{"id":13804,"date":"2021-02-10T12:03:29","date_gmt":"2021-02-10T03:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/?p=13804"},"modified":"2021-09-07T14:21:44","modified_gmt":"2021-09-07T05:21:44","slug":"stress-and-the-hippocampus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/2021\/02\/10\/stress-and-the-hippocampus\/","title":{"rendered":"Stress and the Hippocampus"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following is adapted from our eBook for Health Psychology: “Stress and how to cope: A Health Psychology guide for IB Students” (Available here<\/a>). Not all of this content could make the final cut. So read on if you’re interested in how your hippocampus could be causing\u00a0<\/em>you stress.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

IB Psych Health:\u00a0<\/strong>This content is relevant for biological explanations of health problems (chronic stress and cardiovascular disease) as well as risk\/protective factors.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Understanding its role in the stress response helps us explain how abnormalities in the hippocampus it as a risk factor for health issues. Image source.<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

The Hippocampus and the Stress Response<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stress has mostly been studied in regards to memory. You might have already come across the famous case study of HM<\/a>. However, it’s also an important part of the brain involved in the stress response whereas the hippocampus has two parts \u2013 the dorsal (top) and ventral (bottom). The dorsal hippocampus is important for memory. The ventral hippocampus helps in the regulation of the stress response. This could be why abnormalities in the hippocampus are linked with stress and stress-related disorders (e.g. depression and PTSD).<\/p>\n

Numerous human studies have shown that perceived stress is linked with decreased hippocampal volume. For example, post-mortem studies on people with coronary artery disease (CAD), a type of cardiovascular disease (CVD) linked with high levels of stress, have shown a correlation between CAD and reduced volume in the hippocampus. One possible explanation is that stress has caused the reduced volumes in these parts of the hippocampus. In fact, there’s a wealth of evidence to show that stress can damage the hippocampus.<\/p>\n

However, longitudinal studies and twin studies have also found that reduced volume in the hippocampus is a risk factor for increased levels of stress. Therefore, a small hippocampus could increase our chances of chronic stress and CVD because of its role in inhibiting our stress response.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n