Which of the following is a physiological response to stress?

• A. Excess saliva
• B. Hyperventilation
• C. Decreased heart rate
• D. Decreased glucose

Answer: (B)

When the body faces stress, the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system kicks in, triggering the fight-or-flight response. This prepares the body for action by increasing heart rate, dilating airways, and mobilizing energy stores. Hyperventilation—an increase in both the rate and depth of breathing—fits this pattern because breathing accelerates to meet higher metabolic demands and to manage the air exchange during heightened arousal. Other options don’t align with this response: stress typically reduces saliva production rather than increases it, so excess saliva isn’t a typical stress reaction; heart rate tends to rise, not decrease; and glucose levels are usually mobilized upward to provide quick energy, not lowered. Therefore, hyperventilation is the physiological response to stress.