A Portrait Of A Killer

1. Dr. Sapolsky’s research in the Masai Mara National Park of Kenya involved collecting blood samples from baboons to measure hormones involved in the stress response. After anaesthetizing the baboon in an unassuming way (to avoid hormones produced from anticipatory stress) he collected blood samples from their bodies.

There are three different theories that are used when talking about how we react to stress through the physiological aspect or the psychological aspect. The first is part of the physiological aspect of stress called the Cannon Fight or Flight theory which was proposed in 1914. Fight or Flight response is a physiological stress response that evolved to help organisms to survive immediate danger. The theory states that when an organism, human being or animal, faces imminent danger (acute stressor) the body arouses quickly and is ready to act via two different systems. They are the sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine system. The sympathetic nervous system stimulates the adrenal medulla which is part of the endocrine system and is the region that produces the hormones such as adrenaline and noradrenaline. These hormones increase heart rate, blood flow, and glucose levels to prepare the body for an emergency. This response from the body suggests that the body knows how to protect itself and reach homeostasis. These two systems work together to either fight against the danger or flight away from the danger. Lord, King and Pfister in 1976 studied the Fight or Flight response in animals through a very unethical study. They administered chemicals on male hooded Wistar rats which inhibited the neurotransmitters from functioning normally. This made it very difficult for the rats to escape an electric shock. The results of the study suggest that the Flight or Fight response

The documentary, Stress, Portrait of a Killer, examined how stress is known to kill, yet humans still believe they are invincible. Dr. Robert Sapolsky studied primates in Africa in order to learn about what effects stress has on the body. Interestingly, he found that the baboons who were considered to have a higher rank actually had lower stress hormones in their blood. Conversely, the baboons who were considered to be low rankers actually had elevated stress hormones, increased heart rate, and a higher blood pressure—all of which lead to deteriorating health. Furthermore, the documentary uncovered that weigh and weight distribution is directly related to stress which is unfortunate because the more weight you gain, the more you stress! More

Animals and Humans have a biological stress response intended to facilitate survival in the case of a life threatening attack or severe illness. This is commonly referred to the “fight or flight” response. Some primates, including humans have developed the unhealthy propensity to trigger this response for psychological or social reasons. Humans in particular experience the stress response exponentially more often for psychological reasons than for the purpose of survival (Stress, 2008). For example, we are may feel “stressed out” about work or school and if we think about it too much and get upset, we may experience a stress response Just by thinking about something that is bothering us, we can trigger the biological “fight or flight”

This serial killer was chosen because this serial killing pair is the most infamous English serial killers duo in the 1990s. Fred and Rosemary West were not convicted of all the murders they participated in; however, they were sentenced to life imprisonment. Also, this case is interesting because Rosemary West, to this day, does not claim to know anything about the murders even though she has victims that survived her attacks and have spoken against her in court.

A grieving mother drapes herself over the casket of her deceased son. The 14 year old had fallen victim to one of the most infamous serial killers in history, Jeffrey Dahmer. Dahmer killed a total of 17 known victims, all between the ages of 14 and 33. In his most recent murders, he often resorted to necrophilia, cannibalism, and permanent preservation of body parts (“Jeffrey Dahmer Biography”). The mother looks at what is left of her son’s face, the face that once smiled to her every morning before leaving for school. Among the hundreds of thoughts racing through her head, the most prominent one is simply asking why? What drives people to do these horrendous acts? The truth is, nobody knows the specific reason that serial murderers kill without motive. Some think it has to do with their childhood, while others believe it could be in the genes. Does the gender of the killer change anything? Furthermore, do male and female serial killers operate on the same mindset? Do they have the same reasons motivating them to kill? Although there are various differences between male and female serial killers, the few similarities could hold the key to finding what propels killers to do what they do best.

Once your brain has decided there’s a danger, in stressful situations, it sends immediate nerve signals down your spinal cord to the pituitary gland and all the ways to the kidneys where your adrenal gland resides, which is how adrenaline is released. Once released, adrenaline increases the amount of sugar in your blood, increases your heart rate and raises your blood pressure. The brain’s hypothalamus also sends signals to your pituitary gland, which allows the body to release Cortisol: Cortisol is a stress response that allows the blood and sugar pressure to remain high, which helps when escaping from danger. For instance, in an interview, which presents a challenge, simulated the same biological reaction that a threat to your life does.

