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Topics
1. The Nervous System
2. Stress and the Endocrine System
3. Traumatic Stress and the Brain
4. Posttraumatic Growth

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 THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

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 The Nervous System
 The human nervous system is divided into the
central nervous system (CNS) and the
peripheral nervous system (PNS).

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 The Nervous System

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 Figure 3.1: The human nervous system. The central nervous system consists of the
brain and spinal cord and the peripheral nervous system consists of the nerves that
cover the rest of the body (i.e., the periphery). The peripheral nervous system has
somatic and autonomic subdivisions. The Autonomic nervous system consists of the
sympathetic and parasympathetic branches.

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 The Nervous System (cont’d.)
 The Central Nervous System
includes the brain and spinal
cord.
 The Peripheral Nervous System includes neural
pathways and is divided into the
somatic and autonomic
branches.
 A third, smaller branch of the
PNS is the enteric nervous
system.
 It enervates organs of digestion.
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 Central Nervous System (cont’d.)
 The CNS is divided into the spinal cord and four
major regions of the brain (the brain stem, the
cerebellum, the diencephalon and the cerebral
hemispheres).

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 Figure 3.3: A cross-section of the human brain. Note the brain stem consists of the
medulla, the pons, and the midbrain; the cerebellum is a distinct area; the
diencephalon consists of the thalamus and hypothalamus; and the cerebral
hemispheres consist of the neocortex (cerebral cortex) and their underlying white
matter and deeper structures (including the amygdala and hippocampus not shown
here). SOURCE: Garrett, Brain and Behavior, 2003, p. 197 (Wadsworth/Thompson
Learning).
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 Central Nervous System (cont’d.)
 Along with these parts are particular systems and
networks within the brain.
 Two of these, the reticular formation (RF) and the
limbic system are tied to the fight-or-flight
response. The reticular formation relays sensory
and motor information between the brain and the
body.

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 Central Nervous System (cont’d.)
 When studying the structures and functions of the
brain, keep in mind Parallel distributed
processing: brain has more than one functional
region or pathway to achieve its
ends.

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 Central Nervous System (cont’d.)
 The brain stem is divided into the medulla, pons
and midbrain. It is responsible for vegetative
functions (i.e., heartbeat,
respiration, etc.).
 Medulla: part of the brain
stem that contains vital life
support centers.
 Pons: transmits information
regarding the body’s movement from the cerebral
hemisphere to the cerebellum.

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 Central Nervous System (cont’d.)
 The Midbrain controls and coordinates many
sensory and motor activities.

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 Central Nervous System (cont’d.)
 The Substantia nigra: lies in the midbrain, and
transmits information for regulating voluntary
motor movement to the basal ganglia.
 The midbrain contains 3 of the brain’s 4 major
dopaminergic tracts.
 Dopamine: a neurotransmitter
important for regulating motor
movement and “feeling good”
(that can elevate mood states
and combat the effects of stress).

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 Central Nervous System (cont’d.)
 The diencephalon lies above the midbrain and
contains the thalamus and hypothalamus.
 Thalamus: Located in the brain’s central region, it
gates information from the sense organs and is
an important relay station. It amplifies important
signals to make them stand out against background
noise (signal-to-noise ratio).
 For example it is the thalamus that
opens the gate and allow you to
hear and wake up when there is a
bang against your window late at
night.
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 Central Nervous System (cont’d.)
 The Hypothalamus: center for the fight-or-flight
reaction that becomes activated when you
become consciously aware of a threat.
 Also involved in motivational
roles (thirst & hunger, motivating
us to eat & drink), homeostasis
(core temperature, metabolism
rate), and skeletal motor
functions (e.g., posture).

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 Central Nervous System (cont’d.)
 The cerebral hemispheres consist of the
neocortex or cerebral cortex.
 The six-layered neocortex is
the highest center of the brain.
The word cortex literally means
“bark” and refers to the outside
covering of an anatomical
structure. This outside covering of neocortex grey
matter is characterized by its wrinkles known as
convolutions.

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 Central Nervous System (cont’d.)
 The neocortex contains an
enormous number of neurons
used for sensation, perception,
emotion, memory, cognition,
planning, language etc.
 This command centre of the brain is associated
with conscious awareness–or what we think of
as the mind.

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 Central Nervous System (cont’d.)
 The Amygdala of the cerebral hemispheres is
part of the limbic system
that mediates
emotional responses,
particularly fear and
anxiety.
 The amygdala also seems
to participate in the process of storing memories
about which stimuli should be approached and
which to avoid.

