TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Madhumita Murgia: How stress affects your brain

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Are you sleeping rlsetelssy, feeling irritable or moody, forgetting little things, and feeling overwhelmed and isolated? Don't worry. We've all been there. You're probably just setsrsed out. Stress isn't always a bad thing. It can be handy for a burst of extra energy and focus, like when you're playing a competitive sport, or have to speak in public. But when its continuous, the kind most of us face day in and day out, it actually begins to change your brain. Chronic stress, like being overworked or having arguments at home, can acefft barin size, its structure, and how it functions, right down to the level of your genes. Stress binges with something called the hypothalamus pturtiiay adrenal axis, a sreies of itaroncnetis between endocrine glands in the brain and on the kidney, which controls your body's reaction to stress. When your brain detects a stressful saiouittn, your HPA axis is instantly avtaceitd and raeelses a hrnmooe called cortisol, which primes your body for instant aticon. But high levels of crotsiol over long pirdeos of time wreak havoc on your brain. For example, chronic stress increases the activity level and number of neural connections in the amygdala, your brain's fear center. And as levels of cortisol rise, eeilrctc sngails in your houmcpiapps, the part of the brain associated with learning, memories, and sestrs control, deteriorate. The hippocampus also ibinhtis the activity of the HPA axis, so when it weakens, so does your ability to control your stress. That's not all, though. Cortisol can literally cause your brain to shrink in size. Too much of it results in the loss of stpainyc connections between neurons and the shrinking of your prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain the regulates behaviors like concentration, decision-making, judgement, and social interaction. It also laeds to fewer new brain cells being made in the hippocampus. This means chronic stress might make it harder for you to leran and remember things, and also set the satge for more serious metanl problems, like depression and eventually Alzheimer's dsaiese. The effects of stress may filter right down to your brain's DNA. An experiment showed that the anmout of nurturing a mother rat provides its nrwoben baby plays a part in determining how that baby responds to stress later in life. The pups of nurturing moms turned out less sensitive to stress because their brains developed more cortisol rpeercots, which stick to cortisol and dampen the stress response. The pups of negligent moms had the opposite outcome, and so became more sensitive to stress throughout life. These are considered eteiepnigc changes, mniaeng that they effect which genes are expressed without directly cginhnag the genetic code. And these changes can be reversed if the moms are swapped. But there's a surprising result. The epigenetic changes caused by one single mother rat were passed down to many generations of rats after her. In other wrods, the results of these actions were inheritable. It's not all bad news, though. There are many ways to reverse what cortisol does to your stressed brain. The most powerful weapons are exercise and meditation, which involves breathing deeply and being aware and focused on your srrunngiodus. Both of these activities decrease your stress and increase the size of the hippocampus, thereby improving your memory. So don't feel defeated by the pressures of daliy life. Get in control of your stress before it takes control of you.

Open Cloze

Are you sleeping __________, feeling irritable or moody, forgetting little things, and feeling overwhelmed and isolated? Don't worry. We've all been there. You're probably just ________ out. Stress isn't always a bad thing. It can be handy for a burst of extra energy and focus, like when you're playing a competitive sport, or have to speak in public. But when its continuous, the kind most of us face day in and day out, it actually begins to change your brain. Chronic stress, like being overworked or having arguments at home, can ______ _____ size, its structure, and how it functions, right down to the level of your genes. Stress ______ with something called the hypothalamus _________ adrenal axis, a ______ of ____________ between endocrine glands in the brain and on the kidney, which controls your body's reaction to stress. When your brain detects a stressful _________, your HPA axis is instantly _________ and ________ a _______ called cortisol, which primes your body for instant ______. But high levels of ________ over long _______ of time wreak havoc on your brain. For example, chronic stress increases the activity level and number of neural connections in the amygdala, your brain's fear center. And as levels of cortisol rise, ________ _______ in your ___________, the part of the brain associated with learning, memories, and ______ control, deteriorate. The hippocampus also ________ the activity of the HPA axis, so when it weakens, so does your ability to control your stress. That's not all, though. Cortisol can literally cause your brain to shrink in size. Too much of it results in the loss of ________ connections between neurons and the shrinking of your prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain the regulates behaviors like concentration, decision-making, judgement, and social interaction. It also _____ to fewer new brain cells being made in the hippocampus. This means chronic stress might make it harder for you to _____ and remember things, and also set the _____ for more serious ______ problems, like depression and eventually Alzheimer's _______. The effects of stress may filter right down to your brain's DNA. An experiment showed that the ______ of nurturing a mother rat provides its _______ baby plays a part in determining how that baby responds to stress later in life. The pups of nurturing moms turned out less sensitive to stress because their brains developed more cortisol _________, which stick to cortisol and dampen the stress response. The pups of negligent moms had the opposite outcome, and so became more sensitive to stress throughout life. These are considered __________ changes, _______ that they effect which genes are expressed without directly ________ the genetic code. And these changes can be reversed if the moms are swapped. But there's a surprising result. The epigenetic changes caused by one single mother rat were passed down to many generations of rats after her. In other _____, the results of these actions were inheritable. It's not all bad news, though. There are many ways to reverse what cortisol does to your stressed brain. The most powerful weapons are exercise and meditation, which involves breathing deeply and being aware and focused on your ____________. Both of these activities decrease your stress and increase the size of the hippocampus, thereby improving your memory. So don't feel defeated by the pressures of _____ life. Get in control of your stress before it takes control of you.

