What Stress Looks Like in The Brain

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found a non-invasive way to map areas of the brain that are affected by psychological stress. The method involves using magnetically "tagged" water in the subjects blood, which flows to the brain and is detected with functional magnetic resonance imaging. Dr. John A. Detre and his team found "an increase in blood flow to the prefrontal cortex in individuals subjected to stress... [which] remained when the stressor was removed, suggesting the effects of stress are more persistent than once thought." This may give new insight into a person's inability to 'get over' a traumatic event. The results of the study were published on the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online edition.