A new study which came out of the Colorado State University shows it is possible physical stress is causing the brain to age faster and also affects the memory as it degrades itself more rapidly under such conditions. The conclusions were made after they had studied brain-imaging data from 99 adults.
1. Protecting Ourselves against Stress
We already knew that stress affected our body very strongly. This is one more study that proves that too much physical stress at work will reflect itself by diminishing the brain and memory's capacities. It cannot be said often enough that everyone needs to find ways and take measures to protect themselves from an abundance of stress. Since it is not something you can avoid, you need to learn how to manage it and the anxiety it brings into your life. That's why it can be beneficial to use technology like the Stress.app to learn techniques which can enhance our mental health.
The idea of this study came from an assistant professor at Colorado State University in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies. In order to get to their findings, her research team studied brain-imaging from 99 persons between the ages of 60 to 79. All of them were cognitively normal. What they discovered is that the hippocampus of those who mentioned suffering from high-level of physical stress on the job was much smaller in volume. That is why their performance was not good when it came to memory tests.
2. Stress Accelerates Physical Aging
When Dr Burzynska published her results this summer, she admitted that it was already known that stress is an important factor in accelerated physical aging. However, what she is showing through her study is the first evidence that occupational stress can accelerate brain and cognitive aging.
She noted that an average American worker would spend a lot more time at work than on leisure, cognitive and physical activities. Most will spend eight hours per day, five days a week over a period of 40 years at their job. Therefore, if the level of physical stress is high, the risks that is can cause permanent damages to the brain are also very high.
The assistant professor also notes that it is important to differentiate physical activities at work with sports and other activities like aerobics and dancing. These have the opposite effects on the brain, as they stimulate it and keep it active, making it beneficial for brain health and cognition, no matter how old you are.
