week 1: 6/30-7/05

Day 1: 6/30/25

• I hate this Macbook. It’s so sluggish and doesn’t respond to any of my inputs. It literally took me 30 minutes just to set up this slide. But anyway, I wanted to start off with the question I presented in the intro. What are the neurochemical differences between individuals with a high resilience to stress vs. individuals with a low resilience to stress and how can we improve stress resiliency across all brain types? To start, the resilience to stress is partly influenced by the balance of certain chemicals in the brain like cortisol, dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.

  • Cortisol: High Resilience to Stress shows more balanced cortisol levels and the body takes a quicker time to return to normal cortisol levels after stress

  • Dopamine: High Resilience to Stress shows stronger, higher and a more easily activated dopamine system.

  • Serotonin: High Resilience to Stress shows stronger serotonin regulation leading to a better ability to maintain mood balance and reduce feelings of anxiety.

  • Norepinephrine: High Resilience to Norepinephrine shows stronger norepinephrine regulation, helping alertness while preventing overdrive

• High Resilience means the brain can manage and recover from stress more effectively thanks to a balanced neurochemical system. Low resilience means that cortisol and norepinephrine stay at high levels while serotonin and dopamine systems may not be as effective at keeping the mood stable.

• This is a strong foundation for what is to come soon.

Day 2: 7/01/25

• I think I finally got this Macbook settled so we should be good. Now that we have a basic understanding of the chemicals that contribute to stress, let’s go deeper with each chemical to see how it specifically can be regulated to alleviate high stress levels. For the sake of condensation and the fact that I’m seeing a movie later, I’ll only talk about cortisol today. This works out as cortisol is one of the more complicated chemicals to comprehend. We know that a high resilience to stress is correlated with a balanced cortisol response. But what does that mean? A balanced cortisol response refers to the way the body releases and regulates cortisol during and after stress events. Cortisol is a crucial hormone produced by the adrenal glands, and it plays a key role in the fight-or-flight response. However, its regulation—both in terms of the amount and timing of release—is critical for maintaining health, particularly when it comes to stress resilience. It is also important that cortisol is able to return back to its normal levels quickly and that it operates on a diurnal pattern. So what can be done to regulate cortisol levels at the molecular level. There are a few things that can be done. We can block stress signals (CRH and ACTH) so the body doesn't overreact, improve the feedback loop that tells the body to stop making cortisol once it's no longer needed, prevent the production of cortisol by blocking the enzyme (11β-HSD1) that turns cortisone into active cortisol, help the body clear cortisol faster using enzymes like 5α-reductase, use natural substances like herbs and fats (e.g., ashwagandha or omega-3s) to support the body in handling stress and lowering cortisol levels. All these methods work at the molecular level to make sure your body doesn't get stuck in a "stress mode" with too much cortisol. I have to go, but I’ll go over what all this means as well as treatment options can be done for the other chemicals tomorrow.

Day 3: 7/02/25

• Now that we have done a deep dive into cortisol, lets move on to another neurochemical, norepinephrine. Individuals with high stress resilience exhibit more balanced neurochemical regulation, particularly in how their brains manage norepinephrine (NE), a key neurotransmitter involved in the “fight or flight” response. Norepinephrine is produced mainly in the locus coeruleus and plays a critical role in arousal, attention, and responding to threats. In resilient individuals, NE levels rise quickly during acute stress but return to baseline efficiently, allowing for heightened focus without long-term disruption. Their prefrontal cortex (PFC)—responsible for executive control—effectively regulates emotional centers like the amygdala and suppresses excessive NE output, maintaining cognitive clarity. Conversely, individuals with low resilience often have dysregulated NE signaling: the locus coeruleus may remain overactive, leading to prolonged NE elevation, hypervigilance, impaired decision-making, and emotional instability. Chronic stress further weakens PFC control and disrupts feedback systems like the HPA axis, compounding NE imbalance. Improving stress resilience across brain types involves strategies that restore NE regulation and PFC function—such as mindfulness, exercise, therapy, adequate sleep, and social connection—by enhancing neuroplasticity, supporting healthy neurotransmitter cycling, and reducing excessive arousal. Overall, we can see that norepinephrine plays a key role in stress regulation and works in tandem with cortisol to operate effectively. Tomorrow, we take a dive into how dopamine works because from the research that I’ve been seeing, it is nothing like what we have just saw, and based on the title you all can tell that I’m pretty excited for this one.

Day 4: 7/03/25.

