How the Brain Turns Chronic Stress into Pathology

Posted on February 14, 2017

Photo: flickr

Stress at moderate levels can serve as a benefit. The anxiety pushes us to complete tasks, almost like a motivator. In normal cases, our bodies and minds have coping mechanisms to combat stress if it all gets too much. We also have things we do to lower stress, like exercising or having a night out. However, high levels of stress that goes unchecked for a long period of time not only will do bodily damages, but also affect your mental health.

Professors Marisa Roberto and research associate Luis Natividad led a study at the Scripps Research Institute that examined brain changes from chronic stress and how it affects pathology-related disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These two researchers paid attention to a kind of checking mechanism in the brain that keeps our stress levels in check called the endogenous cannabinoid system (eCB). This system helps regulate levels of anxiety by preventing the release of stress-promoting chemicals. In addition, Roberto and Natividad also focused on the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), a molecule that promotes sensitivity to stress and anxiety.

What Roberto and Natividad found was that CRF can actually override the inhibiting effects of eCB. The researchers concluded that long-term and increased CRF signaling in the brain can disrupt emotion-regulating processes. Thus, without a system to lower our stress levels, we are consistently in a state of anxiety, which produces a ride range of negative effects on our mental and physical health. People are primed to react to stress and that can lead to pathological anxiety!


Source material from Science Daily