology. Hormones play an important role in this interaction, particularly steroid hormones. Other molecules, notably oxytocin, can serve both as hormones in the soma and neuromodulators in the central nervous system. Understanding the influence of the endocrine system on human behavior, both individual and social, has been a primary focus of behavioral endocrinology for many decades, though technical and methodological challenges have been formidable. The recent enthusiasm for enzyme-linked immunoassay kits for measuring steroid hormones in saliva has been found to be largely unsound, for example. Despite these difficulties, advances in many areas have been made and new areas, such as the endocrinology of paternal behavior and the role of oxytocin in social interactions, have emerged. Reproductive ecology provides a theoretical framework for integrating the diverse content of human behavioral ecology.

scholarly journals Influence of steroid hormones on the sensitivity of adrenalectomized mice to procaine

1947 ◽  
Vol 134 (875) ◽  
pp. 218-226 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Steroid Hormones ◽  
Sex Steroids ◽  
Term Treatment ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Short Term Treatment ◽  
Desoxycorticosterone Acetate

A dose of procaine which was harmless to castrated mice produced a collapse of body tempera­ture when the animals were adrenalectomized. This effect of the alkaloid was inhibited by short-term treatment with desoxycorticosterone acetate or some related sex steroids, but not with thyroxin. Of the mice untreated with the steroids, a certain number survived adrenalectomy and the procaine test indefinitely. This percentage was significantly increased in the animals prepared with the protecting sex steroids, but was decreased to zero in the group treated with desoxycorticosterone acetate.

scholarly journals Motor Imagery in Physical Therapist Practice

2007 ◽  
Vol 87 (7) ◽  
pp. 942-953 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Dickstein ◽  
Judith E Deutsch
Keyword(s):  
Motor Imagery ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Physical Therapist ◽  
Body Movement ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Cord Injury ◽  
Abundant Evidence ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Neurological Conditions

Motor imagery is the mental representation of movement without any body movement. Abundant evidence on the positive effects of motor imagery practice on motor performance and learning in athletes, people who are healthy, and people with neurological conditions (eg, stroke, spinal cord injury, Parkinson disease) has been published. The purpose of this update is to synthesize the relevant literature about motor imagery in order to facilitate its integration into physical therapist practice. This update also will discuss visual and kinesthetic motor imagery, factors that modify motor imagery practice, the design of motor imagery protocols, and potential applications of motor imagery.

Influence of sex steroid hormones on cerebrovascular function

2006 ◽  
Vol 101 (4) ◽  
pp. 1252-1261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana N. Krause ◽  
Sue P. Duckles ◽  
Dale A. Pelligrino
Keyword(s):  
Steroid Hormones ◽  
Sex Steroids ◽  
Hormone Replacement ◽  
Sex Steroid Hormones ◽  
Sex Steroid ◽  
Target Tissue ◽  
Cerebral Vasculature ◽  
Hormonal Effects ◽  
Cerebrovascular Function ◽  
The Impact

The cerebral vasculature is a target tissue for sex steroid hormones. Estrogens, androgens, and progestins all influence the function and pathophysiology of the cerebral circulation. Estrogen decreases cerebral vascular tone and increases cerebral blood flow by enhancing endothelial-derived nitric oxide and prostacyclin pathways. Testosterone has opposite effects, increasing cerebral artery tone. Cerebrovascular inflammation is suppressed by estrogen but increased by testosterone and progesterone. Evidence suggests that sex steroids also modulate blood-brain barrier permeability. Estrogen has important protective effects on cerebral endothelial cells by increasing mitochondrial efficiency, decreasing free radical production, promoting cell survival, and stimulating angiogenesis. Although much has been learned regarding hormonal effects on brain blood vessels, most studies involve young, healthy animals. It is becoming apparent that hormonal effects may be modified by aging or disease states such as diabetes. Furthermore, effects of testosterone are complicated because this steroid is also converted to estrogen, systemically and possibly within the vessels themselves. Elucidating the impact of sex steroids on the cerebral vasculature is important for understanding male-female differences in stroke and conditions such as menstrual migraine and preeclampsia-related cerebral edema in pregnancy. Cerebrovascular effects of sex steroids also need to be considered in untangling current controversies regarding consequences of hormone replacement therapies and steroid abuse.

scholarly journals Modulation of the mTOR pathway in male Lewis rats after morphine self-administration and subsequent extinction training

