Chronic stress affects attention by altering neuronal growth in the brain

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Branching out. Unlike a typical rat neuron (top) the growth of neurons in stressed rats can be impacted by traumatic experiences. Computer models based on McEwens experiments (bottom) show that when compared to neurons of unstressed rats (blue) neuro ...
Branching out. Unlike a typical rat neuron (top), the growth of neurons in stressed rats can be impacted by traumatic experiences. Computer models based on McEwen's experiments (bottom) show that when compared to neurons of unstressed rats (blue), neurons from stressed rats (red) often develop either fewer dendritic branches or more, depending on their location in the brain.

Anxiety and depression can make a person feel as if he’s battling his own brain, complete with wounds and scars. Traumatic events — war, divorce, the death of a loved one — can trigger these disorders, and scientists are just beginning to clarify the biological connection. Now, working neuron by neuron, researchers have found that life experiences actually appear to change the length and complexity of individual brain cells.


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