Fight or Flight response

• What part of the brain is activated in a stressful situation?

  Amygdala
• Process of the fight or flight response

  1. a person enters a stressful situation
  2. the amygdala is activated which sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus
  3. hypothalamus activated the sympathomedullary pathway
  4. the sympathetic nervous system stimulates the adrenal medulla
  5. adrenal medulla secretes adrenaline and noradrenaline into the bloodstream
  6. adrenaline causes physiological changes to prepare the body for fight or flight
• 3 physiological changes + reasons

  increased heart rate - to increase blood flow to organs and increase movement of adrenaline around the body

  pupil dilation - to increase light entry and enhance vision

  sweat production - to regulate temperature
• what is activated following the fight or flight response?

  parasympathetic nervous system
• evaluation (1)

  • initial ‘freeze’ response
  • first response to danger is to avoid confrontation
  • during this response, we are hyper-vigilant while we decide how to respond to the situation
• evaluation (2)

  • tend and befriend
  • females may use this response as they are more likely to protect their offspring and form alliances with other women
  • early research on the fight or flight response was androcentric
• evaluation (3)

  • maladaptive in everyday life
  • stressors of modern life can repeatedly activate the fight or flight response, causing health problems
  • stressors now rarely require such an intense response