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3) Secondary Research

Summary

• Bound, Alberti, Fay. Matters of the Heart : History, Medicine, and Emotion, OUP Oxford, 2014.

  This book presents in-depth research about mind-body relationship in terms of the matters of heart. The whold book's view is focused on cardiology, but the author also indicates the other possible sources that cause mental and physical diseases. Since twentieth century, for more understanding of emotion and body relations, there were shifts from cardio-centric view to neuro-centric view. Endocrinological, which means related to hormones, explanation had been emerged. For the first time, hormone had become its name which is derived from the Greek, "chemical messenger." The author quotes Osler's The Principles, which represents a slightly annoying view that hysteria is common in women with the reason from not only hereditary and environmental element but also from reproductive organs.

• Gazzaniga, Michael S.. The Cognitive Neurosciences, MIT Press, 2004.

The author mentioned McEwen's experiment which reveals that male and female brains differ in their responses to stressors. Stress and sex hormones, in conjunction with excitatory transmitters, regulate three types of structural plasticity in the adult hippocampus: synaptogenesis, dendritic reorganization, and neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus. For example, estrogens regulate synapse formation in adult hippocampus of ovariectomized females, but not in castrated males. The author supposes that some of this sex differences were programmed, whereas others reflect the interaction between gonadal hormones and ongoing stress.

• Odent, Michel. The Scientification of Love, Free Association Books, 1999.

The author emphasizes a specific sex hormone other than estrogen, progesteron, or testosterone, it is oxytocin. Oxytocin is expressed as "altruistic" hormone, and it plays a impressive role during intercourse, childbirth, and lactation. In particular, its level in the blood of men and women during masterbation and orgasm was continous, especially women had a higher level than men. Indeed its level is higher during the second phase of the menstrual cycle than the first phase. Also endorphins genereated with oxytocin, represent "reward system" because they are hormones of pleasure and natural pain killer.

• Crawford, Mary. Transformations : Women, Gender, and Psychology, McGraw-Hill, 2006.

Generally this book covers the sociological view of women, however, I found interesting point to apply my project. It is about the various researched on women's sexual experiences. The first sexual experience of most of American women (including all Asian women absolutely!) were not so pleasant to them, and orgasms are too hard to reach. The author introduced the positive aspects of self-gratification for the future relationship. For example, in a study of married women aged 18 to 30, those who had experienced orgasm through self-gratification had more orgasms with their partners, greater sex desire, more rapid arousal, higher self-esteem, and greater marital satisfaction than those who had not (Hurlbert & Whittaker, 1991).