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To the Heart of the Matter
It would appear that the role of CRF, is central to this mechanism in its ability to cause the human
state to resort to basic emotional instinct and physiological responses in states of prolonged stress
and anxiety (Pert1997).
Assuming the basic human condition has no inherent dysfunctional mechanisms in its ability to
adapt to external stimuli, then the causative factor/s relating PNE responses to CV system pathology
must relate to the limitations of the adaptive physiological processes. This suggests that the context
of function is a major factor in CV illness.
Behavioural and physiological responses to emotional stimuli are known to be learned processes,
and it has been proposed that the emotional climate experienced during childhood is a major factor
in conditioning these responses (Goleman 1995). New emotional experiences are matched with
those of previous memories and the physiological responses corresponding to those of the memory
dictate the response to the new experience (Watkins 1997). This comparative activity occurs in the
AN, which in the light of the previously presented mechanisms, suggests that the predisposition for
CRF disturbances in prolonged stress and anxiety states could be established during childhood.
The picture that develops from these considerations relates personality, as a function of emotional
development during childhood, with adaptive ability. This explains how the context, within which
the adaptive ability is exposed to stressors, dictates whether or not the CRF system integrity can be
maintained.
4.1.1.4. Interaction of the autonomic nervous system and Corticotropin Releasing Factor
The mechanisms presented here support an understanding of the interaction of the HPA, the ANS
and the higher cognitive processes in a complex regulatory pathway (see appendix VI: fig. 4.),
which is primarily mediated by the activities of CRF. As can be seen from the previous sections, the
influence of CRF on all levels is to move the psychological and the somatic physiological condition
towards an aroused state.
The activating/inhibiting processes of the LC and the AN are complimentary, as there is relative
diametric interaction with CRF activity, which can be summarised as follows:
In the LC, increased CRF levels potentiate norepinephrine activity exciting the LC, which
results in the activation of the somatic CV stress response activity (presented in section 4.1.1.2.)
In the AN, increased norepinephrine levels potentiate CRF activity, which induces
stress/anxiety behaviour (presented in section 4.1.1.3.)
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