Rapids

Rapid heart rate, breathing rate. Causes of this increase?

While driving down the highway, you get cut off by a teenage driver and have to slam on the brakes. In addition to a major case of road rage, you also develop a rapid heart rate and breathing rate. What caused this increase (indicate branch of the nervous system and NTs)? What is happening to your digestion at this point?

Public Comments

1. addrenaline rush?.......... o the brain in the gut is churning that butterfly thing................hmmm your digestion stops and all your nerves in your stomach are working on sending u signals to be carefulll???
2. Adrenaline. It gets released. It's the "fight or flight" response, so digestion stops-- your body needs the energy for the "fight".
3. Your stomach starts producing more acid when all that other stuff suddenly happens.
4. you are experience the "fight or flight" response. Here is a wikipedia article with the information you are looking for.
5. when your body is placed under stess of any kind your sympathetic nervous system (rest and digest system) shuts off and your parasympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response) takes charge. Anytime your parasympathetic system kicks in it automatically stops any digestion. When you slam on your breaks your adrenaline (hormone from adrenal gland) increases, your nervous system is amazing - the fastest acting system in the body. (2nd being your endocrine which are hormone producing)
6. Your digestion is effectively shut down for the moment. It's low priority in fight-or-flight mode. If it does anything, it will attempt to empty itself (never said it was a pleasant sort of thing), but anything in the stomach is on hold until you calm down.
7. Could be flight/fight response adrenaline rush. This is a initiated by the sympathetic nervous system. If you are referring to neuro transmitters norepinphrine is responsible for wakefulness/arousal associated with the flight/fight response. Slows digestion.