Chapter 15, Problem 1ILQ

Watch this video (http://openstaxcollege.org/l/fightflight) to learn more about adrenaline and the fightor-flight response. When someone is said to have a rush of adrenaline, the image of bungee jumpers or skydivers usually comes to mind. But adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is an important chemical in coordinating the body’s fight-or-flight response. In this video, you look inside the physiology of the fight-or-flight response, as envisioned for a firefighter. His body’s reaction is the result of the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system causing system-wide changes as it prepares for extreme responses. What two changes does adrenaline bring about to help the skeletal muscle response?

Summary Introduction

To write:

The changes that adrenaline would bring to help the skeletal muscle respond in a fight-or-flight response mediated by sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system.

Introduction:

Adrenaline or the epinephrine is a hormone and a neurotransmitter produced by the adrenal glands and the neurons respectively. It plays an important role in the fight-or-flight response. This is mediated by the sympathetic nervous system which stimulates the body's fight-or-flight response.

Explanation of Solution

The changes that adrenaline would bring to help the skeletal muscle response in a fight-or-flight response by the sympathetic nervous system include the increase in heart rate and breathing rate which causes more blood flow to the skeletal muscles. The liver manufactures and stores glucose and releases it upon the body's requirement. The other change is the stimulation of the liver to release more glucose for enhancing the energy levels or fuelling the muscles.

Conclusion

Thus, increasing blood flow and releasing glucose by the liver are the two changes brought by the sympathetic nervous system during a fight-or-flight response.