Biological Factors and Feeding Behaviors - Essay Example

?Biological Factors and Feeding Behaviors Introduction Biological factors have been proven as preconditions or progenitors of actions. This is true in all animals and the human species. Specific body parts and their functions, including the chemical reactions that transpire within a body - they control behaviors. They serve as both motivations and coercive forces that affect judgment, decision-making and the series of actions they trigger. A specific example, which this paper will investigate, is the feeding behavior. For this purpose, an explanation of behavior will be provided and an outline of several evidences that will support the claim that biological factors control feeding behaviors. Anatomy of Behavior In order to better outline the relationship of biological factors to feeding behavior, it is important to understand what behavior is. Cohn and MacPhail (1996) stressed that in order to do this; one must be able to answer four questions involving: 1. Causation, which refers the internal and external stimuli, processes, and contingencies that precede the behavior of interest; 2. Ontogeny, which is the development of behavior over the lifetime of an individual and mediated by the complex interaction between genetic and environmental factors; 3. Evolution or the changes in behavioral processes across generations; and, 4. Function, which is all about questions of adaptation. (p. 299) Now, the first two questions are considered proximate and ultimate questions that are tied to the biological factors' role in behavior. These two are almost universal because they are true to almost all animals. The occurrence and types of behavior, wrote Cohn and MacPhail, are generally species specific but that there are commonalities in the areas of basic activities such as survival and feeding behavior. (p. 299) A research by Legendre et al. (1994) revealed that the evolutionary characteristic of behavior and the human brain could be depicted or predicted through a model that involves diet or eating patterns along with variables such as sociability and locomotion. (p. 1487) Behavior, hence, is characterized by numerous and diverse causes and a number of which are biological factors. Feeding is particularly important in this area because it is primarily biologically driven. Crucial to this point is the role played by the hypothalamus, the brain organ responsible for biological motivation. If a person suffers an injury and then began to eat voraciously, then his hypothalamus might be affected, particularly the ventromedial section, which functions as the satiety center. (Hakala, 2009, p. 85) If it were damaged, the brain would be incapable to tell the person that he is full because no signal is being transmitted and, thus, he will continue to eat. If an injury affects the lateral hypothalamus, it will result in a sharp downturn in the individual’s motivation to eat and he will not feel the motivated to eat or motivated to eat. (Hakala, p. 85) This point is explained further in the following section. Feeding Behaviors Feeding is an action that involves an array of variables. First, there is the concept of need as food is necessary for survival. The fundamental fact is that it is required by a living body to function and continue living. Most activities need energy and health that can only be gained through food intake. (Snooks, 2009, p. 122) Hunger is a simple example about how the body can command an individual to take action, more specifically to eat. As the energy is depleted and used up by daily activities, the need to eat emerges. This process works within the so-called biological control systems. According to Bloom these operate by allowing a gradual change of state to occur until a critical level is reached, the point wherein a behavioral or psychological correction mechanism is initiated. (p. 21) So when someone used up all his energy, then feeding or the need to eat becomes apparent. A study undertaken by Elliot and Treat back in 1935 is one of the earliest studies to demonstrate this. In their findings, the persistent inducement of reflexes result in the incidence of muscular tensions and that these tensions can drive the periodic changes in the gastric tonus, which is also known as "hunger contractions." This biological process was depicted to involve volleys of afferent nervous impulses that result in central and peripheral facilitation or inducement. (p. 514) Biological factors are classified as endogenous variables as opposed to the exogenous classification because they exert control from the within the body. One of the most important manifestations of such control is the behavior that constitutes the rhythms of human activity. Rhythms, explained Bloom, are series of events that are repeated in time at intervals whose distribution is an approximation to regularity rather than being random. (p. 20) Another example how biological factors affect feeding behavior is the case of eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. Presently, the scientific field recognizes that these eating disorders are typified by aberrant patterns of feeding behavior, including disturbances on the attitude towards food, diet, weight and the self-perception. Shohov (2004) pointed out that these feeding disorders are partly driven by biological factors. He provided empirical evidences that support the claim that substantial biologic and genetic vulnerabilities contribute to