PSYC 307 November 20 biological variation too much ultra violet radiation=cell damage=prolonged can lead to skin cancer environments with historical exposure to UVR -having more melanin turns UVR to heat around equator -darker skin -more melanin -pigmentation north -less exposure to UVR -no need to block out sun -so less melanin and pigmentation around equator -more melanin is required to block out sun's radiation inuit -diet consists of fish, whale, seal meat -high in vitamin D -even though they don't have exposure to UVR -get vitamin D from food diet selection culture gene coevolution -as cultural practices change it changes selection pressure on genome, which will have to adapt according to the new pressures lactose intolerance -individual unable to process lactose areas where red, associated with earlier domestication of dairy producing animals food selection practice changed genome, forced bodies to adapt acquired biological differences -things people learn to do -independent of genes example-pupil dilation -constriction and dilation of pupil can be controlled
Moken people -diet fish -able to perform extreme pupil constriction -gives them acuity under water -not something they were born to do -learned over time SLEEP -assumption that 8 continuous hours of sleep -but it has strong cultural component throughout history had biphasic sleep, in subsistence farming -started changing around industrial evolution -around advent of creation of artificial light sleep has strong cultural component -european Canadians slept 1 hour more than Japanese Canadians -asian Canadians slept more than Japanese -local norms played more important role in peoples sleeping behaviour -Japanese exchange students slept more -cultural differences between beliefs about sleep strength of relation between sleep and health -correlation least for Japanese students medicine -even though western medicine is -physicians are cultural beings, carry beliefs of their own culture traditional Chinese medicine: restore body balance -if someone sick, it is due to imbalance in the body -utilize acupuncture, herbs for treatment US doctors more likely to do surgery; higher dosage of antibiotics -how we think about bodies is cultural as well what is health? -can be physical or mental psychological disorders as they appear in DSM -cause subjective distress or impaired social functioning
universal syndromes -found across cultural settings major depressive disorders -when people feel 5 of tti symptoms (slidesfi -there must be sufficient social impairment -found in all cultural environments -ffiUS is 5 times than that in China =could be because of awareness, stigma, might be diagnosed as something else in China Neurasthenia -many Chinese diagnosed with this -similar to physiological symptoms of MDD, without psychological issues -respond well to anti-depressants -may point cultural differences in tendency to psychologise vs. somatise depressive symptoms culture bound syndromes -found only in specific cultural settings Sinbyeong- spirit sickness -endemic to Korea, women -seen as spiritual calling to become a shaman -treatment-become a shaman-and go through kut- performing superhuman feats