Women respond better to stress

The popular idea thatwomen resist stress better than men It has a scientific explanation, as researchers from the University of Buffalo in New York have discovered, and describe in an article published in the journal 'Molecular Psychiatry'.It's thanks to estrogen.

"We have examined the molecular mechanism underlying gender in the specific effects of stress," says lead author Zhen Yan, a professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. "Previous studies have found that women are moreresistant to chronic stress and now our research has found the reason, "he adds.


The study shows that in rats exposed to repeated episodes of stress, females respond better than men due to the protective effect of estrogen. In the analysis of the UB, young female rats exposed to a week of periodic tension of physical restrictionthey did not show deterioration in their ability to remember and recognize objects that had been previously shown, while young males exposed to the same tension were affectedshort-term memory.

The amount of estrogen influences stress

Last year, Yan and his colleagues at the UB published in the journal 'Neuron' a document that shows that stress affects the loss of glutamate receptors in the prefrontal cortex of young men. The current document shows that the glutamate receptor in the prefrontal cortex of stressed females is intact.


The results provide further support to a growing body of research that shows that the glutamate receptor is the molecular target of stress, which mediates the stress response. The stress factors used in the experiments mimicdifficult and stressful experiences, but not dangerous, which human beings face, such as those that causefrustration and feelings of being under pressureexplained Yan.

By manipulating the amount of estrogen produced in the brain, the UB researchers were able to make men respond to stress more than females. "When estrogen signaling was blocked in the brains of females, the stress showed detrimental effects on them," Yan said, "when the estrogen signaling was activated in men, the damaging effects of stress were blocked."


"We still found the protective effect of estrogens in female rats whose ovaries were removed," said Yan, who specified that this suggests that it could be the estrogen produced in the brain that protects against the damaging effects of stress. In the current study, Yan and his colleagues found that the aromatase enzyme, which produces estradiol, a estrogen hormone in the brain, is responsible for the female capacity of resistance toeffort and that aromatase levels are significantly higher in the prefrontal cortex of female rats.

Video: Mayo Clinic News Network Headline 6/18/2015 - Men with Stress


Interesting Articles

Breastfeeding improves your bacterial flora

Breastfeeding improves your bacterial flora

The breast of the mother is the first food that the baby should take when it comes to this world. The breastmilk It has many benefits, both psychological (improvement of the bond with the child) and...

Trends to decorate your baby's room

Trends to decorate your baby's room

Drawings on the walls, cushions with shapes, poems on the ceiling ... turn the room of the little ones into a magical place that stimulates your imagination! It's the place where they sleep, they do...

Children's games for a family Christmas

Children's games for a family Christmas

Christmas parties are the ideal moment to propose childish games to live these holidays as a family. It is time to share good times, to surround ourselves with all our loved ones. We must take...