Editing Fight-or-flight response (section)

{{short description|Physiological reaction to a perceived threat or harmful event}}
{{Redirect|Fight or flight}}
{{Multiple image
| direction         = vertical
| image1            = Cat and dog standoff (3926784260).jpg
| image2            = Dog and cat showing fight or flight responses.jpg
| alt1              = Dog circling in on a cat with an arched back
| alt2              = A dog on hind legs and a cat hissing with an arched back
| total_width       = 300
| footer            = A [[dog]] and a [[cat]] expressing the fight (top) and flight (bottom) response simultaneously
}}
The '''fight-or-flight''' or the '''fight-flight-freeze-or-fawn'''<ref name="fawn">{{cite book |last=Walker |first=Peter |author-link= |date=2013 |title=Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving : a Guide and Map for Recovering from Childhood Trauma |url= |location= |publisher= An Azure Coyote Book|page= |isbn=978-1-4928-7184-2}}</ref> (also called '''hyperarousal''' or the '''acute stress response''') is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived [[Psychological trauma|harmful event]], [[Trauma (medicine)|attack]], or threat to survival.<ref name="Cannon - Fight or Flight Response">{{cite book |last=Cannon |first=Walter |title=The Wisdom Of The Body |date=April 17, 1963 |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company |year=1963 |isbn=978-0393002058 |location=United States}}</ref> It was first described by [[Walter Bradford Cannon]] in 1915.{{efn| 1 =Cannon referred to "the necessities of fighting or flight." in the first edition of ''Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear and Rage'' (1915), p.  211.  Some references say he first described the response in 1914 in ''[[The American Journal of Physiology]]''.}}<ref name="Walter Bradford Cannon 1915 211">{{Cite book|title=Bodily changes in pain, hunger, fear, and rage|author=[[Walter Bradford Cannon]]|publisher=[[Appleton-Century-Crofts]]|year=1915|location=New York|pages=211}}</ref> His theory states that animals react to threats with a general discharge of the [[sympathetic nervous system]], preparing the animal for fighting or fleeing.<ref name="Jansen - Intro fight or flight physiology">{{cite journal|last=Jansen|first=A|author2=Nguyen, X |author3=Karpitsky, V |author4= Mettenleiter, M |title=Central Command Neurons of the Sympathetic Nervous System: Basis of the Fight-or-Flight Response|journal=Science Magazine|date=27 October 1995|volume=5236|issue=270|pages=644–6|doi=10.1126/science.270.5236.644|pmid=7570024|bibcode=1995Sci...270..644J|s2cid=38807605}}</ref> More specifically, the [[adrenal medulla]] produces a hormonal cascade that results in the secretion of [[catecholamines]], especially [[norepinephrine]] and [[epinephrine]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Walter Bradford Cannon |title=Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear and Rage: An Account of Recent Researches into the Function of Emotional Excitement |year=1915 |publisher=[[Appleton-Century-Crofts]] }}</ref> The hormones [[estrogen]], [[testosterone]], and [[cortisol]], as well as the neurotransmitters [[dopamine]] and [[serotonin]], also affect how organisms react to stress.<ref>{{cite news|title=Adrenaline, Cortisol, Norepinephrine: The Three Major Stress Hormones, Explained|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/19/adrenaline-cortisol-stress-hormones_n_3112800.html|access-date=16 August 2014|work=Huffington Post|date=April 19, 2014}}</ref> The hormone [[osteocalcin]] might also play a part.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kwon|first=Diana|title=Fight or Flight May Be in Our Bones|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fight-or-flight-may-be-in-our-bones/|access-date=2020-06-22|website=Scientific American|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Bone, not adrenaline, drives fight or flight response|url=https://phys.org/news/2019-09-bone-adrenaline-flight-response.html|access-date=2020-06-22|website=phys.org|language=en}}</ref>

This response is recognised as the first stage of the [[Stress (biology)#General adaptation syndrome|general adaptation syndrome]] that regulates [[Stress (biological)|stress]] responses among [[vertebrate]]s and other [[organism]]s.<ref name="Pathology - Theory Medical Student's Library">{{cite book|last=Gozhenko|first=A|title=PATHOLOGY – Theory. Medical Student's Library|year=2009|publisher=Radom|pages=270–275|author2=Gurkalova, I.P. |author3=Zukow, W |author4= Kwasnik, Z }}</ref>
{{TOC limit|3}}