Title: The Surprising Benefits of Stress
Headings: 
Mind & Body Articles & More
The Surprising Benefits of Stress
A UC Berkeley researcher is discovering the differences between good and bad stress.
Peter Jaret: Most of us think of stress as a bad thing. Can stress be good for you?
PJ: How do you measure the effects of stress?
PJ: What about people? Can manageable amounts of stress boost brain power?
PJ: When does too much stress become harmful?
PJ: Your work focuses on the effects of stress on the brain. Does stress affect other systems of the body?
PJ: Can you offer any helpful strategies to ensure that stress is beneficial rather than harmful?
PJ: What do you do when your own life gets stressful?
About the Author
Peter Jaret
We believe happiness should be free.

Content: People complain about being stressed out. But we’re learning that moderate amounts of stress have powerful benefits. The stress response is designed to help us react when something potentially threatening happens, to help us deal with it and learn from it. Our research shows that moderate, short-lived stress can improve alertness and performance and boost memory. Advertisement X
PJ: How do you measure the effects of stress? DK: In our work, we study the effects of stress on rats, and we look specifically at the growth of stem cells in a part of the brain called the hippocampus. The hippocampus is involved in the stress response, and it’s also very important for learning and memory. We’ve found that when rats are exposed to moderate stress for a short time—being immobilized for a few hours, for instance—stem cell growth is stimulated, and those cells go on to form neurons, or brain cells.