Our Brain on Stress

Our Brain on Stress

John Shutske, Professor

Extension Specialist

Agricultural Health & Safety for Farmers

and Farm Families

Objectives

1. Review and explain the brain

science connected to how people

experience acute stress.

2. Describe how acute stress evolves

toward chronic stress and three

specific outcomes of chronic stress

exposure.

3. Explain three specific stress coping

mechanisms that positively change

our brains and bodies, alleviating

stress effects including those which

can be recommended or facilitated

by agricultural professionals and

service providers.

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/science/your-

amazing-brain/#brain.jpg

A reflection…

• Not new content

• Most ASH professionals have had

exposure to fundamental stress response

• On a scale from 1 (very low familiarity) to

5 (very high familiarity) how much do you

know about the “stress response” that

occurs in our body?

Several additional items

forthcoming…

www.agsafety.info

A reflection…

• Our approach these last few months has

been to engage ag service providers and

helping professionals.

• Pragmatic explanation of biological,

physiological, neurochemical processes

and how we might harness that info in our

helping role.

Creative Commons photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Rept0n1x

Let’s Take 10 awkward seconds… One Thing That’s Stressed You

Out in the Last Few Weeks?

IMG_1303.m4v

Original work from Jessica Malisch and Theodore Garland - Wikipeda

Cortisol (plus Adrenaline)

• Fight

• Flight

• Freeze

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight-or-flight_response - Image Creative Commons

Biochemical Response • Heart Rate

• Blood pressure

• Red blood cell count

• Blood sugar

• Pupils dilate

• Digestive system

• Reproductive system

• Fear center

stimulated

• Fear/emotional

memories cemented

• Higher level thinking

becomes difficult**

Is the HPA Axis Response

Good or Bad?

Good? Bad? Or, it depends?

We need stress…

The gazelle needed stress

Stress helped us as children to

get from third to fourth grade

Stress in marriage, children, jobs,

growing older (and being young)

Case Study

Case Study • In our case study – You see stress impacts

on ALL family members.

• Obvious impacts – health, injury, anxiety,

depression.

• But, there are also quiet impacts – on the

elderly patriarch of the family, on Jan, and

on Jessica who works off the farm and is

expecting twins late this winter.

Shift Gears a bit…

In the case, you also see the impacts of LONG TERM, chronic

stress

• Point number 1

Photo credit – slide is adapted from original by http://www.enricobanchi.com/

Prefrontal

Cortex

Original work from Jessica Malisch and Theodore Garland - Wikipeda

Lupien S.J., McEwen B.S.,

Gunnar M.R. & Heim C.

(2009). Effects of stress

throughout the lifespan on

the brain, behavior, and

cognition. Nature Reviews

Neuroscience 10(6):434-

45.

Impacts – Chronic Stress

• Chronic stress as a vicious cycle

https://pixabay.com/en/rain-man-person-human-male-face-785245/ - labeled as public domain

Seven Impacts – Chronic Stress


• Physical health effects

Patrick J. Lynch, medical illustrator, Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License 2006

https://pixabay.com/en/immune-system-defense-infection-1359197/ - public domain

https://pixabay.com/en/diabetes-blood-sugar-diabetic-528678/ - labeled as public domain




• Impact on Decision Making, Distraction, and Memory

• Fear and anxiety

Cortisol….

A. Inhibits function of the PFC

B. Causes amygdala tissue to grow

stronger

C. Shrinks size and reduces

connections in hippocampus

D. All of the above

• Point number 1

http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v15/n5/fig_tab/nn.3093_F1.html






• Learning, Adaptation, Resilience

Amy F. T. Arnsten, A. F. T. (2009). Stress

signaling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex

structure and function. Nature Reviews

Neuroscience 10(6): 410–422.

Amy F. T. Arnsten, A. F. T. (2009). Stress

signaling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex

structure and function. Nature Reviews

Neuroscience 10(6): 410–422.







• Addiction Behaviors & Risk







• Addiction Behaviors & Risk

• Communication & Support Impacts

https://pixabay.com/en/father-son-family-1383159/ - labeled as public domain

Some Other Key Factors

Image adapted from presentation - http://www.slideshare.net/kimappel/psy-150-403-chapter-11-slides

Let’s simplify this a bit…

In hundreds of experiments (including lots of

variations)…

Two groups of rats can be subjected to a really

terrible stimulus – like a painful electrical shock

If one group has the ability to exert SOME control --

like shutting off the shock once it’s started….

They will show effects similar to a control group that

has no painful stimulus – in other words, the

stimulus is not as stressful

The rats experiencing the same pain, but with no

means to control will waste away

Helping people regain a sense of control

Previous slide reference…

Keller, A., Litzelman, K., Wisk, L. E., Maddox,

T., Cheng, E. R., Creswell, P. D., & Witt, W. P.

(2012). Does the perception that stress affects

health matter? The association with health

and mortality. Health Psychology, 31(5), 677.

McGonigal’s Summaries

• Also in book “The Upside of Stress”

(2015)

• Do not fear stress response

• It’s a call to action

• It should call for us to reach out, build

relationships, and personal networks with

family, loved ones, and community

Exercise

• It’s kind of a big deal!

• Release of natural endorphins

• Strengthen circulatory, respiratory, brain

function, immune system

• Positive cortisol effects (receptors, size of

hippocampus, positive effects on PFC)

• Brain oxygen, nourishment (20% of energy)

(A) Example of hippocampus segmentation and graphs demonstrating an increase in hippocampus volume for the aerobic exercise group and a decrease in volume for the

stretching control group.

Kirk I. Erickson et al. PNAS 2011;108:3017-3022

©2011 by National Academy of Sciences

Meditation & Mindfulness

• Grow, strengthen and thicken hippocampus

• Diminish influence of the amygdala

• Oxygen, breathing

• Focus on here and now increases sense of

control

• Likely an area of new research

Photo Creative Commons from https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwsmidwest/

Counseling – Third Party Help

• Provide perspective and moderate emotional

conversations.

• Reinforce positive behavioral and lifestyle changes.

• Accountability and follow-through.

• Our DATCP offers vouchers for support.

Some Comments and Specific Thoughts on Your Role

Conclusion… • Stress is complicated. But, not really (helping people fix things IS complex)

• Acute stress is a necessary part of life

• Acute stress can and does evolve toward chronic stress

• Chronic stress can really alter the brain – impacts are reversible, but health is

crucial

• There are at least seven impacts – and they can “pile on” to each other

• Helping people help themselves takes patience, time, and a multitude of

approaches

• Part of the impact of stress is our VIEW of how it effects our lives. That

framing is critical for people’s health. CONTROL and helping people regain a

sense of positive control is really critical!

Our Brain on Stress

Health & Medicine