The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Pathway

There are three different theories that are used when talking about how we react to stress through the physiological aspect or the psychological aspect. The first is part of the physiological aspect of stress called the Cannon Fight or Flight theory which was proposed in 1914. Fight or Flight response is a physiological stress response that evolved to help organisms to survive immediate danger. The theory states that when an organism, human being or animal, faces imminent danger (acute stressor) the body arouses quickly and is ready to act via two different systems. They are the sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine system. The sympathetic nervous system stimulates the adrenal medulla which is part of the endocrine system and is the region that produces the hormones such as adrenaline and noradrenaline. These hormones increase heart rate, blood flow, and glucose levels to prepare the body for an emergency. This response from the body suggests that the body knows how to protect itself and reach homeostasis. These two systems work together to either fight against the danger or flight away from the danger. Lord, King and Pfister in 1976 studied the Fight or Flight response in animals through a very unethical study. They administered chemicals on male hooded Wistar rats which inhibited the neurotransmitters from functioning normally. This made it very difficult for the rats to escape an electric shock. The results of the study suggest that the Flight or Fight response

Fearful situations make the brain release chemicals like dopamine, adrenaline, and endorphins. In Allegra Ringo’s “Why Do Some Brains Enjoy Fear?”, an interview with Dr. Margee Kerr, who earned her PhD in sociology at The University of Pittsburgh, and wrote Scream: Chilling Adventures in the Science of Fear, explaining the psychological process in

In Prospero 's case in Masque of the Red Death Prince Prospero, was faced with the threat of survival, surviving the Red Death, a plague sweeping his kingdom killing all it comes into contact with. To produce the fight-or-flight response, the hypothalamus activates two systems: the sympathetic nervous system and the adrenal-cortical system. The sympathetic nervous system uses nerve pathways to initiate reactions in the body, and the adrenal-cortical system uses the bloodstream. The combined effects of these two systems are the fight-or-flight response.When the hypothalamus tells the sympathetic nervous system to kick into gear, the overall effect is that the body speeds up, tenses up and becomes generally very alert. If there 's a burglar at the door, you 're going to have to take action fast. The sympathetic nervous system sends out impulses to glands and smooth muscles and tells the adrenal medulla to release epinephrine and norepinephrine into the bloodstream. These "stress hormones" cause several changes in the body, including an increase in heart rate and blood pressure.At the same time, the hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing factor into the pituitary gland, activating the adrenal-cortical system. The pituitary gland secretes the hormone ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone). ACTH moves through the bloodstream and ultimately arrives at the adrenal cortex, where it activates the release of approximately thirty different

Fear is a chemical chain reaction in the brain. It is in the part of the brain that allows us to communicate and to speak with other people ("Layton, Julia"). The idea is an autonomic response in the brain with many parts of the brain involved. Fear starts with a scary stimulus and ends with a fight or flight response telling the human to fight back or run away. It starts with two processes the quick and messy way, and the clear and slow way ("Layton, Julia"). The quick way is when you are panicking and out of breath and the clear way takes a while and is when you calm down and realize it was nothing. Both of the processes happen simultaneously ("Layton, Julia"). The brain uses your blood stream and nervous system to create fear. When your muscles tighten and your heart races, you are probably in a state of fear. Without fear you would walk into traffic or pick up poisonous snakes. Fear saves our lives ("Layton,

There are many symptoms associated with the physiological responses of the fight-or-flight including dilation of pupils, increased and more rapid heart rate, and acceleration in the respiratory system. The fight-or-flight response is a very important and crucial response both mentally and physically that is a building block for the human body. Without it, humans may not be as adapted to the dangerous and stressful environment we call our world. Finally, to summarize the steps of the fight-or-flight response. First, a threat or stimuli are perceived by the retina and signals are sent to the brain. Next, the brain processes the signals and determines whether the threat is real. Then, the adrenal medulla is sent synapses from the cerebrum and secretes a liquid with high levels of adrenaline called epinephrine. After that, the secreted adrenaline is mixed with glucose. Next, the adrenaline and glucose are rushed throughout the bloodstream and to the muscles. The muscles then tense up and are given an extra boost of strength and speed. Lastly, the muscles are used to either fight or

Fear influences human behavior and the way people react to situations. When fear is perceived, the body starts to sweat, and a “fight or flight” reaction occurs. The body temperature is lowered down. The heart starts to pound and the body releases the hormone epinephrine into the bloodstream when it perceives a threat. This in turn increases the heart rate so that it moves blood into other parts of the body that may need it to act in the face of fear. Another side effect is shortness of breath, when nerves around the ribcage and torso are

