Chronic stress and long-term anxiety are harmful to memory and memory, American scientists have confirmed. When we are under a lot of stress for a long period of time, it can even lead to inflammatory processes in the brain, memory loss, and is also associated with Alzheimer's disease.
Scientists have concluded that memory problems after a stressful situation are directly related to inflammation and the immune system, not brain damage.
- In periods of crisis, the adrenal glands secrete adrenaline and cortisol. The stress hormone redirects blood sugar to the muscles, thus reducing the amount of glucose that reaches the hippocampus - the part of the brain responsible for memory. Over time, stress shrinks the hippocampus, which is a symptom associated with Alzheimer's disease - says scientist Kim Ijrin.
Chronic, psychosocial stress is most often experienced by soldiers, victims of bullying and abuse, and people have superiors at work who torture them in some way, according to scientists. The research was conducted at the University of Iowa with an experiment on animals, while scientists claim that the obtained results can be applied to humans as well, because stress causes the same chemical reactions in the body of both.
- Undoubtedly, it was established that the increased presence of stress hormones in animals was associated with a smaller number of connections between the cells of the prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain crucial for short-term memory. It was also confirmed that such changes were associated with lower results on short-term memory tests - says Dr. Ajrin, reports Novosti.
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