Share How stress affects your brain
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What does it mean to sleep restlessly?
It means you cannot sleep well and keep moving in bed.
What are signs that someone is stressed out?
Feeling irritable, moody, forgetting things, and feeling overwhelmed.
How can stress sometimes help?
It gives a burst of energy and focus for sport or public speaking.
Why is too much stress harmful for the brain?
It changes brain size structure and how it works.
What does the hormone cortisol do?
It primes your body for action during stress.
What happens if there is too much cortisol for a long time?
It wreaks havoc on the brain and makes learning harder.
Which brain part is called the fear center?
The amygdala.
Which brain part helps us with memory and learning?
The hippocampus.
What happens to the hippocampus under strong stress?
It deteriorates and weakens inhibition of stress.
How does stress affect the prefrontal cortex?
It shrinks and makes thinking decisions and social skills harder.
Why can stress make learning and remembering difficult?
Because it weakens the hippocampus and reduces new brain cells.
What did the experiment with rats and mothers show?
Careful mothers made pups less sensitive to stress neglectful mothers made them more sensitive.
What does epigenetic mean?
A change in how genes work without changing DNA.
What two activities can reduce stress?
Exercise and meditation.
What can you personally do to relax and control stress?
(Student’s own answer).