the pathogenesis of these disorders such as multiple state-related neuroendocrine and neurotransmitter abnormalities. (p. 177) Chemical Reactions Aside from the bodily control mechanisms dominated by the nervous system, there are biological factors that impact feeding behavior. For instance, there is the case of the chemical balance and reaction within the body. This is demonstrated in the case of special food longings. In a study undertaken by Van de Water, special appetites are not only driven by quirks of taste but upon deep-sated needs of the whole body. (p. 330) For example, when a person is deprived of some food that is staple to his diet, then he becomes extraordinarily fond of it. Van de Water provided another example: Your knowledge of what is good for you has nothing to do with this longing for the very foods you need most. You never saw a vitamin – you may have no clear idea of what vitamin B does that is different from D or A. But when you are deprived of vitamin B you will develop a special relish for food containing this ‘morale vitamin.’ (p. 30) Another concrete example is the findings that endorphin can stimulate food intake. Fink (2009), for instance, found how stress, which often leads to poor appetite, can be addressed by this kind of endogenous opioids. He said, “endorphin indicate that the role of endogenous opioids in modulating feeding and energy homeostasis is quite complex and that endorphin may be important in primarily increasing the motivational and reward components of feeding.” (p. 133) Rewards and Punishments The psychological concepts of rewards and punishments are also excellent demonstrations with regards to how biological factors can control feeding behavior. This approach was introduced by B.F. Skinner, one of the most prominent psychologists of the twentieth century, back in the 1930s. Unlike the purely biological and endogenous explanation to the relationship, this psychological theory is based on the idea that actions and behaviors are not always brought about by the proximate causation, which in the case of feeding are the control mechanisms that tells an individual that he is hungry or full and would then necessitate a specific behavior. According to Skinner, an animal will not always eat because it is hungry. He identified the so-called reflex as culprit. It is supposedly the way a person or an animal seizes, chews and swallows its food because these behaviors are triggered by certain olfactory, visual or tactual stimuli. (p. 434) For example, in order to increase behavior, a mother can give her child candies or to discourage a behavior she could spank the child. These rewards and punishments can bring about changes in behavioral patterns and they are achieved by manipulating the reflex through physical, olfactory, visual and tactile stimuli. Conclusion The strong relationship between biological factors and feeding behavior is a fact. This is supported by the physiological evidences that point to specific bodily organs and chemical interactions as the variables that can control the way people and animals eat and even view their foods. This is the principle behind the concept of biological motivation. The organs, hormones and chemicals that affect feeding behavior constitute many control mechanisms that result in conscious and subconscious actions. This is in consonance with the currently accepted psychological theories on behavior. The biological factors serve as the proximate cause for behaviors and that its interaction with other environmental variables can further necessitate more feeding behaviors, differentiation or its development and evolution. Actual evidences support the theoretical arguments. These are reflected in the cases of the studies on feeding behaviors and patterns both in humans and animals as well as the research on eating disorders. What this paper revealed was the close ties between biology and psychology. It is imperative, hence, for biologists and psychologists to work together and share knowledge for better research and treatment outcomes especially that the current collaborations from these two disciplines occur on a very small scale. References Broom, D. (1981). Biology of behaviour: mechanisms, functions and applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cohn, J. and MacPhail, R. (1996). "Ethological and Experimental Approaches to Behavior Analysis: Implications for Ecotoxicology." Environmental Health Perspectives," vol. 104, no. 2, pp. 299-305. Elliott, M.H. and Treat, W.C. (1935). "Hunger-Contractions and Rate of Conditioning." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 21, no. 8, pp. 514-516. Fink, G. (2009). Stress Science: Neuroendocrinology. Oxford: Academic Press. Hakala, C. (2009). Kaplan AP Psychology 2009. New York: Kaplan Publishing. Legendre, P, Lapointe, F. and Casgrain, P. (1994). "Modeling Brain Evolution from Behavior: A Permutational Regression Approach." Evolution, vol. 48, no. 5, pp. 1487-1499. Shohov, S. (2004). Advances in Psychology Research, Volume 33. New York: Nova Publishers. Skinner, B.F. (1930). "On the Conditions of Elicitation of Certain Eating Reflexes." PNAS, vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 433-438 Snooks, M. (2009). Health Psychology: Biological, Psychological, and Sociocultural Perspectives. Sudbury: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Van de Water, M. (1940). "Hungers Show Body Needs." The Science Newsletter, vol. 21, no. 21, pp. 330-332. Read More