How stress affects your brain - Madhumita Murgia

Como afecta o estrés ao cerebro - Madhumita Murgia

Translator: Natalia Outerelo Reviewer: Serv. de Norm. Lingüística U. de Santiago de Compostela

Are you sleeping restlessly,

Estás durmindo sen descansar,

feeling irritable or moody,

estás irritable ou de mal humor,

forgetting little things,

esqueces pequenas cousas

and feeling overwhelmed and isolated?

e sénteste desbordado e só?

Don't worry. We've all been there.

Non te preocupes. Todos vivimos iso.

You're probably just stressed out.

É probable que esteas estresado.

Stress isn't always a bad thing.

O estrés non é sempre algo malo.

It can be handy for a burst of extra energy and focus,

Pode producir un estoupido de enerxía e concentración

like when you're playing a competitive sport,

como cando participas nunha competición deportiva

or have to speak in public.

ou tes que falar en público.

But when its continuous,

Pero cando é continuo,

the kind most of us face day in and day out,

como o que a maioría sufrimos día tras día,

it actually begins to change your brain.

comeza a cambiarche o cerebro.

Chronic stress,

O estrés crónico,

like being overworked or having arguments at home,

cando traballas moito ou rifas na casa,

can affect brain size,

pode afectar ao tamaño do cerebro,

its structure,

á súa estrutura

and how it functions,

e ao seu funcionamento

right down to the level of your genes.

ata o nivel dos xenes.

Stress begins with something called

O estrés comeza con algo chamado

the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis,

eixe hipotálamo-hipofisario-adrenal,

a series of interactions

unhas interaccións

between endocrine glands in the brain and on the kidney,

entre as glándulas endócrinas do cerebro e as suprarrenais,

which controls your body's reaction to stress.

que controlan a reacción do corpo ó estrés.

When your brain detects a stressful situation,

Cando o cerebro detecta unha situación tensa,

your HPA axis is instantly activated

o eixe HHA actívase decontado

and releases a hormone called cortisol, which primes your body for instant action.

e libera unha hormona chamada cortisol, que prepara o corpo para actuar.

Pero altos niveis de cortisol nun período longo

But high levels of cortisol over long periods of time

wreak havoc on your brain.

causan estragos no cerebro.

For example, chronic stress increases the activity level

Por exemplo, o estrés crónico aumenta o nivel de actividade

and number of neural connections in the amygdala,

e o número de conexións neuronais na amígdala,

your brain's fear center.

o centro cerebral do medo.

And as levels of cortisol rise,

Ó aumentar os niveis de cortisol

electric signals in your hippocampus,

os sinais eléctricos no hipocampo,

the part of the brain associated with learning, memories, and stress control,

a parte do cerebro asociada á aprendizaxe, á memoria e ó control do estrés,

deteriorate.

deterióranse.

O hipocampo tamén inhibe a actividade do eixe HHA,

The hippocampus also inhibits the activity of the HPA axis,

so when it weakens,

polo que cando se debilita

so does your ability to control your stress.

tamén se debilita a capacidade de controlar o estrés.

That's not all, though.

Pero iso non é todo.

Cortisol can literally cause your brain to shrink in size.

O cortisol pode facer que o cerebro diminúa o seu tamaño.

Too much of it results in the loss of synaptic connections between neurons

Un nivel excesivo provoca unha perda de conexións sinápticas entre as neuronas

and the shrinking of your prefrontal cortex,

e a diminución do córtex prefrontal,

the part of your brain the regulates behaviors like concentration,

a parte do cerebro que regula condutas como a concentración,

decision-making,

a toma de decisións,

judgement,

o xuízo

and social interaction.

e a interacción social.

It also leads to fewer new brain cells being made in the hippocampus.

Tamén diminúe a formación de novas células cerebrais no hipocampo.

This means chronic stress might make it harder for you to learn

Isto implica que o estrés crónico dificulta a aprendizaxe

and remember things,

e debilita a memoria,

and also set the stage for more serious mental problems,

pero tamén abre a porta a problemas mentais máis graves

like depression and eventually Alzheimer's disease.

como a depresión e, co tempo, o alzhéimer.

The effects of stress may filter right down to your brain's DNA.

Os efectos do estrés poden filtrarse ata o ADN do cerebro.

An experiment showed

Un experimento amosou

that the amount of nurturing a mother rat provides its newborn baby

que a cantidade de comida que unha rata nai lle dá á súa cría

plays a part in determining how that baby responds to stress later in life.

relaciónase con como a cría responderá ó estrés na súa vida.

The pups of nurturing moms turned out less sensitive to stress

As crías de nais que alimentan son menos sensibles ó estrés

because their brains developed more cortisol receptors,

porque o seu cerebro aumenta os receptores de cortisol,

which stick to cortisol and dampen the stress response.

que se pegan ó cortisol e minoran a resposta ó estrés.

The pups of negligent moms had the opposite outcome,

As crías de nais desleixadas tiveron o efecto contrario

and so became more sensitive to stress throughout life.

e foron máis sensibles ao estrés ó longo da súa vida.

These are considered epigenetic changes,

Estes son considerados cambios epixenéticos,

meaning that they effect which genes are expressed

que alteran como se expresan os xenes

without directly changing the genetic code.

sen modificar o código xenético.

And these changes can be reversed if the moms are swapped.

Os cambios poden ser reversibles se as nais se intercambian.

But there's a surprising result.

Pero hai un resultado sorprendente.

The epigenetic changes caused by one single mother rat

Os cambios epixenéticos que causa unha rata nai

were passed down to many generations of rats after her.

transmitíronse a moitas xeracións posteriores.

In other words, the results of these actions were inheritable.

Noutras palabras, os resultados desas accións foron herdados.

It's not all bad news, though.

A pesar diso, non todo son malas novas.

There are many ways to reverse what cortisol does to your stressed brain.

Hai moitos xeitos de desfacer os efectos do cortisol nun cerebro estresado.

The most powerful weapons are exercise and meditation,

Os máis efectivos son o exercicio e a meditación,

which involves breathing deeply

que consiste en respirar profundamente,

and being aware and focused on your surroundings.

e tomar conciencia e concentrarse no que nos rodea.

Both of these activities decrease your stress

Ambas as actividades diminúen o estrés,

and increase the size of the hippocampus,

incrementan o tamaño do hipocampo

thereby improving your memory.

e axudan a mellorar a memoria.

So don't feel defeated by the pressures of daily life.

Non te sintas vencido pola presión do día a día.

Get in control of your stress before it takes control of you.

Toma o control do estrés antes de que el te controle a ti.