The brain is the most complex but fascinating organ of our body. It acts as a central unit of the body that controls all the functions of the body. Stress can have a huge impact on the proper functioning of the brain. Stress alone plays a significant role in our lives. IAs whenever we see danger, we stress out and this is how our body prepares us against that danger or any other emergency. However, this stress can become dangerous when we are stressed out for a longer period and this is when our brain has to pay the price of constant stress. Keep reading this article to understand how stress acts as a major factor in impairing the normal functioning of the brain and what mechanisms you can adopt to cope with the harmful effects of stress.
- Alters the Brain’s Structure
The composition of the brain involves two main components, including gray matter and white matter. The functioning of the gray matter revolves around problem solving and timely decision-making, whereas white matter is involved in connecting the parts of the brain and maintaining proper communication of information.
Any neurological dysfunctioning can be treated at neurology houston, tx, so consider taking help. However, it has been observed that when the body experiences constant chronic stress. The white matter is over-produced as compared to the gray matter. This imbalance in the natural composition of both matters becomes a cause of permanent alteration in the structure of the brain.
- Become More Prone to Mental Illnesses
The imbalance in the natural quantity of white and gray matter paves the way for mental illness. The primary care provider key west fl can help anyone experiencing stress or any other abnormal behavior of the body.
The observation is that the overproduction of myelin sheath in the white matter impairs the normal process of communication of the brain. Chronic stress can also result in dysfunction of hippocampal function.
- Deteriorates Memory
Chronic stress results in the release of cortisol which when elevated beyond a certain level can cause many problems in digestion, thinking, and sleeping. One main impact of chronic stress is memory damage. People who stress out more tend to have difficulty remembering things and forget things easily.
High levels of cortisol result in short-term memory loss. Memory loss happens because it is not in memory mode, instead, it is in survival mode thus the brain shunts its functioning.
- Stress Kills Brain Cells
There are two places in the brain where neurons are produced. Hippocampus is one of those locations. Chronic stress can become a factor responsible for the death of new neurons produced in the brain. Stress does not impact the formation of new neurons but instead, those newly produced neurons tend to die within a week or so.
It has been also observed that even in healthy individuals, chronic stress can become responsible for the shrinkage of areas of the brain that are responsible for emotions, metabolism and proper memory.
