• What is Arousal?
  • It’s the activation level of our body systems.
  • Exists on a spectrum: 😴 (deep sleep) ⟷ 😱 (panic attack level of alertness).
• Main Player: Sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system.
  • Think of it as our body’s natural alarm system. When there’s danger, it switches on with a “Fight or Flight” response.
  • It’ll shut down stuff we don’t immediately need and put the pedal to the metal for essential systems. Bye-bye relaxed mode (parasympathetic activity)!

🔍 Fun Fact: Even combat pilots from World War II had symptoms of arousal.

• When we’re stressed or aroused, our heart beats faster.
• It's like our heart is trying to dance to a super-fast beat!

• Yerkes & Dodson (1908): They suggested an interesting idea. For complex tasks, there's a just-right level of arousal. Too little or too much, and we might not perform our best.
• Imagine Goldilocks - not too hot, not too cold, but just right!
• They called this the “Inverted-U approach” because of the U-shape relationship between arousal and performance.
• But here’s the twist: The idea came from studying mice in mazes with electric shocks. Applying it directly to humans, especially athletes, is a bit iffy.