Exam 3: Stress

Question 1

What is the Stress Response?

Answer 1

The body’s coordinated physiological and behavioral reactions to a perceived threat or challenge.

Question 2

What is a Stressor?

Answer 2

Any stimulus or event that disrupts homeostasis and triggers a stress response.

Question 3

What is Eustress?

Answer 3

A positive form of stress that can enhance function and performance.

Question 4

What is Distress?

Answer 4

A negative form of stress that can be harmful to health and well-being.

Question 5

What is Physical Stress?

Answer 5

Stress arising from physical challenges like injury, illness, or extreme temperatures.

Question 6

What is Psychological Stress?

Answer 6

Stress resulting from perceived threats, challenges, or emotional conflicts.

Question 7

What is Social Stress?

Answer 7

Stress experienced in social situations, such as evaluation or conflict with others.

Question 8

What is Acute Stress?

Answer 8

Short-term stress that activates immediate adaptive responses.

Question 9

What is Subchronic Stress?

Answer 9

Stress exposure lasting several days to weeks.

Question 10

What is Chronic Stress?

Answer 10

Prolonged or repeated stress exposure that can impair health and function.

Question 11

What is the Inverted-U curve (Yerkes-Dodson law)?

Answer 11

A model suggesting performance increases with arousal up to a point, then declines if arousal is too high.

Question 12

What is the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST)?

Answer 12

A standardized method of inducing social stress involving public speaking and mental arithmetic in front of evaluators.

Question 13

What is the Cold Pressor Test?

Answer 13

A test involving hand immersion in cold water to elicit a physiological stress response.

Question 14

What is the Sucrose Preference Test?

Answer 14

A behavioral test measuring preference for a sweet solution, used as an indicator of anhedonia.

Question 15

What is the Tail Suspension Test?

Answer 15

A behavioral assay where immobility is used as an index of depression-like behavior in rodents.

Question 16

What is the Forced Swim Test?

Answer 16

A test that measures passive floating behavior in water, indicative of behavioral despair in rodents.

Question 17

What is Threat Perception?

Answer 17

The appraisal of a situation as threatening, triggering activation of the stress response.

Question 18

What is the Role of the Amygdala in Stress?

Answer 18

Processes emotionally relevant information and initiates fear responses; activates the HPA axis during stress.

Question 19

What is the Role of the Hippocampus in Stress?

Answer 19

Regulates memory and context of stress; helps inhibit the HPA axis after a stressor ends.

Question 20

What is the Role of the Prefrontal Cortex in Stress?

Answer 20

Involved in decision-making and regulation of emotion; modulates amygdala and stress responses.

Question 21

What is the Role of the Hypothalamus in Stress?

Answer 21

Activates the HPA axis and orchestrates the neuroendocrine stress response.

Question 22

What is the Endocrine System?

Answer 22

A system of glands that release hormones directly into the bloodstream to regulate body processes.

Question 23

What is the Autonomic Nervous System?

Answer 23

A system that regulates involuntary physiological functions including heart rate, digestion, and respiration.

Question 24

What is the Sympathetic Nervous System?

Answer 24

Branch of the autonomic nervous system that prepares the body for fight-or-flight.

Question 25

What is the Parasympathetic Nervous System?

Answer 25

Branch of the autonomic nervous system that promotes rest and digestion.

Question 26

What is the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis?

Answer 26

A major neuroendocrine system that controls reactions to stress and regulates many body processes.

Question 27

What is the Sympatho-neural System?

Answer 27

Involves nerve signals from the brainstem to peripheral organs during stress.

Question 28

What is the Sympatho-adrenomedullary System?

Answer 28

Activates the adrenal medulla to release epinephrine and norepinephrine in response to stress.

Question 29

What is the Adrenal Medulla?

Answer 29

Part of the adrenal gland that releases adrenaline and norepinephrine during stress.

Question 30

What is Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone (CRH)?

Answer 30

A hormone released by the hypothalamus that stimulates the anterior pituitary during stress.

Question 31

What is the Anterior Pituitary?

Answer 31

Part of the pituitary gland that releases ACTH in response to CRH.

Question 32

What is Adrenocorticotropic Hormone (ACTH)?

Answer 32

A hormone released by the anterior pituitary that stimulates the adrenal cortex to release cortisol.

Question 33

What is the Adrenal Cortex?

Answer 33

Part of the adrenal gland that releases cortisol in response to ACTH.

Question 34

What is Cortisol?

Answer 34

A steroid hormone released by the adrenal cortex that helps mobilize energy during stress.

Question 35

What is a Glucocorticoid?

Answer 35

A class of steroid hormones involved in metabolism and stress responses.

Question 36

What is a Glucocorticoid Receptor?

Answer 36

A protein that binds cortisol and mediates its effects on cells.

Question 37

What are Feedback Mechanisms of the Stress Response?

Answer 37

Mechanisms by which cortisol inhibits further activation of the HPA axis.

Question 38

What is Stress Resilience?

Answer 38

The ability to adapt to and recover from stress exposure without lasting negative effects.