Tag Archive for Stress Hormones

Some Other Lie Machines – Thermal Scanners, Eye Trackers, Pupillometers And Stress Sniffers

by  • March 6, 2013 • 0 Comments

Other machines that could potentially find their way into law enforcement and homeland security include thermal scanners, eye trackers and pupillometers. Scientists at Dodpi or the Department of defense polygraph institute have created a machine that measures the body’s emissions of heat, light, vibration and other minute changes that happen during lying. One of the tools measures the amount of heat that is released just inside each eye. The theory is that heat increase with lying and stress and this should increase during lying. From this chapter, we know that this machine has severe limitations since not all liars experience stress and fear, and not all honest people lack it. Another machine tracks people’s gaze patterns to determine if they’re looking at something they recognize or something novel. This would be useful in criminal investigations where the murder weapon was kept hidden from the public. If a suspect was read to recognize the item, he could be linked to the crime. Other machines measure pupils sizes to determine arousal which as we have been discussing can signal stress, fear, but also interest. A sniffer machine is also being tested which looks for an increase in stress hormones on the breath.

Such devices are new and their effectiveness unmeasured so are not in widespread use. Thankfully the time we hear “Your plane is boarding, please walk through the mental detector” isn’t yet upon us, and predictions of the popular book 1984 can sit idle, for the time being at least.

Touching Heals Us Both

by  • March 5, 2013 • 0 Comments

A warm embrace makes our body release positive hormones.

A warm embrace makes our body release positive hormones.

According to the research, healing happens just by holding hands and hugging. Men and women can both be made more healthy just by sharing touch. In a study by Dr. James Coan, a researcher from the University of Virginia who measured the response of men warned of an electric shock as they were placed in a MRI machine showed that holding the hand of a spouse actually helped them turn off part of the brain so they felt less distress. The handholding reduced agitation in the hypothalamus which is responsible for producing stress hormones. Over time, stress hormones can weaken the immune system and lead to sickness.

For women, a long and affectionate hug from men releases the bonding hormone oxytocin which helps reduce blood pressure and helps the health of the heart. Men, try this for yourself. The next time your wife or girlfriend start into you, give her a long embrace. At first she will squirm and appear to suffer, but after a few seconds she will begin to accept the hug and her brain will release oxytocin. Soon, she will forget her reasons for feeling so upset. It’s a dirty trick, but very effective, and your wife might even thank (me)!

For men however, snuggling is slightly (a lot) less powerful, and where hugs leave off, sex takes over. For men, oxytocin surges up to fives times that of normal immediately before he reaches orgasm. In a study at Queen’s University in Belfast on nearly one thousand middle aged men followed over a decade, it was found that men who had sex at least three times a week had a fifty percent reduction in risk of heart attack or stroke. Those who reported the most frequent orgasms had a death rate of one-and-a-half less then less sexually active men. So for both sexes touch can be very effective for the health, although the currency of touch differs significantly amongst the sexes. Of course, there’s really no reason a good long hug can’t turn into something much more!

Is Laughter Unique To Humans?

by  • March 5, 2013 • 0 Comments

We aren’t the only ones to laugh. In fact, it might not be a surprise to learn that other primates laugh such as chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos and orangutans show laugh-like vocalizations, but you might be surprised to learn that dogs and rats laugh too! Rats emit short high frequency sounds during play or when tickled. The vocalization is so high pitched that humans can’t hear it. The rats have been found to have what is called “tickle skin” which is found on certain prominent areas over the body. Tickling between the experimenters and rats leads to social bonding and the rats are then conditioned to seek tickling.

Dogs laugh as well. The laugh sounds very similar to a pant to the human ear, but with the help of specialized equipment burst of frequencies can be measured to indicate laughing. Just like in humans, the social laugh in dogs initiates play behaviour and decreases stress hormones. In a 2005 study conducted by Patricia Simonet, Donna Versteeg and Dan Storie where one- hundred-and-twenty dogs were measured across stress behaviours including growling, salivation, pacing, barking, panting, cowering, and lunging. The dogs were compared with each other across a baseline and found that when the laugh track recording was played, they showed an increase in tail wagging and displays of play face. They also showed more social behaviour such as approaching and lip licking. It seems therefore that humans aren’t the only ones to benefit from a good laugh!

Most behavioural psychologists agree that animals and humans laugh in a much different way and while we both laugh for social reasons, animals still lack the underlying self-awareness to laugh exactly like we do so in that sense laughter is somewhat unique to humans.

Above: Rats laugh!

Proxemics

by  • March 5, 2013 • 0 Comments

This couple shares personal space because it has developed trust for one another.

This couple shares personal space because it has developed trust for one another.

Proxemics is the study of how people use space and was first introduced by American anthropologist Edward T. Hall in the early 1960s to describe the implications distances play between people as they interact. He summarized the rule as follows: “Like gravity, the influence of two bodies on each other is inversely proportional not only to the square of their distance, but possibly even to the cube of the distance between them.” According to researcher Heini Hediger who studied the psychology and behaviour of captive animals in zoos and circuses in 1955, spacing is governed by how close animals are to one another, with four possible responses: flight, critical or attack, personal and social. People we find, are no different. “Personal” and “social” refers to interactions between members of the same species and is benign and non-confrontational, whereas “flight” and “critical”, usually occurs between members of different species and represents a direct threat or perceived threat to safety. Hall reasoned therefore, that with few exceptions, flight and critical distances had been eliminated from human reactions. This is largely do to the environment by which we all exist as we tolerate mild intrusions of our personal space on a daily bases.

When people enter our personal space we predict that they are either close friends, making a sexual advance, or they are hostile and are attempting an attack. Close encounters from strangers produce visceral reactions. Our hearts beat faster and we become flush as our bodies prepare us to fight or run. The same reactions are commonplace when our lovers enter our personal space for the first time. Even a touch of the hand can send the heart into flutter and release pleasure hormones. Except in the case of a lover the hormones are stress hormones which are naturally bad for us and in all due to all exhilaration we get a good dose of the “action hormone” adrenaline. This is why it is so important to respect the personal space around others. Not only will the intrusion make them feel uncomfortable, but they will also formulate negative judgments about you. The rule of thumb is to always give provide as much space as possible and allow others to approach you instead of vice versa.

When in public and especially in crowded areas filled with strangers our bodies will follow very specific silent speech rules. These rules protect our sanity first and foremost. They also convey our desires to get along with others in harmony, and that we respect them. In close, unavoidable proximity with strangers, our bodies will tense up or remain motionless so as to avoid contact. If accidental contact ensues, we will pull in whatever part of the body was touched and if particularly obtrusive we offer a verbal apology. Even if contact is rare, any part of the body that may result in touching is kept under heavy tension. We wouldn’t want our bodies to leave our control and move into the space of someone else. To loosen up or relax our bodies, is to ignore an important rule in congested places. Even our faces will remain rigid and free from emotion. Our gaze will be fixed or we will glaze over, looking “through” people instead of making eye contact. We even tend to limit conversations with people we know as this too violates the unwritten code of conduct. We’ll pick up a newspaper, even though we might have no interest in it, just to remove ourselves from the situation even further.