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'Brain Is A Co-Conspirator In A Vicious Stress Loop'

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Jordan Tarr
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Laura Jenson
April 16th, 2015 The article I chose for this assignment is from the New York Times and is titled “Brain is a Co-Conspirator in a Vicious Stress Loop” and it discusses the effects that chronic stress can have on the human brain. It’s well known that stress is a fairly natural response to stimulus around us. It is our flight or flight response, which largely contributes to the continued success of the human race. When this stress becomes chronic and doesn’t allow a person to return to their normal, homeostatic state, we then begin to see problems. Chronic stress has been shown to be a major contributor to physical and psychological issues including heightened blood pressure, depression, and even an increased …show more content…
This shows that the rats’ cognitive ability was severely affected in response to stressors. Chronically stressed rats lost their elastic rat cunning and instead fell back on familiar routines and rote responses, like compulsively pressing a bar for food pellets they had no intention of eating (Angier). Interestingly, the regions of the rats brain responsible for executive decision-making and goal-directed behavior had shriveled, while brain sectors linked to habit formation seemed to be active. This is not a preferable state for anyone’s mind to be in. Under normal circumstances, rats, and humans alike, are able to complete tasks that are important and they are able to differentiate between what is and isn’t important. The stressed out brain seems to be unable to differentiate between what is important and seems to rely on uncontrollable repetition. Dr. Sapolsky said, “The truth is, we’re lousy at recognizing when our normal coping mechanisms aren’t working. Our response is usually to do it five times more, instead of thinking, maybe it’s time to try something new (Angier).” The good thing is that these changes in the brain seem to be reversible. With only four weeks’ vacation in a stress free setting, the independent variables (Stressed Rats), were able to innovate, and discriminate between

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