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 Central Nervous System (cont’d.)
 It seems to be involved in
assessing threat stimuli and in
emotional memory formation.
 Further, the amygdala
participates in the process of
classically conditioned fear responses where we
learn to associate particular stimuli with fear or
anxiety.
 The Hippocampus: involved in encoding
long-term memories (declarative
memories that we can consciously discuss).
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 Central Nervous System (cont’d.)
 It works with the amygdala in
the fear conditioning process.
It adds context while the
amygdala adds emotion.
 The reticular formation (RF)
consists of a bundle of approximately 90 separate
nuclei that run like a cord through the middle of the
brain stem upward into the diencephalon. This
network of neurons forms both ascending and
descending pathways relaying important sensory
and motor information between the brain and body.
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 Central Nervous System (cont’d.)
 Overall then the RF plays an important role in
transmitting arousal signals regarding stressful
stimuli upward to the diencephalon and higher
cortical areas as well as sending signals
downward into the brain stem, viscera, and
skeletal muscular system to activate the fight-or-
flight response such as the one you had in
response to the bang sound.

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 Central Nervous System (cont’d.)
 The Limbic system is
the brain’s neural circuit
for emotion.
 It includes the
hippocampus, the
thalamus, parts of the
hypothalamus, the amygdala, the prefrontal cortex
and other structures such as the cingulated gyrus.
 The anterior cingulate of the limbic system
appears to play a major role in our emotional
control system.
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 Figure 3.5: The limbic system consists of structures that form a ring around the
inner core of the brain. This system is believed to be the brain’s neural circuit for
emotion. The limbic system includes the amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, pre-frontal
cortex, parts of the hypothalamus, and other structures such as the cingulated gyrus.

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 The Peripheral Nervous System
 The peripheral nervous system consist of both the
somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous
system.
 The somatic nervous system: innervates the
skeletal/striated muscles, the skin, and the sense
organs.

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 The Peripheral Nervous
System(cont’d.)
 Transmits information from the brain to the
periphery (the outer regions) and vice versa.
 Neural pathways that send signals from the brain
to the periphery are called efferent, and those that
send signals from the periphery to the brain are
called afferent.

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 The Peripheral Nervous
System(cont’d.)
Example: Your finger
touches a flame → signals
are send from your finger (the
periphery) via afferent
neural pathways → to the
central nervous system
(spinal cord and brain) → the
central nervous system
(brain) then sends signals for
action via efferent neural
pathways → to your finger,
telling it, “it burns, remove
your hand!” and in split
seconds you remove your
hand from the flame.

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 The Peripheral Nervous System
(cont’d.)
 During a fight-or-flight response the
striated muscles are activated/tensed
to prepare for action.
 This is adaptive in the short run (fight
or flight).
 Long term, this mechanism can lead
to health problems: muscle
tension related headaches,
back-and neck pain, bruxism
(teeth grinding).

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 The Peripheral Nervous System
(cont’d.)
 The Autonomic nervous system: innervates the
body’s viscera through pre- and post-ganglionic
neurons.
 Viscera consists of the organs, ducts and glands,
smooth muscles, and blood vessels.

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 The Peripheral Nervous System
(cont’d.)
 All preganglionic neurons use acetylcholine as
their neurotransmitter as do the postganglionic
neurons of the parasympathetic branch.
 The great majority of the postganglionic neurons
of the sympathetic branch use norepinephrine as
their neurotransmitter.
 The sympathetic branch of the
autonomic nervous system is
responsible for activating the
fight-or-flight response.

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 The Peripheral Nervous System
(cont’d.)
 The Parasympathetic branch
is associated with relaxation.
 Activation of the
parasympathetic nervous
system dampens the fight-or-flight response.
 The Parasympathetic branch incites the gastro-
intestinal system (digestion takes place).
• The parasympathetic branch supports the
basal energy conservation and restoration state
(rest-and-digest) and the sympathetic branch
supports the energy mobilization and expenditure
state (fight-or-flight).
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 The Peripheral Nervous System
(cont’d.)
 A way to remember the two branches and not get confused:
 Sympathetic = Snake, both start with a S. If you sit in your
room studying and a snake suddenly sails
into the room, you will immediately scream
and jump onto the desk or run away (the
fight-or-flight response = Sympathetic nervous system
or branch).
 Parasympathetic = Pudding, both start with a P.
It is Sunday lunch and you just ate your pudding.
You feel stuffed and decide to take an afternoon
nap while your body digest all the food (the rest-
and-digest response = Parasympathetic nervous system
or branch).
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 The Peripheral Nervous System
(cont’d.)
 During fight-or-flight, the sympathetic nervous
system activation causes:
 Pupils to dilate (for maximal visual access
to threatening stimuli).
 Bronchial dilation of the
lungs (to maximize
oxygen input into the
bloodstream).

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 The Peripheral Nervous System
(cont’d.)
 Increased heart rate and stroke volume and
constricted blood vessels (cranking up the body’s
blood pressure to move blood more rapidly through
the system so that it can oxygenate and fuel the
brain and large muscles of the body more quickly).
 Activation of sweat glands (to cool down the body
and keep it from overheating during action).
 Release of epinephrine into the blood stream
(further exciting and maintaining the alarm
response).
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 The Peripheral Nervous System
(cont’d.)

