MEETING with Mark Flinn on Thursday, March 5th!

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Spring 2009 IU Behavior Colloquia

Dr. Mark Flinn
Departments of Anthropology and Psychological Sciences at the
University of Missouri, Columbia

Hormones and the evolution of the social human brain

THURSDAY, MARCH 5
2:30pm
IMU Dogwood Room

ABSTRACT:
We humans are highly sensitive to our social environments. Our brains
have special abilities such as empathy and foresight that allow us to
understand each others' feelings and communicate in ways that are
unique among all living organisms. Our extraordinary social brains,
however, come with some significant strings attached. Our emotional
states can be strongly influenced by what others say and do. Our
hearts can soar, but they also can be broken. Our bodies use internal
messengers -- hormones and neurotransmitters -- to help guide responses
to our social worlds. From romantic daydreams to jealous rage, from
orgasm to lactation and parent-child bonding, the powerful molecules
produced and released by tiny and otherwise seemingly insignificant
cells and glands help orchestrate our thoughts and actions.
Here I focus on the question of why stress hormone systems are highly
sensitive to social challenges. For example, levels of the
glucocorticoid stress hormone cortisol increase acutely in response to
a wide variety of social-cognitive demands. Elevation of stress
hormones can have short- and long-term health costs, presenting an
evolutionary paradox. We do not have good explanations for why there
are links between the parts of the brain that assess the social
environment and the hormonal systems that control stress hormones such
as cortisol and epinephrine (adrenaline). Furthermore, we do not
understand why these links are modifiable during child development,
such that early experiences may permanently alter hormonal response to
social threats. Hypotheses are evaluated with a review of a 20-year study of child stress in a rural community on the island of Dominica. My limited
objective here is to provide a plausible model and some new pieces of
the puzzle linking stress response and health outcomes to the neural
plasticity that helps us respond to the dynamic human social
environment. I conclude with a discussion of the special importance of
family relationships in human evolution.

Sponsored by the Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior
Hosted by Michael Muehlenbein