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Subscribe to RSSEveryone knows stress can cause headaches and sleepless nights. But a new study suggests it can actually shrink your brain.
We’re not talking run-of-the-mill stressors here, like a looming deadline or a missed bus.
“These are bad things happening, like a relationship breakup, loss of a loved one, being held at gunpoint,” says Yale neurobiologist Rajita Sinha, senior author of the new report.
Simply feeling stressed-out was not linked to gray matter shrinkage. But feeling stressed-out combined with a history of stressful life events was. In particular, stress was linked to markedly less gray matter than expected in a part of the prefrontal cortex that regulates emotion and self-control, not to mention blood pressure and blood sugar.
That shrinkage might serve as a red flag about a greater risk of chronic diseases such as high blood pressure as well as psychiatric disorders, according to the researchers. And maybe it’s already affecting brain function in the healthy individuals she studied, Sinha says.
In other words, the stresses of modern life are far more complicated than what our ancestors experienced. “You can say stresses are a part of life, so what’s the big deal?” Sinha says. But it is a big deal, she adds, because there’s extensive evidence that stress has contributed to the rise in chronic diseases.
Most human research about the impact of stress on brain structure has focused on patients with stress-related psychiatric disorders such as addiction and anxiety, according to the authors. Those studies have found decreased volume in the frontal lobe, considered the center of emotion control and personality.
But studies of the cumulative effects of stress on the brains of healthy people are rare, Sinha’s team writes in a paper published online this week in Biological Psychiatry.
The study enrolled 103 health adults ages 18 to 48. Researchers conducted structured interviews with the volunteers to collect information about stressful life events and subjective feelings of chronic stress.
The scientists then used MRI to scan the volunteers’ brains.
Whose brains shrunk more, men’s or women’s? You might think you know the answer, but the researchers don’t, because they didn’t have enough women to compare the sexes.
The take-home message, Sinha says, is that the better you cope with stress -- take a walk, call a friend -- the better off your brain will be.
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The current batch of Party of No/Bagger candidates must be the most stressed out people on the planet, then.
We newsviners have got to be nearly brainless. :(
I hope this hack did not get tax payer money for this study
Hack, really? A little defensive much...I suppose you think Maslow's concept of self-actualization is malarkey then? You do realize it's stuff like this that will "fix" Medicare ultimately if it can be saved, regardless of taxes and cuts. Science is not out to get you, it's called progress.
Wow, this makes me wonder how much my brain has shrunk over the years! (:
According to MSNBC articles, stress shrinks our brains, smoking is bad for our lungs, people who try to quit get stressed, but a nicotine patch is good for our brains, the same brains that tell us to smoke in the first place. Ho, hum, circle of life.
HOW is one suppose to avoid stress in this day and age???
I'm in the MEDICAL field and all it is is constant STRESS!
which according to this study, my brain should be MICROSCOPIC !
DON"T believe all you read...........THIS is pure B.S.!!!!!
The most promising line of research into mental health involves the dis-regulation of a part of the immune system called cytokines. There are pro- and anti- inflammatory cytokines that are in balance in the general population. But in many mental health conditions like depression, schizophrenia and autism levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines are elevated. This elevation appears to have a major effect on neurological functioning. Two things that are now recognized that can increase pro-inflammatory cytokines are gluten (in genetically sensitive individuals- there are far more than you think) and stress (in the general public). That's probably why many episodes of mental illness are predeeded by a major life stressor.
I think the idea is not so much to reduce stress (which would be the best but not always possible) as to manage it. This article did a poor job of explaining that- would have been better if they had listed stress- management tools like yoga and tai chi.
Well, for starters, get rid of your cell phone.
Well, here we go again-- another excuse for shrinks to prescribe expensive, brain-destroying drugs on the pretense that they heal sick brains!
I agree with you. Pharmacutical companies seem to do that, they invent new deseases on a seemingly regular basis so that their research and developement people can sell us an expensive cure!
Uh..badda bumpy fibitty heebie gabba dub... (Crap! Stupid shrinking brain!)
Really where the Disability line..I have no brain left after reading the head lines..lol
In such an economic climate people aren't supposed to have stress? This worthless study will no doubt be used by insurance entities to cut coverage for people who meet their criteria for being overstressed and probably used by greedy corporations in making hiring decisions (when/if they ever do hire again that is)
Considering some of the candidates we have running in this up-coming election, I think it went beyond too late a while ago for them!
The article says our ancestors had less stressful lives. Well...maybe not less stressful, but stressful in a different way. We take the necessities for granted...food, clean water, shelter, etc. They had to deal with these isssues everyday. BUT..they had the stressor relief of fight or flight...which we do not have. Very few people consider the "third" option, which I call the "possum effect"....laying low & playing dead.
As long as I remember to wear my aluminum foil hat when I go outside I know I'm safe!
if your feeling stressed try the yodeling hot line...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig2xYPzF2lQ
If you've read much of the stressed-out ranting on newsvine, you've got to know that we newsviners are nearly brainless. :(
I resemble that remark!!!
it is true all my life has been stressful and my brain has shrunk to the size of a walnut , now when I move my head it rattles. it is very annoying
harrykid: 26 years in the Army, imagine how small my brain is ? Been thinking about renting the space out to a family of squirrels!
Thank GOD us men were made with a second head that operates on auto pilot for times like these....:)
Azrancher: Only problem with that is, I have to pull down my pants to use mine!
You guys all made me laugh so hard,I really needed that,I think laughing has make my brain expand,keep it up guys and we will all be fine.lol...
If this article even has a shred of truth then my brain may started shrinking already... :)
GEE and all these years i thought it was being married and drinking beer.
marriage is another term for stress, beer is the medication to ease the infection. :)
Woman seem to be more stressed than men...this study explains a lot.
smoke pot and take stress out of your life, it works.
I get the modern anthropocentric view of "we are modern mankind and we have more complex stress" thing-but I'm not sure I agree. I have to think our earlier relatives (and some living contemporaneously in underdeveloped countries) with much more meager options for food, clothing and shelter and at times being on someone else's menu, losing loved ones' at very early ages, lots of death during childbirth etc.- experienced a fair amount of stress, so you know it's a bummer when the cell phone crashes and the kids get the flu-but on a scale.......
Science must now perfect brain cloning and copy techniques, because at this rate my brain will be gone in 4 years or less.
I have to much stress inducing stuff to do to have only 4 years of brain left!
Do not really know what to make of this study but I would be interested in seeing more work on this.
The only friends I have are the people I constantly belittle on newsvine!
Baldman, please remember, we Viners are merely your VIRTUJAL friends. You need a few real ones.
Well this certainly raises the question about our men and women in the armed forces who've been living the most ridiculously stressful lives possible for the past ten years (or at least since they joined). Active duty is stressful even when you're not deployed or in actual combat and that stress is constant, you never get to go home or call a friend. So I wonder about the link between this and PTSD.
so thats the rattling noise i hear........
It is no wonder that people who start getting stressed out early in life start doing stupid stuff before they are old enough to be excused for it.