tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/fight-or-flight-response-18753/articlesfight-or-flight response – The Conversation2024-01-02T20:16:02Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2135402024-01-02T20:16:02Z2024-01-02T20:16:02ZHow effective is fear as a teaching tool? How and what do we learn when we are scared?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556736/original/file-20231030-25-tocxly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C2%2C998%2C652&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many of us remember vividly being yelled at or feeling threatened by a family member, a teacher, or a boss. </p>
<p>Terrifying experiences often get imprinted in our memory; remembering frightening events is essential to avoid them in future. It is a normal reaction that promotes our <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10832548/">survival</a>. </p>
<p>This strong connection between fear and memory may lead us to think fear can be an effective learning tool. Research shows, however, fear can have <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s44159-023-00156-1">long-term negative consequences</a> for children and adults alike – and can actually make it harder to learn in meaningful ways. </p>
<p>Here’s what the research says about how and what we learn when we are scared.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/stand-back-and-avoid-saying-be-careful-how-to-help-your-child-take-risks-at-the-park-212969">Stand back and avoid saying 'be careful!': how to help your child take risks at the park</a>
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<h2>How fear affects children’s learning</h2>
<p>Fear is designed to protect us from <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s44159-023-00156-1">current and future danger</a>.</p>
<p>If children are faced with experiences that trigger fear, they learn to avoid new experiences – as opposed to exploring, engaging, and approaching the unknown with curiosity. </p>
<p>Consistent exposure to fear changes how the brain reacts to the outside world. Fear triggers a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40971979">stress response in the brain</a> and puts it in a state of alert; we become hyper ready to react swiftly and decisively to incoming threats.</p>
<p>This may be appropriate if, for example, you are confronted by an aggressive stranger. But such high levels of reactivity are not productive in learning environments like school, where we are asked to be open to new experiences and create innovative solutions. </p>
<p>In fact, the areas of the brain activated when we’re scared are different to those we use when thinking carefully <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015221#_i3">how to address a tricky problem</a>. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4774859/#:%7E:text=the%20prefrontal%20cortex%20can%20shut,inducing%20mental%20paralysis%20and%20panic.&text=further%20the%20physiology%20of%20acute,when%20the%20going%20gets%20tough.">Research</a> has shown the more primitive parts of the brain take over the activity of the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s “control centre”, when we’re in a state of fear. </p>
<p>This means planning, making sound decisions and using our existing knowledge becomes very difficult if we feel threatened or afraid.</p>
<h2>Children learn fear from the adults in their lives</h2>
<p>Adults play a critical role in the healthy development of fear responses by modelling reactions to unknown situations. They also provide (or fail to provide) safe environments that promote children’s exploration.</p>
<p>Fear can be easily learned from significant adults. Studies have shown both <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005796701000134">toddlers</a> and <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-01363-018?doi=1">school-aged children</a> learn to avoid new experiences if their parents communicate or show signs of fear in reference to them. </p>
<p>Think, for instance, about how a child can learn to fear animals by seeing how their parents react to them. Or, for example, the way constant warnings to “<a href="https://theconversation.com/stand-back-and-avoid-saying-be-careful-how-to-help-your-child-take-risks-at-the-park-212969">be careful!</a>” may end up making a child too anxious to climb trees or take risks as they use play equipment.</p>
<p>Adult behaviours also affect the degree to which children feel safe to be themselves and explore the world with confidence. </p>
<p>Studies investigating the behaviours of parents have consistently shown harsh parenting (involving physical and verbal aggression) is related to <a href="https://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40359-023-01046-0">poorer outcomes in children</a> including academic underachievement, higher levels of aggression and anxiety and poor peer relationships.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://ejop.psychopen.eu/index.php/ejop/article/view/2013">opposite is the case</a> for parents who, while providing structure and reasons for boundaries, are warm and encourage autonomy.</p>
<p>Teachers also play a pivotal role in the development of fear responses. Students are more likely to be motivated and function well in classrooms if teachers are “<a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-44922-001">autonomy-supportive</a>”. </p>
<p>This means teachers:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>have a curious and open attitude towards students’ interests</p></li>
<li><p>seek their perspective and offer choices</p></li>
<li><p>invite their thoughts, and </p></li>
<li><p>accept a range of emotions (from frustration, anger and reticence to playfulness, joy and curiosity).</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>How fear affects learning in adult life</h2>
