The Neuroscience of Stress

Published19 Jun 2018 Reviewed19 Jun 2018Author Alison Caldwell Source BrainFacts/SfN

istock.com/christianchan

Anyone who has ever fretted over an exam or a looming deadline at work knows
what stress feels like. As it turns out, stress can be a good thing, helping our bodies and
brains stay sharp and alert, ready to react to any surprises life throws in our way. But,
chronic stress can wreak havoc, triggering a host of maladies including heart disease, high
blood pressure, depression, and anxiety.
Neuroscientists are beginning to reveal how chronic stress exacts such a hefty toll. In
doing so, they are piecing together how parental stress affects offspring, the biochemical
hallmarks of stress in children, and how specialized brain cells influence fear and anxiety
responses.
The response to short-term stress is critical for survival. It powers the “fight-or-flight”
response that allows animals to respond quickly to danger signs. When we’re startled, or
acutely stressed “fear center” of the brain, called the amygdala activates our central
stress response system. Known as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenalcortical (HPA) axis
because it is comprised of the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and the adrenal cortex, this
stress response system regulates hormones, particularly the stress hormone cortisol. By
rapidly increasing glucose levels, speeding the heart rate, and increasing blood flow to the
muscles in our arms and legs, this stress response allows us to respond to a threat. After
the danger has passed, the system works to return hormone levels to normal.
When stress becomes chronic, this system is amped up all the time. The same hormones
that are so important for the fight-or-flight response can lead to digestive issues, trouble
sleeping, and a weakened immune system, making a person more susceptible to viruses
like the flu and chronic health problems.
“Because stress changes the way the brain’s neurons communicate with each other,
chronic stress can cause our brains, nervous systems, and our behavior to adjust to a
vigilant and reactive state,” says Bruce McEwen, a neuroscientist from Rockefeller
University.
That constant vigilance can lead to devastating mental and physical health conditions for
the person experiencing it. It can also affect their offspring. It is well-established that
maternal stress has deleterious effects on her offspring. But Jennifer Chan from the
University of Pennsylvania wanted to know how a father’s stressful experiences would
affect his offspring. So, she studied male mice that experienced mild, chronic stress. The
offspring of those mice had a “blunted” hormonal stress response — an effect linked to
disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She found stress changed the
expression of genes in sperm and altered its maturation. That may have altered the brain
development of their offspring.
“If we can understand how parental experiences impact offspring health,” Chan says,
“Then we may be able to identify those parental experiences as risk factors, and in the
future this could lead to earlier interventions for children who may be at risk.”
Because our brains are still developing throughout childhood and early adulthood,
pediatric trauma can be especially damaging. While working to find new therapies for
stress disorders like PTSD, Brianna Mulligan at the University of New Mexico discovered
that changes in DNA methylation, a process by which genes are turned “on” or “off,” in
children who had experienced trauma. These abnormal DNA methylation signatures may
help physicians identify children who are suffering from trauma. And, since DNA
methylation is reversible, it may be possible to develop aid trauma recovery treatments
capable of reversing the methylation.
Researchers are exploring other avenues to develop treatments for PTSD. An intriguing
one involves non-neuronal brains cells calledastrocytes. Long thought of as mere support
cells, astrocytes also play a role in the brain’s immune response. Meghan Jones, of the
University of North Carolina, found chronically stressed mice possessed elevated levels of
a molecule called interleukin-1-β (IL-1) in the astrocytes of the hippocampus, a brain area
critical to learning and memory.
IL-1 is known as a cytokine, a class of molecules regulating the brain’s response to illness.
When Jones and her colleagues blocked the receptor for IL-1 and exposed them to chronic
stress, they did not develop characteristic fear and anxiety.
Many studies offer early clues to how stress causes negative effects and potential
pathways to prevent those effects. And, that is something that McEwen says should spur
optimism that one day we will be able to prevent the effects of chronic stress and PTSD.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alison Caldwell

Alie Caldwell is a PhD Candidate of Neurosciences at UC San Diego and the co-creator of
Neuro Transmissions, a YouTube channel all about the brain.