fight or flight response

Question 1

What is the fight or flight response?

Answer 1

A sequence of activity within the body that is triggered when the body prepared itself for defending or attacking or running.

• Evolutionary survival mechanism in response to a threat
• Primes the body for extreme action → returns to homeostasis after the threat has passed

Question 2

What is a stressor?

Answer 2

brings on a stress response

Question 3

What are the two types of stressors ?

Answer 3

acute and chronic

Question 4

what is an acute stressor?

Answer 4

short term immediate response

Question 5

What is a chronic stressor ?

Answer 5

long term stres response due to prolonged emotional processor

Question 6

What is the process of fight or flight - 3 steps?

Answer 6

1) Threat

2) Amygdala mobilises : associating sensory signals with emotions associated with flight or fight
3) It sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus that then communicates rest of body via ( sympathetic nervous system)

Question 7

what is adrenaline ?

Answer 7

Adrenaline role is to be secreted from adrenal medulla in response to a stressor travels to target cells to enact physiological changes that help the body to deal with stressor

Question 8

where does adrenaline secrete from and where does it travel to?

Answer 8

Adrenal medulla

and travels to target cells to cause physiolgical changes

Question 9

What is the acute stress response process?

Answer 9

• Stress is recognised
• Amygdala sends a distress signal to the Hypothalamus
• Hypothalamus activates sympathetic branch of (autonomic ns)
• This signals to the Adrenal medulla which releases adrenaline into the bloodstream
• As this adrenaline circulates physiological changes → increased breathing / blood pressure / increases release of fats and blood sugar providing energy for result
• After threat has passed parasympathetic system releases acetylcholine to calm down

Question 10

Acute stress response flow diagram

Answer 10

Amygdala → Hypothalamus → sympathetic system → adrenal medulla → adrenaline → stress passes → parasympathetic nervous system → returns to normal

Question 11

Respone to chronic stress what is the system called and what activates it?

Answer 11

The hypothalamus activates a stress system of HPA axis

Question 12

Chronic stress response - 4 steps

Answer 12

1) Hypothalamus activates (using CRH) the pituitary gland

2) The CRH causes the pituitary gland to release ACTH which activates the Adrenal cortex

3) The adrenal cortex consequently releases Cortisol
Cortisol → increases blood sugar and suppress the immune system

4) Once the threat passes, parasympathetic system calms the body, but the hypothalamus can monitor cortisol levels and reduce CRH / ACTH feedback loops

Question 13

chronic stress feedback

Answer 13

• If levels rise above the threshold, the hypothalamus and pituitary gland initiate a reduction in CRH and ACTH levels

Feedback
Both hypothalamus and pituitary gland have special receptors that monitor circling cortisol levels → if they rise above normal they initiate a reduction in CH and ATCH bring cortisol levels back down

Question 14

outline role of adrenaline in fight or flight

Answer 14

Adrenaline role is to be secreted from adrenal medulla in response to a stressor travels to target cells to enact physiological changes that help the body to deal with stressor
Increases heart rate
Inhibited digestion → mouth goes dry
Sweating → lose grip of wheel
Once stressor past → feel normal due to parasympathetic system restoring these physiological changes

Question 15

Distinguish between the actions of the sympathetic and the parasympathetic systems in the fight - or flight- response

Answer 15

Sympathetic → bring changes to help the body → increase hr / inhibit digestion to allow body to deal with stressor
Parasympathetic → once stressor past reverse the changes → restore heartrate/ digestion

Question 16

outline the fight or flight response 4 marks

Answer 16

When has perceives a stressor the hypothalamus will activate the autonomic nervous system by sending a signal to the pituitary gland. This will send signalling hormones to the adrenal medulla which will release adrenaline into the bloodstream.This hormone travels to target cells which causes effects such as increased breathing rate and heart rate.

For six marker
Once stressor has passed the parasympathetic system will kick in to decrease the heart rate by releasing acetylcholine

Question 17

identify 2 physiological changes of the fight or flight response

Answer 17

• pupils dilate
• hr increases
• digestion inhibited
• sweating