Endocrine system and Fight/Flight

Question 1

What is the endocrine system?

Answer 1

1. A group of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream in order to regulate bodily functions

Question 2

What are the main 8 glands that make up the endocrine system?

Answer 2

Hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid, adrenals, pancreas, ovaries, testes

Question 3

What is the fight or flight response?

Answer 3

An evolutionary response of the body to stress. The body becomes physiologically aroused in readiness to fight an aggressor or flee

Question 4

How does the fight/flight response work?

Answer 4

• The amygdala sends an alarm signal
• This triggers the hypothalamus to activate two separate response systems (SAM for an acute stressor and HPA for a chronic stressor).
• SAM triggers the sympathetic branch of the autonomic system
• This stimulates the adrenal medulla which leads to the release of adrenaline and noradrenaline
• These hormones prepare the body for physical exertion through increased heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and respiration, releases glucose into bloodstream and digestion is reduced
• Once the stressor has passed, the parasympathetic system of the autonomic system reverses the changes (also known as rest and digest system)

Question 5

3 Limitation for fight or flight reponse

Answer 5

• The ‘tend and befriend’ response:
  Involves protecting their young through nurturing (tending) and forming protective alliances with other women (befriending).
  Fleeing at any sign of danger would put a female’s offspring at risk.The SRY gene, found only on the Y (male) chromosome, promotes aggression and results in the fight-or-flight response to stress. The SRY gene may prime males to respond to stress in this way. In contrast, the absence of the SRY gene in females may prevent this response to stress, leading instead to ‘tend and befriend’ response.
• Vin Dawans et al. (2012) challenge the classic view that, under stress, men respond only with ‘fight or flight’, whereas women are more prone to ‘tend and befriend’.
  Their study found that acute stress can actually lead to greater cooperative and friendly behaviour, in both men and women. For example, during the 9/11 terrorist attacks cooperative and friendly behaviour was shown resulting in human connections.
• Gray (1988) argues that the first phase of reaction to a threat is not to fight or flee, but a ‘freeze response’. The adaptive advantages of this response for humans are that ‘freezing’ focuses attention and makes them look for new information in order to make the best response for that particular threat. The fight or flight response does not take this into account.