Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Stress Ruts In the Brain

This article describes a study of the brain's response to stress (and the removal thereof). We've all seen people under stress lose their ability to step back and reassess a problem, instead repeating the same unsuccessful actions over and over again. Turns out, there's a good reason for that. For the brain under stress, regions of the brain associated with executive decision-making and goal-directed behaviors had shriveled, while, conversely, brain sectors linked to habit formation had bloomed." The good news is that taking a break from the stress undoes the neural changes. It's not just the extra sleep that makes you feel better on vacation.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/science/18angier.htm

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