The Brain

Our brain is one of the most complex and intricate organs within the body.

It is the source of all of our communication networks and controls nearly every process that regulates our body.

The brain can be found within the skull, and is apart of the central nervous system. It works with the spinal cord to communicate with the body through its connection at the brain stem. The brain is nearly 60% fat and the remaining 40% is a combination of proteins, carbohydrates, salts, and water.

Within the brain, there are numerous neurons that serve as their communicators. In addition to these neurons, the brain is composed of what is known as gray and white matter.

The gray matter, which can be found within the outer layer of the brain, is made up of almost all neurons. Its job serves mainly as the place of processing and interpreting information. The white matter, which can be found within the brain, is mostly all axons and has the job of transmitting that information from the gray matter to other regions within the nervous system.

The brain, due to its complex nature, plays a role in almost every major system within our body.

Each part of the brain has its own unique function, but overall, the brain is in charge of processing sensory information, regulating and sending the signals for hormone release, as well as regulating our breathing and blood pressure levels.

The largest part of the brain is known as the cerebrum, which is the left and right hemispheres. Each hemisphere is divided into further sections known as the lobes and each lobe has its own function.

The occipital lobes, which are located within the back of the brain, are used to help us read and recognize shapes and colors. In front of the occipital lobes are the temporal lobes. This is where hearing, visual and verbal memory and emotional reactions/ interpretation take place. The temporal lobes are on the side of the head and just about level with our ears.

The frontal lobes, which are the largest, can be found in the front of the brain. These lobes are responsible for motor skills, attention levels, problem-solving, and planning. They also help manage emotions, temper levels, and ones personality. Right behind the frontal lobes are the last of the four, which are the parietal lobes. These lobes help us organize and interpret sensory information from other regions of the brain.

Aside from the cerebrum, the brain also has an area within the back of it, known as the cerebellum. The cerebellum, which is beneath the occipital lobes, is involved with fine motor skills, such as coordination and helps keep the body maintain its equilibrium and balance.

When it comes to our brain and the affect of stress, one has to look at the response of stress to understand its implications.
When cortisol stays coursing threw our veins, like it does when we are chronically stressed out, it has the ability to lead to disarray within the brain.

An article posted to Touro University Worldwide found that chronic activation of the stress response impairs brain functions in more ways than we thought. It has the ability to disrupt synapse regulation, which leads to the loss of sociability and the intentional avoidance of others.

Not only that, but stress has been found to be linked to cellular death within the brain, resulting in a reduction of its size. As the brain cells die and experience atrophy, the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for memory and learning, begins to shrink as well.
Clearly this is less than ideal, as our brain is the powerhouse for all of our systems and organs to function properly.

In another study posted on Psychology Today, researchers had examined the affect of chronic stress on brain development within lab rats. What they had found was that under chronic stress, the stem cells that came together to create the hippocampus, had matured into a special type of glial cell called an oligodendrocyte. These special type of glial cells are responsible for producing the myelin that sheaths nerve cells. This type of maturation decreases the number of stem cells that mature into neurons, which allows insight in how the processes such as learning and memory are affected. Even though the myelin sheath is vital to our brains, when formed in excess amounts, it can create a world of problems for our bodies communication center.

The implications and affect from stress on the brain is an area of conversation that could be continued within depth. For this matter, we will save the juicy information for its own time to shine. With that said, one is able to see that stress, when chronically activated, is not a friend of our brain nor its health and functions.