PSY395H5 Chapter Notes - Chapter Testosterone: Sexual Differentiation, Androsterone, Halloween
Document Summary
In the mid to late 1800s he linked the physiological and behavioural changes of castration to a substance secreted by the testes. Castration routinely produced regression of the comb and wattle (the fleshy growths at the top of the head). He also took the testes of castrated roosters and implanted it into the abdomen and found no regression in the comb and wattle. Since the nerves were severed, he concluded that the testes must affect behavioural and sexual characteristics by secreting a substance into the bloodstream. He did not yet know what that substance was. He studied the effects of extirpation of the adrenal glands in mammals. Thought that many organs have secretions that could be useful in treating disease. He gave birth to the field of organotherapy by self injection testicular extracts from other animals (dogs and guinea pigs) which resulted in rejuvenated physical abilities. They were from animals, and risks included infection and inflammation.
