Title: Effects of Stress on Memory and the Hippocampus | Sanesco Health
Headings: Effects of Stress on Memory and the Hippocampus
Effects of Stress on Memory and the Hippocampus
Stress and the HPA Axis
Effects of Stress on the Hippocampus
Effects of Stress on Memory and Damage to the Hippocampus
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Sophie Thompson
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Content: 11 Nerve cells are also less elongated in individuals with stressful lifestyles or who grew up in a stressful household. 12
The GRs in the hippocampus become overactivated with ongoing stress, which prevents nerve cell excitation. 13 The combination of hippocampus shrinkage, nerve cell damage, and overactivation of GRs causes an inability to retrieve and form memories. 14 This explains why both short and long-term stress can cause negative effects like memory lapses and poor focus. It is common for people to be incapable of recalling the details of a traumatic event, which is why it can be inconclusive to put victims of heinous crimes on trial or to ask a driver the details of a car wreck. Cortisol released during a stress response has also been shown to have negative effects on memory (specifically damaging contextual memory), meaning memories may be formed but their context is ambiguous. 15
For example, repeated stressful stimuli from a traumatic situation (such as combat) can cause severe anxiety and PTSD where one can recall and relive the general state of fear, but not the details of the situation that provoked fear. Stress in early childhood is also associated with diminished nerve function and reduced capacity for memorizing information. 16
It is possible to restore hippocampus function and improve memory through lifestyle modifications and various restorative therapies for HPA axis balance. 17 Adaptogens are herbal extracts which can muffle the effects of both overactive and underactive stress responses.