Hierarchically subordinate animals have higher resting levels of glucocorticoids and an ineffecient stress-response
Hierarchically subordinate animals tend to be over-stressed due to uncontrollable and unpredictable mistreatment from superiors, so Itās not surprising, then, that among subordinate male baboons, resting levels of glucocorticoids are significantly higher than among dominant individualsāfor a subordinate, everyday basal circumstances are stressful. And thatās just the start of subordinatesā problems with glucocorticoids. When a real stressor comes along, their glucocorticoid response is smaller and slower than in dominant individuals. And when itās all passed, their recovery appears to be delayed. All these are features that count as an inefficient stress-response.
More problems for subordinate individuals: elevated resting blood pressure; sluggish cardiovascular response to real stressors; a sluggish recovery; suppressed levels of the good HDL cholesterol; among male subordinates, testosterone levels that are more easily suppressed by stress than in dominant males; fewer circulating white blood cells; and lower circulating levels of something called insulin-like growth factor-I, which helps heal wounds.
References
- Sapolsky, Robert. (2004). Why Zebras Donāt Get Ulcers Chapter 17. The View from the Bottom (p. 499). New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company.
Metadata
Type:š“ Tags: Biology / Neuroscience Status:āļø