Question

Case 10:

Limbic System

Sharon has never told anyone her most secret fear. She’s terrified that she is part werewolf because of the strange things that happen to her. Sometimes she has terrible sexual desires that she can just barely restrain. Sometimes she goes from restaurant to restaurant and eats 4–8 meals a day. Sometimes she goes to a water fountain and drinks water for 15 minutes straight. Sometimes she feels tremendous love for her boyfriend and then, without warning, hates his guts. Sometimes she is happy and then suddenly becomes angry. There is a tumor growing in Sharon’s brain that is causing all these strange behaviors.

Questions:

1. Where is the tumor growing in Sharon’s brain?

2. Name three behaviors that are regulated by this part of the brain?

Answer 1

Background: Sharon fears that she behaves like a werewolf. She has frequent mood swings. For example, she has immense sex pleasure, eats many meals in a day and drinks too much water. She also feels elated and becomes sad.

Mood disorder: Research shows that many people worldwide suffer from mood disorders such as irritability, frustration, anger, and mood swings.

These disorders affect health, personal, and family lives. People visit doctors to attend counseling sessions to treat the disorder.

Concept: Brain tumors are an unwanted growth of cells in the brain tissue. The brain tumor can be cancerous or non-cancerous. Normally, the tumor occurring in the pituitary gland is a non-cancerous growth.

However, if we do not treat them, it can cause a person to have disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and depression.

1. Sharon experiences irritability and frequent mood swings. Sharon has a tumor growing in the pituitary gland because of which she is experiencing this behavior.

The pituitary gland affects how an individual thinks and feels about the events occurring around him. The symptoms of developing a tumor in the pituitary gland are insomnia, erectile dysfunction, mood disorder, stress, anxiety, and depression.

2. The functions of the pituitary gland are:

• stabilize the mood of a person
• drive pleasure and good thoughts
• release feel-good chemicals such as oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin
• enables effective sleep.

The pituitary gland controls human behavior by:

• sleep and wake, behavior
• Emotional behavior
• body temperature regulation