Stress Lab Report – Term Paper

Introduction

The term stress is utilized in both psychological and biological sciences to refer to either of the respective states or as feedback to the internal or external stimuli that may be real or imaginary. The word is, therefore, often difficult to define because of its broad applicability in the various disciplines. In physiological terms, stress may be used to portray the temperature extremes among other physical conditions (Absi, 2007). Typically, a body has various stress responses to temperature variations that may include perspiration and thirst.  The first body feedback entails the evaporation of body fluids to cool the body while the latter implies the enhancement of hydration. The psychological stress involves the responses that the mind undergoes. For example, solving a company problem or sitting for an exam stimulates the brain pressure that may lead to the rise of the blood pressure, increased heart rate, and anxiety. Blood pressure and heart rate represent a physiological response while anxiety is a psychological feedback (Absi, 2007). The activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) is a very common physiological response that affects both psychological and physiological stressors. Consequently, the activation of the HPA increases the blood cortisol concentration which is the fundamental hormone regarding body stress. The present report`s primary goal is to measure a broad range of the responses to each of the constituent stressors to determine the appropriate method of measuring the feedbacks and deduce the advantages of the feedback regarding the stressors.

Objectives

The primary aims of the laboratory experiment were to: 

Ø Establish the different methods of measuring the psychological and physiological feedbacks to various stressors. In the process of examining the techniques, the test will evaluate the mechanisms used in each of the ways.

Ø The experiment also purposes to identify the significance of the physiological stress responses. In this regard, the process seeks to establish the high and low-stress feedback consideration by examining the uses and importance.

Ø Moreover, the report looks to gain a deeper understanding of the technical and scientific backgrounds the Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA)

Ø The report also focuses on performing statistical tests by examining the difference in the posthoc analysis and the Pearson correlation.

Ø Finally, the report will utilize the statistical data to generate graphs displaying the correlation between various variables, the descriptive legends, and the significance indicators.

Apparatus

Ø 5-50ul micropipette.

Ø 30-300ul multichannel micropipette.

Ø A reagent reservoir park.

Ø A falcon tube

Ø Yellow and white pipette tips.

Ø A 10ml micropipette.

Ø A 50ml measuring cylinder.

Ø 450ml deionized water placed in 500ml Schott’s flask.

;;A waste plastic beaker

Method

1.;The experiment commenced by first preparing the 500ml bottle. We utilized the 50ml measuring cylinder to add the deionized water into the 500ml ml beaker. The measuring was repeated nine times to obtain 450ml of the deionized water. After measuring the 450ml of water in the flask, it was diluted to make up to 500ml.

2.;The second step entailed preparing the assay solvent. The Falcon tube and the 10ml micropipette were used in this stage. 24ml of the test solution was placed in the Falcon tube by use of the 10ml micropipette that contained a control gauge. The solvent was added in drops to ensure the accuracy of the measurement. After the 24ml solution had been achieved, the Falcon tube was set aside to be used in the next step.

3.;The third stage entailed pipetting the samples on the plate. This process was achieved by measuring 25ul of each sample. In this step, the samples were added in terms of wells. ;Using the pipette, we dropped the samples on the plate where we applied 12 wells of the standard and two wells of each of the assay solvent; the test solution diluted into the NSB, the high controlled, and low controlled samples. Each of the sample tests was repeated in 3 replicates that formed an array of 5 experiments in each of the 4 treatment.

4.;The fourth stage entailed preparing the conjugate where 15ul of it was added to the 24ml of the assay solvent prepared in step 2. A lid was placed on the Falcon tube and the two mixed until a uniform solution was obtained. Afterward, a multichannel micropipette was used to add the solution onto the plate. In this stage, 200ul of the solution was added I each well. Next, we poured the reagent on the reservoir. However, care was taken to ensure only the enough solution was utilized.

5.;This step entailed tapping the plate by use of a finger to mix the samples and the solutions. The action was repeated until we were satisfied that the samples and the solution had mixed correctly. The plate was then incubated for 55 minutes at room temperature.

6.;After the incubation, the plate was retrieved and washed by using the 300ml wash buffer. The plate was tapped gently to remove the solution leaving layers of tissues behind. The process of cleaning and tapping was repeated three times to ensure all the solution was withdrawn from the plate.

7.;Afterward, 200ml of the TMB was pipetted into the wells.

8.;The plate was tapped to mix the solutions before incubating it in a dark room for 25 minutes.