Of mice and men by John Steinbeck is a story about two people, a guy named George and another guy named Lennie they aren't friends they're more like family and they treat each other kind of like that, they yell at each other and make each other comfortable at the same time. George thinks that Lennie is very violent but Lennie doesn't admit that he is. He is always blaming it on someone else.

This episode features Stanford University’s Neurobiologist, Robert Sapolsky, who has a high understanding of stress and how it affects our not just our health, but our bodies. The main point Robert is conveying to the audience states that stress leads to serious health consequences, such as high blood pressure, weakened immune system, fatigue, development of fat and even the shortening of life expectancy. Robert Sapolsky researches the science behind human stress by exploring non-human primates, the baboons in their natural habitat in Kenya, Africa. After thirty years of research, Sapolsky believes that baboons are apparently the perfect source of exemplifying human stress because they are naturally aggressive toward one another, including their offspring, and the pain and stress factors appear to be the same in humans; especially dealing with stressful jobs and verbally abusive bosses. In the baboon’s case, if you are a full-controlled male, you can expect lower stress levels, and if you are the submissive, abused baboon, the stress level can be much higher. The only way Robert can take a look at the serious health consequences related to human stress in the baboon is by taking the unsuspecting submissive monkey’s blood and examining the stress hormones in the lab. The results of a submissive baboon revealed high blood

For my first Birthday my mom had two parties planned; one on Saturday and the other on Sunday. She called me her “Angle from heaven” and wanted to make sure everyone could be in attendance to celebrate my first year of life. Just like she would have wanted, all of our friends and family were together that weekend, but instead of celebrating my birthday, they were mourning her death.

'Why didn't he kill me then?' L was busy analyzing the Killer case in every angle possible, it was a challenge for him no doubt. He wandered around, trying to think of any solution. 'Was it because I wasn't a criminal? No, no he definitely must of tried to kill me in that situation...it must be because he doesn't knowing what I look like.'

Few subjects capture the headlines, imaginations, and collective public fears as the “serial killer” does. Headlines throughout the nation blaze such fear-provoking words as “masked killer on the loose”, “college campuses terrorized” or even “your neighborhood is no longer a safe zone.” Headlines that are read throughout barber shops, diner eatery’s, or bus stops. The normal brain tries to process the “why’s” whereas the criminal investigator brain tries to process the five W’s, who, what, when, why as well as the where…as in where will the next strike occur? When and Who will be next?

Stress is majorly is a physical response. When the individual is under stress, his body perceives that it is under pressure (attack) and consequently switches to flight or fight mode; thus producing various chemical and hormones such as norepinephrine, cortisol, and adrenaline to prepare body to become active for physical action (Field, McCabe, Schneiderman, and Field, 2013). This triggers various reactions such as blood moves to the muscles (to close down unnecessary functions of the body like digestion), muscles tighten, senses become more focused, blood pressure increases, and heart beats faster. Such physical changes increase stamina and strength, speed the person’s reaction time, and improve

Human beings are more complex than any other creatures in the world. We need to ruminate about almost everything that we do in our lives. As a result, our stress level are much higher than any other primates. Even though we know that stress is very harmful for our body, but we simply cannot avoid the stress. In the film, Stanford University neurobiologist Dr. Sapolsky shows the hazardous effects of prolonged stress in our everyday lives. Dr. Sapolsky’s baboon study help us understand the complex human society. By changing our attitude toward our stress can make a huge difference in positively dealing with our stress.

When a person is under stress, typically a fight or flight situation, the hypothalamus sets off an alarm in the brain, causing the adrenal gland to release the hormones, adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline, increases the heart rate, raises blood pressure and boosts energy, it is a fast acting hormone that starts to wear off once the situation has resolved. Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, curbs the non-fight or flight body systems, increases glucose to the brain and alters immune, digestive and growth systems.