PSC 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Glucocorticoid Receptor, Sympathetic Nervous System, Adrenal Medulla
Document Summary
Psc 101 lecture 15 - neuroendocrinology of stress. Defining stress is harder than it sounds. Homeostasis = the stability of internal systems. The thing responsible for the imbalance: stressor. The body"s response to the imbalance: stress-response. Standing too close to lava for too long will disrupt homeostasis. Other sources of stress: predators, food deprivation, social conflict. Hormones released from the hypothalamus trigger a cascade of hormonal responses. The paraventricular nucleus (pvn) of the hypothalamus releases corticotropin. In mammals, crh travels to the pituitary gland via the portal blood vessels. Crh stimulates the release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (acth) into general circulation. For humans and most domestic animals: cortisol. Glucocorticoids = class of corticosteroids that bind to the glucocorticoid receptor (gr) Indoor temperatures are regulated by negative feedback loops. Many physiological systems are regulated in a similar way. There are 3 ways to turn off cortisol: inhibit acth release from pituitary, inhibit.