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcos Ucha ◽  
Santiago M Coria ◽  
Adrián E Núñez ◽  
Raquel Santos-Toscano ◽  
David Roura-Martínez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protein Synthesis ◽  
Opposite Effect ◽  
Elevated Risk ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Reward Learning ◽  
Mtor Signaling Pathway ◽  
Self Administration ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Behavioral Traits ◽  
Chronic Disorder

AbstractAddiction is a chronic disorder with an elevated risk of relapse, even after long periods of abstinence. Some of the neural mechanisms mediating addictions require protein synthesis, which could be relevant for the development of more effective treatments. The mTOR signaling pathway regulates protein synthesis processes that have recently been linked to the development of drug addiction. Thus, we have assessed the effects of morphine self-administration and its subsequent extinction on the expression of several genes that act in this pathway, and on the levels of some phosphoproteins in three brain areas related to reward learning and extinction: the amygdala, the nucleus accumbens, and the prefrontal cortex. We found an increase in Raptor and Eif4ebp2 gene expression in the amygdala of rats that self-administered morphine, and this persisted beyond the extinction period. The expression of Insr in the amygdala of control animals decreased over time while the opposite effect was seen in the rats that self-administered morphine. We also found a strong correlation between some of the biochemical variables measured and behavioral traits, suggesting a significant role for the genes and phosphoproteins identified, mostly in the amygdala, in the behavioral effects of morphine.

scholarly journals Neurophysiological aspects of musical auditory stimulation on the cardiovascular system

2013 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Lima Ferreira ◽  
Luiz Carlos Marques Vanderlei ◽  
Luiz Carlos de Abreu ◽  
Heraldo Lorena Guida ◽  
Vitor Engrácia Valenti
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Respiratory Rate ◽  
Cardiovascular System ◽  
Human Body ◽  
Auditory Stimulation ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Processing Methods ◽  
Physiological Variables ◽  
Neurophysiological Mechanisms

Introduction: The literature has shown that musical stimulation can influence the cardiovascular system, however, the neurophysiological aspects of this influence are not yet fully elucidated. Objective: This study describes the influence of music on the neurophysiological mechanisms in the human body, specifically the variable blood pressure, as well as the neural mechanisms of music processing. Methods: Searches were conducted in Medline, PEDro, Lilacs and SciELO using the intersection of the keyword “music” with the keyword descriptors “blood pressure” and “neurophysiology”. Results: There were selected 11 articles, which indicated that music interferes in some aspects of physiological variables. Conclusion: Studies have indicated that music interferes on the control of blood pressure, heart and respiratory rate, through possible involvement of limbic brain areas which modulate hypothalamic-pituitary functions. Further studies are needed in order to identify the mechanisms by which this influence occurs.

scholarly journals Extraction and Analysis of Dynamic Functional Connectome Patterns in Migraine Sufferers: A Resting-State fMRI Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Weifang Nie ◽  
Weiming Zeng ◽  
Jiajun Yang ◽  
Yuhu Shi ◽  
Le Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Resting State ◽  
Occipital Lobe ◽  
Resting State Fmri ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Functional Connectome ◽  
Network Metrics

Migraine seriously affects the physical and mental health of patients because of its recurrence and the hypersensitivity to the environment that it causes. However, the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of migraine are not fully understood. We addressed this issue in the present study using an autodynamic functional connectome model (A-DFCM) with twice-clustering to compare dynamic functional connectome patterns (DFCPs) from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from migraine patients and normal control subjects. We used automatic localization of segment points to improve the efficiency of the model, and intergroup differences and network metrics were analyzed to identify the neural mechanisms of migraine. Using the A-DFCM model, we identified 17 DFCPs—including 1 that was specific and 16 that were general—based on intergroup differences. The specific DFCP was closely associated with neuronal dysfunction in migraine, whereas the general DFCPs showed that the 2 groups had similar functional topology as well as differences in the brain resting state. An analysis of network metrics revealed the critical brain regions in the specific DFCP; these were not only distributed in brain areas related to pain such as Brodmann area 1/2/3, basal ganglia, and thalamus but also located in regions that have been implicated in migraine symptoms such as the occipital lobe. An analysis of the dissimilarities in general DFCPs between the 2 groups identified 6 brain areas belonging to the so-called pain matrix. Our findings provide insight into the neural mechanisms of migraine while also identifying neuroimaging biomarkers that can aid in the diagnosis or monitoring of migraine patients.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document