Stress can scramble your brain’s internal GPS, MRI study finds
Stress may literally scramble the brain’s internal GPS.
Stress may literally scramble the brain’s internal GPS.
The short version
- Researchers found that cortisol, a hormone released during stress, made people significantly worse at navigating a virtual environment and disrupted the precise activity of grid cells, specialized brain cells that help us understand where we are in space.
- When landmarks were missing, this navigation system nearly stopped functioning, while another brain region appeared to step in and compensate.
- The stress hormone cortisol can interfere with the brain system that helps people navigate and stay oriented.
What happened
Researchers from Ruhr University Bochum in Germany found that cortisol weakens the activity of grid cells, specialized nerve cells that are essential for spatial navigation. The finding comes from an imaging study involving 40 participants who completed a virtual navigation task while researchers monitored their brain activity with MRI.
Why it matters
When participants were given cortisol before the experiment, they had more difficulty finding their way, and the normally precise activity patterns produced by grid cells became much less distinct.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at ScienceDaily — Top Science via the links above and below.