The Pursuit of Happiness
Aristotle once said “…happiness is the highest good…”; humans have since been in constant pursuit. Not only is happiness pursued ,but is thoroughly discussed, with numerous books and movies exhibiting obsession with the idea of eternal happiness and the search for said happiness, science seems to have gotten closer to achieving aforementioned happiness.This happiness may be achieved through stress. While the idea seems strange, studies have been done to prove that if one encounters predictable mild chronic stress frequently, then they can come one step closer to eternal happiness. Happiness may have been hiding -- in the stress itself -- a place where we have been least expecting it all along.
Stress is undoubtedly a part of human life. Because stress is always going to a factor in life, we must observe its positive and negative effects on our lives. Recently Duke University scientists have been researching the hippocampus, which is a section of the human brain that works with memory, mood, and learning.The hippocampus is one of the few sections of the brain that can produce new neurons, cells that are specialized to conduct nerve impulses, throughout our life by a process called Hippocampal Neurogenesis; this is the creation of new neurons in the hippocampal region of the brain. It has been confirmed that maintaining high levels of hippocampal neurogenesis improves mood and memory in addition to cognitive functions, including language and perception. However, conditions that stop or suppress the birth of neurons within the hippocampus (most notably, unpredictable chronic stress or greatly increased levels of stress hormones) are linked to the opposite effects (cognitive dysfunction and higher levels of depressive behavior). While many people experience stress, not all acquire stress-related diseases. It is therefore fair to assert that stress-induced mental illnesses are directly related to the type of stress a person receives. Little research has been done on predictable chronic mild stress, so these scientists tested a theory that stimulation of mice’s neural stem cells –which would cause hippocampal neurogenesis – would cause the mice to experience better mood sand boosted memories.
To test the effects of predictable chronic mild stress the scientists put one group of rats in a "rat restrainer" for five minutes with no mobility between three to five PM every day for twenty-eight days. This simulated the predictable chronic mild stress noted above. The rats in the control group for this experiment were let out of their cages for five minutes daily as well, but they did not have to use the "rat restrainer." The forced swim test -- a common way to measure depressive behavior with rats -- and the elevated plus maze-- a maze used measure anxiety with rats -- were used in this study.
The results of the forced swim test experiment showed a 51% decrease in depressive-like behavior during the course of the study. Two months after the study a follow-up was done to see if the effects of the predictable chronic mild stress were still present, and the rats that were subjected to mild chronic stress continued to show better moods than the control group rats. The stressed rats also showed a great improvement in the elevated plus maze, showing a "threefold improvement over rats in the control group." This shows that the predictable chronic mild stress also helps to reduce anxiety, further improving the mood of the rats. This conclusion lines up with the scientist's idea that predictable mild stress improves mood and anxiety.
In conclusion, these experiments show that predictable chronic mild stress is not only beneficial in the short term, but can also help improve mood for a significant period of time. Approximately thirty days of predictable chronic mild stress showed an improvement in the mood of rats for at least two months. One can only imagine the effects if this predictable mild chronic stress were repeated over a longer period of time. There is still little information on the effects of predictable mild chronic stress, but this appears to be a step in the right direction, and will hopefully inspire more research. I would like to know how the rats fare as time continues and if those twenty-eight days will continue to have a positive effect on them for the duration of their lives. If studies on humans proved that our own hippocampal neurogenesis could be as positively affected by predictable chronic mild stress as rats’ hippocampal neurogenesis appears to be, then these scientists may have found a way to improve the happiness of our entire society, and happiness as Aristotle states is the "highest good."
Works Cited
Parihar, V K. "Predictable Chronic Mild Stress Improves Mood, Hippocampal Neurogenesis and Memory." Molecular Psychiatry. 2009. http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/v16/n2/full/mp2009130a.html
Porsolt RD, Bertin A, Jalfre M. (1977). "Behavioral despair in mice: a primary screening test for antidepressants". Archives Internationales de Pharmacodynamie et de Therapie 229 (2): 327–336.
“Elevated Plus Maze.(2008)”UCLA Behavioral Testing Core Facility.” http://btc.bol.ucla.edu/plus.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment