Essay On Arginine Vasopressin

Empathy and caring is an essential part of human health. We love because we can empathize (Szalavitz & Perry, 2010). Empathy underlies everything that makes society work; such as altruism, collaboration, love and charity. Failures to empathize are a key part of social problems, such as crime, violence, war, racism, child abuse and inequity. Although we are genetically predisposed to care for others, the development of empathy requires a lifelong process of relational interaction (Szalavitz & Perry, 2010). More importantly, the first relationship humans experience, the

There are some who refute my claim by stating that mirror neurons have little effect on empathy. One study, “Oxytocin Enhances Amygdala-Dependent, Socially Reinforced Learning and Emotional Empathy in Humans” written by Hurlemann, Patin, Onur, Cohen, Baumgartner, Metzler, Dziobek, Gallinat, Wagner, Maier, and Kendrick (2010), they used oxytocin injections in order to determine if increasing the levels would cause an increase in the empathetic levels in males as compared to a normal level of empathy in females. The results showed that after the increase in oxytocin the male participants preformed at the same level as an untreated female. (Hurlemann et. Al, 2010). According to this study the

The experiment shows reductionism. The intricate idea of ‘aggression’ and ‘generosity’ are studied and a cause and effect relationship is established between them and testosterone. The amygdala and hypothalamus play an important role in emotions (aggression). However, there was no mention of their role in the body nor how it may affect the results in different ways.

The Prefrontal Cortex is involved in planning of behavior, attention and judgment and the orbitofrontal cortex plays an important role in emotions and impulse control. This is related to the article because in order for people to feel empathy, their orbitofrontal cortex has to function. To act the way people do when approached by their competitors, people need their prefrontal cortex to act how they would. The article does not necessarily contradict any of the content we learned but it gives examples of how there structures in our brain aid in our behavior and in the way we act. If these parts of our brain weren’t working, people would experience impulsiveness, antisocial behavior, experience of various emotions and deficits in the ability

They then had the students sit in a room, wearing headphones, with sensors on their face to record their expressions and were shown videos of people who were yawning, laughing, or had a neutral expression. The results of this experiment showed based on the students’ psych evaluation, the less empathy a person had then the likely they were to yawn. Of course this doesn’t necessarily mean if a person doesn’t yawn they are a psychopath (Preidt, 2015). Though none of the students were probably considered a psychopath, there was definitely a correlation between those with less empathy towards others and those who didn’t

To determine behavioral interoception, the experimenters used a standard heartbeat detection task. Using fMRI networks, brain connectivity was measured in interoceptive, exteroceptive and mind-wandering states. Empathic ability was also evaluated to test the association between interoception and emotional

In one experiment after participants watched an emotionally charged movie about a father and son, Zak asked study participants to donate money to a stranger. With both oxytocin and cortisol in play, those who had the higher amounts of oxytocin were much more likely to give money to someone they’d never

However, there is a certain hormone that is an important part of having confidence in other people. It is called oxytocin. Oxytocin muffles the region in the brain that provides fear responses, and keeps the stress hormone from releasing. It causes people to “feel” connections with others. These connections, are usually unfounded, and superficial. In a study by René Hurlemann of the University of Bonn, it was found that when given an extra dosage of oxytocin, men in serious relationships noticeably kept their distance from other women. Single men however, had no reaction. This study is an example of how Oxytocin influences people to be more trustworthy and honest in their

Recent research published on March 2nd in PNAS has found that oxytocin may play a key role in promoting neurotypical social behaviors.

“AB Psychopathy is characterized by a general antisocial lifestyle with behaviors including being selfish, manipulative, impulsive, fearless, callous, possibly domineering, and particularly lacking in empathy. Contagious yawning in our species has been strongly linked to empathy. We exposed 135 students, male and female, who completed the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R), to a yawning paradigm intended to induce a reactionary yawn. Further, we exposed males to an emotion-related startle paradigm meant to assess peripheral amygdalar reactivity. We found that scores on the PPI-R subscale Coldheartedness significantly predicted a reduced chance of yawning. Further, we found that emotion-related startle amplitudes were predictive

Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) is a neurotransmitter in the brain that has an enormous influence over many brain functions. It is synthesized, from the amino acid L-tryptophan, in brain neurons and stored in vesicles. Serotonin is found in three main areas of the body: the intestinal wall; large constricted blood vessels; and the central nervous system. The most widely studied effects have been those on the central nervous system. The functions of serotonin are numerous and appear to involve control of appetite, sleep, memory and learning, temperature regulation, mood, behavior (including sexual and hallucinogenic behavior), cardiovascular function, muscle contraction, endocrine regulation, and

Evolution is considered by many to be a process powered by selfishness, and a process in which only the “strongest” survive. However, contrary to popular belief, it is in fact empathy which has helped homosapiens survive through the ages. Empathy first originated with the evolution of maternal care within animals. Females had to know when their children were sick, in danger, or hurt. This is especially evident in complex animals like primates, dolphins, and elephants. In contrast to other animal groups, who are normally hostile to strangers of the same species, human beings and other primates in fact welcome strangers, as they know what it's like to experience starvation, loss, and disease. We know the value of cooperation, and this knowledge

The importance of the amygdala in social cognitions has been examined in both primate and human studies. Use of primates to study the social brain suggests that the amygdala contributes to social cognition. Kluver and Bucy made large bilateral lesions in monkey brains made across the amygdala, temporal neocortex, and surrounding structure. After the lesion, the animals engaged in hypersexual behaviors, unusual tameness, and a lack of knowledge about emotional stimuli. Lesions exclusively targeting the monkey’s amygdala resulted in similar, but more subtle impairments. This suggest that the amygdala may play a role in emotions elicited by social cues. Studies of the amygdala’s role in human social cognition suggest that the temporal lobes process socially relevant facial information from humans. Emotions from facial expressions, in particular fear are projected to the amygdala. Studies using FMRI to examine typical subjects and subjects with amygdala damage support this theory. Individuals with amygdala damage have difficulty recognizing facial expressions, specifically negative emotions such as fear.

This can involve both the chemical or organic processes that occur in the body. For example, researchers have found that the neurotransmitter serotonin drives cooperative behavioral activities, which infers that cooperative behavior has a physiological explanation (Paula, Messias, Grutter, Bshary, & Soares, 2015). In a study on by Tomasello & Vaish (2013), researchers found that young children were not motivated to help others only if it benefits themselves, like one would imagine, but “by a need just to see the person helped” (p. 242). This result was demonstrated through the measurement of physiological arousal, providing further proof that responses in the body are responsible for many human

The recent discovery of mirror neurons was accidently noticed by Italian neuroscientists who were working with monkeys to study certain areas of the brain that operated cognitive movements. Upon this discovery, it was determined that there is an abundance of previously unknown cells within the brain that work to consciously or unconsciously detect emotions of others through their actions and behaviours, which we in turn mirror by mimicking those exact emotions. It is believed that this