Robert Grimes

Stress involving Science

            Too much stress, however, results in allostatic overload, which is roughly equivalent to being  stressed out.  In allostatic overload, the stress response doesn’t work properly. It might stay on longer than it needs to, causing unnecessary wear and tear on the system or do the opposite and not activate at a time when it is needed. Sometimes this state is triggered by behavior. Sleep deprivation, lack of exercise, excessive eating and smoking can all lead to allostatic overload.

One of the most important stress-centers of the brain is the hippocampus.  People with a small hippocampus tend to feel more anxious than people with a larger one. For example, War veterans or even law enforcement officers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder tend to have small hippocampi. Researchers without pre-war data have trouble determining whether a small hippocampus led to post-traumatic stress disorder or whether the stress caused irreversible shrinkage to the hippocampus.

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