resilience tagged posts

Dynamic neural activity during stress signals resilient coping

Why some people handle stress better than others is a question that has fascinated scientists for decades. Now a Yale-led team reports that flexible brain activity in a particular area of the brain may predict resilience. Conversely, its absence can help pinpoint those most at risk for binge drinking, emotional eating, and angry outbursts, according to a study published the week of July 18 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

30 research participants were given fMRI scans while exposed to either highly threatening, violent, and stressful images and to neutral, non-stressful images for 6 minutes each. The scientists found 3 distinct patterns of response to stress...

Brain composition and bipolar disorder. MRI studies . Credit: Bipolar Lives.

Naturally occurring changes in brain wiring can help patients at high genetic risk of developing bipolar disorder avert the onset of the illness, according to a new study led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The study’s findings open up new avenues for researchers to explore ways the brain can prevent disease expression, also known as resilience, with the hope of developing better treatments.

Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes fluctuations in patients’ mood, energy, activity levels and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. Bipolar disorder is highly heritable.

Researchers used MRI to map the connectivity patterns in the brain...