The Physiology of Stress

About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about the physiology of stress, focusing in particular on: (i) the potentially functional role of mild stress in preparing for a task, compared to the detrimental effects of severe and/or chronic stress; (ii) Hans Selye’s general adaptation syndrome (GAS) as an early model of the stress response; (iii) general adaptation syndrome’s three stages of stress response as alarm, resistance and exhaustion; (iv) Mason’s research, which argued that different stressors have different stress responses, compared to Selye’s view that the stress response was generalised.

About the lecturer

Dr Shanti Shanker is a senior lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Bournemouth University. Dr Shanker’s research interests are in the translation of empirical and cognitive research findings to clinical and counselling applications, using behavioural and neuropsychological approaches. Some of Dr Shanker’s recent publications include 'Stuck in a Moment: Concreteness and psychotherapy after acquired brain injury' (2013) and 'Characterizing cognitive deficits and dementia in an aging urban population in India' (2012).