What Parents Need to Know About Stress and Learning

Retention, comprehension, and potential to learn are all undermined by stress and anxiety. We are all familiar with the term "test anxiety" and have all experienced that feeling of not being able to concentrate because of stress.

How stress affects brain performance

Stress hormones affect memory and cognition. When we get upset, cortisol is released by the adrenal glands and levels of the hormone rise in blood, and a part of the brain heavily involved in learning and memory—the hippocampus—starts dumping neurons. A smaller hippocampus negatively impacts memory and learning capacity. The increase in stress hormones, especially if sustained, can cause a range of deleterious physical as well as cognitive symptoms.

On the other hand, when the brain is relaxed, blood flow is enhanced to the prefrontal cortex, and we have greater access to mental reserves. The prefrontal cortex hosts critical and abstract thinking and the ability for executive control; however, under stress, the prefrontal cortex slows down, and the amygdala, activated by threat, takes over mental operations. Thinking is more emotionally driven, less analytical when the brain is stressed.

As a result, decision-making is colored by the immediate fight-or-flight response. Even a bad night's sleep can stress the body enough to raise cortisol levels. A child who is worried or not sleeping well, or a business person who is about to close a deal, are both at a disadvantage compared to counterparts who have had a good night's sleep and a fully functioning prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala.

The importance of stress management

When stress is managed—relaxation techniques work—the brain is open to moments of inspiration, creativity, and Aha! insights. Such moments allow students to extend their aptitude. The relaxed alert state is sometimes called the alpha state, for the types of brainwaves that prevail.

Stress and learning

Everything we learn, everything we read, everything we do, everything we understand, and everything we experience counts on the hippocampus to function correctly. When the body endures ongoing stress, cortisol affects the rate at which neurons are added or subtracted from the hippocampus. one result can be a tremendous assault on learning; the capacity to take in new information is inhibited. Short-term memory loss, in many cases, is a reaction to stress, as is a challenged immune system.

Stress management tools

What can you do to help your children (and yourself) manage stress? There are simple tools that can help you recognize, acknowledge, and remediate the damage done to your body from stress.

These stress-management tools include:

1. Exercise
2. Meditation
3. Yoga
4. Talk therapy
5. Music
6. Counseling when needed

If you don't confront the effect of stress on your life, neither you nor your children will be as healthy as you could be or as happy as you should be.