Stress and neural networks: why it’s better not to be nervous

Stress and stressful situations greatly affect a person’s health, physical and psychological state, and even the brain.

Stress is the increased overstrain of a person. Stress can be neuropsychic, temperature, light, hunger and many other stresses.

Being under constant stress, a person’s nervous system suffers.

There may be short-term stress, a conflict at work that you managed to resolve quickly, preparing for and passing an exam, or a demonstration performance by athletes. Short-term stress is sometimes even beneficial: it helps athletes achieve good results in competitions, helps students pass exams well, etc.

If your stress is short-lived, then it’s okay. But if the stress becomes constant, for example, daily stress at work, constant conflicts with employees with whom it is impossible to find a common language. There are many such situations both at work and at home. In this case, not only you suffer, but also your brain.

What happens to the brain during prolonged stress?

The brain shrinks under stress

What happens to our brain during stress and why does it shrink?

Stress originates in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. When a tense situation is created, the adrenal cortex secretes cortisol, a catabolic hormone.

The catabolic hormone keeps a person active and helps him cope with difficulties. The positive effects of catabolic hormone have negative effects on the brain.

The hippocampus takes the brunt of it, as it contains a large number of cortisol receptors. When a person has a simple, non-stressful situation, it helps normalize the production of the hormone. But if a person is under constant stress, high levels of cortisol for a long time, some of the receptors simply die. This process can lead to confusion and memory loss.

When cortisol increases, the brain begins to shrink in size.

Prolonged stay of a person under stress negatively affects the functioning of his body as a whole, impairs memory and concentration, which can lead to deep depression.

The influence of stress on genetics

Scientists conducted an experiment on rats and their pups and looked at how chronic stress could affect future offspring.

They took two rats with their offspring and observed them for a long time.

The rat, which carefully, responsibly, carefully looked after its cubs, raised stress-resistant cubs. The second rat, which did not take a responsible approach to raising its cubs, did not give them care and attention. Her cubs have grown up to be stress-resistant. The cubs of the second rat, due to a smaller number of receptors, are highly susceptible to stress.

Stress management

If a person constantly lives in a stressful situation, irreversible changes in the brain cannot be avoided; cortisol levels will decrease, memory and concentration will also decrease.

To prevent this from happening, avoid constant stressful situations, change your lifestyle so that stress bypasses you. Use simple and proven ways to deal with stress, such as deep breathing and meditation.

Exercise 30-60 minutes a day daily, a person should have physical activity, exercise, running, sports, etc.

Rid yourself of stress, exercise, meditate, then your brain and your body will be in great shape. We wish you success.

Stress affects genetics

Experiments show that chronic stress can affect the expression of certain genes. Scientists made this conclusion based on the results of the experiment Reversal of Maternal Programming of Stress Responses in Adult Offspring through Methyl Supplementation: Altering Epigenetic Marking Later in Life on rats.

The way a mother cares for her offspring determines how the children will later respond to stress. A caring and attentive parent grows up a child who is resistant to stressful situations. He has more cortisol receptors in his brain, which regulate the response to negative influences. Children of neglected mothers are more susceptible to stress due to fewer receptors.

Such changes are called epigenetic because they do not affect the DNA sequence itself. But they are inherited, and the stress response received by the offspring of one mother will spread over several generations.

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Intestinal problems

Unpleasant news and a nervous state often cause cramps, abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. The reason for such phenomena is the relationship between the brain and the digestive system, which send signals to each other.

It is important to control your stress levels. To avoid aggravating its symptoms, you should change your diet. It is necessary to exclude foods that cause intestinal irritation. It is advisable to consume fermented milk products with probiotics, which increase the number of beneficial bacteria.

During stress, the brain and thinking degrade

What is stress? We will not refer to definitions from scientific sources. In everyday understanding, this is a very uncomfortable state in which a person cannot act, or acts destructively, and feels exhausted.

The phrase that “stress is the disease of the century” has already set teeth on edge. But this statement does not lose its reality due to banality.

The reason for constant background stress is the unpreparedness of our system to live in the world that we ourselves have created.

Imagine several thousand years of evolution, when mechanisms for responding to environmental situations were created, and only 50 (or less, according to various sources) years of the information revolution. We can also talk about 200 years since the beginning of the industrial revolution, but even these years are small in comparison with millennia. The biological mechanism is inert. We live in a completely different physical and social environment. We rarely have to survive physically. And the body reacts to imaginary dangers in the same way as in those times when physical action was assumed. As a result of frequent adrenaline surges, the entire response system becomes unbalanced and, as a result, chronic fatigue, loss of perception, and attention deficit disorder occur.

From the point of view of neurophysiology, we are also not ready for the modern barrage of information. The frontal lobes, which are very weak and always give the right of decision in critical situations to our limbic system, which is associated with emotions, are involved in sorting information for decision-making.

Now imagine, we constantly saturate ourselves with information that causes emotional outbursts and makes the entire system ready for some action, but no action occurs. Since the action does not occur, the tension created in the body is not discharged.
Further, the frontal lobes are not involved in the analysis of information - they simply do not have time to turn on, because analysis was not required. The famous neurophysiologist Goldberg in his book “The Control Brain. Frontal Lobes and Civilization” very clearly shows the presence of problems in those people whose connections of the frontal lobes with other parts of the brain are disrupted: absent-mindedness, the inability to concentrate on a task, and Parkinson’s disease. The frontal lobes implement the highest and most complex functions of the brain, the so-called executive functions: intentionality, purposefulness, making complex decisions. During times of stress, when hormones are low, the frontal lobes cannot realize their functions.

