[S2E2] Fight Or Flight

Matt Parkman recruits Nathan Petrelli on his mission to find Maury Parkman, his father, and help Molly. The two find Maury in his apartment in Philadelphia, and discover that he possesses a powerful form of telepathy. Maury has also received the same death threat as Kaito Nakamura and Angela Petrelli. Under the pretense of getting something for Matt, Maury traps him, and Nathan who follows them, in mental illusions while he escapes. In Matt's illusion, he is trapped in a prison cell where a vision of his ex-wife, Janice, appears holding a baby and claiming that Matt walked out on her and her son, threatening he'll eventually do the same to Molly. He is assaulted by a prison guard when he tries to leave the cell after Janice. Nathan's illusion places him on the roof of the Deveaux Building in a post-bomb New York, where he meets and fights a horribly burned vision of himself. As it turns out, Nathan and Matt, are actually fighting each other. Matt is able to project his own thoughts into Nathan's mind and they are able to snap out of the vision before serious injury. In a quick search of Maury's apartment, Matt finds another of the death threats, this one for Bob.

[S2E2] Fight or Flight

When confronted by our worst nightmares the choices are few: fight or flight. We hope to find the strength to stand against our fears, but sometimes, despite ourselves, we run. What if the nightmare gives chase? Where do we hide then?

You can probably think of a time when you experienced the fight-or-flight response. When faced with something frightening, you can feel your heartbeat quicken, you may start breathing faster, and your entire body becomes tense and ready to take action.

When we perceive a threat, an automatic survival response is initiated by a part of the brain called the amygdala. This is the fight or flight response, also known as the acute stress response. During this response, the sympathetic system goes into overdrive and the parasympathetic system takes a back seat.

Frank calling people out on their obvious lies is probably one of the most entertaining things that this show has to offer, other than the fight scenes, and that is very much the crux of this episode. Frank and Rachel are two sides of the same coin and their dynamic in this episode is very enjoyable. Frank calling out Rachel on her lies and Rachel seeing right through Frank is done in way that feels familiar, but has come off as preachy when other films and shows have done similar things, whereas here, it just feels like two similar people toying with each other.

The fight-or-flight response takes place when a person is under stress. During stress, the stress hormones are released and the body gets in action to either engage in a fight or flight response. The autonomic nervous system is responsible for involuntary responses like heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure. This autonomic system includes the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The former system deals with the fight and flight response, while the latter one calms down the body when the stress is gone.

The hormones that evolved during the fight-and-flight response are the adrenocorticotropic hormone and corticotropin hormone. These hormones trigger the sympathetic system that stimulates the adrenal and pituitary gland which release hormones like adrenal and cortisol. The physical symptoms associated with fight-and-flight response include increased heart rate, muscle tension, flushed skin, and dilated pupils.

In space, Cyclonus and Scourge are pursuing Air Raid. Following him into an asteroid field, the two Decepticons are surprised to see the other Aerialbots. In the firefight, Scourge is damaged, so Cyclonus argues that they charge them. However, the Aerialbots form Superion and do further damage to the Decepticons. Cyclonus spots a vortex and decides to take refuge in it. Once they've passed through, they find a planet that looks similar to Cybertron during the Golden Age. Further analysis is discontinued, however, as they crash hard.

Breaking through the prison defenses, the Autobots present the Paradrons with weapons, but the latter are reluctant to fight. Sandstorm claims that their forefathers would fight as well. The Autobot leader gives them a simpler choice: fight or flee. Reluctantly, the Paradrons take up arms.

In humans, chronic stress results in long-term stimulation of the fight-or-flight response, which leads to constant production and secretion of catecholamines (e.g., epinephrine) and hormones such as cortisol.

Chance is meeting with Micah to discuss all the fighting the girls have been doing in the house. Chance is bummed he had to let Baybi Ruth go, but Micah is wondering why he chose her in the first place?

Here comes Chance and Micah. Since the girls have been fighting in the house the goal is to duke it out in the ring and then go back to the house with the bad blood out of their system and the house would be calm. Good plan.

fight-or-flight response: a short-term stress response that ensures increased amounts of glucose and oxygen are available to muscle cells for cellular respiration, which results in increased available energy for use by muscles

SC 1. The short-term responses to stress are commonly referred to as the fight-or-flight responses. Like the nerve impulses of the sympathetic nervous system, the hormones of the adrenal medulla prepare the body to fight or flight by increasing the levels of oxygen and glucose and their distribution to the muscles and tissues. To increase the level of oxygen in the blood, the breathing rate increases and the bronchioles dilate go get more oxygen into the lungs for diffusion. To increase the level of glucose in the blood, the liver and muscles are stimulated to convert stored glycogen into glucose. Heart rate, cardiac output, and blood pressure all increase so that distribution of the blood to the tissues is greater and faster. Peripheral blood vessels (in the skin) and those to the digestive system constrict and redirect blood to the muscles and tissues that need more blood. Cellular respiration is increased and releases more energy to deal with the situation or to quickly run away. In addition, sweating increases to deal with the extra heat produced from increased metabolism (cellular respiration) and the pupils dilate so more light enters the eyeball and increases visual acuity so that the danger can be seen more clearly. 041b061a72