{"id":967,"date":"2010-04-13T20:58:29","date_gmt":"2010-04-13T20:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/?p=967"},"modified":"2010-04-13T21:01:00","modified_gmt":"2010-04-13T21:01:00","slug":"change-your-mind-how-stress-reshapes-your-brain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/2010\/04\/13\/change-your-mind-how-stress-reshapes-your-brain\/","title":{"rendered":"Change Your Mind: How Stress Reshapes Your Brain"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
The hippocampus in a human brain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Kelly Lohr<\/em><\/p>\n

It has been known for a while that too much stress can be bad for your health.\u00a0 A new study now shows that it can affect your brain too.\u00a0 Research through a collaboration between Rockefeller University and Cornell University suggests that stress can been linked to harmful changes in some brain structures.\u00a0 Sometimes these brain changes can be advantageous, such as making new synaptic connections to remember and learn from a stressful, life-threatening event.\u00a0 However, some changes can\u00a0 be detrimental.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A mouse hippocampus labeled with NeuroTrace\u00ae green fluorescent Nissl stain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The project has identified a protein possibly involved in remodeling the brain under stress.\u00a0 It was found that the brains of mice lacking the protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) look like the brains of stressed mice.\u00a0 The study examined changes in the neurons of the hippocampus<\/a>, a brain area important in memory, mood, and cognition.\u00a0 When normal mice were stressed through confinement to a small space, the tiny projections on their neurons called dendrites retracted in the hippocampus.\u00a0 The hippocampus itself was also reduced in overall volume.\u00a0 The study compared these mice to other mice that were missing a copy of the gene that produces BDNF.\u00a0 It was found that these genetically-altered mice had brains resembling those of stressed mice.<\/p>\n

Not only does this finding show that stress can produce brain changes.\u00a0 Bruce McEwan of Rockefeller University suggested that BDNF also may be “one of the proteins that play a role in mediating the brain’s plasticity.” This holds promise for a better understanding of the role of neuronal remodeling in the hippocampus and its importance in memory and emotion.<\/p>\n

Written April 13, 2010<\/p>\n

For more information, visit http:\/\/www3.interscience.wiley.com\/journal\/123249229\/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kelly Lohr It has been known for a while that too much stress can be bad for your health.\u00a0 A new study now shows that it can affect your brain too.\u00a0 Research through a collaboration between Rockefeller University and Cornell University suggests that stress can been linked to harmful changes in some brain structures.\u00a0 … Continue reading Change Your Mind: How Stress Reshapes Your Brain<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":278,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2075],"tags":[2170,2085,2105,2395],"class_list":["post-967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brain-and-body","tag-brain","tag-genetics","tag-medical-advances","tag-stress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/278"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/967\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}