What Stress Does to Your Brain
Are you letting others shrink your brain?
Neuro Athletes,
Are you geared up for the All-Star event tomorrow? I know you’re all used to me speaking about the NBA, but are any of you MLB fans? I am a Dodgers fan, incase you wanted to know.
Last week, I sat down with Dr Mithu Storoni, author of “Stress Proof” on The Neuro Experience Podcast and she outlined what happens in the brain when we are stressed.
Stress, especially the chronic kind, is not helpful to our brain. In brief, when we are experiencing stress, the amygdala, a region of the brain involved in our “fight or flight” response, takes over. We concentrate the majority of our brain power on managing or surviving the stressful event.
In the short term, this is not problematic. However, with chronic stress, the prolonged diversion of resources from one area of the brain to another can lead to difficulties. When one specific part of the brain is working especially hard, there is less energy for other areas, such as those devoted to memory and complex thought.
The hippocampus, a part of the brain that works on transferring short term memories to long term memories, is particularly susceptible to stress. The hippocampus has numerous glucocorticosteroid receptors which makes it sensitive to changes in cortisol, a consequence of chronic stress.
Modern human beings are bombarded with all kinds of stressors almost 24/7, but you can fight back by supporting your natural response to stress, enabling your body to reach and function at its optimal potential.
Let’s explore some ways to do this…
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Red Flags of Chronic Stress
You have sudden angry outbursts:
Stress is healthy when controlled. Healthy stress (Eustress) is what gets us out of bed in the morning and makes us pay attention to the details throughout our day. This type of stress does not cause anger or irritability. For those who do not have enough stress in their lives, they are often referred to as “lazy” or “unmotivated.”
Distress, on the other hand, is a type of stress that causes many people to be irritable and sometimes downright angry. This happens when the stress is too much and is no longer a motivator. You can think of this as when there is a combination of stressors and things just keep piling up. One day, the person does not know how to handle this anymore and there is an anger outburst.
Hypertension:
Chronic stress is unhealthy for your heart. This is true — even for people without any pre-existing conditions, such as high blood pressure (hypertension), as well as for younger people.
That’s according to a new studyTrusted Source published by the American Heart Association.
In the study, researchers looked at stress levels across 13 years (2005-2018) in 412 people (aged 48 to 87) without hypertension.
Researchers tested urinary stress levels by measuring the hormones created in the body to deal with stress: cortisol, epinephrine (adrenaline), dopamine, and norepinephrine.
The doubling levels of cortisol alone — but not norepinephrine, epinephrine or dopamine — was associated with a 90 percent higher risk of having a cardiovascular event.
You're exhausted, but can't seem to fall asleep
Everyone's been here: You crawl into bed at 9 p.m., stoked about getting a potential 12 hours of sleep, but then suddenly it's 1 a.m., and you're halfway into the first season of a new Netflix show.
It may sound counterintuitive, but sometimes exhaustion can actually make it difficult to rest. This is called "sleep debt." It's when you don't get enough sleep, which then increases stress on your body, which then leads to a release of adrenaline as a way to help you function, ultimately leaving you struggling to fall asleep.
The solution? Turn all your digital screens off. It's much easier for your brain to decompress without a TV or an Instagram feed to distract it.
Supplements that Reduce Cortisol
Phosphatidylserine – A fat found in high concentrations in the brain and nervous system, phosphatidylserine helps you cope with both physical and mental stress by keeping cortisol levels down. In addition to lowering cortisol, it’s also been proven to treat cognitive decline and dementia. Take 100 mg, three times per day.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids: People who supplemented with omega-3 (2.5g/day) then were given a stress test had 19% lower cortisol levels, 33% lower levels of the inflammatory cytokine IL-6, and did not experience a 26% drop in aging biomarkers compared to those given a placebo.
Until next week,
Louisa x