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By Alexandra Maria Ionică
Stress is the body's natural reaction when it’s confronted with hardship and can be defined as a constant mental tension in a difficult situation, and is the response that causes us to face all the challenges we face. Even though forms of stress can vary from being positive and even motivating to becoming chronic, it is important to know that everyone experiences difficulties and stress in some form and to some extent. How we choose to respond to it makes a difference to our overall well-being, given the impact it can have on attention, memory, and cognition.
To be able to develop strategies to reduce brain damage and vulnerability, it is important to understand the process our body goes through when interacting with a form of stress.
Thus, when a person perceives a threat, stress emerges as the 'fight or flight' response, which acts like a bell on the amygdala, a region of the brain directly involved in processing emotions and, more specifically, fear. Once activated, it releases a host of chemicals into the body, such as stress hormones, adrenaline, or cortisol, but it also provokes reactions involving increased glucose levels, heart rate, and blood flow to the muscles of the arms and legs.
In chronic stress, the fear center in the brain is constantly active, which means that our body is constantly undergoing these changes and is in a state of stress. Cortisol levels will be constantly elevated, which can cause problems with digestion, sleep, and the immune system. Also in this process, the amygdala closes the neural pathway to the prefrontal cortex, which has undesirable effects on the ability to concentrate and make decisions due to the lack of activity in that part of the brain.
Thus, in the long term, the particularly negative effects that stress can have can be as follows:
Impaired memory: The brain will disregard memory when it must focus all of its energy on managing survival, which can lead to amnesia or a poor ability to recall specifics.
Changes in the anatomy of the brain: Gray and white matter are part of what makes up the brain. White matter links brain areas and transmits information, whereas gray matter is involved in making decisions and solving problems. There may be an imbalance between the gray and white matter during times of prolonged stress because the white matter's myelin sheaths are overproduced. This can sometimes result in long-lasting structural alterations to the brain.
Increased susceptibility to mental illness: One possible contributing factor to the emergence of mental illness is an imbalance between white and gray matter. It's believed that overabundance of myelin in specific brain regions tampers with the timing and equilibrium of communication.
Brain shrinkage: The brain regions linked to emotions, metabolism, and memory may shrink as a result of this. Intense stressors also increase the risk of brain atrophy in humans.
Ways we can reduce stress and give the brain a sense of well-being:
Get a good night's sleep: lack of sleep makes stress worse
Surround yourself with people who make you feel better: With the right people we can face any difficult situation
Take up a sport or a hobby that brings you joy
Listening to music: It can relax your mind and distract you from the difficult exercises during a workout
Volunteer: You can meet wonderful people and discover new activities you are passionate about
Eat healthy: Food affects health and mental wellbeing, as the Latin expression "Mens sana in corpore sano" says
References
6 Ways Stress Affects Your Brain - Premier Neurology & Wellness Center (premierneurologycenter.com)
The Effect of Stress on the Brain and Ways to Manage it | Nuvance Health
Protect your brain from stress - Harvard Health
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