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 The Nervous System (Recap)

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 The Human Nervous System in Real
Life

A real photo of parts of the

human nervous system

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 STRESS AND THE ENDOCRINE
SYSTEM

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 Stress and the Endocrine System
 The Endocrine system: a system of organs and
glands that secrete hormones into the blood
stream to send messages to cells and organs.
 The Hormonal action is
slower than neural activation,
but longer lasting.
 The Endocrine system works
with the sympathetic nervous
system during fight-or-flight
activation to reach a common
outcome.
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 The Sympathetic-Adrenal Medulla Axis

 The primary command center for endocrine

system’s stress response is in the hypothalamus;
one of its primary target organs is the adrenal
gland.
 Known as the sympathetic-adrenal medulla axis
(SAM). Forms one of the primary systems of the
fight-or-flight response.
 The Adrenals: cone-shaped
glands on top of the kidneys.

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 The Sympathetic-Adrenal Medulla Axis
(cont’d.)
 Each consists of an outer covering,
the adrenal cortex, and an inner
core called the adrenal medulla.
 Upon receiving neural stimulation,
the adrenal medulla secretes
epinephrine and norepinephrine.
 Epinephrine: neurotransmitter that causes
increased heart rate and constriction
of certain blood vessels (arterioles of
the skin and abdominal viscera) and
dilation of others (arterioles of the
skeletal muscles).
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 The Sympathetic-Adrenal Medulla
Axis (cont’d.)
 It also dilates the bronchi of the lungs to
increase oxygen intake into the bloodstream.
 Epinephrine stimulates the
release of glucose, and the
process of gluconeogenesis
– converting non-carbohydrate
energy stores into glucose for
use by the skeletal muscles.
 The net effect is an increase in the body’s
metabolic rate (the amount of energy expended
by the body).
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 The Sympathetic-Adrenal Medulla Axis
(cont’d.)
 Norepinephrine: has the same effect but it is
released in smaller amounts than epinephrine
(ratio 1:5).
 Epinephrine appears to be most closely
associated with the emotional state of fear, and
norepinephrine with anger.

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 The Sympathetic-
Adrenal Medulla Axis (cont’d.)

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 The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal
Axis
 During the fight-or-flight response, the adrenal
cortex is involved in a system referred to as the
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.
 In this system the hypothalamus
influences the adrenal cortex by
way of the pituitary gland, the
pea-sized master gland at the
base of the brain.
 The Hypothalamus responds to stress by releasing
peptide messengers called releasing factors.
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 The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal
Axis (cont’d)
 These stimulate the anterior pituitary to secrete
adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and Beta-
endorphin (which has strong analgesic (pain-
relieving) properties). It can temporarily inhibit pain
so a person can escape danger.
 ACTH stimulates the adrenal
cortex to secrete cortisol.
 Cortisol increases overall
glucose concentration in the blood (it affects
metabolism through the process of
gluconeogenesis).
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 The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal
Axis (cont’d)
 Release of cortisol readies the stress
responses.
 It can sharpen memory functions of the
hippocampus
and increase sensitivity of the thalamus to sensory
inputs.
 In addition, cortisol reduces inflammation.
 Along with psychological stressors, physical
stressors such as intense heat and cold, surgical
operations, and the experience of disease states
all increase cortisol levels.
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 Figure 3.6: The
hypothalamic-pituitary-
adrenal (HPA) axis
network. The
hypothalamus via the
pituitary portal system of
the anterior pituitary
causes the release of
adrenocorticotropic
hormone (ACTH), which
stimulates the adrenal
cortex to release cortisol,
which through a process
called gluconeogenesis
increases the overall
glucose concentration in
the bloodstream and
speeds metabolism.

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 The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis
(cont’d.)

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 The Thyroxine Axis
 Stress produces a demand on biological systems.
 In order for the cells to meet the demand, they must
increase their metabolic rate.
 Thyroxine is a strong thyroid
gland hormone that can double
basal metabolic rate.
 A polypeptide messenger goes from the
hypothalamus to the anterior pituitary, which
releases a thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH).
 TSH travels to the thyroid gland, and prompts the
release of thyroxine.
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 The Thyroxine Axis (cont’d)
 High levels of thyroxine produce:
 Nervousness,
 Insomnia,
 Increased respiration leading to a
sensation of shortness of breath,
 Sweating and
 Diarrhea (due to increased gastric secretions and
motility), and
 Feelings of tiredness.

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 The Thyroxine Axis (cont’d)
 It can stay in the body for a long time when
stress is chronic.
 This may explain why some find it difficult to
return to baseline levels once they leave a
stressful environment (e.g., having difficulty to
relax during a 1-or 2-week holiday).