<p>Many people who experience anxiety in adulthood have been exposed in their childhood to environments where they have felt <a href="https://www.aztrauma.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Adverse-learning-experiences-in-childhood-may-affect-the-ability-to-learn-through-the-lifespan.pdf">consistently threatened</a>.</p>
<p>These adults may end up avoiding taking on new tasks, considering multiple viewpoints, and responding to questions. These are all skills employers usually value.</p>
<p>Work environments that induce fear can also be counterproductive and stressful.</p>
<p>Research suggests when employees perceive their work environments as unsafe, they are more likely to experience <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/5/2294">burnout, anxiety and stress</a>. Stressful situations can also interfere with our ability to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/npjscilearn201611">apply what we know flexibly to new situations</a>.</p>
<p>On the flip side, researchers argue that a trusting relationship between employees and their managers can affect workers’ willingness to show vulnerability and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/smj.3051">take on tasks</a> that <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2005-15746-011">involve uncertainty</a>.</p>
<p>Researchers have also found positive relationships at work can encourage to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.2189/asqu.2005.50.3.367">creativity in the workplace</a>, which makes work more interesting and enjoyable.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557631/original/file-20231106-21-9va95c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A scary boss looms over the staff at work." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557631/original/file-20231106-21-9va95c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557631/original/file-20231106-21-9va95c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557631/original/file-20231106-21-9va95c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557631/original/file-20231106-21-9va95c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557631/original/file-20231106-21-9va95c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557631/original/file-20231106-21-9va95c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557631/original/file-20231106-21-9va95c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Work environments that induce fear can also be counterproductive.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cropped-shot-unhappy-senior-boss-standing-452661235">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>So, what do we learn when we are scared?</h2>
<p>Yes, we learn from fear. The question is: what do we learn?</p>
<p>In response to threats and hostility, we learn to avoid challenge and comply with external rules (instead of wondering how systems can be improved). We protect our feelings and restrict our thoughts to what is safe.</p>
<p>Is this the kind of learning that allows us to grow and develop? </p>
<p>More than ever, children and adults are required to collaborate in creative ways to address difficult problems. </p>
<p>This means dealing with uncertainty and accepting that sometimes we make mistakes or fail.</p>
<p>That requires safe and nurturing environments – not home, school or work settings that are ruled by fear.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213540/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deborah Pino Pasternak has previously received funding from The Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>In response to threats, we learn to avoid challenge and comply with external rules (instead of wondering how systems can be improved). We protect our feelings and restrict our thoughts to what’s safe.Deborah Pino Pasternak, Associate Professor in Early Childhood Education and Community, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1678222021-09-28T14:17:19Z2021-09-28T14:17:19ZCold showers are said to be good for you – here’s what the evidence shows<p>A cold shower in the morning is a pretty unpleasant way to start the day. Yet many have been tempted to take up the habit because being immersed in cold water has many purported health benefits, both physical and mental.</p>
<p>Cold showers were first administered for health reasons in the early 19th century when <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0957154X18801766?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed">doctors designed them</a> for use on asylum and prison inmates to “cool hot, inflamed brains, and to instil fear to tame impetuous wills”. </p>
<p>By the mid-19th century, the Victorians realised that the shower had other uses, namely washing people – and it would be better if the water was warm. So the shower went from being a device used to inflict unpleasantness for an hour and a half to one that was very pleasant and lasted about five minutes.</p>
<p>And yet the practice of taking a cold shower for health benefits never truly went away, and, indeed, seems to be <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/coldshowers/">enjoying a resurgence</a>. Especially among <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/jack-dorsey-daily-routine-mediation-ben-greenfield-podcast-a8864651.html">Silicon Valley types</a>.</p>
<h2>But what does the evidence show?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5025014/pdf/pone.0161749.pdf">A large study</a> from the Netherlands found that people who took a cold shower were less likely than those who took a warm shower to take time off work due to sickness. </p>
