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stress

·December 4, 2024·6 min read

Newly Discovered Brain Circuit Predicts Response to Stress

Researchers identified a brain circuit involving the amygdala and hippocampus that predicts resilience to stress in mice. Mice with disrupted neural communication in this circuit struggled to seek rewards, but activating the neurons restored resilience and improved decision-making.

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Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·December 3, 2024·3 min read

Alone Time Helps Reduce Holiday Stress

46% of Americans don’t get enough alone time during the holiday season, even though 56% say it’s crucial for their mental health. Taking brief moments alone can help the nervous system settle, reducing stress and improving well-being during this busy time.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 19, 2024·6 min read

Breath and Emotion Connected by Newly Identified Brain Circuit

Researchers have identified a specific brain circuit that allows voluntary control of breathing, linking it to emotional and behavioral states. This circuit, spanning the anterior cingulate cortex, pons, and medulla, slows breathing during calm states and accelerates it under anxiety. Experiments in mice showed activating this circuit reduced anxiety, while shutting it off increased stress.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·November 16, 2024·3 min read

How Depression Alters Stress, Health, and Lifespan

Depression disrupts the body's stress systems, causing physical health risks like heart disease, diabetes, and stroke, and reducing life expectancy by 7-10 years. The condition triggers brain structure changes, such as a 40% reduction in subgenual prefrontal cortex volume, and disrupts hormone systems involving CRH, norepinephrine, and cortisol.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·November 15, 2024·5 min read

How Stressful Events Alter Memories

Researchers have discovered how stress disrupts memory specificity, leading to generalized aversive memories—a hallmark of PTSD. Stress increases endocannabinoid release, enlarging memory engrams in the brain, which triggers fearful responses to unrelated, safe situations.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·November 14, 2024·6 min read

Smart Social Media Use Reduces Teen Stress

How young people use social media impacts their mental health more than how much time they spend on it. Researchers found that reducing harmful comparisons and fostering meaningful connections online can improve mental well-being, reducing loneliness, anxiety, and depression.

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Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·November 14, 2024·4 min read

Traditional Paranormal Beliefs Linked to Stress

Traditional paranormal beliefs, such as witchcraft and religious superstition, are linked to higher stress and reduced coping ability, while new age beliefs, like spiritualism and precognition, show no such link. Researchers used an improved scale to analyze responses from over 3,000 participants, revealing that traditional beliefs may reflect anxieties about external control. The findings highlight the psychological differences between belief types but cannot confirm cause-and-effect relationships.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·November 13, 2024·4 min read

Stress in Social Groups: How One’s Stress Affects the Whole

New research on zebra finches reveals that stress spreads within social groups, even affecting individuals not directly exposed to stressors. Birds in groups with more stressed members showed reduced movement and changes in social behavior, such as fewer social bonds.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 13, 2024·6 min read

Study Links Stress Hormones to Diabetes

New research suggests that stress hormones, rather than impaired insulin signaling, may primarily drive diabetes in obesity. This study found that high levels of stress hormones, like norepinephrine, counter insulin’s effects, leading to insulin resistance even with intact insulin signaling. When genetically modified mice couldn’t produce these stress hormones, they avoided diabetes despite obesity. This breakthrough may explain why some obese individuals develop diabetes while others don’t.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·November 9, 2024·5 min read

Childhood Stress Disrupts Attention, Sleep, and Dopamine Balance in Adults

New research links childhood adversity with later attention deficits, sleep disruptions, and specific dopamine imbalances in the brain. Focusing on critical developmental windows, scientists found that disrupted care early in life affected males more than females.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·November 5, 2024·5 min read

Gut Bacteria Modulate Stress Responses Over Time

New research has unveiled how gut bacteria play a key role in regulating stress by interacting with circadian rhythms, opening possibilities for microbiome-based therapies for mental health. Researchers found that depletion of certain gut bacteria can lead to time-specific increases in stress responses through the HPA axis, the body's central stress response system. Specific bacteria, such as Limosilactobacillus reuteri, were identified as crucial to modulating stress hormones throughout the day.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·October 22, 2024·5 min read

Happy Partners Help Reduce Stress in Older Adults

Having a happy intimate partner can lower stress levels in older adults by reducing the production of cortisol, a stress hormone. Couples with higher relationship satisfaction experience an even stronger effect, suggesting that positive emotions in relationships act as a buffer against stress.