Title: How Stress Affects Your Brain | UPMC HealthBeat
Headings: How Stress Affects Your Brain
Neurosurgery and Brain Health
How Stress Affects Your Brain
Never Miss a Beat!
Destroying Brain Cells
Shrinking Your Brain
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Brain Chemical Depletion
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Content: The following information will help you gain a better understanding for how stress affects your brain and ways to improve how you deal with stress in the future. Never Miss a Beat! Destroying Brain Cells
When you’re under stress, your body releases adrenalin into your bloodstream, giving your brain bursts of energy. When under longer periods of it, your body goes all out and releases a class of stronger steroidal hormones, called glucocorticoids, which can remain in your brain far longer than adrenalin. Now, this is all well and good and can help you get by in tough situations, but when under constant, chronic stress, these hormones can begin to have lasting effects. None of which are positive. When these hormones are released, they head directly for the hippocampus, the part of the brain that is involved in memory forming, organizing, and storing. When chronic stress occurs, these hormones become unbalanced, which can kill cells in the hippocampus, and over time can lead to confusion and memory and learning difficulties. Shrinking Your Brain
Yes your brain can actually shrink from having too much stress in your life. A recent study from Yale University showed that chronic stress can reduce brain volume, leading to impaired cognition and hampered emotional function.