<p>A group of over 3,000 people was split into four groups and asked to have a warm shower every day. But one group was asked to end it with 30 seconds of cold water, another with 60 seconds of cold water, another with 90 seconds of cold water. The control group could merely enjoy a warm shower. The participants were asked to follow this protocol for a month. (Although, 64% continued with the cold-water regimen because they liked it so much.)</p>
<p>After a three-month follow-up period, they found that the groups that had cold water had a 29% reduction of self-reported sick leave from work. Interestingly, the duration of the cold water did not affect the sickness absence. </p>
<p>The reason a blast of cold water might stop people from getting ill is not clear, but some research suggests it may have something to do with boosting the immune system. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8925815/">A study</a> from the Czech Republic showed that when “athletic young men” were immersed in cold water three times a week for six weeks, it gave a slight boost to their immune system. However, more and larger studies are needed to confirm these findings.</p>
<p>Cold water also appears to activate the sympathetic nervous system, the part of the nervous system that governs the <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-fight-or-flight-response-2795194">fight-or-flight</a>’ response (an automatic physiological reaction to an event that is perceived as dangerous, stressful or frightening). When this is activated, such as during a cold shower, you get an increase in the hormone <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s004210050065.pdf">noradrenaline</a>. This is what most likely causes the increase in heart rate and blood pressure observed when people are immersed in cold water, and is linked to the suggested health improvements. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/m2GywoS77qc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Fight-or-flight response explained.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cold water immersion has also been shown to improve circulation. When exposed to cold water, there is decreased blood flow to the skin. When the cold water stops, the body has to warm itself up, so there is an increase in blood flow to the surface of the skin. Some scientists think that this could improve circulation. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31842246/">A study</a> that looked at cold-water immersion after exercise found that, after four weeks, blood flow to and from muscles had improved. </p>
<p>There is also some evidence that a cold shower can help you lose weight. <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s004210050065.pdf">A study</a> found that cold-water immersion at 14°C increased metabolism by 350%. Metabolism is the process by which your body converts what you eat and drink into energy, so a higher metabolism roughly equals more energy burned.</p>
<p>Aside from the physical benefits, cold showers could have mental health benefits too. There is a school of thought that cold water immersion causes increased mental alertness due to the stimulation of the previously mentioned fight-or-flight response. In older adults, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10378499/">cold water applied to the face and neck</a> has been shown to improve brain function. </p>
<p>A cold shower may also help relieve symptoms of depression. A <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17993252/">proposed mechanism</a> is that, due to the high density of cold receptors in the skin, a cold shower sends an overwhelming amount of electrical impulses from peripheral nerve endings to the brain, which may have an anti-depressive effect.</p>
<p>There is a fair amount of evidence that cold water immersion or having a cold shower is good for your health – even if the reasons why are still a little unclear. But before you start turning the cold tap on towards the end of your shower, you should know that there are some risks to a cold shower. Because a sudden gush of cold water shocks the body, it can be <a href="https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1113/EP086283">dangerous for people with heart disease</a> and could precipitate a heart attack or heart-rhythm irregularities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167822/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lindsay Bottoms does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Evidence is accumulating that a cold shower has many physical and mental health benefits.Lindsay Bottoms, Reader in Exercise and Health Physiology, University of HertfordshireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/722322017-02-20T14:06:38Z2017-02-20T14:06:38ZExplainer: why do we get butterflies in our stomachs?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156940/original/image-20170215-19271-1sk5qeh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">"Fluttering" of butterflies is often a nervous response.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/butterfly-on-hand-jungle-beauty-nature-312492182?src=QBSg4tvJqdzP7LShIJtZ2w-1-11">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you have ever been nervous about something that is about to happen, then you may have felt the sensations of nausea and “fluttering” – the recognisable and odd sensation deep in your gut known as having “butterflies in the stomach”. </p>
<p>Perhaps you were about to give a speech to a large audience, were in the waiting room for a big interview, were about to step up and take a key penalty shot or about to meet a potential love interest. Rather than actual butterflies bouncing around your large intestine, of course, there is of course something more scientific going on – and it’s all down to your nervous system.</p>
<h2>Clever body systems</h2>
