1. Cassandra P. Felicia H. Kim N.

2.  The brain’s ability to rearrange the connections between its neurons.  Changes represent an adaptation to the environment.  Ex.) The brain of an expert musician should have a thicker area in the cortex related to mastery of music when compared to the brain of a non-musician  Dendric Branching: when we learn something new, neurons connect to create a new trace in the brain.

3.  Rosenzweig and Bennet (1972) ◦ Rats were placed into one of two environments to measure the effects of either enrichment or deprivation on the development of neurons in the cerebral cortex. ◦ Enriched environment contained toys whereas the deprived environment had nothing. ◦ The rats spent 30-60 days in one of the environments and then killed. ◦ The brains showed that the rats in the enriched environment had increased thickness in the cortex and a heavier frontal lobe.

4.  Stress as it relates to reproduction ◦ Imbalance of homeostasis in the struggle of survival of the fittest. ◦ It affects the HPA, HPG, Immune, and oxidative pathways.  HPA- hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis its a complex set of direct influences and feedback of interactions among the Hypothalamus, the Pituitary Gland (a pea-shaped structure located below the hypothalamus), and the Adrenal glands (small, organs above the kidneys).

5.  It effects both sexes.  Qualifiers of stress response ◦ Previous experience (adaption to stimuli) ◦ Genetics (bos indicus vs. bos tarsus (study of different types of beef cattle and how they are able to produce milk in different environments.)) ◦ Species ◦ Age (last chance effort)  Lower levels of glucocorticiods released in a response to handling stress with age (Heildlinger 2006)

6.  Stress qualifiers continued  Physiological status (negative & positive energy)  Gender ◦ Women have higher glucocorticiods after HPA stimulation (Aloisi 2006)

7.  Types of stress ◦ Physiological  Nutritional deficiency ◦ Psychological  Over crowding ◦ Environmental  temperature

8.  Pre-fertilization ◦ Depression, anxiety, and chronic stress can interfere with your sexual response (sex drive).  Zoo animals have reduced reproductively associated with captivity.  Effects on men ◦ Stress can lower testosterone ◦ Lower sperm fertility  Effects on women ◦ Lower estrogen levels ◦ While menstruating the urge to have sex will be practically nonexistence.

9.  During Pregnancy ◦ Miscarriage ◦ Low birth weight ◦ Reduced fetal oxygen levels ◦ http://youtu.be/xr2uJtQLPXc http://youtu.be/xr2uJtQLPXc  Post pregnancy ◦ Stress during pregnancy can determine behavior defects of the child.

10.  Stress doesn’t mean you cant have children, but it can make it harder. ◦ PTSD can create more complication( seng 2005)  Certain oxidative stress is necessary for pregnancy  Acute stress has been found to increase testosterone in boars