Stress Makes You Stupid
By Helen Potter
Big exam coming up? Make or break presentation? You'd better take it slow because stress makes you stupid. In fact, a single socially stressful situation can kill your brain cells.
Researchers working on rats have found that, whilst stressful encounters did not stop the production of new nerve cells in the hippocampus, it did reduce their survival rate, leaving fewer neurons for processing feelings and emotions.
Young rats were placed in a cage with two older, aggressive rats for 20 minutes, resulting in stress hormone levels that were six times as high as those of unstressed young rats. The brains were then examined under a microscope where it was found that the stressed rats produced as many brain cells as the unstressed rats. However, a week after the encounter, the research found that only a third of the cells created under stress had survived.
The reduction of neurogenesis could be one cause of depression, said senior author Daniel Peterson, PhD, of the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science.
"The next step is to understand how stress reduced this survival," says Peterson. "We want to determine if anti-depressant medications might be able to keep these vulnerable new neurons alive."
So chill out, relax and know that it's all benefiting your mental faculties.
One of the best ways to relax that we now of is to visit Helen's page and soak up some more glorious science!
Researchers working on rats have found that, whilst stressful encounters did not stop the production of new nerve cells in the hippocampus, it did reduce their survival rate, leaving fewer neurons for processing feelings and emotions.
Young rats were placed in a cage with two older, aggressive rats for 20 minutes, resulting in stress hormone levels that were six times as high as those of unstressed young rats. The brains were then examined under a microscope where it was found that the stressed rats produced as many brain cells as the unstressed rats. However, a week after the encounter, the research found that only a third of the cells created under stress had survived.
The reduction of neurogenesis could be one cause of depression, said senior author Daniel Peterson, PhD, of the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science.
"The next step is to understand how stress reduced this survival," says Peterson. "We want to determine if anti-depressant medications might be able to keep these vulnerable new neurons alive."
So chill out, relax and know that it's all benefiting your mental faculties.
One of the best ways to relax that we now of is to visit Helen's page and soak up some more glorious science!
Image: Bob Smith
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