The Brain at Low and High Levels of Stress

 Alright guys! I saw this video a few days ago and i wanted to share it with you guys! The video talks about the brain at low levels of stress and at high levels of stress. In the beginning of the video, the narrator talks about two of the main parts of the brain that are affected dring stress, the hippocampus and the amygdala. Just like he said in the video, when stress causes cortisol to flood the hippocampus the volume of it decreases. When this happens, you start to experience more emotions, anxiety , and you even start to forget things. At this point, I bet that any of you who are reading and or viewing the video are all remembering a time when you have experienced this. I remember the first time I presented a major assignment in my reading class and long story short I was soo nervous that when my teacher had asked me if my book was fiction or non-fiction I told her that I didn't know. At the time i was really nervous that I forgot what fiction and non-fiction were. Further in the video he talks about how the prefrontal cortex responds when certain levels of dopamine and norephrinephrine are involved. When the levels are low, we are generally bored and don't perform as good as we need to. Even when the levels are high we don't perform like we need to because we are highly stressed and emotional. Which is way they say to stay in the "flow" zone. Some of you are probably thinking " that's easier said than done." I know I am. Lets face it most of us are either too stressed or too bored and are almost never in between. However, what this video has taught me and what I hope that you guys learn, is to find a way to establish a "flow" zone. Don't let yourself get over stressed. Plan ahead accordingly so that you have what i call "wiggle room" to make mistakes, and fix things if need be so that things can go the way you need and or want them to. When you're bored and have nothing to do try something that is out of your comfort zone or is something you don't normally do. NO, that does not mean to start picking up nasty habits.What that means is to do things that stimulate your brain. things such as reading, writing, watching funny videos, exercising, volunteering, etc. Do something for you!