Human Behavior Biology: Lecture # 12. Endocrinology [Robert Sapolsky, 2010. Stanford]

We present you the twelfth lecture of the course “ Biology of Human Behavior ” by Robert Sapolsky about the genetics of behavior.



In this lecture, William Peterson and Tom McFadden introduce us to endocrinology. They talk about the basics of the endocrine system, about peptide and steroid hormones, about the processes by which the brain controls hormones, and about the effect of hormones on the brain.



Under the cut list of translated lectures.



List of lectures already translated:



Lecture 1 : Introductory lecture on the main directions of the course and why it is dangerous to think in categories.

Lecture 2 : Evolution of behavior, I. In this lecture, the professor explains the evolution of behavior, using illustrative examples, including the well-known “prisoner's dilemma”.

Lecture 3 : Behavior Evolution, II. Continued explanation of the evolution of behavior.

Lecture 4 : Molecular genetics, I. It describes the connection of protein synthesis and point mutations with microevolutionary changes, and discusses the theories of gradualism and intermittent equilibrium with each other, as well as the phenomenon of epigenetics.

Lecture 5 : Molecular Genetics, II. It describes the different mutations in the components of natural selection at the molecular level, and the theories of gradualism and intermittent equilibrium are reduced to a general model of development.

Lecture 6 : Genetics of Behavior, I. The lecture covers the classic approaches to the genetics of behavior, their shortcomings, the influence of environmental factors, the non-genetic heritability of certain features and epigenetics.

Lecture 7 : Behavioral Genetics, II. The lecture highlights the main difficulties associated with isolating individual genes, understanding variability and heritability, and also explains why genes and the environment are inextricably linked, although the role of the latter is often underestimated.

Lecture 8 : Recognition of relatives. This lecture is devoted to different ways of recognizing relatives in animals and people, using special proteins, smell, or cognitive effort and sensory information. It also discusses the important role played by this ability in various aspects of the life of living beings.

Lecture 9 : Ethology. In this lecture, the biology of behavior is viewed through the prism of ethology, the basic principles of which are the study of animals in their natural habitat and “interviews” in their language. Examples of behavioral diversity, the importance of the interaction of genes and the environment, and experiments in ethology are also given.

Lecture 10 : An Introduction to Neuroscience, I. In the lecture, the assistants Nathan Woodling and Anthony Chung-Ming will outline in general terms about neuroscience and their relationship to human behavior. They will introduce us to the lobes of the brain, its cells, neuropharmacology and reuptake.

Lecture 11 : Introduction to Neuroscience II. At the beginning of this lecture, Patrick House talks about the memories and the mechanism of their formation, then Dana Terker gives a lecture on the autonomic nervous system and its functions.

Lecture 12 : Endocrinology. William Peterson and Tom McFadden introduce us to endocrinology. They talk about the basics of the endocrine system, about peptide and steroid hormones, about the processes by which the brain controls hormones, and about the effect of hormones on the brain.



There are 25 lectures in total, gradually we will translate them all.