Synonyms
Definition
Stress generally describes the process by which an organism perceives and responds to events – often called stressors – that are judged to be harmful, threatening, or challenging. Stressors describe demanding events or situations that trigger coping adjustments in an organism.
Introduction
Through a variety of mechanisms, the stress response regulates a wide range of physiological and behavioral processes that include bodily growth, metabolism, reproductive functioning, attention and memory, learning, aggression, risk-taking, caregiving, among others (for review, see Del Giudice et al. 2013). For example, neurobiological mechanisms underlying the stress response include hierarchical, coordinated action of the autonomic nervous system and the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA), as well as feedback loops with cortical brain structures. Natural selection has shaped the stress response to increase the ability of...
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References
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Auer, B.J. (2017). Stress. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_781-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_781-1
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