Health Sciences 1001A/B Lecture Notes - Sympathetic Nervous System, Hans Selye, Autonomic Nervous System
Document Summary
Stress refers to: situations that trigger physical and emotional reactions = stressor, the reactions themselves = stress response. Stress: the general physical and emotional state that accompanies the stress response. The primary determinant of the health consequences of stress is how the individual responds to the stress. Two control systems are responsible for the physical responses to stessors: nervous system, endocrine system. Activated during arousal and emergency situation (pain, anger, fear) Releases norepinephrine which commands body to mobilize energy resources to respond to crisis and causes arousal (increases attention and alertness) when released in the brain. The system of glands, tissues, and cells that help control body functions by releasing hormones and other chemical messengers into the bloodstream. Help prepare the body to respond to a stressor. Neurochemical message sent to hypothalamus which releases chemical to pituitary gland which releases adrenocorticotropic hormone (acth) into the bloodstream. Acth reaches adrenal glands which release cortisol and other key hormones into the bloodstream.