How stress affects your brain - Madhumita Murgia?

Stress is like when you're playing with your favorite toy and suddenly someone takes it away, your brain gets busy trying to fix things.

Your brain has a special part called the amygdala, which acts like a little alarm bell. When something stressful happens, the amygdala goes beep beep, telling your brain, “Hey! Something is wrong!”

Then another part of your brain, called the hippocampus, steps in to help you remember what happened and how to deal with it, kind of like your brain's notebook.

But when stress keeps coming, like being chased by a big dog every day, your brain can get tired. The amygdala keeps ringing that alarm bell, and the hippocampus gets confused. It’s like trying to write in your notebook while someone is shouting at you, you might forget what you were writing or even lose some of your notes.

Over time, this can make it harder for your brain to think clearly or remember things, just like how a messy room makes it hard to find your favorite toy.