<p>The human body is capable of looking after itself without too much voluntary thought. It quite happily regulates heart rate, blood flow and the distribution of nutrients around the body without you having to consciously intervene in any way – a process run by the <a href="http://www.msdmanuals.com/en-gb/home/brain,-spinal-cord,-and-nerve-disorders/autonomic-nervous-system-disorders/overview-of-the-autonomic-nervous-system">autonomic nervous system</a> (ANS).</p>
<p>The ANS can be split into two roughly equal branches – the sympathetic and the parasympathetic, or, as it is memorised by every first year medical student, the <a href="https://adrenalfatiguesolution.com/fight-or-flight-vs-rest-and-digest/">“fight-or-flight” and the “rest-and-digest”</a> branches. Both branches of the ANS are constantly active, and act in opposition to each other.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156954/original/image-20170215-27406-m45c4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156954/original/image-20170215-27406-m45c4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156954/original/image-20170215-27406-m45c4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156954/original/image-20170215-27406-m45c4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156954/original/image-20170215-27406-m45c4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156954/original/image-20170215-27406-m45c4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156954/original/image-20170215-27406-m45c4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The nervous system is what makes you feel tired after dinner.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/tired-baby-boy-sleeping-highchair-after-450823195?src=dTtJ8zpfyMg6dGA-6v41oQ-1-3">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The sympathetic (“fight-or-flight”) system is responsible for increasing your heart rate, while the parasympathetic (“rest-and-digest”) system decreases it. So, the rate at which your heart is beating is the balance of the activity of the two branches of the ANS. </p>
<p>The dominance of the parasympathetic branch is why you feel content and sleepy after a giant lunch. Quite of bit of blood flow from the heart is directed to the stomach, and your ANS encourages you to sit down for a bit to let digestion take place.</p>
<h2>‘Fight-or-flight’</h2>
<p>So what’s this got to do with butterflies? One of the major roles of the ANS is to prepare you for what it thinks is about to happen. This gives an evolutionary advantage, since if you see a sabre-toothed tiger about to pounce, you don’t want your valuable oxygen-filled blood to be busy with your last meal. Ideally you would want this blood to be temporarily redirected to muscles in your legs so that you can run away slightly faster. </p>
<p>So, your “fight-or-flight” sympathetic system kicks in and becomes dominant over parasympathetic activity. This also causes a <a href="http://www.youngdiggers.com.au/fight-or-flight">release of adrenaline</a>, which both increases your heart rate (to pump more blood and faster), releases huge amounts of glucose from the liver, and shunts blood away from the gut. The blood is redirected towards the muscles in the arms and legs which makes them ready to either defend you, or run away faster – the “fight-or-flight” that you’ll probably be familiar with.</p>
<p>However, this acute shortage of blood to the gut does have side effects – slowed digestion. The muscles surrounding the stomach and intestine slow down their mixing of their partially digested contents. The blood vessels specifically in this region constrict, reducing blood flow through the gut. </p>
<p>While adrenaline contracts most of the gut wall to slow digestion, it relaxes a specific gut muscle called the “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/external-anal-sphincter">external anal sphincter</a>”, which is why some people report a pressing need to visit a bathroom when they’re nervous. This reduction in blood flow through the gut in turn produces the oddly characteristic “butterflies” feeling in the pit of your stomach. It senses this shortage of blood, and oxygen, so the stomach’s own sensory nerves are letting us know it’s not happy with the situation. </p>
<p>So why do we call it butterflies? It certainly does feel like and get described as “fluttering” by a lot of people, and I guess “jaguars in your <a href="http://www.innerbody.com/image_endo03/dige21.html">jejunum</a>” just doesn’t sound as plausible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72232/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bradley Elliott does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We asked an expert to explain why we get that odd fluttering feeling when we are nervous.Bradley Elliott, Lecturer in Physiology, University of WestminsterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/474462015-10-05T09:32:39Z2015-10-05T09:32:39ZWhat fewer women in STEM means for their mental health<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97109/original/image-20151002-23105-urwnr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C885%2C3380%2C2514&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Being made to feel you don't belong in your chosen field is stressful.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-204331165/stock-photo-picture-of-woman-with-no-entry-sign.html">Woman image via www.shutterstock.com.</a></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>“You’re in engineering!?! Wow, you must be super-smart…”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It has been over 10 years since I was a first-year engineering undergraduate student; but when I remember the time a fellow female student made this comment, I can still feel a visceral, bodily reaction: my muscles tense, my heart rate increases, my breath quickens.</p>
<p>Comments like these on the surface appear as compliments. But when unpacked, they reveal subversive attitudes about women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).</p>
