Stress, Mindfulness, Brain Changes, and Inflammation: Putting the Pieces Together

In my neuroscience research life, I talk a lot about brains, stress, de-stressing, and what happens to your brain and your body under those conditions. Some people are interested in just one aspect...but what I most often hear is, "But Adrienne, how does it all fit together?"

So one day I sat down and scribbled a map of sorts, with lots of lines and arrows and sticky notes on pieces of paper scotch-taped together. My desk looked like something out of A Beautiful Mind, and I was on top of the world when I finished. And also reaching the non-stop work point where I start talking to my house plants. The fruition of that labor is now in a much more readable format, so here's some food for thought:

Ask questions. Send me your wild theories. Fill in any holes.

What am I most interested in now? Adding the effects of physical activity & sympathetic/parasympathetic nervous system balance to the equation. To be continued...

- AT