Using One or More Examples, Explain Functions of Two Hormones in Human Behavior

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Hormones are chemicals released by glands in the endocrine system which circulate in the bloodstream and act as messengers affecting particular cells and organs. The human body releases various hormones which related to specific emotions and carry out different responses and actions in the body. They have widespread effects on both physiology and psychology thus behavior. The first hormone will be explained is cortisol, it is produced by adrenal cortex in response to stress and to restore homeostasis. Newcomer et al.(1999) conducted an experiment on cortisol and memory, aim to investigate how levels of cortisol interfere with verbal declarative memory. This 4 day experiment recruited 51 normal and health participants, divided them into 3 group under different experiment conditions. The first group had tablets containing 160mg cortisol per day, equivalent to the cortisol levels as a consequence of a major stressful event; group 2 had tablets containing 40mg cortisol per day, equivalent to the consequence of a minor stressful event; group 3 took placebo with no active ingredient. The result shows that the high level cortisol group performed worse on the verbal declarative memory test than group 2, and performed brow placebo levels after day 1. Group 2 with low-level cortisol showed no memory decrease. Oxytocin is a hormone secreted by the hypothalamus and it acts primarily as a neurotransmitter in the brain. Oxytocin plays a important role in human social bonding and stress reduction, and it has been linked to trusting other people. The study of Baumgartner et al.(2008) aim to investigate the role of oxytocin after breaches trust in a trust game. In the research, 49 participants received either oxytocin or placebo via nasal spray before play a trust game to study social interaction. One player receives a mount of money and decided wether to keep it or share it

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