<p>As I think back to this encounter, there are two aspects that stay with me. First was the surprised, skeptical tone of the other student’s voice that conveyed it was surprising and unusual (or, to put it more crudely, freakish) that I was in engineering. Second was the attitude that since I was in engineering, this could be explained only if there was something exceptional or outstanding (or, once again, freakish) about me. Women remain an underrepresented group in STEM. In Canada, women account for <a href="http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/75-006-x/2013001/article/11874-eng.htm">23% of engineering graduates</a> and <a href="http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/75-006-x/2013001/article/11874-eng.htm">30% of mathematics and computer graduates</a>. In the United States, women are <a href="http://www.aauw.org/research/solving-the-equation/">12% of the engineering and 26% of the computing</a> workforce.</p>
<p>The reality is that STEM professions are most commonly male and it remains surprising when these professional roles are held by women. The large gender imbalance means that women may naturally feel they’re outsiders at school and at work. This situation is often uncomfortable and mentally demanding, when even just showing up and doing your job comes with constant social stresses and anxiety. Ironically, the difficulties that they (we) encounter often dissuade the next generation of women from joining us. It’s a self-reinforcing cycle that we need to break. </p>
<h2>Fight or flight, designed for quick response</h2>
<p>Because of their underrepresentation, women in STEM often regularly question their place in these professions. When things feel uncomfortable – like when I was confronted with that comment a decade ago – our brains can overinterpret the situation as an imminent threat. And there’s an evolutionary reason for that physical response.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.intechopen.com/books/new-insights-into-anxiety-disorders/an-evolutionary-perspective-on-anxiety-and-anxiety-disorders">Stress</a> is an adaptive response to perceived threats. It’s how the body <a href="http://www.adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/depression">reacts to these situations</a>. Anxiety is stress that lingers after the immediate threat is gone; it’s experienced as a feeling such as <a href="http://www.adaa.org/understanding-anxiety">embarrassment, fear or worry</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97084/original/image-20151002-23065-1yids01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97084/original/image-20151002-23065-1yids01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97084/original/image-20151002-23065-1yids01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1312&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97084/original/image-20151002-23065-1yids01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1312&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97084/original/image-20151002-23065-1yids01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1312&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97084/original/image-20151002-23065-1yids01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1649&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97084/original/image-20151002-23065-1yids01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1649&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97084/original/image-20151002-23065-1yids01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1649&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Fight-or-flight is a physiological response.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Fight_or_Flight_Response.jpg">Jvnkfood</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>This stress response evolved in human beings to help us navigate a wild, dangerous and unpredictable world. When faced with imminent danger, like a pouncing tiger, our bodies have evolved an automatic reaction to help us react fast. Stress hormones are released, the heart beats harder and faster, breathing becomes rapid and muscles tense, ready for action. </p>
<p>This automatic response prepares our bodies for possible actions: <a href="http://cmhc.utexas.edu/stressrecess/Level_One/fof.html">fight or flight</a>! From the perspective of evolutionary adaptation, it’s in our best interests NOT to distinguish between life-threatening and non-life-threatening dangers. Act first, think later. In the African wilds in which early humans roamed, the consequence of underreacting could mean death.</p>
<h2>Good during lion attack, less good during daily life</h2>
<p>In modern life, we don’t have to worry much about attacks from lions, tigers or bears. But adaptive mechanisms are still very much a part of our brain’s biology.</p>
<p>The flight-or-flight response is intended to be short-term. The problem comes in when stress becomes a daily part of life, triggering a physiological response that’s actually detrimental to health over the long term. Repeated and long-term releases of the stress hormone cortisol cause <a href="http://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2013.190">changes in brain structure</a> that leave individuals more susceptible to anxiety and mood disorders, including depression. When exposed to long-term stress, the brain structure called the <a href="http://sciencenordic.com/how-stress-can-cause-depression">hippocampus shrinks</a>, affecting one’s short-term memory and ability to learn.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97092/original/image-20151002-23065-mn8n11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97092/original/image-20151002-23065-mn8n11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97092/original/image-20151002-23065-mn8n11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97092/original/image-20151002-23065-mn8n11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97092/original/image-20151002-23065-mn8n11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97092/original/image-20151002-23065-mn8n11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97092/original/image-20151002-23065-mn8n11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97092/original/image-20151002-23065-mn8n11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Subtle cues can make female students feel marginalized.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/worldbank/14108928496">World Bank Photo Collection</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<h2>Messages you don’t belong can be stressful</h2>
