The sympathetic-adrenomedullary (SAM) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis

Explain how the sympathetic-adrenomedullary (SAM) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis are implicated in the physiological response to stress.
Both the sympathetic-adrenomedullary (SAM) hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis are involved in the body’s physiological stress response. With the SAM system, stressful events lead to arousal of the sympathetic nervous system and thus stimulates the medulla of the adrenal glands (Taylor, 2017). The medulla then secretes epinephrine and norepinephrine which result in physiological symptoms like increased heart rate and sweating (Taylor, 2017). With the HPA axis, stress causes the hypothalamus to release corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH). This action results in the pituitary gland stimulated to secrete adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which causes the adrenal cortex to release glucocorticoids such as cortisol (Taylor, 2017).

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