GREENBERG, N. B.: Causes and Consequences of The Stress Response in Reptiles

Real or perceived changes in the environment of a lizard can evoke adaptive behavioral responses that are coordinated by the neural and endocrine mechanisms of the stress response. Acute responses, involving catecholamines released in varying proportion at different sites along their sympathetic pathways may interact with and be complemented by chronic responses involving the hypothalamic-adrenocortical system. The central and systemic consequences of these actions include apparent changes in affect and motivation. These changes result in altered responses to environmental stimuli including the social stimuli that male and female conspecifics may provide. This review will collate and summarize the results of a program of research into the neural and endocrine causes and consequences of specific behavioral patterns seen in the small diurnal lizard, Anolis carolinensis. I will then attempt a synthesis that will hopefully illuminate the manner in which autonomic reflexes come under the influence of environmental stimuli and attain significance as social signals.