Capstone Project: Stress and how it effects the brain. Corey Miller Student ID: Dave Banninga COMM

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1 Capstone Project: Stress and how it effects the brain Corey Miller Student ID: Dave Banninga COMM

2 Capstone Research Project For this research project the topic I have decided to go with the topic of how stress effects the brain. Stress is an important thing to understand as you need to know stress management techniques to cope with every day living. Everyone needs these techniques, including myself, and this is why the topic I chose was How Stress Effects the Brain. It is not only a pertinent part of everybodies lives but it is something that everyone should also take great interest in. Everyone wants to become a better version of their current self and learning how to manage your stress is the first step, it just so happens to also be the biggest. Studies have shown that stress can directly effect health in more ways than people realize. New studies have shown a correlation between a broad number of things, including but not limited to, shortened life span and lower quality of life. It is also shown that stress can have negative physical related impacts that appear to be bizarre. Stress has adverse effects on relationships and decision making. As early as 2006, Studies in animals showed that stress is associated with changes in hippocampal function and structure,... PTSD [has] been shown to [to cause] smaller hippocampal volume on magnetic resonance imaging and deficits in hippocampal-based memory [Bremner JD]. These statements make it clear that there are direct changes in the physical structure of the hippocampus.

3 As said by [Lupien, Sonia J], This time pressure usually triggers a set of physiological reactions that give us the indication that we are stressed is important to acknowledge that, in scientific terms, stress is not equivalent to time pressure However, we all know people who are extremely stressed by time pressure, and others who are actually seeking time pressure to perform adequately (so-called procrastinators). This shows that stress is a highly individual experience that does not depend on a particular event such as time pressure, but rather it depends on specific psychological determinants that trigger a stress response. This is important to note as different type of stress exists which effects everyone differently. Stress itself could be broken down to different subsets, such as but not limited to; fear, sadness and guilt. Some consider stress to be an emotion but it has been shown otherwise in the same study, However, emotion and stress are 2 different entities. Although a stressful experience will almost always trigger a specific emotion, a particular emotion does not always elicit a stress reaction. The author of 'Stress and the Adolescent Brain' [Romeo, Russell D] made the conjecture The plasticity exhibited by the brain during [adolescence] period may make individuals more vulnerable to perturbations, such as stress.. This, as the author stated, should be of great interest to researchers as the study of the effects of stress on the adolescent brain could have remarkable effects on the developmental period where the most change occurs. Alas, this is just speculation, as the author goes on to state that not much is known that that studying the topic should be of great concern. [Sapolsky, Robert M] came to the conclusion in his paper titled, Why stress is bad for your brain, that Sustained stress can have numerous pathological effects. Human glucocorticoid (GC) hydrocortisone, epinephrine and norepinephrine are essential for surviving acute physical stress, but they may cause adverse effects when secretion is prolonged..

4 In the paper titled, Stress speeds up brain degeneration, [Trojanowski, John] came to the conclusion that Prolonged stress may accelerate neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease by exacerbating the build-up of damaging proteins in the brain, after studying mice that were engineered to simulate the condition of a patient with Alzheimer's disease. They induced stress in these animals by housing them in isolation and periodically restraining them inside a tube... they also had poorer memory and lost more brain tissue. Although this study was done in direct relation to the causality of Alzheimer's and how it causes brain degeneration it was shown that even the accumulation of proteins, which were released by stress, can have this effect. There are many connections to this area of research and the topics we have discussed in class. When we discussed PTSD as well as soldiers being trained for combat a lot of this research could be used to help facilitate the advancement in those areas. The average person can also become aware of the causes of stress and try to lead a better life style. This can also be used in the acceleration of learning new techniques as a big blockade to learning something new is the stress related to the difficulty of the technique. Further more, not only could this help provide better lives for those who may need it, it is also pertinent to students, whom are typically in a stressful environment, to facilitate their own learning and advancement. Not much is known about this topic but being aware that it is cause for concern is a start. As to the importance toward my own life I can say for sure that if I knew stress management techniques and was subjected to a less stressful environment as I was going through childhood I may have become a much more well rounded person much sooner. This is not to say that I wish everything that happened didn't, it would be the opposite actually. Maybe we could assume that someone who has not been through much hardship or stress would become a well rounded person later in life, and maybe I'm farther ahead in terms of wisdom, knowledge and the capability of empathy because I went through

5 a difficult childhood. All I know is that the study of this topic couldn't hurt and it would definitely give the greatest benefit to the children whom are subjected to the stressful lifestyles of their parents. If a parents lifestyle facilitated less stress as well as stress related difficulties a child's development would benefit greatly. I do believe it is up to the individual once they reach adulthood to be aware of their own situation and adapt accordingly, but it is not okay for the children of these people to suffer because there isn't being enough research done to give people the tools to manage their stress appropriately. Sources Bremner, J. D. (2006). Stress and brain atrophy. CNS & Neurological Disorders Drug Targets, 5(5), Lupien, S. J., PhD. (2009). Brains under stress. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 54(1), 4-5. Retrieved from ROMEO, R. D., & McEWEN, B. S. (2006). Stress and the Adolescent Brain. Annals Of The New York Academy Of Sciences, 1094(1), doi: /annals Sapolsky, R. M. (1996). Why stress is bad for your brain. Science, 273(5276), 749. Retrieved from Stress speeds up brain degeneration. (2011). Nature, 479(7374), 449. Retrieved from