Mechanisms of stress: A dynamic overview of hormonal and behavioral homeostasis

doi:10.1016/S0149-7634(05)80175-7

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

Volume 16, Issue 2, Summer 1992, Pages 115-130

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0149-7634(05)80175-7 Get rights and content

Environmental events, both physical and emotional, can produce stress reactions to widely varying degrees. Stress can affect many aspects of physiology, and levels of stress, emotional status, and means of coping with stress can influence health and disease. The stress system consists of brain elements, of which the main components are the corticotropin-releasing homrone (CRH) and locus ceruleus (LC)-norepinephrine (NE)/autonomic systems, as well as their peripheral effectors, the pituitary-adrenal axis and the autonomic system, which function to coordinate the stress response. Activation of the stress system results in behavioral and physical changes which allow the organism to adapt. This system is closely integrated with other central nervous system elements involved in the regulation of behavior and emotion, in addition to the axes responsible for reproduction, growth and immunity. With current trends in stress research which focus on understanding the mechanisms through which the stress-response is adaptive or becomes maladaptive, there is a growing association of stress system dysfunction, characterized by hyperactivity and/or hypoactivity to various pathophysiological states. The purpose of this review is to 1) define the concepts of stress and the stress response from a historical perspective, 2) present a dynamic overview of the biobehavioral mechanisms that participate in the stress response, and 3) examine the consequences of stress on the physiologic and behavioral well-being of the organism by integrating knowledge from apparently disparate fields of science.

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ArticleMechanisms of stress: A dynamic overview of hormonal and behavioral homeostasis

Physiol. Behav.

Brain Res

Life Sci

Brain Res

Life Sci

J. Pediatr

J. Pediatr.

Brain Res

Brain Res

Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev.

Biol. Psychiatry

Early Hum. Dev.

Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav.

Neuropeptides

Psychoneuroendocrinology

J. Am. Acad. Clin. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry

Behav. Biol.

Behavioral and physiological suppression of fertility in subordinate marmoset monkeys

Am. J. Primatol.

Behaviorally mediated suppression of reproduction in female primates

J. Zool. (Lond.)

The genuine works of Hippocrates

Corticotropin releasing factor receptors: Characterization and actions in the anterior pituitary gland

Stress hormones: Their interaction and regulation

Science

Intelligence (IQ) lost and regained: The psychoneuroendocrinology of failure to thrive, catch-up growth, the syndrome of abuse dwarfism, and Munchausen's syndrome in proxy

Anatomy and physiology of locus coeruleus neurons; functional implications

Prevalence of oligomenorrhea and amenorrhea in a college population

Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol.

Effects of dexamethasone on LH release and ovulation in the cyclic rat

Endocrinology

Serotonin agonists cause parallel activation of the sympathoadrenomedulary system and the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis in conscious rats

Endocrinology

Direct inhibitory effect of glucocorticoids upon testicular luteinizing hormone receptor and steroidogenesis in vivo and in vitro

Endocrinology

Corticotropin-releasing hormone inhibition of gonadotropin release and the effect of opioid blockade

J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab.

Foetal plasma corticosteroids and the initiation of parturition in the sheep

J. Endocrinol.

The immune-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis

Endocr. Rev.

The alkyl-ether phospholipid platelet-activating factor is a stimulator of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in the rat

Endocrinology

Arachidonic acid metabolites modulate rat hypothalamic corticotropin releasing hormone secretion in vitro

Neuroendocrinology

Interactions between tumor necrosis factor-α, hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing hormone and adrenocorticotropin secretion in the rat

Endocrinology

Neuroendocrine immunoregulation

Effects of “stress” on pulsatile luteinizing hormone release in ovariectomized rats

Exp. Biol. Med.

A molecular basis for bidirectional communication between the immune and neuroendocrine systems

Physiol. Rev.

Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF): Immunoreactive neurones and fibers in rat hypothalamus

Regul. Pept.

Adrenal steroids and behavioral adaptation: Relationships to brain corticoid receptors

Activiating and “anxiogenic” effects of corticotropin-releasing factor are not inhibited by blockade of the pituitary-adrenal system with dexamethasone

Life Sci

Experiments in psychogenetics applications of biomedical genetics to the inheritance of behavior

Corticotropin releasing factor: Actions on the sympathetic nervous system and metabolism

Endocrinology

Alterations in immunocompetence during stress, bereavement, and depression: Focus on neuroendocrine regulation

Am. J. Psychiatry

Multiple feedback regulatory loops upon rat hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing hormone secretion

J. Clin. Invest.

Regulation of rat hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing hormone secretion in vitro: Potential clinical implications

The muscarinic cholinergic agonist arecoline stimulates the rat hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis through a centrally-mediated corticotropin-releasing hormone-dependent mechanism

Endocrinology

The wisdom of the body

Physiol. Rev.

A specific laboratory test for the diagnosis of melancholia

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Article
Mechanisms of stress: A dynamic overview of hormonal and behavioral homeostasis