Solution

synaptic
cortisol
surroundings
changing
learn
stage
brain
newborn
receptors
periods
daily
interactions
signals
meaning
series
amount
hippocampus
situation
stressed
mental
disease
hormone
action
stress
begins
pituitary
activated
inhibits
restlessly
leads
epigenetic
words
electric
affect
releases

Original Text

Are you sleeping restlessly, feeling irritable or moody, forgetting little things, and feeling overwhelmed and isolated? Don't worry. We've all been there. You're probably just stressed out. Stress isn't always a bad thing. It can be handy for a burst of extra energy and focus, like when you're playing a competitive sport, or have to speak in public. But when its continuous, the kind most of us face day in and day out, it actually begins to change your brain. Chronic stress, like being overworked or having arguments at home, can affect brain size, its structure, and how it functions, right down to the level of your genes. Stress begins with something called the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis, a series of interactions between endocrine glands in the brain and on the kidney, which controls your body's reaction to stress. When your brain detects a stressful situation, your HPA axis is instantly activated and releases a hormone called cortisol, which primes your body for instant action. But high levels of cortisol over long periods of time wreak havoc on your brain. For example, chronic stress increases the activity level and number of neural connections in the amygdala, your brain's fear center. And as levels of cortisol rise, electric signals in your hippocampus, the part of the brain associated with learning, memories, and stress control, deteriorate. The hippocampus also inhibits the activity of the HPA axis, so when it weakens, so does your ability to control your stress. That's not all, though. Cortisol can literally cause your brain to shrink in size. Too much of it results in the loss of synaptic connections between neurons and the shrinking of your prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain the regulates behaviors like concentration, decision-making, judgement, and social interaction. It also leads to fewer new brain cells being made in the hippocampus. This means chronic stress might make it harder for you to learn and remember things, and also set the stage for more serious mental problems, like depression and eventually Alzheimer's disease. The effects of stress may filter right down to your brain's DNA. An experiment showed that the amount of nurturing a mother rat provides its newborn baby plays a part in determining how that baby responds to stress later in life. The pups of nurturing moms turned out less sensitive to stress because their brains developed more cortisol receptors, which stick to cortisol and dampen the stress response. The pups of negligent moms had the opposite outcome, and so became more sensitive to stress throughout life. These are considered epigenetic changes, meaning that they effect which genes are expressed without directly changing the genetic code. And these changes can be reversed if the moms are swapped. But there's a surprising result. The epigenetic changes caused by one single mother rat were passed down to many generations of rats after her. In other words, the results of these actions were inheritable. It's not all bad news, though. There are many ways to reverse what cortisol does to your stressed brain. The most powerful weapons are exercise and meditation, which involves breathing deeply and being aware and focused on your surroundings. Both of these activities decrease your stress and increase the size of the hippocampus, thereby improving your memory. So don't feel defeated by the pressures of daily life. Get in control of your stress before it takes control of you.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
chronic stress	2
mother rat	2

Important Words

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