This Is Your Brain on Stress

Chronic Impact

Chronic stress leaves a profound impact on brain health, contributing to mood disorders and accelerated brain aging. Robert M. Sapolsky explains that stress can lead to major depression and anxiety, and even affect the resilience of neurons, increasing the risk of cerebrovascular problems 1. He notes that chronic stress manifests physically through symptoms like sleep disturbances, appetite changes, and impaired concentration 2.

Stress makes you secrete hormones that are metabolically bad for neurons in your brain, cause inflammation.

--- Robert M. Sapolsky

The longer stress persists, the more challenging it becomes to reverse its effects, highlighting the importance of early intervention 2.

   

Brain Dynamics

Stress affects different brain regions, notably the hippocampus, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex, altering their interactions. Sapolsky describes how stress strengthens the amygdala while weakening the prefrontal cortex, leading to poor judgment and emotional regulation 3. This imbalance results in cognitive disruptions, such as memory issues and time perception distortion, as experienced during the pandemic 4.

During times of extreme emotional arousal, severe stress, the amygdala basically takes over the hippocampus.

--- Robert M. Sapolsky

The hippocampus, crucial for memory, struggles under stress, while the amygdala heightens emotional responses, creating a chaotic cognitive state 4.