<p>These physical stress responses can unfortunately run at a constant low level of activation in people who are made to feel like they don’t belong or aren’t good enough – such as women in STEM. Social situations like my undergraduate encounter – and their ramifications – are a part of day-to-day life.</p>
<p>The effects of stress on women in STEM fields are often already obvious during their undergraduate studies. A study of women in engineering at the University of Waterloo has shown that female students tend to have <a href="http://www.educationaldatamining.org/EDM2013/papers/rn_paper_34.pdf">lower overall mental health</a>. Women in STEM fields are more likely to report <a href="http://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/2014/737382/abs/">higher levels of stress and anxiety</a> and <a href="http://blogs.sciencemag.org/sciencecareers/2007/10/depression-in-t.html">higher incidences of depression</a>.</p>
<p>Sadly, the percentages of women working in these fields have remained stagnant for decades. In 1987, women represented <a href="http://www.macleans.ca/society/science/gender-inequality-in-the-sciences-its-still-very-present-in-canada/">20%</a> of the STEM workforce in Canada. In 2015, their numbers remain <a href="http://www.macleans.ca/society/science/gender-inequality-in-the-sciences-its-still-very-present-in-canada/">unchanged at 22%</a>. In the United States, the reality is very similar, with women representing <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/stem_factsheet_2013_07232013.pdf">24%</a> of the workforce. Confrontational reactions like “You’re in engineering!?!” communicate the message that as a woman, one may not belong in the social group of engineering. The brain perceives these kinds of social interactions as threatening, dangerous and stressful.</p>
<p>The social cues that women may not belong in male-dominated STEM fields can often be subtle. For example, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0016239">researchers</a> have shown that the presence in labs of objects considered stereotypical of computer science, such as Star Trek and video game posters, are perceived as stereotypically masculine and can dissuade women from expressing interest in topics like computer programming.</p>
<p>Moreover, seemingly complimentary “Wow, you must be super-smart!” comments also communicate an even more troubling possibility that, in order to belong in this group (of men), as a woman, one must be exceptional. Women + Engineering = Super Smart.</p>
<p>But what if a female student is not exceptionally intelligent? What if she is only ordinarily smart? Or, even more troubling, what if she does not believe that she is smart at all? In her mind, she becomes a sheep in wolf’s clothing, an impostor who has tricked those around her into accepting her into a group where she does not belong. From the brain’s perspective, this is literally interpreted as being in the lion’s den.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97093/original/image-20151002-13364-1rvke7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97093/original/image-20151002-13364-1rvke7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97093/original/image-20151002-13364-1rvke7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97093/original/image-20151002-13364-1rvke7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97093/original/image-20151002-13364-1rvke7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97093/original/image-20151002-13364-1rvke7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97093/original/image-20151002-13364-1rvke7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97093/original/image-20151002-13364-1rvke7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Women can flourish in STEM, but it can mean shutting out the noise.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usaidasia/12628956494">USAID Asia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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<h2>STEM should welcome everyone</h2>
<p>So what can be done? If we are to increase the participation of women in STEM fields, we must make workplace and educational environments inclusive. In order to thrive, female students need to believe that they belong in technical professions, in both academia and the private sector.</p>
<p>The social marginalization caused by gender imbalances in STEM programs can be mitigated. Targeted <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037461">intervention programs</a> that foster social belonging and coping mechanisms to deal with stress and threat can help women develop skills to handle the mental challenges caused by gender inequality and help women integrate into their male-dominated environment.</p>
<p>Connecting female students with female professional <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/100/2/255/">role models</a> such as mentors or instructors has also been extremely effective at improving women’s self-concept and commitment to STEM.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"647190058928336896"}"></div></p>
<p>Finally, campaigns like the #Ilooklikeanengineer hashtag disrupt our common stereotyping of STEM professionals and help support a cultural shift.</p>
<p>The rates of female representation in STEM will not change overnight. It will probably be at least another generation before parity becomes an achievable target. But it’s through changing these attitudes and stereotypes that we will reduce some of the social stresses on women in these fields, helping women choose STEM as a career path, stay in these fields, and most importantly, remain healthy and happy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47446/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Drake is affiliated with the Toronto & Region Conservation Authority. </span></em></p>Being underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math means women can be made to feel they don’t belong, with long-term mental health consequences.Jennifer Drake, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/372292015-07-20T03:14:58Z2015-07-20T03:14:58ZHealth Check: the science of ‘hangry’, or why some people get grumpy when they’re hungry<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88622/original/image-20150716-32652-1yvhwwp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There are many reasons why some people get very grumpy when they haven't eaten for a while.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/katiekills/3819235832/">Katie Inglis/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Have you ever snapped angrily at someone when you were hungry? Or has someone snapped angrily at <em>you</em> when <em>they</em> were hungry? If so, you’ve experienced “hangry” (an amalgam of hungry and angry) – the phenomenon whereby some people get grumpy and short-tempered when they’re overdue for a feed. </p>
<p>But where does hanger come from? And why is it that only some people seem to get hangry? The answer lies in some of the processes that happen inside your body when it needs food. </p>
<h2>The physiology of hanger</h2>
<p>The carbohydrates, proteins and fats in everything you eat are digested into simple sugars (such as glucose), amino acids and free fatty acids. These nutrients pass into your bloodstream from where they are distributed to your organs and tissues and used for energy. </p>
<p>As time passes after your last meal, the amount of these nutrients circulating in your bloodstream starts to drop. If your blood-glucose levels fall far enough, your brain will perceive it as a life-threatening situation. You see, unlike most other organs and tissues in your body which can use a variety of nutrients to keep functioning, your brain is critically dependent on glucose to do its job. </p>
<p>You’ve probably already noticed this dependence your brain has on glucose; simple things can become difficult when you’re hungry and your <a href="http://m.diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/50/7/1618.full">blood glucose levels drop</a>. You may find it hard to concentrate, for instance, or you may make silly mistakes. Or you might have noticed that your words become muddled or slurred. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89141/original/image-20150721-24295-b4eb5u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89141/original/image-20150721-24295-b4eb5u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89141/original/image-20150721-24295-b4eb5u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=792&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89141/original/image-20150721-24295-b4eb5u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=792&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89141/original/image-20150721-24295-b4eb5u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=792&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89141/original/image-20150721-24295-b4eb5u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=995&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89141/original/image-20150721-24295-b4eb5u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=995&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89141/original/image-20150721-24295-b4eb5u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=995&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>Another thing that can become more difficult when you’re hungry is behaving within socially acceptable norms, such as not snapping at people. So while you may be able to conjure up enough brain power to avoid being grumpy with important colleagues, you may let your guard down and inadvertently <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24733932">snap at the people you are most relaxed with or care most about</a>, such as partners and friends. Sound familiar?</p>
<h2>Another bodily response</h2>
<p>Besides a drop in blood-glucose concentrations, another reason people can become hangry is the glucose counter-regulatory response. Let me explain.</p>
<p>When blood-glucose levels drop to a certain threshold, your brain sends instructions to several organs in your body to synthesise and release hormones that increase the amount of glucose in your bloodstream. </p>
<p>The four main glucose counter-regulatory hormones are: growth hormone from the pituitary gland situated deep in the brain; glucagon from the pancreas; and adrenaline, which is sometimes called epinephrine, and cortisol, which are both from the adrenal glands. These latter two glucose counter-regulatory hormones are stress hormones that are released into your bloodstream in all sorts of stressful situations, not just when you experience the physical stress of low blood-glucose levels. </p>
<p>In fact, adrenaline is one of the major hormones released into your bloodstream with the “fight or flight” response to a sudden scare, such as when you see, hear or even think something that threatens your safety. Just as you might easily shout out in anger at someone during the “fight or flight” response, the flood of adrenaline you get during the glucose counter-regulatory response can promote a similar response. </p>
