Title: 4 Ways Stress Affects Your Mind and Body - Explore Psychology
Headings: 4 Ways Stress Affects Your Mind and Body
4 Ways Stress Affects Your Mind and Body
Stress Can Lead to Poor Decision-Making
Stress Can Make You Forgetful
Chronic Stress Can Impair Memory
It Messes With Your Body, Too

Content: When facing a huge deadline at school or at work, you might find that it becomes more difficult to remember little details about your daily life. Previous research has linked chronic stress, or repeated stress that leads to continuous state of physiological arousal, to an array of problems including emotional distress and weakened immunity. One study by researchers from the State University of New York at Buffalo demonstrates how chronic stress also impairs your memory. RELATED: Insomnia: The Simple Cure That Works as Well as Neurofeedback
The study, published in the journal Neuron, looked at the physiological effects of stress hormones on the brain. Earlier research had shown that stress hormones influenced the prefrontal cortex (PFC), an area of the brain associated with memories and decision-making. “ However,” explains lead author Dr. Zhen Yan, “little is known about the physiological consequences and molecular targets of long-term stress in PFC, especially during the adolescent period when the brain is more sensitive to stressors.” Researchers discovered that repeated exposure to stress led to a significant loss in glutamate receptors in juvenile rats. Glutamate plays an important role in the functioning of the prefrontal cortex.