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Stress and fertility

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Environmental Factors in Mammal Reproduction

Part of the book series: Biology and Environment ((SBES))

Abstract

In 1936, Seyle defined stress as ‘the non-specific response of the body to any demand’. This response was thought to be a stereotyped sequence that unfolds whenever an appropriate stimulus (‘stressor’) is present. The events described included, first, a generalised alarm reaction which was followed by an adaptive intermediate period of relative adjustment and return to homeostasis. If the stress persisted, there could be an exhaustion or failure of the regulatory system involved. The entire set of events, culminating in a breakdown of physiological regulation, was named the general adaptation syndrome by Seyle.

Dr Judith Ramaley obtained her B.A. at Swarthmore College and her Ph.D. at UCLA. After a postdoctoral fellowship at Indiana University she accepted a position in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics there. In 1972 she moved to the University of Nebraska School of Medicine and is now a Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics. She is doing research on the neuroendocrinology of puberty with particular emphasis on the development of biological clock mechanisms and the physiology of the immediate prepubertal period in rats.

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Authors
  1. Dr Judith A. Ramaley
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physiology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland

    Desmond Gilmore

  2. University Department of Steroid Biochemistry, Royal Infirmary, Glasgow, Scotland

    Brian Cook

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© 1981 Dr Judith A. Ramaley

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Ramaley, J.A. (1981). Stress and fertility. In: Gilmore, D., Cook, B. (eds) Environmental Factors in Mammal Reproduction. Biology and Environment. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-03964-7_8

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