Your Brain on Stress
Traditional science assumed that neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to rewire itself—ended by ~age 25. Modern research shows that this is far from true. Neuroplasticity remains active throughout our lives, responding to our repeated behaviors and focus of attention. It’s how we adapt to new information, learn, and define/reinforce behaviors.
This adaptability was designed to build resilience. It also includes our fight or flight response, designed to quickly adapt our brain in the case of threats; a monthly woolly mammoth attack or some neighboring clan. In today’s high-stress world, it can work against us.
When stress is constant, our neuroplasticity reinforces our continuous anxiety responses. Our brains, in a continual attempt to protect us, adapt in ways that make hypervigilance and stress our new “normal.”
But here’s the good news: we can rewire those responses to create a healthier, calmer state of mind.
What is Neuroplasticity?
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections, aka new programs. It’s why we can learn to read, write, and play as kids. This adaptability allows us to respond to our surroundings, creating and reinforcing behaviors that become automatic over time.
Even though neuroplasticity is most active in childhood, it continues throughout life. Which means we can rewire our brains throughout our life. Dr. Richard Davidson, a leading neuroscientist, has shown that we can, indeed, “reprogram” the brain by redirecting our attention.
Neuroplasticity in Daily Life
Every thought, action, and emotion we experience builds neural pathways in the brain. Practicing gratitude, for instance, strengthens pathways for positive thinking, making it easier to feel grateful automatically. However, focusing on fear or stress reinforces those responses too, making us more likely to react anxiously in future situations, whether they are threatening or not.
In today’s high-pressure world—full of work demands, news alerts, and digital noise—our brains are continually exposed to external stressors. This rewires our brains to make stress our default response. Over time, even calm situations can feel anxiety-provoking because our brains are on constant high alert.
Chronic Stress and the Brain
Chronic stress essentially “teaches” our brains to expect threats. As a result, we respond with heightened anxiety and vigilance. Studies show that ongoing stress changes brain circuits responsible for emotion regulation, making it harder to shift out of stress patterns, even when the threat is no longer present. Through neuroplasticity, our brains start to treat stress and anxiety as a baseline for our lives, which makes it “normal” to live in those states more and more often.
How Stress Affects Our Nervous System and Limbic System
Chronic stress impacts our autonomic nervous system (ANS), which manages automatic functions like breathing and heart rate, and our limbic system, which governs emotion and memory. The ANS has two modes: “fight or flight” (sympathetic) and “rest and digest” (parasympathetic). Persistent stress keeps us locked in “fight or flight,” making it difficult to relax. Imagine the impact this lack of relaxation, aka time to heal and repair, has on our overall health and well being.
The limbic system, especially the amygdala, becomes hyperactive under stress. Increased amygdala activity makes our threat response more sensitive, while impairing the prefrontal cortex’s role in emotional regulation. This state of limbic impairment keeps us reactive and ready to defend, reinforcing anxiety cycles.
Conclusion
Neuroplasticity can work for us or against us. Chronic stress conditions our brains to operate on high alert, but by understanding neuroplasticity, we can choose to consciously rewire our responses. Through mindful practices and repeated attention to positive behaviors, we can guide our minds back to calm and resilience. The power to reshape our minds—and our reactions—lies within us.
To learn even more, checkout my November newsletter: “Rewiring Anxiety with Neuroplasticity”
Image courtesy of lilithshade
