Mechanisms Of Physical And Emotional Stress

It has been over 50 years since Hans Selye formulated his concept of stress. This came after the isolation of epinephrine and norepinephrine and after the sympathetic system was associated with Walter Cannon's "fight or flight" response. The intervening years have witnessed a number of dis coveries that have furthered our understanding of the mechanisms of the stress response. The isolation, identification and manufacture of gluco corticoids, the identification and synthesis of ACTH and vasopressin, and the demonstration of hypothalamic regulation of ACTH secretion were pivotal discoveries. The recent identification and synthesis of CRR by Willie Vale and his colleagues gave new impetus to stress research. Several new concepts of stress have developed as a result of advances in bench research. These include the concept of an integrated "stress sys tem", the realization that there are bi-directional effects between stress and the immune system, the suggestion that a number of common psychiatric disorders represent dysregulation of systems responding to stress, and the epidemiologic association of stress with the major scourges of humanity.

Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide is the first volume to be written on the neuropeptide PACAP. It covers all domains of PACAP from molecular and cellular aspects to physiological activities and promises for new therapeutic strategies. Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide is the twentieth volume published in the Endocrine Updates book series under the Series Editorship of Shlomo Melmed, MD.

Scientific advances in our understanding of animal physiology and behavior often require theories to be revised and standards of practice to be updated to improve laboratory animal welfare. This new book from the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research (ILAR) at the National Research Council, Recognition and Alleviation of Distress in Laboratory Animals, focuses on the stress and distress which is experienced by animals when used in laboratory research. This book aims to educate laboratory animal veterinarians; students, researchers, and investigators; animal care staff, as well as animal welfare officers on the current scientific and ethical issues associated with stress and distress in laboratory animals. It evaluates pertinent scientific literature to generate practical and pragmatic guidelines. Recognition and Alleviation of Distress in Laboratory Animals focuses specifically on the scientific understanding of the causes and the functions of stress and distress, the transformation of stress to distress, and the identification of principles for the recognition and alleviation of distress. This book discusses the role of humane endpoints in situations of distress and principles for the minimization of distress in laboratory animals. It also identifies areas in which further scientific investigation is needed to improve laboratory animal welfare in order to adhere to scientific and ethical principles that promote humane care and practice.

This book explains how stress – either psychological or physical – can activate and/or paralyse human innate or adaptive immunity. Adequate immunity is crucial for maintaining health, both on Earth and in space. During space flight, human physiology is specifically challenged by complex environmental stressors, which are most pronounced during lunar or interplanetary missions. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the book identifies the impact of these stressors – the space exposome – on immunity as a result of (dys-)functions of specific cells, organs and organ networks. These conditions (e.g. gravitation changes, radiation, isolation/confinement) affect immunity, but at the same time provide insights that may help to prevent, diagnose and address immune-related health alterations. Written by experts from academia, space agencies and industry, the book is a valuable resource for professionals, researchers and students in the field of medicine, biology and technology. The chapters “The Impact of Everyday Stressors on the Immune System and Health”, “Stress and Radiation Responsiveness” and “Assessment of Radiosensitivity and Biomonitoring of Exposure to Space adiation” are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

The brain is the most complex organ in our body. Indeed, it is perhaps the most complex structure we have ever encountered in nature. Both structurally and functionally, there are many peculiarities that differentiate the brain from all other organs. The brain is our connection to the world around us and by governing nervous system and higher function, any disturbance induces severe neurological and psychiatric disorders that can have a devastating effect on quality of life. Our understanding of the physiology and biochemistry of the brain has improved dramatically in the last two decades. In particular, the critical role of cations, including magnesium, has become evident, even if incompletely understood at a mechanistic level. The exact role and regulation of magnesium, in particular, remains elusive, largely because intracellular levels are so difficult to routinely quantify. Nonetheless, the importance of magnesium to normal central nervous system activity is self-evident given the complicated homeostatic mechanisms that maintain the concentration of this cation within strict limits essential for normal physiology and metabolism. There is also considerable accumulating evidence to suggest alterations to some brain functions in both normal and pathological conditions may be linked to alterations in local magnesium concentration. This book, containing chapters written by some of the foremost experts in the field of magnesium research, brings together the latest in experimental and clinical magnesium research as it relates to the central nervous system. It offers a complete and updated view of magnesiums involvement in central nervous system function and in so doing, brings together two main pillars of contemporary neuroscience research, namely providing an explanation for the molecular mechanisms involved in brain function, and emphasizing the connections between the molecular changes and behavior. It is the untiring efforts of those magnesium researchers who have dedicated their lives to unraveling the mysteries of magnesiums role in biological systems that has inspired the collation of this volume of work.

Bullying has long been tolerated as a rite of passage among children and adolescents. There is an implication that individuals who are bullied must have "asked for" this type of treatment, or deserved it. Sometimes, even the child who is bullied begins to internalize this idea. For many years, there has been a general acceptance and collective shrug when it comes to a child or adolescent with greater social capital or power pushing around a child perceived as subordinate. But bullying is not developmentally appropriate; it should not be considered a normal part of the typical social grouping that occurs throughout a child's life. Although bullying behavior endures through generations, the milieu is changing. Historically, bulling has occurred at school, the physical setting in which most of childhood is centered and the primary source for peer group formation. In recent years, however, the physical setting is not the only place bullying is occurring. Technology allows for an entirely new type of digital electronic aggression, cyberbullying, which takes place through chat rooms, instant messaging, social media, and other forms of digital electronic communication. Composition of peer groups, shifting demographics, changing societal norms, and modern technology are contextual factors that must be considered to understand and effectively react to bullying in the United States. Youth are embedded in multiple contexts and each of these contexts interacts with individual characteristics of youth in ways that either exacerbate or attenuate the association between these individual characteristics and bullying perpetration or victimization. Recognizing that bullying behavior is a major public health problem that demands the concerted and coordinated time and attention of parents, educators and school administrators, health care providers, policy makers, families, and others concerned with the care of children, this report evaluates the state of the science on biological and psychosocial consequences of peer victimization and the risk and protective factors that either increase or decrease peer victimization behavior and consequences.