Most of us, at some point, have been excited or thrilled as a form of entertainment. Whether it is a roller coaster at an amusement park or a scary movie, some results from this form of exciting entertainment may include tense muscles, increase in heart rate, increase in blood pressure, or excessive perspiration. Such physical effects are caused by Adrenaline. Adrenaline is a hormone that is released from a person’s adrenal medulla during emergency situations but does not have psychoactive effects.
It is released into the person’s body from the adrenal glands located above the kidney. It is commonly referred to as a “fight-or-flight” hormone, because of its effects in increasing the supply of glucose and oxygen directed at a person’s brain and involuntary muscles. This allows the person to have better physical abilities to utilise during an emergency. Adrenaline is also known as epinephrine. Adrenaline is derived from the Latin roots ad, meaning towards and renes, meaning kidneys.
Epinephrine originated from the Greek roots epi, meaning on, and nephros, meaning kidneys. This is in reference to the physical location of the adrenal glands in a person’s body, atop the kidneys. Norepinephrine or noradrenaline is another hormone released from the adrenal glands. It is very closely, chemically related to adrenaline, as well as having similar effects on the human body. However, a significant difference between the two hormones is that adrenaline has no psychoactive effects, while noradrenaline does, affecting the person’s mental processes.
The Essay on Meaning of Life by John Cottingham
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The effects of adrenaline released with into the bloodstream include the stimulation of involuntary muscles, rising blood pressure, conversion of glycogen, a form of stored body fuel, inside the liver into glucose, heart rate increase, the dilation of the bronchioles, the fine, thin-walled, tubular extensions of the bronchus, in the lungs, increased breathing rate, increased metabolic rate, and decreased digestive and kidney activity. The release of adrenaline into a person’s blood stream can be seen as the changing of a gear in a manual car.
The release of adrenaline allows a person’s body to be able to have better physical performance in the event of an emergency, while the changing of a gear in a manual car allows the car to have better performance and be able to reach higher speeds than at the lower gear. The diagram included shows the cross-sectioned view of adrenal gland. It identifies both the outer layer, known as the cortex, and the inner area, known as the medulla. The adrenaline is secreted from the inner area.
Below it, the location of the adrenal gland is shown in relation to the kidney inside a human body. As indicated, it is located above the kidney. In terms of my art practice, my adrenaline is often released while I am working. For example, while completely three-dimensional projects in the workshops, the power tools and other machines make me very nervous while using them. As a result, my adrenal glands release adrenaline, making my heart rate increase exponentially. In other cases, inspiration for art may also cause the release of adrenaline in my both. Similarly, when I use great emotion into my paintings. I am also excited to the point of adrenaline release.
