Stomach aches, fatigue, insomnia … The symptoms of stress are well known to people who live with it on a daily basis. What they do not know, however, is that the stress accumulated today can damage memory many years later.
The explanation is found on the side of cortisol, the famous stress hormone that increases in our body when we feel in danger. These cortisol spikes act as an alarm signal that warns us and protects us from an “external threat” or a situation deemed to be risky, by making us more alert and more careful. Problem, in the long term, these repetitive stress strokes cause damage to our health. They promote digestive problems, anxiety, weight gain or hypertension.
Memory is no exception. The high levels of cortisol eventually erode the synapses (connections between two neurons) in the prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain that controls short-term memory. More simply, the excess of cortisol uses the connections of our brain which make it possible to record and store information. As we age, stress eats away at our synapses to such an extent that they eventually disappear, causing memory loss.
How to keep a memory intact
The study published in the journal Neuroscience suggests the possibility of finding treatments capable of reducing cortisol in people who naturally have a high level of it, such as people who are depressed or have experienced emotional trauma.
In the meantime, we practice to keep calm and relax with these yoga exercises and we follow these neurologist advice, to keep a memory at the top for longer.
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