Name: How Stress Rewires Your Brain and What You Can Do About It
Uploaded: 2018-07-18T21:01:20.000Z
Duration: 3 min 35 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

We've all heard the phrase, "get your creative
juices flowing."

Modal verbs - B1

Weird as it sounds, there may be some truth
to the term, "creative juices..."

Transition words & phrases

which I will stop saying right now,
because it feels weird to say.

Meet BDNF, also known as 
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor.

BDNF isn't a synthetic creativity juice you
can just grab at Costco.

The role of BDNF is stimulating, maintaining,
and supporting neuronal growth

in your nervous system, helping make
more connections in your brain.

Those increased synaptic connections can help
you get out of that creative rut.

And I'm not talking Crossfit, Zumba, or
Milly rocking on every block.

Lighter exercise like walking 
can help you get some BDNF in your system.

BDNF is integral to processes of learning
and memory,

and if you need more proof that it's important, 
there's significant evidence that

Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and 
Huntington's Disease patients

So getting those levels up early in life could help 
stave off those neurodegenerative diseases.

If the juices ain't flowing, 
get up and get going.

I should be writing science mixtapes 
and selling them in Times Square.

There's so much scrutiny from so many people
into our lives, increased exponentially by social media,

that it could be doing damage to our mental health,
increasing psychosocial stress.

All of that in turn affects our depression
and anxiety.

Changing small things about your mindset and
routine can affect you on a neurological level,

Neuroplasticity is exactly what it sounds
like: neuro, “brain” and plasticity, “flexible.”

In this case, it means that our brains have
the ability to change and adapt

We can help alleviate these symptoms of depression,
anxiety, and psychosocial stress

It doesn't have to be a reboot of your
entire life - #NewYearNewMe;

it could be a small change that makes things better...

#NewYearSameMeButILikeChangedSomeStuff...?

That's clunky, we gotta fix that in post.

Hop off social media for a while. 
Take a trip.

Cut that messy friend who talks all kinds
of trash out of your life,

All of these things will not only positively
affect your physical health,

like your heart and immune functions, 
but also your psychological health.

If you gotta cut this video off now and go
to sleep immediately, do it.

I realize that there's extenuating circumstances
to getting enough sleep:

work and family stuff, being a college student trying to survive in a capitalist society, et cetera.

But important things happen in your brain
when you're asleep.

First, cerebrospinal fluid is cleaning toxins
out of your brain while you sleep.

The more time asleep, the more thorough that
cleaning can be.

Second, it preserves and encodes our memories
in our hippocampus,

in turn helping us keep track of our day, 
the next day's agenda, and who owes us money

(Steve, I know you saw the Venmo charge, so text me back).

Third, it solidifies new information
we've learned over the last day.

This especially goes out to all my people still
in school – you've learned so much information

in your last day of classes; just go to sleep
to help remember it,

stop playing FIFA, Fortnite, and 2K all night
(yeah, I was you once, I know what you're doing).

These are small tips that have science to
back them up.

Try all of these for a month and track your
progress.

Did you write that supahotfiyah science mixtape
that went double platinum, no features?

If so, keep at it, and let's make #NewYearSameMeButALittleBitBetterThanBefore

One mechanism to deal with stress that I didn't
mention is mindful meditation, which, if you

which, if you have a friend who doesn't shut up in line
at brunch, you've probably heard about.

But is there ANY scientific truth to that?

Check out this episode right here to find
out and while you're at it,

subscribe to Seeker for all new
stories about science, all the time.