Catecholamine

Catecholamine is a neurohormone released by the sympathetic-adrenal medullary (SAM) axis during the flight-or-fight response (FFR). Catecholamines are a small, but important hormone family made up of epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine, and dopamine. Epinephrine and norepinephrine are involved in FFR — they narrow blood vessels, raise heart rate, send nerve impulses in the brain, reduce blood flow to the skin, and increase blood flow to major organs (heart, brain, and kidney) needed to fight or flee.