Stress Causes Brain Shrinkage

The headline in the Dana Press newsletter shouted to me. Stress Causes Brain Shrinkage. My work in exploring the benefits of humor and advocating laughter for stress reduction has been going on for a number of years. So I have had a great interest in the research on stress, but this past month new information has emerged on my radar.

According to The Dana Foundation, A new Yale study shows that stress can reduce brain volume and function, even in otherwise healthy individuals. This study was published Jan 5 in the journal Biological Psychiatry. The amount of gray matter in the brain is actually decreased with stress and makes it more difficult for people to manage stressful situations in the future. This is the first study to show the impact of cumulative stress on the brain in other-wise healthy individuals.

Toxic stress impacts infant development in utero. It is becoming increasingly clear that the stress of the mother impacts the child. The stress of single parenting, poverty, illness and emotional distress all contribute to toxic stress in both parent and child. Unfunded mandates, excess testing, unfair teacher evaluation, lack of funding and stressed children are creating hostile environments in our schools.

There are amazing videos highlighting this research from The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. These videos are free and came to my attention through my participation in Alignment Rockford "Talk2Me programs. I was asked to provide trainings that had been developed to encourage attachment between caregivers and infants. It is such a critical need to encourage parents in the bonding that is so critical for healthy emotional well being. This attachment directly impacts the capacity of the child for learning later in life.

Stress impacts the regions of the brain that regulate emotional and control impulses. Have you noticed that there seems to be a lot of kids with unregulated emotions and numerous students with extreme lack of impulse control? Educators have noticed and are frustrated with the lack of attention to this critical issues. Richard Davidson addresses the research in this video on The Heart Brain Connection.

Addressing the issues of toxic stress will take time, but it is encouraging that the research is now emerging frequently on our radar screens.