Still worried about that report or that suitor who didn’t call back? Scientists have found a compelling reason for you to exhale and let go of minor problems as soon as possible. After all, the more stress, the more our brain suffers.
To maintain health and prolong youth, doctors give one basic piece of advice — worry as little as possible. At first glance, this may seem unimportant, but science has proven otherwise. Experts are convinced that stress is one of the main provocateurs of problems with mental and physical health, and it accelerates the aging processes in the body.
Specialists from the University of Pennsylvania conducted a study, concluding that a rare neuron, which is extremely sensitive to stress, is responsible for regulating blood flow in the brain and coordinating neural activity. In other words, strong emotional experiences literally 'eat away' our neurons, disrupting the normal nourishment of the brain.
Despite the fact that there are more than 20 different types of neurons in any part of the brain, with their total number exceeding billions, several 'managers' can be distinguished. For example, experts focused on type 1 nNOS neurons in the somatosensory cortex — the area that processes tactile, temperature, and other sensory signals from the body, as they play a crucial role in stimulating the 'spontaneous oscillations' of arteries and veins in the brain.
'In your brain, arteries, veins, and capillaries help move fluid, constantly expanding and contracting every few seconds. This phenomenon is what we call spontaneous oscillations,' the scientists explain.
To understand what happens in the brain without type 1 nNOS neurons, researchers conducted an experiment on mice. All the rodents were injected with a mixture of saporin — a toxic protein capable of killing neurons — and a chemical chain of amino acids known as a peptide, which can recognize and attach to specific genetic markers released by type 1 nNOS neurons. This allowed the scientists to destroy specific neurons without harming others.
The brain activity of all the mice was monitored, and their behavior was closely observed. The team watched the oscillations of the blood vessels in the brain with micrometer resolution — about 100 times smaller than the width of a human hair.
It turned out that the mice exhibited not only a decrease in blood flow but also a weakening of neural activity in the brain. Moreover, normal blood supply was most severely affected during sleep — the period when the brain processes information and essentially reboots.
Experts concluded that stress eats away at nNOS neurons, which are quite fragile, and thus die easily and quickly. Researchers believe that this affects not only the functioning of the brain but also the entire body as a whole — a person becomes less productive, has an increased risk of developing chronic diseases, and ages faster.
Furthermore, scientists suspect that the constant death of neurons may be linked to dangerous neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. A direct connection has not yet been proven, but the team will continue their research to learn as much as possible about the impact of stress on the brain.
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