What are some ways stress can physically change our brains?
When we experience stressful events, the amygdala (area of the brain focusing on emotional processing) sends an emergency signal to the hypothalamus (the brain command center) that says it’s time to pick the “fight or flight” response. This response triggers common stress reactions like increased heart rate, hypervigilance, shallow breathing to conserve energy, a rush of adrenaline to prepare for defense, and a release of a hormone called cortisol. None of these are problematic on their own, but where we run into trouble is when we face chronic stress, which causes a buildup of cortisol in the brain that leads to long-term effects. When we experience chronic stress, our bodies overproduce cortisol and can’t release it all, which can wear down the brain’s ability to function properly. Chronic stress can increase the size of the amygdala, which can make the brain more receptive to stress, creating a brain that becomes predisposed to be in a constant state of “fight or flight.” You’re primed to look for threats, so you see threats wherever you go, which reinforces your brain’s belief that it is constantly under attack.
The good news is that we don’t have to totally overhaul our lives in order to make positive changes. Small daily habits can improve brain health and keep us sharp.
What are some things we can do every day in order to improve our brain health?
1. Stimulate your brain (do math/logic puzzles like Sudoku or crosswords, learn a new language, take a course, read a book on a topic unfamiliar to you, learn calligraphy, draw, paint)
Activities that ask our brains to do something new help form new connections between existing nerve cells and can possibly help the brain generate new ones, which may act as storage to protect against future cell loss as we age. This is known as "plasticity," the brain's ability to change and adapt as a result of new experiences. Even if your job is already mentally stimulating, pursuing a hobby or learning a new skill outside of your established skill set challenges your brain to function in a new way and build new connections.
2. Stay physically active
Exercising regularly increases the amount of oxygen-rich blood that is delivered to the part of the brain responsible for thought, and encourages brain plasticity, which improves our ability to retain new information and permanently store it. Exercise also lowers blood pressure, improves cholesterol levels, helps blood sugar balance, and improves our mental health, all of which improve our overall happiness and ability to handle stress.
3. Take care of your emotional health
When we are stressed out, anxious, or depressed, our cognitive function declines because we are using up all of our mental energy to focus on our worries. We have a limited amount of brain energy and when we dedicate it to focusing on the things that cause us angst, we release stress hormones that keep us in a perpetual “fight-or-flight” state of survival. We are evolutionarily designed to stay alive above all else, so in “fight-or-flight” the only thing we can focus on is making it through the day, which leaves little room for brain health.
4. Build social networks
Strong social connections are associated with a lower risk of dementia, lower blood pressure, and longer life expectancy. The more diverse your friends are in type, the more they challenge you to think differently. They provide you with information you would not normally have access to and they give you different perspectives on things. Humans are designed to be social creatures and being in secure and supportive friendships is known as a “protective factor” (as opposed to a “risk factor) that is correlated with sharper memories and reports of being happier, healthier, and living longer than people who are more isolated.
5. Get enough high-quality sleep
The brain works in overdrive while we sleep, attempting to make sense of everything that took place during the day and reflecting on our experiences. Many researchers believe that dreams are an attempt by the brain to categorize and process experiences, emotions, and memories into something more coherent. Sleep also allows us to move less important information from the conscious to unconscious parts of our brain, freeing up more space for processing. When we don’t sleep well, we lose out on the restorative aspects of sleep, which decreases our ability to solve problems, make sense of things, and learn well the following day.
Is it really that important to take good care of our brains? Can developing these habits when we’re younger really help keep our brains healthy as we get older?
In short, yes! It’s important to take good care of our brains for so many reasons, like overall health, happiness, relationship quality, emotional functioning, and cognitive processing. But beyond that, tending to our brain health can prevent future degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, dementia, and atherosclerosis. Alzheimer’s and dementia can both cause a decline in cognitive abilities and communication/memory impairment, while atherosclerosis is a disease that causes the slow narrowing of the arteries leading to heart disease, stroke, and dementia. While so much is still not known about these diseases, there is a strong correlative link between the activities connected with positive brain health and the prevention of brain decline in later years that underly each of them.
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