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com/health/how-can-chronic-stress-lead-to-serious-mentaldisorders/ Doctors know that individuals with stress-related ailments, for example publish-distressing stress disorder ( ost traumatic stress disorder!, have irregularities within the brain, including variations in the "uantit# of gre# matter versus whitened matter. $re# matter consists mostl# of cells -- nerves, which store and process information, and support cells known as glia -- while whitened matter consists of axons, which produce a network of materials that interconnect nerves. Whitened matter will get its title in the whitened, fatt# m#elin sheath that surrounds the axons and speeds the flow of electrical signals from cell to cell. %ow chronic stress produces these length#-lasting alterations in brain structure is reall# a m#ster# that scientists are &ust now starting to solve. 'n a number of experiments, Daniela (aufer, )* +erkele# connect professor of integrative biolog#, and her co-workers, including graduated pupils ,undari *hett# and -aron .reidman, learned that chronic stress creates more m#elin-creating cells and less nerves than usual. /his leads to an excessive amount of m#elin -- and therefore, whitened matter -- in certain regions of the mind, which disturbs the fragile balance and timing of communication inside the brain. 0We anal#1ed &ust one area of the brain, the hippocampus, but our findings could provide understanding of how whitened matter is altering in conditions for example schi1ophrenia, autism, depression, suicide, -ttention deficit h#peractivit# disorder and ost traumatic stress disorder,0 she stated. /he hippocampus ad&usts memor# and feelings, and pla#s a part in various emotional disorders. (aufer and her co-workers released their findings within the .ebruar#. 22 problem from the &ournal 3olecular s#chiatr#. Does stress affect brain connectivit#4 (aufer5s findings advise a mechanism that could explain some alterations in brain connectivit# in individuals with ost traumatic stress disorder, for instance. 't5s possible to imagine, she stated, that ost traumatic stress disorder patients could create a more powerful connectivit# between #our hippocampus and also the am#gdala -- the chair from the brain5s flight or fight response -- minimi1ing than usual connectivit# between #our hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, which moderates our reactions. 0'maginable when #our am#gdala and hippocampus be more effective connected, that would mean that #our fear reactions tend to be faster, that is something see in stress children,0 she stated. 0%owever, in case #our connections aren5t so great towards the prefrontal cortex, what #ou can do to seal lower reactions is impaired. ,o, when #ou5re in a demanding situation, the inhibitor# paths in the prefrontal cortex suggesting to not get stressed aren5t effective along with the am#gdala shouting towards the hippocampus, 5/his is terrible65 7ou5ve got a larger response than #ou need to.'nch ,he5s involved with research to check this h#pothesis in ost traumatic stress disorder patients, and is constantl# on the stud# brain alterations in rats exposed to chronic stress in order to adverse conditions at the beginning of existence. ,tress tweaks stem cells (aufer5s lab, which conducts research around the molecular and cellular results of acute and chronic stress, focused within this stud# neural stem cells within the hippocampus from the brains of adult rats. /hese stem cells were formerl# considered to mature onl# into nerves or a kind of glial cell known as an astroc#te. /he scientists found, however, that chronic stress also made stem cells within the hippocampus mature into another kind of glial cell known as an oligodendroc#te, which creates the m#elin that sheaths nerve cells.

/he finding, that the# shown in rats and cultured rat cognitive abilities, indicates a vital role for oligodendroc#tes in length#-term and possibl# permanent alterations in the mind that ma# set happens later on mental problems. 8ligodendroc#tes also help form s#napses -- sites where one cell foretells another -which help control the development path of axons, which will make individuals s#napse connections. /he truth that chronic stress also decreases the amount of stem cells that mature into nerves could offer an reason behind how chronic stress ma# also affect learning and memor#, she stated