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 Traumatic Stress and the Brain
 Traumatic stressors are events such as combat,
disasters, violence, rape, kidnapping, torture,
having a friend or relative die
unexpectedly etc.
 A person’s reaction to stressors is
subjective because each person
appraises the stressor through their own belief
system/worldview – a collection of assumptions
and beliefs about oneself, others and the world.

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 Traumatic Stress and the Brain
(cont’d.)
 A traumatic stressor can challenge a person’s
worldview.
 Assumptions about safety and security are likely
to be disturbed.
 Some people develop post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD) - persistently
re-experiencing the traumatic
event, avoiding stimuli
associated with the event and
having persistent increased arousal.
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 Traumatic Stress and the Brain
(cont’d.)
 Evidence shows that the limbic system, especially
the amygdala, is most affected by PTSD – it
seems to overreact.
 Seem to be abnormalities of limbic structures
and functions, though it’s hard to tell whether this
is a result of or a predisposition to PTSD.
 Amygdala involved in assessing threat stimuli
and in conditioned fear responses.
 In people with PTSD, it is
hyper-responsive.

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 Traumatic Stress and the Brain
(cont’d.)
 This could account for increased arousal
symptoms.
 Arousal symptoms associated with PTSD are
insomnia, irritability and angry outbursts,
hypervigilance (being on the alert for danger),
exaggerated startle response (jumpy) and also
problems with memory.
 The Anterior cingulated cortex (ACC) is
responsible to extinguish conditioned fear and to
regulate emotional responses.
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 Traumatic Stress and the Brain
(cont’d.)
 The Anterior cingulated cortex
(ACC) and hippocampus seem to
under-respond.
 The hippocampus is involved in
encoding declarative memories as well as
working with the amygdala in the fear
conditioning process by encoding context to
threatening stimuli.

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 Traumatic Stress and the Brain
(cont’d.)
 An under responsive hippocampus could
account for the memory problems
(flashbacks, difficulty
remembering aspects of the
traumatic event) as it is involved in
encoding declarative memories.
 Symptom improvement after therapy shows a
reduction in amygdala activity and increased
ACC and hippocampus activity.

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 Traumatic Stress and the Brain
(cont’d.)
 These results provide even more evidence of a
causal pathway
between abnormal
limbic system activity
and PTSD because in
a reverse of the process,
reducing PTSD results in
reducing abnormal limbic
system activity.

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 POSTTRAUMATIC
GROWTH

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 Posttraumatic Growth
 Sometimes traumatic events can
strengthen our world view and
outlook on life.
 Logotherapy is a type of psycho-
therapy that helps people find
meaning out of tragedy.
 When we can’t change a situation, we have to
change ourselves.
 Only a minority of people develop PTSD in
response to trauma.
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 Posttraumatic Growth (cont’d.)
 In time, a certain percentage of people exposed
to traumatic events ultimately experience positive
changes (Ford, 2008).
 These individuals are said to have experienced
posttraumatic growth.
 Posttraumatic growth:
positive growth in
response to trauma in
three interrelated themes:

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 Posttraumatic Growth (cont’d.)
 1. Relationships are strengthened.
 2. Self views become more positive.
 3. World views / life philosophies are changed
in positive directions.
 There may be greater mindfulness of everyday
experiences that had been taken for granted
previously.
 Relationships and opportunities may be valued
more highly. Individuals may report greater clarity
of purpose, meaning, or direction in life.
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 Posttraumatic Growth (cont’d.)
 It should be noted that wishful thinking, positive
reappraisals, or positive illusions may help a
person cope by thinking that change
and growth have occurred when they
have not.
 Positive illusions, a term coined by
Taylor and Brown (1988) to refer to
unrealistic positive beliefs, may give a
person a greater sense of control to
cope with the negative impact of the trauma and
may be adaptive short term but not result in actual
growth.
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 Posttraumatic Growth (cont’d.)
 This area of study is still relatively new.
 Research does show promising new directions
for understanding the effects of traumatic
stressors.

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 Summary
 Two main branches of the nervous system: CNS
and PNS.
 CNS is the brain and spinal cord; PNS is all other
neural pathways divided into the somatic N.S.
and autonomic N.S.
 Two branches of the autonomic N.S.: sympathetic
and parasympathetic branches.
 Reticular formation and limbic system are tied to
the fight-or-flight response.

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 Summary (cont’d.)
 RF sends signals to the cerebral hemisphere and
down through the brain stem.
 Endocrine system secretes hormones into the
blood stream, hypothalamus and adrenal system
key areas.
 Two axes of hypothalamic influence are SAM and
the HPA axis.
 PTSD and posttraumatic growth are two possible
outcomes of traumatic stress experiences.

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