Posted on September 21, 2009 by Beast Ape
Recent research published in Biology Letters suggests physiological mood systems may have been involved in the evolution of coordinated physical activities. Researchers from the United Kingdom discovered that the pain threshold of collegiate rowers significantly increased when exercising with teammates v. solo-exercise controls 1. This increase in pain threshold was also observed for individuals exercising [...]
Filed under: Endocrinology, Human Evolution, exercise | Tagged: dancing, Dunbar, endorphins, exercise, opioids, rowing | Leave a Comment »
Posted on September 25, 2008 by Beast Ape
I managed to watch most of the recent National Geographic special title “Stress: Portrait of a Killer” on PBS last night. The program itself was an excellent summary of the effects of psychological stress on physiology in both humans and nonhuman primates. Robert Sapolsky’s research on stress response in wild baboons served as the jumping [...]
Filed under: Endocrinology, General, Primatology, Science Education | Tagged: Endocrinology, hormones, physiology, Sapolsky, stress, television | 3 Comments »
Posted on August 22, 2008 by Beast Ape
A recent AAAS podcast brought my attention to this piece of research published during my time in the field. A team of researchers from Wake Forest University (Go Deacs!) compared the androgen levels and behavior of Nazca boobies (Sula granti) and blue-footed boobies (S. nebouxii). They discovered that Nazca booby hatchlings have higher perinatal androgen [...]
Filed under: Animal Behavior, Biology, Endocrinology | Tagged: Animal Behavior, challenge hypothesis, Endocrinology, Nazca booby, siblicide | Leave a Comment »
