A Quiet Undoing: How Chronic Stress Silently Rewires the Mind

Written by: Ananya Ganji

---

Throughout my life, stress has been a constant. Whether it be a dance recital, an exam, or a social event, I’d assumed they were just temporary situations, and after, my mind would be at peace. After all these years, it finally became clear that this stress was more than a feeling, this was something more permanent. It changes the way your brain functions. This led me to some serious contemplation. What does it mean to rewire your brain from stress? How does all the pressure one lives under affects things like memory, attention, or emotions? I wasn't sure about all the right answers yet, but I wanted to know more! Research by Lupien et al. (2009) and McEwen (2013) have shown that chronic stress can affect the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus. Both structures are important in learning and emotional control. Many people aren’t fully aware of the effects. It especially impacts young adults, whose brains are still developing, and have pressure from school, friends, and social media.It is mainly a concern for them as in this generation stress is non-negotiable to most people making this a topic worth learning and taking precautions about. 

Introduction to Stress and the Brain

Chronic stress has an impact on the brain's ability to store and use information, leading to difficulties in both memory and learning. Before we discuss the impact, let's understand what stress is. Stress is mental strain caused by emotional pressure. Sometimes, stress can be a positive thing, but chronic stress can lead to both structural and functional changes in the brain, both negatively (Lupien et al., 2009). 

Cortisol and the Hippocampus

When you’re stressed, the brain releases cortisol. It is a hormone that affects memory, focus, and decision making. In low doses, cortisol will temporarily help you maintain your focus, however long term or high doses are harmful to the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain used for all learning and memory tasks (McEwen 2013). Chronic stress will interfere with your ability to remember simple information, maintain focus on the task at hand, and process information when learning new information. 

The Prefrontal Cortex

Chronic stress is also known for weakening the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of the brain, which is in the front of the frontal lobe and is responsible for decision making, self-control, planning, and behaviour. Chronic stress changes the connections in the PFC and interferes with your ability to concentrate or think logically (Lupien et al., 2009). Therefore, doing anything on a daily basis from what you would typically complete would feel much harder in your head. Simultaneously, chronic stress could cause the amygdala to be more active. The amygdala is located in the temporal lobes of the brain and is known as the brain’s “fear center” (Lupien et al., 2009). Because of the amygdala, your brain is more active than normal and it causes people to be more emotional and impulsive.

Chronic Stress’ Longterm Affect

Chronic stress can take over your daily life, over time. Stress impacts your thinking, your emotions, and your behavior. It takes over some basic, but certainly important things, like brain block before a big test. It affects you forgetting simple things like where you put your phone or forgetting what you were about to say while you’re talking. This is because your brain is overwhelmed and it is harder to store or think back to information from before clearly. Overall, understanding the impact stress can leave on your brain is extremely important as it affects things people reply on a day to day basis. It will lead to a downturn in enjoying a daily experience because you are stressed 24/7 and under the burden of the tasks you cannot complete or the things you cannot understand. Being aware of how stress alters the brain helps us understand why it is critical to manage stress for both achievement and quality of life (American Brain Foundation, 2023).

Emotional Regulation and Decision Making

Chronic stress will impact memory and thinking, but it also will impact our ability to regulate emotions and motivation. Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to grow and change through learning and adjustment from challenges. But, stress lowers neuroplasticity and makes it harder to recover from challenges (McEwen, 2013; Radley & Morrison 2023). As time passes, it will lead to impulsivity, irritability, and reduced motivation. Overall, chronic stress is not desirable to have as its results will cause severe problems for people and it is important to discuss this in this day and age where chronic stress is on the rise. 

Strategies for Recovery

Although chronic stress has lots of negative impacts, they are not permanent. Research from the American Brain Foundation (2023) and McEwen (2013) shows that  meditation, rest, and social support have all decreased stress hormones and functioned to ignite brain function (American Brain Foundation, 2023). If these habits are consistent, then healthy means of communication can also be returned to the brain and cognitive functioning and emotional regulation can be improved to help people function in day to day life without constant stress and the aftermath of it. 

Why It Matters

By managing chronic stress and understanding it, you can not only look after your brain health, you will improve decision making and strengthen motivation which will help you live a better life than you did with chronic stress. Managing chronic stress isn't just about appreciating your existing state of being, but about looking after your ability to adapt, grow, and thrive even through challenging or stressful experiences. Chronic stress is a constant alteration of the brain without our knowledge, as we've spoken about. It distracts one from the joy of life, it hampers memory pathways in the hippocampus, it dulls adaptability and emotional control, and so on. These changes are not entirely fixed; the array of evidence supports practical elements like exercise, mindfulness and sleep to recover healthy brain function and to support resilience (American Brain Foundation, 2023). Understanding how stress is changing the brain gives one the capacity to react in early stages, manage the chronic stress, and to protect mental and cognitive health; in addition to, help maintain the human condition.

References

American Brain Foundation. (2023). How stress affects the brain. American Brain Foundation. https://www.americanbrainfoundation.org/how-stress-affects-the-brain/

Lupien, S. J., McEwen, B. S., Gunnar, M. R., & Heim, C. (2009). Effects of stress throughout the lifespan on the brain, behaviour and cognition. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(6), 434–445. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2639

McEwen, B. S. (2013). The brain on stress: Toward an integrative approach to brain, body, and behavior. Neuron, 79(1), 16–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2013.06.036

Radley, J. J., & Morrison, J. H. (2023). Rewiring the stress response: Implications for behavior. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 17, 1208351. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1208351