Somatic And Autonomic - My Notes

Question 1

Fight flight freeze response

Answer 1

The fight-flight-freeze response is initiated by the sympathetic nervous system and prepares the body to confront a stressful situation to optimise the chance of survival. Which mechanism is adopted is dependent on the likelihood of survival in each situation; fight – stay and attack, flight – run, freeze – go unnoticed or detected.

Question 2

Jonah was very scared of spiders. One morning, he walked into the bathroom and saw a very large spider on the mirror. He screamed and ran out of the bathroom. His mouth was dry, his heart was beating very fast and he was also breathing quickly. With reference to the human nervous system, explain why Jonah would have experienced these changes in his body.

Answer 2

Seeing a spider (a fearful stimulus) activated Jonah’s sympathetic nervous system. The activation of the sympathetic nervous system produced the physiological responses characteristic of the fight-or-flight response, including increased heart rate and breathing.

Question 3

Explain what happens with the Nervous System when stung by a bee.

Answer 3

The bee sting is detected by the receptor that stimulates sensory neurons that send messages to CNS. Messages sent via motor neurons to effectors which are muscles or glands.

Question 4

4 Examples of effects of the sympathetic Nervous System during a fight flight freeze response

Answer 4

Heart rate increased for increased blood flow.
Breathing rate increased for more oxygen for muscles.
Pupils dilate for more light to get better vision.
Decreased activity in saliva and digestive System as these parts of the body are wasting energy.