Endocrinological Research References
References having to do with research in endocrinology:
“Research also shows that we humans vary in our baseline levels of these two hormones.”
“Harmonized Reference Ranges for Circulating Testosterone Levels in Men of Four Cohort Studies in the United States and Europe,” Travison, T; Vesper, H; Orwoll, E; Wu, F; Kaufman, J; Wang, Y; Lapauw, B; Fiers, T; Matsumoto, A; Bhasin, S. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2017.
“Testosterone reference ranges in normally cycling healthy premenopausal women,” Braunstein, G; Reitz, R; Buch, A; Schnell, D; Caulfield, M. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2011.
“Plasma oxytocin distributions in a large cohort of women and men and their gender-specific associations with anxiety,” Weisman, O; Zagoory-Sharon, O; Schneiderman, I; Gordon, I; Feldman, R. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2012.
“Higher baseline levels of testosterone make men more aggressive and assertive. They also make women more energetic and outgoing.”
“Testosterone and Its Effects on Human Male Adolescent Mood and Behavior: A Systematic Review,” Duke, S; Balzer, B; Steinbeck, K. Journal of Adolescent Health, 2014.
“Testosterone in women: beyond hypoactive sexual desire,” Vallejo, M; Palacios, S. Gynecological Endocrinology, 2025.
“Higher baseline levels of oxytocin make women more empathetic and relational. They also make men more sociable and gregarious.”
“Oxytocin reduces amygdala activity, increases social interactions, and reduces anxiety-like behavior irrespective of NMDAR antagonism,” Sobota, R; Mihara, T; Forrest, A; Featherstone, R; Siegel, S. Behavioral Neuroscience, 2015.
“The role of oxytocin in social bonding, stress regulation and mental health: An update on the moderating effects of context and interindividual differences,” Olff, M; Frijling, J; Kubzansky, L; Bradley, B; Ellenbogen, M; Cardoso, C; Bartz, J; Yee, J; Zuiden, M. Psychoneuroendocrinology; 2013.
“That’s why the two human mating strategies—promiscuity and exclusivity—became genetically “hard-wired” within us.”
“Stay or Stray? Evidence for Alternative Mating Strategy Phenotypes in Both Men and Women,” Wlodarski, Manning, Dunbar. Biology Letters, 2015.
Higher baseline levels of testosterone make women more sexually active…”
“Self-perceived Attractiveness and Masculinization Predict Women’s Sociosexuality,”
Andrew Clark. Evolution & Human Behavior, 2004.
“…while higher baseline levels of oxytocin make men more sociable (an element of promiscuous mating).”
“Oxytocin reduces amygdala activity, increases social interactions and reduces
anxiety-like behavior irrespective of NMDAR antagonism,” Sobota, Mihara, et al.
Behavioral Neuroscience, 2015.
Anthropological Research References
References having to do with research in anthropology, as well as archaeology and climatology:
“During all of that time, the earth’s climate has fluctuated between wet and dry.”
“How a Changing Landscape and Climate Shaped Early Humans,” Mark Maslin. The Conversation, 2013.
“In evolutionary terms, these fluctuations occurred frequently: every 20,000 years or so.”
“How Climate Change May Have Shaped Human Evolution,” Brian Handwerk. Smithsonian, 2014.
“They also occurred quickly, within the span of a few decades.”
A Brain for All Seasons: Human Evolution and Abrupt Climate Change, William H. Calvin. University of Chicago Press, 2003.
“…all of which were made easier by a bigger brain.”
“Key moments in human evolution were shaped by changing climate,” Michael Slezak. New Scientist, 2013.
“…since meat is an energy-rich food (more energy-dense than plants), we needed meat to fuel it.”
“The Expensive-Tissue Hypothesis: The Brain and the Digestive System in Human and Primate Evolution,” Leslie Aiello and Peter Wheeler. Current Anthropology, 1995.
“Inbreeding makes humans less fit to survive. We’re pheromonally predisposed to avoid it…”
Inbreeding, Incest, and the Incest Taboo: The State of Knowledge at the Turn of the Century, Arthur P. Wolf. Stanford University Press, 2005.
“…but that can’t be done when mating within a typical Middle Stone Age hunter-gatherer band of around 25 people.”
“The Foraging Spectrum: Diversity in Hunter-Gatherer Lifeways,” Robert L. Kelly. American Anthropologist, 1996.
“How did early humans solve this problem? By mating with people from other bands.”
“Ancient genomes show social and reproductive behavior of early Upper Paleolithic foragers,” Sikora, Seguin-Orlando, et al. Science, 2017.
“As a result, the people in them didn’t have to travel far to mate with people in other bands.”
“The Foraging Spectrum: Diversity in Hunter-Gatherer Lifeways,” ibid.
“Because it was easy to avoid inbreeding, increasing disease resistance was the main concern.”
“Productivity, biodiversity, and pathogens influence the global hunter-gatherer
population density,” Tallavaara, Eronen, Luoto. Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, 2018.
“Our mating drives are generated by the pre-mammalian parts of the brain that involve basic survival.”
“The Role of the Amygdala in the Development of Sexual Arousal,” Yehuda Salu. Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality, 2013.
“These genes probably have environmental triggers, like the ones for obesity that activate in a fetus when the mother is under extreme stress.”
“Epigenetics and the Environment: Emerging Patterns and Implications,” Robert Feil and Mario F. Fraga. Nature, 2012.
“This created forest environments that enabled more humans to live in a given area, so we began living in larger groups.”
Principles of Human Ecology, Peter Richerson. Pearson Custom Publications, 1996.
“In forest and coastal environments, where food was abundant, the size of hunter-gatherer bands increased to 50-150 people.”
The Evolution of Complex Hunter- Gatherers, Ben Fitzhugh. Springer, 2003.
“As a band gets larger, maintaining that cohesion gets exponentially more difficult.”
Social Intelligence: From Brain to Culture, Emery, Clayton, Frith, editors. Oxford University Press, 2007.
“…they were well-suited to facilitate and troubleshoot the complex interpersonal dynamics within larger bands.”
“Primates—A Natural Heritage of Conflict Resolution,” Frans de Wal, Science, 2000.
“…we see evidence of the increased social specialization enabled by new human hormonal profiles…”
“Were the First Artists Mostly Women?,” Virginia Hughes, National Geographic, 2013.
“Patient and productive, they were well-suited to make the sophisticated stone spear and arrow points…”
“Modeling Specialization and Division of Labor in Cultural Evolution,” Michael Ehn, Vasteras, 2011.
“The sexually-free Mbuti live in the Central African rainforest…”
“The Symbols of Forest: A Structural Analysis of Mbuti Culture and Social Organization,”
Mark Mosko. American Anthropologist, 1987.
“…and Colombia’s polyamorous Ache live in rainy river valleys.”
The Evolution of Desire, David Buss. Basic Books, 2008.
“The sexually-restrained Hadza live on the dry East African savannah…”
“Mate preferences among Hadza hunter-gatherers,” Frank Marlowe, Human Nature, 2004.
“…and Venezuela’s monogamous Hiwi live in arid grasslands.”
The Evolution of Desire, ibid.
“That’s because the bands that include skilled storytellers are more cohesive, and thus more prosperous.”
“Cooperation and the Evolution of Hunter-Gatherer Storytelling,” Smith, Schlaepfer, et al, Nature Research, 2017.
“…in that they could safely hunt small game…”
“Subsistence fishing methods of Nicobari tribes using traditional knowledge,” Ravikumar, Ram, et al, Journal of Marine and Island Cultures, 2016.
“…and take domestic leadership roles.”
Clan Mothers page, Onondaga Nation web site.