Stress can shrink your brain: Study

 Don't take stress or depression lightly, they can actually shrink the brain and contribute to both emotional and mental degradation, according to a US study.

Now researchers have discovered one reason why this occurs - a single genetic switch that triggers loss of brain connections in humans and depression in animal models.

The findings show that the genetic switch known as a transcription factor represses the expression of several genes that are necessary for the formation of synaptic connections between brain cells, which in turn could contribute to loss of brain mass, the journal Nature Medicine reports.

"We wanted to test the idea that stress causes a loss of brain synapses (junctions of nerve cells) in humans," said senior study author Ronald Duman, professor of psychiatry, neurobiology and pharmacology at Yale University.

"We show that circuits normally involved in emotion, as well as cognition, are disrupted when this single transcription factor is activated," he added.

The research team analysed tissue of depressed and non-depressed patients donated from a brain bank and looked for different patterns of gene activation, according to a statement from Yale.

The brains of patients who had been depressed exhibited lower levels of expression in genes that are required for the function and structure of brain synapses.

Source: www.indiatimes.com

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Fascinating Facts About Your Brain

We've long known that the brain is an amazing thing, but did you specifically know that:

• Every person has more than 75km of nerves in their body.

• Your nerves can send messages faster than a Grand Prix car travels.

• The brain is the most complex machine in the universe - it has over 100,000,000, 000 nerve cells each with up to 150,000 connections. Each cell is connected to 25,000 others.

• If every person on the planet simultaneously made 200,000 phone calls, there would be the same total number of connections as in a single human brain in a day

• The grey cells occupy only 5% of our brains - 95% is taken up by the communication network that runs between the grey cells! 

• The brain weighs about 1.5 kg in an adult human, about 1.5% of the body weight.

• Damaged brain cells do not regenerate but mental and physical functions can improve after mild or moderate brain damage with skilful rehabilitation.

• Compared to other animals, human brains are big for the body.

• The human brain is only just bigger than your two fists.

• On average, the male brain (approx 1.4kg) is slightly bigger than the female brain (approx 1.26kg).

• Each half of the brain controls the other half of your body.

• In right-handed individuals (which comprise 91% of people): the right side of the brain controls: musical talent, fantasy, imagination, dreams, drawing, and painting. The left side of the brain controls: mathematical ability, ability to solve logic problems, controls language skills, remembers names, dates, and facts.

• The grey part of the brain is folded to fit inside the skull and, if flattened, it would cover the surface of an office desk.

• The brain contains 100 billion brain cells of which, 100,000 are irretrievably lost each day.

• You can retain about seven facts at any one time in short term memory, but over the long term your brain has to forget things to make room for new memories.

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