The Science of Adrenaline

When you get excited, you might feel the rush of adrenaline. Why does this chemical make us feel so strong and powerful?

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Life Noggin is a weekly animated educational series. Whether it's science, pop culture, history or art, we explore it all and have a ton of fun doing it.

Life Noggin Team:
Animation by Steven Lawson

Sources:

[BenignGamer]

Some life advice for everyone: never try to run from a bear, unless you're really suicidal.

[ignacio]

I wish I could activate my adrenaline whenever i wanted, I know it's not healthy but damn it'd be useful sometimes

[MasonTC]

human survival instincts make me happy...for some reason.

[magicman]

I got stuck in an elevator, so i feared i might suffocate since oxygen in there was decreasing so i freaked out... and I actually managed to OPEN THE DOOR with my OWN Hands only to find out there is a door behind it full of electric wires, so i prayed cuz I didn't know what to do, so I started clicking all the buttons and hit the emergency button and it worked it again... after that I rethought my life choices and always went on stairs

[joshgraham]

DO NOT EVERY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TRY TO OUTRUN A BEAR. It's not gonna happen best case scenario: the bear doesn't see you; back up slowly and try to make as little noise as possible.If you and the bear see each other; try to make yourself seem as large as possible and if that bear sees you as a threat it might back off. Worst case scenario: the bear advances toward you; immediately get into the fetal position with your arms and legs tucked in and cover your head and neck with your hands. (If you have a backpack, do not throw it, keep it on your back as a beerier between your back and the bear.) Using these tactics should increase your chance of survival by 90%.

[McBreadbro]

Adrenaline also makes our body stronger the moment it's activated. That's the reason why people don't really feel the pain when get punched in a fist fight or when get sliced in a war.

[TheMMObro]

it just blows my mind how a chemical can make us stronger than you'd think the mass of our muscles could physically handle

[bombking]

i once was getting bullied in my school, i had an adrenaline rush and kicked the asses of 2 bullies, i felt like a bear.

[supergirlprime]

I've once received an adrenaline kick on my first midterm. I ended up doing 20 questions in about 5-7 min while still getting them right and showing my work

[Ethan_Roberts]

Needs to learn about adrenaline for biology homework... this gets recommended for me

[Nosirrbro]

Ever had an adrenaline rush? Shitloads of times. I get them from games, caffene, being super excited about anything, good haunted houses, certain dreams, the whole shabang.

[sayyroj]

i remember once when i was a kid, i was chasing a cat, the cat got stuck in a corner, it started to scream at me, suddenly it turned into a ferocious cat, i think she got a massive adrenaline rush it was so scard, her eyes went so big, so i ran from the cat, also i got the adrinaline rush i was SO fast i didn't beleive my self * MY GOD, HOW DID i GET HERE? * i was running without thinking where i'm going to, all i remember that i was running and i was fast as fuck, so i started reading about adrenaline thing. Good stuff

[Ace-xnep]

so when I get adrenaline you could say.




"My body is ready."

[rafin.]

I had an adrenaline rush when


*YA BOY GOT CHASED BY 12 DOWGS*

[wilsonp]

I swear Thomas from Maze Runner (in the book) gets Adrenaline every five seconds

[WassupChannel]

My Adrenaline increased when I got constipation and I only have 2 minutes left to go work

[VCR]

Once when I was about 9 my mom was having a panic attack and told me to get her mom she lived about a mile away. I grabbed my bike and was scared she would die I pedaled my bike full speed non stop I got home in a record time no one in the house even noticed I had gone anywhere. Adrenaline is triggered by the body in emergency situations for a reason.

On another note getting an adrenaline rush and not using it is also bad for your body. Examples are when playing intense video games for me it happens in rare situations. If I'm being shot at in a game I've had 2 instances where my adrenaline kicked in i felt my heart beat accelerate and it felt great is a fear factor that triggered it. But that also causes stress and is not healthy as my body was not in any real danger.

Love adrenaline for it has saved many lives.

[RustineBueno]

This video helps me understand more about my lesson in Health. I tried searching for something about adrenaline and cortisol cuz I have no idea what these hormones are so I searched it. And then, I saw your vid and I was like “Oh ok I remember this guy. He makes nice animations that makes me learn something easily.” So yea! THX

[pawm]

Story time:

One beautiful day a family was out swimming. Two kids and two parents, one of the kids was me. They went to a beautiful lake and the younger brother decided to jump of a cliff into the water.
His attempt was not very successful and his feet touched the rock bottom of the lake. Seconds after he jumped blood was visible in the water.
His brother (me) got an adrenaline kick and got into the water and got him back to land. He had apparently almost lost his toes and had a HUGE scar on his foot.
As I got an adrenaline kick I carried him all the way to our car and parents to alert them (interestingly enough, the adrenaline kind of made me into a super human).
We quickly got into our car and drove as fast as possible to the doctors. My heart was beating so fast.
Luckily the doctors where able to get his toes back and fixed him in a 3 hour period.
(I was 10 at that time and not very muscular. The adrenaline made me able to cary my younger brother (36 kg) for 150 meters. )

[critikasalihmeylani]

"On the battlefield
When everything is chaos
And you have nothing but the way you feel
Your strategy and a sword
You just think about the life you'll have together after the war.."