A new study showed that stress can reduce brain volume

according to a studyCirculating cortisol and cognitive and structural brain measuresPublished in the journal Neurology, people with elevated levels of cortisol - a stress hormone - a decline in brain volume and decreased ability to remember. But it is too early to say that the brain is reduced only under the influence of stress.

Now we can say for sure that A is related to B, but the nature of this relationship is not clear.

Court Seshadri (Sudha Seshadri), professor of neurology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio and lead author of the study

Cortisol - a hormone produced by the body in response to a number of different factors, such as sudden or chronic psychological stress inflammation. And this is not the first time that scientists have linked it to changes in the brain. Another studyStress Effects on Neuronal Structure: Hippocampus, Amygdala, and Prefrontal Cortex It identifies the relationship between elevated cortisol levels and a reduction in volume areas of the brain responsible for memory. Although the decrease in the brain does not necessarily mean that its cells die, though it may indicate neurological or cognitive impairment.

As part of a recent study a group of scientists led by Seshadri and Justin Echuffo-Chegui (Justin Echouffo-Tcheugui), an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University, has studied the brain more than 2000 healthy individuals. For their research, scientists have turned to other large-scale studyFramingham Heart StudyIn which three generations have been involved since 1948.

The researchers took blood samples from subjects to measure levels of cortisol, and tested their memory, logic and Attention. They also sought to identify differences in the volumes of the brain and, in particular, white substance responsible for transmitting electrical and chemical pulses.

The participants were divided into three groups: low, medium and high levels of cortisol.

Researchers have found that people in the third group, as a rule, have a reduced ability to memorize and more diffuse attention, as well as a smaller volume of the brain - especially women.

Participants with elevated levels of cortisol are also signs of white matter lesions were found, which, according to the study's authors, could cause these differences in memory and attention with others groups.

However McEwen Bruce (Bruce McEwen), a neuroscientist at Rockefeller University in New York, who was not involved in the study warns against hasty conclusions about what time it in the level of cortisol is to blame namely stress.

Unexpected exciting events can really make our glands to produce cortisol. But his production can be caused by other factors, such as the body attempts to suppress inflammation. Therefore, chronic inflammation can also lead to increased levels of cortisol. Seshadri also recognizes that the reduction in brain volume may be caused by a number of factors.

The study of the question of why some people have higher levels of cortisol than others, and what else might affect their brain, will be continued.

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