stress

Washington University in St. Louis psychology researchers Ryan Bogdan and Thomas Oltmanns received a federal grant totaling more than $3 million to study how adversity may perpetuate racial health disparities and health outcomes within families.

Calming a neural circuit in the brain can alleviate stress in mice, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis that lays the foundation for understanding stress and anxiety in people. The researchers also showed they could shine a light into the brain to activate the stress response in mice that had not been exposed to stressful situations.

WUSTL physicians say stress management for those suffering from diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, insomnia and other conditions. Plus, how much do you know about stress? Take our “stress test” and find out.

Slowly take five deep breaths. In the latest installment of the Record’s series looking at stress, WUSTL experts offer this and other tips for overcoming stress. Plus, check out a video from South 40 Fitness Center yoga instructor Lynda Anderson.

Nuts, avocados and even chocolate (in moderation) can help alleviate symptoms of stress.

School-age children whose mothers nurtured them early in life have brains with a larger hippocampus, a key structure important to learning, memory and response to stress. The new research, by child psychiatrists and neuroscientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is the first to show that changes in this key region of children’s brain anatomy are linked to a mother’s nurturing.

Researchers have identified an important part of the pathway through which stress affects mood and motivation for drugs. The finding may prove useful in humans by providing new potential targets for drugs to treat problems related to stress.  

An innate protective response that makes the brain resistant to injury from stroke can be made to last for months longer than previously documented, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report.

These skulls, from victims of the Khmer Rouge, are on display in a Buddhist stupa at Choeung Ek, a mass burial site commonly known as one of “the killing fields.”Lessons learned from research into the societal effects of post-Apartheid “truth and reconciliation” hearings in South Africa are now being applied to a U.S. National Institute of Peace-sponsored study of the long-term mental health impact on Cambodians from human rights tribunals targeting the killing of millions by the nation’s former Khmer Rouge regime, says James L. Gibson, a professor of political science at Washington University in St. Louis and co-author of a study published Aug. 6 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

While it’s known as “the season to be jolly,” the holidays can be a time of stress, conflict, and pressure for many people. Some people feel overwhelmed and become depressed during the holidays. Don’t dismay. There are strategies for coping with the emotional stresses and strains of the holiday season. More…