Psychology 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Adrenal Medulla, Adrenal Cortex, Glucocorticoid

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 1000
• Professor: Dr.Mike

Document Summary

Stress: a pattern of physiological, behavioural, emotional, and cognitive responses to real or imagined stimuli that are perceived as blocking a goal or endangering our well-being. If your score is over 200, it is considered chronic stress (each stressful event has a different score depending on how stressful they are) If you don"t have control, you become more stressed. Sympathetic ns is activated adrenal medulla is activated epinephrine is released. Stressor sends signal to hypothalamus which sends a signal to the anterior pituitary gland . Almost every cell in the body has a receptor for cortisol. They can break down everything in the body as needed (very invasive) Stress can suppress the immune system, making the person more vulnerable. Stress results in the release of glucocorticoids which directly suppress the action of white blood cells. Rats faced with inescapable shock showed a decrease in lymphocyte production. Husbands show decreased immune response after wife"s death.