The male fight-flight response: A result of SRY regulation of catecholamines?

摘要

Males and females differ in their biobehavioural response to stress, wheremales exhibit a heightened sympatheticresponse to stress compared withfemales. Speci?cally, Taylor et al. 1propose that the classic ‘‘?ght-or-?ight’’response to stress is adaptive for males,whilst females engage in a so-called‘‘tend-and-befriend’’ response to stress.We propose that the Y-chromosomegene, SRY (sex-determining region onthe Y chromosome), provides a geneticbasis for the heightened sympatheticreactivity to stress and thus predominance of ‘‘?ght-?ight’’ response inmales. Our idea is based on studies thatdemonstrate (i) the presence of SRY inbrain regions and peripheral tissuesabundant in catecholamines, (ii) theregulation of catecholamine synthesisand breakdown by SRY, and (iii) the roleof SRY in voluntary movement andblood pressure in males.