Stress News

April 7, 2025

Top Headlines

How Cells Respond to Stress Is More Nuanced Than Previously Believed

Mar. 26, 2025 — The body's cells respond to stress -- toxins, mutations, starvation or other assaults -- by pausing normal functions to focus on conserving energy, repairing damaged components and boosting defenses. If the stress is manageable, cells resume normal ...

How Childhood Adversity Shapes Brain and Behavior

Mar. 17, 2025 — Early-life adversity affects more than half of the world's children and is a significant risk factor for cognitive and mental health problems later in life. In an extensive and up-to-the-minute review of research in this domain, scholars illuminate ...

Study Pinpoints the Impact of Prenatal Stress Across 27 Weeks of Pregnancy

Mar. 10, 2025 — Researchers found new insights on the timing of prenatal stress and its effect on infant stress reactivity and temperament -- including differences between ...

Stressed Out? It May Increase the Risk of Stroke

Mar. 5, 2025 — Some people living with chronic stress have a higher risk of stroke, according to a new study. The study looked at younger adults and found an association between stress and stroke, with no known cause, in female participants, but not male ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:59pm EDT

Don't Let This Stress You out

Mar. 3, 2025 — Having one traumatic experience is bad enough. If you've constantly experienced stress since before birth, you may be in for an especially tough time. Our emotions may be influenced by infections ...

Scientists Find Key Differences in Male, Female Responses to Stress

Feb. 13, 2025 — A new study led by researchers at UF Health has uncovered why males and females may experience stress ...

'I Can't Hear You, I'm Too Stressed': Repeated Stress in Mice Reduces Sound Perception

Feb. 11, 2025 — After a week of stress, mice show changes in how their brains process sound, reducing how well they perceive loud noises, according to a new ...

Innovative Program Helps Seniors Manage Stress

Feb. 3, 2025 — A new study shows significant long-term reductions in the stress hormone cortisol in seniors taking part in the O'stress ...

Exposure to Stress During Early Pregnancy Affects Offspring Into Adulthood

Jan. 22, 2025 — Maternal stress hormone levels during early pregnancy can have a lasting effect on the stress system of the offspring. The results of a long-term study on wild Assamese macaques in Thailand indicate ...

Elucidating the Neural Mechanisms of Stress-Induced Cardiovascular Responses

Dec. 16, 2024 — The lateral habenula is a brain region associated with behavioral changes and autonomic responses during psychological stress. Researchers at the ...

College Students' Insomnia Linked More Strongly With Loneliness Than Screen Time

Dec. 4, 2024 — Being lonely is a bigger hurdle to a good night's sleep for college students than too much time at a computer or other electronic screen, a new study ...

New Imaging Study Finds Evidence That Emotion Regulation Is Not Always the Most Effective Strategy to Mitigate Suicidal Ideation

Nov. 25, 2024 — Depressed individuals who reflexively attempt to dampen their initial emotional responses to reminders of their negative memories have a low ...

Stress Is Contagious -- For Animals, Too

Nov. 13, 2024 — What happens to animals when their friends are stressed? Is it possible to document the spread of stress within groups of ...

Cocoa or Green Tea Could Protect You from the Negative Effects of Fatty Foods During Mental Stress

Nov. 18, 2024 — New research has found that a flavanol-rich cocoa drink can protect the body's vasculature against stress even after eating high-fat ...

Propranolol Reduces Tremors in Parkinson's Disease

Dec. 23, 2024 — The standard medication levodopa does not always work against tremors in Parkinson's disease, especially in stressful situations. Propranolol, however, does work during stress, providing insight ...

Stress Makes Mice's Memories Less Specific

Nov. 15, 2024 — Stress is a double-edged sword when it comes to memory: stressful or otherwise emotional events are usually more memorable, but stress can also make it harder for us to retrieve memories. Now, ...

How Stress Is Fundamentally Changing Our Memories

Nov. 15, 2024 — In a new study, researchers identify the biological processes behind stress-induced aversive memory generalization and highlight an intervention which could help restore appropriate memory ...

