Expecting a stressful day can diminish cognitive abilities

Conducted by researchers from Pennsylvania State University, this new study involved 240 adults, followed for two weeks.

During this time, participants were asked questions seven times a day via an application on their smartphone. A question asked in the morning asked them if they expected to have a stressful day; five questions during the day asked them how stressed they were (or not); Finally, a question asked in the evening asked if they expected to have a stressful day the next day.

Participants also had five tests per day, evaluating their working memory, namely the temporary memory used for the brain to

Faulty working memory

The responses showed that when participants woke up feeling that their day was going to be stressful, their working memory was slower during the day, even though no event stressful had occurred. However, anticipating stress the night before was not badociated with a failure of working memory.

According to Jinshil Hyun, co-author of the study, these results suggest that stress is occurring long before a truly stressful event occurs: " Humans can anticipate things that are about to happen, and thus be better prepared for them ," he explains, " but this study suggests that this ability may also be detrimental to everyday memory, whether or not a stressful event occurs . "

Martin Sliwinski, who also worked on this study, explains that decreased performance of working memory can affect many aspects of everyday life, especially among the elderly, who are already experiencing cognitive decline:

" A faulty working memory may make you more likely to wander ur, or having difficulty concentrating. In the context of aging, it can be cognitive errors with serious consequences: taking the wrong medication, or making a mistake while driving, can lead to a catastrophe. "

The cure? The right breathing

The scientist concludes: " If, on waking, you feel that the day is going to be stressful, perhaps you can set your smartphone to remind you to perform deep breathing exercises before to put you to work. Likewise, you can ask him to remind you not to drive if you feel too stressed. "

Read also: Cardiac coherence, breathing exercise to chase stress

The results of The study was published on the journal Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences.