Psychology 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Adrenal Medulla, Glucocorticoid, Cortisol
13 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Stress!
•a pattern of psychological, behaviour, emotional and cognitive responses to real or
imagined stimuli that are perceived as blocking a goal or endangering a well being !
•stress response!
•can be broken down into three things !
•stressors !
•catastrophes!
•life changes!
•hassles !
•intervening factors!
•appraisal!
•perceived control!
•personality!
•social support !
•coping !
•stress reaction !
•physiological!
•emotional!
•behavioural !
•sense stress!
•leads to sympathetic N.S releasing epinephrine from adrenal medulla!
•OR!
•signal to hypothalamus which leads to secretion of glucocorticoids
(cortisol) into blood stream!
•cortisol !
•effects similar to epinephrine !
•converts protein to glucose!
•makes fats available for enegry !
•increased blood flow !
•almost every cell in body has receptor for cortisol!
•immune system !
•stress can suppress the immune system, making the person more vulnerable !
•how?!
•stress results in release of glucocorticoids directly suppress the
action of white blood cells !
•ex. rats with inescapable shock showed a decrease in lymphocyte
production !
•ex. husbands show decreased immune response after wife death !
•people are more likely to be sick a few days after exposure to a stressful event !
•acute infectious disorders increase during final exams !
•the reaction to the stressor depends on appraisal !
Psychosomatic disorder
•disorders with a primarily physical symptom but caused or maintained by psychological
factors !
•ex hypertension!
•gastric ulcers!
•painful lesions of stomach longing !
•over 500K new cases a year!
•linked to living in a stressful environment !
•if you perceive you have control you will be less stress!
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
111
PSYCH 1000 Full Course Notes
Verified Note
111 documents