<h2>Nature and nurture</h2>
<p>Another reason hunger is linked to anger is that both are controlled by common genes. The product of one such gene is <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19822185">neuropeptide Y</a>, a natural brain chemical released into the brain when you are hungry. It stimulates voracious feeding behaviours by acting on a variety of receptors in the brain, including one called the Y1 receptor. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89142/original/image-20150721-24261-1i4fvd9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89142/original/image-20150721-24261-1i4fvd9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89142/original/image-20150721-24261-1i4fvd9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=681&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89142/original/image-20150721-24261-1i4fvd9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=681&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89142/original/image-20150721-24261-1i4fvd9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=681&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89142/original/image-20150721-24261-1i4fvd9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=856&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89142/original/image-20150721-24261-1i4fvd9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=856&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89142/original/image-20150721-24261-1i4fvd9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=856&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>Besides acting in the brain to <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22768253">control hunger</a>, neuropeptide Y and the Y1 receptor also regulate <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15314215">anger or aggression</a>. In keeping with this, people with high <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22985695">levels of neuropeptide Y in their cerebrospinal fluid</a> also tend to show high levels of impulse aggression. </p>
<p>As you can see, there are several pathways that can make you prone to anger when you’re hungry. Hanger is undoubtedly <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031938415001316">a survival mechanism</a> that has served humans and other animals well. Think about it like this: if hungry organisms stood back and graciously let others eat before them, their species could die out.</p>
<p>While many physical factors contribute to hanger, psychosocial factors also have a role. Culture influences <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/%28SICI%291098-2337%281999%2925:3%3C185::AID-AB3%3E3.0.CO;2-K/abstract">whether you express verbal aggression</a> directly or indirectly, for instance. </p>
<p>And as we are all different across all of these factors, it’s little wonder there are differences in how angry people seem to get when they’re hungry. </p>
<h2>Dealing with hanger</h2>
<p>The easiest way to handle hanger is to eat something before you get too hungry. While you may hanker for quick-fix foods, such as chocolate and potato chips, when you’re in the throes of hanger, junk foods generally induce large rises in blood-glucose levels that come crashing down fast. </p>
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<p>Ultimately, they may leave you feeling hangrier. So think nutrient-rich, natural foods that help satisfy hunger for as long as possible, without excess kilojoules. </p>
<p>Eating as soon as you are hungry may not always be possible. This may be the case during long shifts at work, for instance, or through religious fasts such as Ramadan, or during weight-loss diets that involve severe energy restriction (such as intermittent fasting diets). All of these should only be done if your doctor has given you the all-clear.</p>
<p>In these cases, it can help to remember that, with time, your glucose counter-regulatory response will kick in and your blood-glucose levels will stabilise. Also, when you go without food, your body starts breaking down its own fat stores for energy, some of which are converted by your body into ketones, a product of fat metabolism. <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/obr.12230/abstract">Ketones are thought to help keep your hunger under control</a> because your brain can use ketones in place of glucose for fuel. </p>
<p>A final – and very civilised – way of handling hanger is to suggest that difficult situations be dealt with <em>after</em> food, not before!</p>
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<p><em>If you live in the Sydney metropolitan area and would like to find out about participating in clinical trials aimed at reducing hunger during weight loss, <a href="mailto:tempo.diet@sydney.edu.au">please email us</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/37229/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda Salis (publishing as Sainsbury) receives funding from the National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia, in the form of research project grants and a Senior Research Fellowship. She is the author of The Don’t Go Hungry Diet (Bantam, Australia and New Zealand, 2007) and Don’t Go Hungry for Life (Bantam, Australia and New Zealand, 2011) and owns shares in a company (Zuman International Pty Ltd) that sells these books</span></em></p>“Hangry” is an amalgam of hungry and angry that describes the distinct grumpiness that some people experience when they haven’t eaten for a while. Ring a bell?Amanda Salis, NHMRC Senior Research Fellow in the Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise & Eating Disorders, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.