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Bio exam > Stress > Flashcards

Stress Flashcards

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Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

What is stress, according to Sapolsky., (1994)?

A
  • Anything that throws body out of homeostatic balance.
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2
Q

What are examples of sources of stressors?

A
  • Environment (temp, noise)
  • Physiological (food quality, water dep)
  • Psychological (social subordination, novel situations)
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3
Q

What is considered stressful?

A
  • Not defined from an outside event.
  • Interpretation of an individual.

*what is stressful to someone, may not be stressful for someone else

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4
Q

What are the two different stress responses?

A
  • Accute Stress Response
  • Long-term Stress Response
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5
Q

What happens in the acute stress response?

A
  • When something bad happens, the hypothalamus sends a neuronal signal.
  • This activates the adrenal medullae to secrete adrenaline and nonadrenaline.
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6
Q

*nonadrenaline

What is norepinephrine?

A
  • Always present in the body.
  • Continuosly released into the blood stream.
  • Narrows blood vessels to increase blood pressure.
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7
Q

*adrenaline

What is epinephrine?

A
  • Only released when stressed.
  • Increases heart rate and blood pressure.
  • Brings more blood flow to brain/muscles.
  • Prepares body for acute energetic response.
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8
Q

What do norepinephrine and epinephrine do?

A
  • Stimulates the respiratory and cardiovascular systems.
  • In body for an energetic release.
  • Raises blood glucose levels.
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9
Q

Benschopp et al., (1996)

What study helps to illustrate the release of epinephrine and norepinephrine?

A

Topic: Stress Responses in Parachute Jumpers

Study Details: Measured epinephrine and norepinephrine levels at baseline, jump point, and post-jump.

Key Findings:
Stress responses are adaptive.
Epinephrine levels are lower on subsequent jumps compared to the first jump.

Conclusion: As the system learns it is not a survival situation, stress responses become less intense.

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10
Q

How does norepinephrine epinephrine link to fight or flight?

A
  • Use the energy to confronting the stress.
  • Or, use the energy to run away from it.
    *stems from our evolutionary past
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11
Q

What are long-term stress responses?

A

Topic: Long-Term Stress Responses

Stress Process:
Epinephrine Release: Initial response to stressor.
CRH Release: Body releases Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone (CRH).
ACTH Stimulation: CRH triggers Adrenocorticotropic Hormone (ACTH) release from pituitary gland.
Cortisol Production: ACTH travels to adrenal glands and stimulates cortisol (glucocorticoids) production.
**Outcome: **Body manages long-term stress responses through this hormonal pathway.

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12
Q

What is the HXP Axis?

A
  • Topic: HXP Axis
  • Definition: The hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis is a set of interactions between the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and gonads (ovaries/testes).
  • Functions:
    • Reproduction: Regulates sexual development and reproductive processes.
    • Hormonal Control: Oversees release of sex hormones like testosterone and estrogen.
  • Process:
    • Hypothalamus: Releases gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH).
    • Pituitary: GnRH prompts pituitary to release LH and FSH.
    • Gonads: LH and FSH stimulate gonads to produce sex hormones.
  • Outcome: Crucial for sexual maturation, fertility, and reproductive health.
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13
Q

What are the two different effects of stress?

A
  • Acute stress response adaptions.
  • Pathological state assocaited with chronic stress.
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14
Q

List some examples of acute stress response adapations:

A
  • Shift from energy store to energy use.
  • Increased oxygen intake.
  • Decreased pain perception.
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15
Q

List some examples of pathological state assocaited with chronic stress:

A
  • Fatigue.
  • Loss of libido.
  • Impaired disease resitance; cancer.
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16
Q

Activational and Organisational effects:

A

Effects:
Activational: Glucocorticoids influence brain function and behavior in response to stress.
Organizational: During critical development periods, high steroid levels can permanently alter stress coping ability.
Outcome: Irreversible changes in stress response can result from elevated glucocorticoid exposure during development.

17
Q

In rats:

Study to display prenatal stress:

A

Topic: Prenatal Stress and HPA Axis in Offspring
Effects:
Permanent Change: Stressing a pregnant rat permanently alters the HPA axis of its offspring.
Normal Response: Typical stress response involves a sharp peak of cortisol followed by a rapid decline.
Blunted Response: Offspring of prenatally stressed rats show a muted cortisol response to stress.
**Outcome: **Prenatal stress can lead to long-term changes in stress regulation in offspring.

18
Q

In humans

Study to display prenatal stress (Weinstock., 1997):

A
  • Women stressed in pregnancy are more likely to give birth to smaller babies.
  • Reduced birth weight: growth hormones were suppressed because of cortisol.
  • Developmental delays for children.
19
Q

In rats

Study to display neonatal stress (Liu et al., 1997):

A
  • Early stressful experience can positvely influence rats.
  • Presenting rats after birth with mild stress **(separation from mother) were better able to cope with stressors as adults. **
20
Q

In humans

Study to display neonatal stress (Gunnar et al., 2001):

A

Topic: Adoption Age and Cortisol Levels
Study Comparison:
Control: Canadian-born children.
Adopted at 8 Months: Showed cortisol levels similar to Canadian children.
Adopted After 8 Months: Strong correlation with higher cortisol levels (should be low).
**Key Insight: **Adoption at 8 months appears to be a critical window for normal cortisol regulation.

21
Q

Stress and coping….

A
  • There is a bi-directional relationship.
    **- Stress affects behaviour, but behaviour can also affect stress responses **
22
Q

What 4 ways can stress be coped with?

A
  • Control
  • Predictability
  • Outlets for dealing with frustration
  • Habituation
23
Q

Stress and coping:

Control (Weiss., 1968)

A

Topic: Control and Stress Levels in Rats
Experiment:
**Setup: **Rats placed in containers with mild electric shocks; expected both to be equally stressed.
**Control Rat: **Given a lever to turn off the shock, exhibited lower stress levels.
**Key Insight: **Having control over a stressor can significantly reduce stress levels.

24
Q

Stress and coping:

Predictibilty (Sapolsky., 1992):

A

Topic: Warning Signal and Stress in Rats
Experiment:
**Setup: **Rats placed in boxes with mild shocks.
Warning Signal: Rats given a light signal to indicate an upcoming shock.
**Results: **Rats with the warning signal did not develop gastric ulcers, unlike rats without the warning.
Key Insight: Warning signals can mitigate stress effects, such as preventing gastric ulcers.

25
Q

Stress and coping:

What are examples of outlets of frustation?

Sapolsky., (1992)
Soussignan & Koch., (1985)

A
  • Giving rats a piece of wood to chew on helps stress levels.
  • Leg swinging in children has been shown to reduce stress levels.
26
Q

Stress and coping:

What is Habituation?

A
  • Getting used to the stress.
  • This is done by doing the same thing which is causing the stress which the body becomes used to.

Bio exam (4 decks)

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