Biospychology- fight or flight Flashcards
What is meant by ‘fight or flight’?
A sequence of activities within the body that are triggered when the body prepares itself for defending or attaching or running away to safety.
What is the amygdala?
Our body’s ‘threat’ sensor. If it alerts that there is a threat then it will activate a sequence of events.
What is the sympathomedullary pathway?
The route through which the brain directs the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervoiuce system.
Hypothalamus
Sympathetic nervous system
Adrenal medulla
Adrenaline noradrenaline
The fight or flight response
How do the nervous system and the endocrine system work parallel with each other other?
– the amygdala sends distress signals to the hypothalamus which activates the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system which then becomes aroused.
– This triggers the adrenal Medella to release the stress hormone adrenaline into the bloodstream which causes physiological changes to prepare the body.
– The threat has passed the parasympathetic nervous system returns the body to its resting state the SNS and the PMS work as an antagonistic pair.
What are the six roles of adrenaline?
– Pupillary dilation to increase awareness of visual information.
– Increased heart rate to enable rapid response.
– Breathing becomes rapid to take more oxygen to muscles.
– Blood sugar and fats are released into the bloodstream to provide energy.
– Diversion of blood away from the digestive system to conserve energy for muscles.
– An increase in sweating to the body.
What is the HPA access?
Communication between the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland and the adrenal cortex.
What is the 4 steps of the HPA-axis?
- Detection of stress: when you encounter a stressor the hypothalamus senses this and activates the HPA-axis.
- Release of CRH: the hypothalamus secretes corticotropin– releasing hormones into the blood which travels to the pituitary gland.
- Release of ACTH: in response to CRH the pituitary gland releases a adrenocorticotropic hormone into the bloodstream.
- Stimulation of the adrenal glands: ACTH reaches the adrenal glands and stimulates the adrenal cortex to produce and release the hormone cortisol.
What are the effects of cortisol during the HPA axis?
Cortisol helps mobilise energy by increasing glucose in the bloodstream enhancing the brains use of glucose. It increases the availability of substances that repair tissue.
What are the short and long-term effects of the HPA axis?
Short term: enables the body to respond to threats but chronic activation can be detrimental.
Long-term: paired cognitive and immune function and anxiety, depression, heart disease and weight gain.
What are the three limitations of the fight or flight response?
- Negative consequences in a modern world.
- Gender differences: beta bias.
- Incomplete theory: freeze response.
What is the negative consequences in a modern world limitation to the flight or flight response? (PEEL).
P: a limitation of the fight or flight response is that it has negative consequences on the body in today’s modern world.
E: the stresses of modern life do not generally need such physical reaction to fight or flight instead they need to psychological disorders longer term.
E: The problem is when the stress response is repeatedly activated causing increasing levels of cortisol which can suppress the immune response.
L: therefore whilst the final flight response has aided our survival in the past it is not always helpful in the modern world. Learning coping strategies such as breathing can activate the Parisot thetic nervous system reduce these negative consequences.
What is gender differences as a limitation of the fight of flight response? (PEEL).
P: a limitation of the vital flight response is that there are gender differences in the acute stress response which are ignored and less presenting a beta bias.
E: Taylor (2000) suggest females display a different pattern to males she argues the females protect themselves through nurturing behaviours and perform protective alliances with other women.
E: therefore women may have a completely different stress system because they are a primary caregiver of children and therefore fleeing to readily would put their offspring at risk.
L: original theory therefore may minimise the difference between males and females.
What is the incomplete theory as a limitation of the fight or flight response? (PEEL).
P: limitation of the fight or flight theory is that it is an incomplete explanation.
E: Gray (1988) argues that the first phase of reaction to a threat is not fight or flight but to avoid confrontation. he suggests that prior to responding with attacking or running away most animals typically display the freeze response.
E: the adaptive advantages of this for humans is that freezing focuses attention and makes them look for new information in order to make the best response for that particular threat.
L: this shows that the original theory of fight or flight is only a partial explanation to how our body reacts to immediate short-term danger.