Only Certain Paranormal Beliefs May Be Linked With More Stress and Distress

Nov. 13, 2024 — In a new study, feelings of distress and reduced ability to cope with stress were associated with traditional paranormal beliefs, but not with new age ...

Researchers Suggest Stress Hormones Explain How Obesity Causes Diabetes

Nov. 12, 2024 — Obesity causes insulin resistance by increasing activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the release of the stress hormone norepinephrine, according to a new ...

The Couples Who Cope Together, Stay Together

Oct. 29, 2024 — A new study has lifted the lid on how couples living with rheumatoid arthritis cope with the debilitating disease finding that those who cope with problems together had less psychological distress ...

New Research Identifies Key Mental Health Risk Factors for Children After Trauma

Oct. 10, 2024 — A new study has shed light on why some children and adolescents develop mental health disorders like PTSD, anxiety, or depression after experiencing a traumatic ...

Managing Stress Could Be the Key to Helping Highly Impulsive People Act Rashly When Bored

Sep. 25, 2024 — Research has explored the relationship between high impulsivity and boredom, in an effort to find out what drives rash and sometimes unhealthy ...

Social Media Posts May Provide Early Warning of PTSD Problems

Sep. 23, 2024 — Scientists have analyzed millions of tweets to identify COVID-19 survivors living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) -- demonstrating the effectiveness of using social media data as a tool ...

Children's Behavioral Problems Are Linked to Higher Hair Cortisol Levels

Sep. 3, 2024 — In a study involving 11-year-olds, researchers have concluded that greater behavioral problems are linked to higher hair cortisol levels. The study also concluded that exposure to certain factors ...

New Method for Quantifying Boredom in the Body During Temporary Stress

Aug. 28, 2024 — A research team developed an innovative method to quantify stress using Integrated Information Theory. This approach comprehensively evaluates biological signals and has demonstrated a strong ...

Placebos Reduce Stress, Anxiety, Depression -- Even When People Know They Are Placebos

Aug. 23, 2024 — A study found that nondeceptive placebos, or placebos given with people fully knowing they are placebos, effectively manage stress -- even when the placebos are administered ...

Stroke Recovery: It's in the Genes

July 24, 2024 — New research has found that specific genes may be related to the trajectory of recovery for stroke survivors, providing doctors insights useful for developing targeted ...

Researchers Identify Brain Region Involved in Oxycodone Relapse

July 9, 2024 — Even years after they have recovered, a person who once struggled with alcohol or opioid addiction can relapse--and that relapse is more likely to occur during particularly stressful times. Now, ...

Confronting Trauma Alleviates Chronic Pain Among Older Veterans

June 13, 2024 — A new study found chronic pain among older adults could be significantly reduced through a newly developed psychotherapy that works by confronting past trauma and stress-related emotions that can ...

How Stress Knocks out Your Cognitive Reserve

June 4, 2024 — While mentally stimulating activities and life experiences can improve cognition in memory clinic patients, stress undermines this beneficial ...

Study Shows How Justice Facility Dogs Benefit Wellbeing for Children Facing Court

June 4, 2024 — A new study has revealed that having a four-legged friend at Children's Court significantly reduces stress and anxiety for young victims, witnesses, and their ...

Intervention Reduces Stress and Feelings of Burden of Family Caregivers of Older Adults With Dementia

May 29, 2024 — Interprofessional research study found that family caregivers of older adults living with dementia experienced a 15% drop in stress after a 9-week online peer support ...

Stress Bragging May Make You Seem Less Competent, Less Likable at Work

May 23, 2024 — While work is occasionally stressful for everyone, some people wear stress as a badge of honor. They're taking one for the team and want to tell you all about it. New research found people who ...

Under Stress, an Observer Is More Likely to Help the Victim Than to Punish the Perpetrator

May 16, 2024 — Being stressed while witnessing injustice may push your brain towards altruism, according to a new ...