Stress em primatas

Sapolsky presents a table of binary tests of his ten factors, performed upon captive animals, to show the way that they influence the stress level in dominant and subordinate individuals.

• Consistently, animals who are more socially stressed by the dominance hierarchy show indices of hyperactivity of the GC system. This includes elevated basal levels of GCs, the enlarged adrenal glands that accompany such increased secretion, a sluggish GC stress response in the face of a major homeostatic challenge, and impaired sensitivity of the system to negative feedback regulation (Sapolsky 2005:651).
  Unstable hierarchies, hierarchies in which dominant individuals must repulse many challenges, and cooperative breeding systems tend to stress high-ranking individuals. Low-ranking individuals are relatively stressed (compared to high-ranking individuals) in societies with low social support for subordinates and with nonviolent intimidation by dominants.
  According to the review, chronic stress has many negative health effects, including:
  hypertension
  increased cholestorol and associated plaques
  inhibition of fertility and reproduction in males via suppression of testosterone
  reduction in fertility and reproduction in females via delayed maturation, anovulatory cycles, accelerated senescence, and reductions in estrogen and progesterone
  suppression of immunity
  neurobiological changes
  Sapolsky RM. 2005. The influence of social hierarchy on primate health. Science 308:648-652Sapolsky RM. 2005. The influence of social hierarchy on primate health. Science 308:648-652