These conditions are related to cortisol, a stress hormone produced in the brain when people are intimidated. In daily life, cortisol will spread to the whole body more or less continuously if it encounters various nerve stimuli. This is bad for the brain, especially under constant stress. The most affected part is the hippocampus, which has the function of regulating a kind of conscious memory that we have been using, such as reminding you what size shoes to wear when soy sauce or vinegar is used up. Animal experiments show that too much cortisol will interfere with the electrical signals between hippocampal cells and damage nerve cells, which will eventually make them more vulnerable to other dangers such as stroke or cerebral hemorrhage.
In humans, the first clue of this effect can be seen in patients with Cushing's disease. This is a disease that secretes a lot of cortisol from the adrenal gland, and patients usually complain that they are difficult to remember.
Research on people with high mental stress reveals the same memory problems. Psychologists from Yale University in the United States examined the brains of veterans who participated in combat and were stimulated by traumatic stress, and found that the hippocampus in their brains was% higher than that of normal people, which means that it seems to have shrunk. In addition, a similar study was conducted on some men and women who were physically and sexually abused when they were young, showing that their hippocampus also shrank. These abused children, mental stimulation and veterans scored 40% lower than the control group in various tests of recalling the past.
But research shows that the brain obviously has the ability to restore its original state, and its influence on memory is reversible. There are no special skills to protect the brain, but we can use some well-known measures, such as regular physical exercise, adequate sleep, beneficial social activities and ways to restore control over life.