As a result of stress, the brain and ability to think deteriorate.

Think about it, such a powerful evolutionary achievement as the formation of the cerebral cortex, like the appearance of the prefrontal lobes, is simply not used by most people in the modern world. What to do with it??? Live “as it turns out”? Retrain your system?

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Gurdjieff's dances are always an exchange of information between all parts of the brain. The motion control system is a distributed system organized according to a hierarchical principle.

The system consists of three control levels:

Cortex;
Brainstem;
Spinal cord. This is at the vertical level.

On the horizontal, there is a constant exchange between the right and left hemispheres.

I give the information somewhat simplified so that an unprepared reader can still read it.

Why does a specific person need to develop his brain, develop such abstract neural connections?

We are developing new neural connections, new pathways. And this neurological action gives us greater freedom of reaction. Emotions, will, thought have both an ideal component and a material one. They have a psychophysiological mechanism. I will not slide into crude materialism and write that it is enough just to wave your hands correctly to develop any character qualities. But the complete separation of all mental functions from the material carrier is incorrect. “Few educated people today, no matter how unfamiliar with neurobiology, doubt that language, movement, perception, memory are all somehow located in the brain. However, ambitions, drives, foresights, insights - the properties that define the personality and essence of a person, are still considered by many to this day as, say, “extracranial”, as if they were attributes of our clothing, and not our biology. These elusive human qualities are also controlled by the brain, and in particular by the frontal lobes. The prefrontal cortex is the focus of neuroscientific research today; however, this is largely unknown to non-specialists.” (Goldberg "The Controlling Brain")

Dealing with internal uncertainty is one of the main functions of the frontal lobes. In some ways, whether you're a determined person or a pushover depends on how well your frontal lobes work. Research has shown that patients with frontal lobe damage approach internally ambiguous situations differently than healthy people. Loss of decision-making ability is one of the most common signs of early dementia. Damage to other parts of the brain usually does not affect these processes.

So now answer the question: do you need the development of the brain as a tool?

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How to cope with stress?

Advice from professionals will help you cope with stress and prevent deterioration in your health.

Stay Organized

It's very easy to give in to panic and fear when you don't know what to expect from your workday. Try to make a daily plan of action for the new day. This will not only help you focus on the tasks at hand, but will also give you the opportunity to make the most of every working minute. An excellent assistant would be a work organizer or desk calendar in which you can record all your actions, plans, calls and meetings.

Choose priority things

Don't grab everything at once. Matters that require your direct presence must be resolved independently. The rest of the instructions can be easily forwarded to your subordinates and colleagues. As soon as you feel tired and starting to succumb to stress, be sure to take a break for at least a few minutes. Don't forget to make several of these stops throughout the day and be sure to have a good lunch.

Focus

Solve one global problem at a time. You shouldn’t spread yourself thin, grabbing everything at once. There will be no sense from this, and the body will quickly become exhausted. Solving at least one problem will immediately have a positive impact on your well-being. You will become more confident in your own abilities, feel an influx of inspiration and good mood. Don’t forget about a compromise, which will be an excellent way out of a stressful situation.

Impact on immunity

Stress factors also suppress the human immune system. There are fewer lymphocytes in the blood, which leads to a decrease in the ability to resist foreign microorganisms. Physiologically, this is due to the production of corticosteroids in the body.

As in previous cases, the consequences of exposure to a person depend on the time period. That is, immune suppression over a long period significantly impairs immune defense and hormonal control.

At the same time, the risk of inflammatory processes increases. But many eliminate the effects of stress with the help of alcohol and cigarettes, which only serves as a catalyst for the development of problems.

Effect on the pancreas

The effects of stress on the human body are manifested by the release of various chemicals into the blood. The pancreas is responsible for this process. During stressful situations, insulin levels in the blood rise sharply. Due to this, diabetes can develop. In combination with eating problems and disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, the risk of obesity increases.

Stress also affects the reproductive system. Under the influence of stressors, a person loses the desire and opportunity to have children. The instinct to procreate disappears because stress hormones suppress sexual function and increase the level of other substances that also suppress the reproductive system. For this reason, some women find it very difficult to experience all the delights of motherhood.

Treatment

Recovering memory after stress is a complex process. Treatment is carried out in several directions.

Drug treatment

Drug treatment includes:

Taking medications to restore memory. Drugs such as Gliatilin, Exelon, Reminil, Semax, Cerebrolysin may be prescribed. Mexidol and Glycine performed well.
Often, tranquilizers and quick sedative tablets - Oxazepam, Eunoctine, Meprobamate, Diazepam. They help relieve anxiety, restlessness, and convulsions, but their side effects must be taken into account.

Tranquilizers have many disadvantages; they cannot be taken for a long period ; it is necessary to take into account the compatibility of these drugs with other drugs and alcohol. Many tranquilizers have a negative effect on internal organs and cause allergic reactions.

The most important thing after stress is to restore the organs damaged by it, but synthetic drugs cannot cope with this task, they only relieve symptoms.