The adrenal gland is the endocrine gland that is activated when one is surprised or experience fear. This adrenal gland is located at the top of the kidneys. The fear hormones known as epinephrine circulates through the bloodstream to all cells of your body ("Fear: Body Alert!" 2013). The effects of adrenaline which is also called epinephrine is similar to the effects of the sympathetic nerve action. These glands increase blood flow to the brain and muscles in defense of the flight or fight response (Griggs, 2014, p.

protect a person, urging them to participate in a fight or to flee for their life. Throughout life,

“When this response is chronically activated, people can suffer from decreased immunity and other health problems” (Good). Many other health problems can also occur when people have fight or flight constantly. Those who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) constantly live with the feeling of fight or flight. This can affect how they see normal stress throughout their day. Professionals work with people's mental health trying to allow them a harder trigger into the panic of a stressful situation, so get prescribed medical drugs to remain calm. The hypothalamus is a bit like a command center that controls the brain. It allows the brain to send signals through the nervous system throughout the body.Researcher at Harvard states, “While the amygdala sends a distress signal which can happen during work sudden deadline, or a persistent worry about losing a job can cause a mental shut down in the normal functions” (Harvard). it is most commonly found in humans, but humans are not the only things to use the fight or flight technique, animals and plants also take advantage of this

Chapter 6 covers the fundamentals of stress disorders. After reading this chapter discussing the fight and flight response, psychological stress disorders and physical stress disorders, I have a better concept of this subject itself. Our fight and flight response is trigger by our hypothalamus, which sends off neurons and chemical for our mind and bodies to react. As discussed in class, the autonomic nervous system control the involuntary activities like heartbeat and breathing. The sympathetic nervous system is aroused when we face danger (THE FIGHT). For example, the sympathetic nervous system makes our heart beat faster when we are scared. The parasympathetic nervous system (THE FLIGHT) help make us calm, like regulating our heartbeats.

Damasio (2000) claims that “emotions are physiological signals as a reaction to external stimuli, and feelings arise when the brain interprets stimuli” (as cited in Hannibal, 2012, p. 30). The part of the brain that unravels and decodes emotion and interprets the particular stimuli that are threatening to the organism is the amygdala (Dubuc, 2002). To go into more depth, Michael Davis (1992) wrote that the central nucleus of the amygdala has direct projections to hypothalmic and brain stem areas that are involved in the symptoms of fear (p. 355). This is significant, as it shows how the amygdala connects to other parts of the brain in order to do its processing of emotions, thus exemplifying how the emotion of fear would be processed by not just the amygdala but other parts of the central and peripheral nervous system as well.

According to a translational neuroscientist , he stated that the reason for the brain to react with it stimulus response is by a neurotransmitter called dopamine, it helps to control our brain reward. He also explain how the process works. There are two roadways for the brain. One is low road and the other is the high road. The low road is responsible for what you see, smell and hear, it signals the brain to react the fear. It send your body to scream, run , or have your heart beat fast while the high road which is the cortical center in your brain to signals something that you already use to like i've seen that spider before so therefore I’m not going to be afraid.

That Survival Instinct “That survival instinct, that will to live, that need to get back to life again, is more powerful than any consideration of taste, decency, politeness, manners, civility. Anything. It's such a powerful force.” - Danny Boyle Our instinct for self-preservation is a hard-wired behaviour, with only one objective: ensuring we stay alive. For instance, most of us would be willing to even sacrifice a part of our body, say a limb or a sense organ, if it could ensure we live to die another day.

A few years ago I had to get my blood drawn for the first time. I have always had a fear of needles, so I was not looking forward to having this done. Going into the doctor’s office I was very nervous, my heart was racing. Even during the process of getting my blood drawn I was extremely nervous and uncomfortable. The theory I would apply to this experience is the Cannon-Bard theory. In this theory, the subcortical brain activity in the amygdala leads to both the conscious feeling and the autonomic arousal. In this case, the amygdala sends signals to the cortex creating the conscious experience of fear. The amygdala simultaneous signals to the automatic nervous system creating the intuitive arousal of my heat racing.

In the alarm stage, the body encounters a stressor. The stressor will cause the body to react with the fight or flight response.Next, the nervous system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis will be