‘Your brain releases Noradrenaline when you’re about to die.’
Um Actually… this is not quite true.
Not sure who came up with this one guys, but this might be the most misinformed meme I’ve ever seen.
Do me a favour and search Noradrenaline into TikTok and you’ll come across discussions of life or death scenarios, from bears, to hurricanes to muggings.
Apparently, these are all situations in which your brain thinks it is about to die - and so releases this wonderous chemical called noradrenaline which magically unlocks your full potential, turning you into some kind of a superhuman - so you can run away at Usain Bolt pace or exterminate the mugger with your extreme strength. At least that was how I interpretated it.
Hoping you have already sensed my sarcasm. But this is obviously incredibly wrong.
In fact, Noradrenaline is actually released constantly by your body as part of daily life - helping you to have the energy to get off couch after two seasons worth of Gilmore Girls in one sitting. Other examples of noradrenaline release include helping you wake up in the morning, and even to keep you energetic when your hungry.
This incredibly standard, non death defying response is mediated by a special division of your nervous system called your sympathetic nervous system - which has crucial functions in exercise. digestion, and excretion. All pretty standard stuff if you ask me.
Noradrenaline is in fact the messenger molecule that allows this to happen, called a neurotransmitter. It’s job is to communicate between the nerve cells in your brain and your body - literally giving your random organs a small burst of energy to ‘wake them up’ and keep them going throughout the day.
Now here’s where I think people are getting confused.
There’s a similarly named molecule that can also be released by the action of the sympathetic nervous system. This molecule is called adrenaline, and adrenaline is the hormone responsible for your ‘fight and flight’ response.
Released from your adrenal glands (located just above your kidneys), adrenaline is pumped round the body during times of danger and stress, and therefore in any of the above scenarios. Adrenaline is incredibly powerful, and whilst it doesn’t quite turn you into superman, it’s effects are pretty close.
Not only does adrenaline give your muscles more energy, pump more blood to your brain to make you think more clearly, and even make you see clearer (letting more light into your eyes). All pretty good stuff if you ask me.
Does noradrenaline help with any of this?
Well yes, but only slightly. Adrenaline is the molecule in control of all of these responses, however noradrenaline can act on the same tissues as adrenaline, having the same effects - as it can bind to the same special molecules which adrenaline uses to ‘switch on’ it’s effects.
It’s important to see imagine this in context though. These effects of noradrenaline are only supplementary to adrenaline - they are not in control, and they are certainly not the golden ticket to survival in a life and death situation.
In normal life - noradrenaline is your best buddy… getting out of bed is hard enough without it. If I was getting chased by a bear however I’d really much rather adrenaline was working it’s magic.
References: (In case you don’t trust me)