9.;We removed the plate ad added 50ul of the stop solution within ten minutes.

10.;The next step entailed wiping the bottom to ensure it was clean.

11.;We took the plate to room 3-4-01 for the reading process.

Results

Graph 1: The graph shows the mean temperatures of each skin stress response against time.

Graph 2: The graph of Galvanic Skin reaction against time in each of the respective responses.

Graph 3: Graph of blood pressure against time that is varied by the respective stressors

Graph 4: A chart of Salivary cortisol against time. The salivary cortisol response is affected by the particular stressors.

Discussion

In the first graph, the skin temperature varies depending on individual stressors. When the body is under normal controlled conditions, the surface heat remains relatively constant because the body is not affected by any of the stressors. In other words, the body is free from interference and, thus; it functions within the required limits (Aldwin, 2007). During cold temperatures, the body undergoes through a lot of metabolisms to generate heat that keeps the body warm. In the process, some of the heat is dissipated through the skin. The same is portrayed in Graph 1 where the cold parameter remains high above the rest of the curves. ;The physiological stressor affects the skin temperature in the same way as the cold setting. However, the initial starting point occurs at standard conditions just like that of the controlled parameters. When an individual undergoes mental stress, the body generates a lot of heat which explains the sweating and increased heart rate. The same is reflected in the graph where the skin heat starts at ideal conditions before it rises as the person undergoes physiological stress.

Research has established that when working out, the temperature at first increments quickly before the increase rate is lessened until production of heat equals that of the loss leading to the accomplishment steady-steady-state qualities. At the start of exercise, the metabolic rate increments instantly. The thermoregulatory effector reactions, which empower sensible (radiative and convective) and apathetic (evaporative) loss of heat increase is proportional to primary temperature loss. An increase in the heat loss adjusts to cater for the metabolic warmth generation permitting the accomplishment of an enduring state center temperature. During exercises, the extent of center temperature rise is to a great extent autonomous of the natural condition and is in correspondence to the metabolic rate (Aldwin, 2007). The same is reflected in Graph 1 where the temperature is high at the begging but drops steadily before increasing again.

Galvanic skin reaction that is represented in graph 2 entails the property of the skin to respond to environmental conditions such as conductance. In this category, the skin has the lowest response during the cold stressors because the body tries to retain as much heat as possible to keep the body warm (Benuto, 2013). However, the skin dissipates heat and responds smoothly in other parameters such as physiological, exercise, and controlled reaction. The situation is such because the body continuously dissipates heat to the environment, and only tries to retain it during cold conditions. The same is reflected in the graph 2 as the cold graph displays the variation that occurs in the charts.

Blood pressure always increases during physiological stress and exercises. The rise is directly proportional to the type of stressors that an individual is undergoing. For example, a vigorous exercise will result in, and a strong anxiety can cause a high blood pressure as compared to the mild counterparts of the conditions. For this reason, Graph 3 shows a high blood pressure for the exercise curve followed by the physiological curve in both the diastolic and systolic phases (Benuto, 2013).

Salivary cortisol is a response that results from the generation of adrenaline. Typically, people produce large amounts of the hormone when facing physiological stresses such as anxiety or fear. The same is generated during muscular exercises; however, during the normal conditions of the body such as the cold and controlled stressors, the body does not produce the hormones cortisol hormones which result in the relatively constant curves (Brummell, 2010). The enzyme-generated as a consequence of the psychological stress is high at the first time but stabilizes after some time as shown in Graph 4.

Conclusion

The present lab report identifies various physiological and physiological responses to different body stressors. Through the controlled, cold, exercise, and physiological stressors, the report identifies different body responses that are affected differently by the effectors. For instance, cold does not affect the skin response to heat in the same way as the physiological or the exercise parameters (Petraglia and Florio, 2001). Therefore, the paper achieves its objective by determining various techniques of determining body stresses and their operation.

Bibliography

Absi, M. (2007). Stress and addiction. Amsterdam: Academic Press.

Aldwin, C. (2007). Stress, Coping, and Development. New York: Guilford Press.

Benuto, L. (2013). Guide to psychological assessment with Hispanics. New York: Springer.

Brummell, A. (2010). A Method of Measuring Residential Stress. Geographical Analysis, 13(3), pp.248-261.

Petraglia, F., and Florio, P. (2001). Stress Hormones, Human Pregnancy, and Parturition. Stress, 4(4), pp.217-218.