Brain, oh, brain, why won’t you let us relax? A recent study shows the brain is partly to blame in creating endless feedback loops of stress. Researchers exposed lab rats to a kind of rodent Abu Ghraib prison, complete with electric shocks and water dunking (really awful, I know) to create a state of chronic anxiety. They found that the brains of these rats actually changed and became rewired as a result of the stress: “Regions of the brain associated with executive decision-making and goal-directed behaviors had shriveled, while, conversely, brain sectors linked to habit formation had bloomed,” writes Natalie Angier of the New York Times. As if you didn’t need another reason to just relax, another recent article in the Times tells us that stress can exacerbate allergies. So just chill out, take a deep breath and pick up a nice glass of wine — it’s gotta be cocktail hour somewhere. {illustration by Serge Bloch for the New York Times}
Tags: neurons, nueral pathways
