The latest research gives us a much richer understanding of the way stress affects our brain.

Stress swirls around us every single day of our lives. It begins early in the morning when we are stuck in rush hour traffic. Then we deal with the stress of a day’s work. Then back home in the evening as we navigate family life and children. Exactly what are the consequences in this widespread stress? And how does it impact our well being?

To our credit though, we wage a valiant battle against stress, because we know it has the potential affect our well-being.  Fortunately,  the research into stress is not standing still. We have even discussed some of the previous studies (HERE and HERE and HERE). But newer information on the way stress (emotion) specifically impacts our body is coming at a furious pace. This is the essence of the Mind-Body approach to health.

According to the very latest research, scientists now have a much richer understanding of the way stress directly impacts the brain. This new research, published in the January 26 issue journal Neuron, reveals pioneering evidence for a new mechanism of stress adaptation and may eventually lead to a better understanding of why prolonged and repeated exposure to stress can lead to anxiety disorders and depression. The implications to psychiatry – if not all of medicine – could be enormous.

How We Actually “Stress Out”

When we are stressed, our bodies will release a chemical called corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) from neurons in our brain. As soon as these CRH-containing-neurons run out of CRH, they are already receiving directions to make more.

What does CRH do? CRH controls various reactions to stress, including immediate, “fight-or-flight”, responses as well as more delayed responses in the brain as it adapts – or deals – with the stress. So CRH is not only necessary for reacting to an immediate stress, but CRH activity is critical for adapting to that stress once it has occurred. In fact, abnormal regulation of CRH is linked with multiple psychiatric disorders in human beings.

“Despite the wealth of information regarding the physiological role of CRH in mediating the response to stress, the molecular mechanisms that regulate expression of the CRH gene, and thereby CRH synthesis, have remained largely elusive,” explains study author, Dr. Gil Levkowitz, from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. “In our study, we used mouse and zebrafish model systems to identify a novel intracellular signaling pathway that controls stress-induced CRH gene expression.”

“ON” and “OFF” Switches

Dr. Levkowitz and colleagues discovered that a protein, called Orthopedia (OTP). Orthopedia is released in parts of the brain associated with stress. They found that Orthopedia affected CRH gene expression and was required for stress adaptation. The researchers went on to show that orthopedia regulates production of two different receptors on the surface of these brain neurons. The receptors, which receive and relay CRH production instructions, essentially function as “ON” and “OFF” switches.

“This regulation of the CRH gene is critical for neuronal adaptation to stress. Failure to activate or terminate the CRH response can lead to chronic over- or under-activation of stress-related brain circuits, leading to pathological conditions,” concludes Dr. Levkowitz. “Taken together, our findings identify an evolutionarily conserved biochemical pathway that modulates adaptation to stress.”

We must routinely take the active steps – exercise, meditation, journaling, etc. – in order to reduce the damaging effects of stress. But research like this helps us to understand the mind-body connection that much more.  It help us to understand what is literally happening to our bodies when we  “stress out”. And in so doing, we may find even better ways of dealing with the stress that swirls all about us. 

January 25, 2012
The Healthy Mind Network 

Story Source:
The above story contains original content and information that is editorially adapted by The Healthy Mind staff from materials provided by Cell Press and EurekAlerts. 

Image Credit: Nick Brokalakis

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