page_title: Fight-or-flight response
hierarchical_section_title: Fight-or-flight response
caption_attribution_description: but if I could shoot faster, I'd have caught the arched back, and the cat's paw in the air, which scared the charging dog.
context_page_description: The fight-or-flight response is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. It was first described by Walter Bradford Cannon. His theory states that animals react to threats with a general discharge of the sympathetic nervous system, preparing the animal for fighting or fleeing. More specifically, the adrenal medulla produces a hormonal cascade that results in the secretion of catecholamines, especially norepinephrine and epinephrine. The hormones estrogen, testosterone, and cortisol, as well as the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin, also affect how organisms react to stress. The hormone osteocalcin might also play a part.
  This response is recognised as the first stage of the general adaptation syndrome that regulates stress responses among vertebrates and other organisms.
context_section_description: The fight-or-flight response (also called hyperarousal or the acute stress response) is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. It was first described by Walter Bradford Cannon. His theory states that animals react to threats with a general discharge of the sympathetic nervous system, preparing the animal for fighting or fleeing. More specifically, the adrenal medulla produces a hormonal cascade that results in the secretion of catecholamines, especially norepinephrine and epinephrine. The hormones estrogen, testosterone, and cortisol, as well as the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin, also affect how organisms react to stress. The hormone osteocalcin might also play a part.
  This response is recognised as the first stage of the general adaptation syndrome that regulates stress responses among vertebrates and other organisms.
caption: Dog and cat showing acute stress responses
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