• Ok so we have seen the impacts of norepinephrine and cortisol, now let’s take a look at dopamine. Individuals with high stress resilience differ neurochemically from those with low resilience in several key ways, with dopamine (DA) regulation playing a central role in shaping these differences. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter crucial for motivation, reward processing, goal-directed behavior, and cognitive flexibility—functions that are especially important in how we interpret and cope with stress. In stress-resilient individuals, dopamine levels in brain regions like the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and mesolimbic pathway (including the nucleus accumbens) are well-regulated, supporting a healthy balance between emotional regulation and adaptive decision-making. These individuals maintain optimal dopamine tone, meaning they can experience pleasure, stay motivated, and flexibly shift attention, even under pressure. Their PFC remains active and functional during stress, helping to suppress overactivation of the amygdala (the brain’s fear center) and modulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which controls cortisol release. In contrast, individuals with low resilience often exhibit dopaminergic dysregulation, such as reduced baseline dopamine, blunted reward responsiveness, or hypersensitive dopamine receptors, leading to anhedonia, low motivation, poor coping strategies, and a tendency to ruminate or feel helpless during stress. Chronic stress can damage dopaminergic circuits by decreasing dopamine synthesis or receptor density, impairing cognitive flexibility and reinforcing negative behavioral loops. To improve stress resilience across different brain types, interventions should aim to restore dopamine balance and strengthen PFC function. This includes regular aerobic exercise, which naturally boosts dopamine release and receptor sensitivity, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to reframe maladaptive thought patterns, goal setting and achievement, which taps into the dopamine reward system, and practices like mindfulness and meditation, which reduce stress reactivity and enhance dopamine signaling through increased self-awareness. Nutritional support (adequate protein, omega-3s, and micronutrients like magnesium and B-vitamins), sleep hygiene, and avoiding dopamine-depleting behaviors (e.g., chronic stress, substance abuse) are also critical. Ultimately, healthy dopamine regulation allows individuals to stay engaged, optimistic, and cognitively flexible under stress—core features of psychological resilience.

Day 5: 7/04/25

• Happy 4th! I hope you are all enjoying this time with family and friends. Lets take a look at our final neurochemical, serotonin. Serotonin, a key neurotransmitter involved in mood, emotion, and cognitive function, plays a crucial role in determining an individual's resilience to stress. It is primarily produced in the raphe nuclei of the brainstem and acts widely throughout the brain to promote feelings of well-being, emotional stability, and impulse control. Individuals with high stress resilience typically show more balanced and efficient serotonin regulation—they maintain stable serotonin levels during stress, which helps buffer against anxiety, depression, and emotional reactivity. In contrast, individuals with low resilience often have dysregulated serotonin systems, such as reduced serotonin production, impaired receptor sensitivity, or inefficient reuptake, leading to heightened vulnerability to stress-related disorders like depression and anxiety. Enhancing stress resilience across different brain types can involve interventions that support healthy serotonin function, such as regular aerobic exercise, adequate sleep, a balanced diet (especially rich in tryptophan, the precursor to serotonin), exposure to natural light, and therapeutic practices like mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral therapy. In more severe cases, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or other medications can help stabilize serotonin signaling, promoting greater emotional regulation and stress adaptability.

Day 6: 7/05/25

• Now that we have a stronger knowing of the four main neurochemicals related to stress regulation, lets look at how the stress can actually be regulated at the molecular level. Regulating neurochemicals at the molecular level to manage stress means influencing how certain brain chemicals—like cortisol, dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine—are produced, released, broken down, and how well brain cells (neurons) respond to them. Each of these neurochemicals has a specific role in the stress response, and their balance is key for emotional and physical well-being.

  • Cortisol is produced by the adrenal glands when the brain signals stress. Too much cortisol over time can damage brain areas like the hippocampus (which controls memory). Molecules called glucocorticoid receptors help regulate how cells respond to cortisol. Techniques like mindfulness, sleep, and aerobic exercise reduce cortisol by lowering activity in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the brain's stress circuit.

  • Serotonin helps regulate mood and emotional stability. It’s made from the amino acid tryptophan and is broken down by enzymes like MAO-A (monoamine oxidase A). Eating foods rich in tryptophan, getting sunlight (which triggers serotonin synthesis), and exercising can increase serotonin production and receptor sensitivity. Some medications (like SSRIs) block serotonin reuptake so more stays active between neurons.

  • Dopamine supports motivation and reward. Its production depends on tyrosine, another amino acid, and enzymes like tyrosine hydroxylase. Activities that create small wins—like setting goals or learning new things—help regulate dopamine release and receptor balance. Too little dopamine can lead to fatigue or depression, while too much can cause stress or impulsive behavior.

  • Norepinephrine increases alertness and focus during stress. It's made from dopamine in the brainstem and is regulated by the locus coeruleus. Deep breathing, regular movement, and adequate sleep reduce excessive norepinephrine signaling by calming this brain area and adjusting receptor responsiveness.

  Overall, by supporting healthy neurotransmitter function through nutrition, rest, physical activity, and stress-reducing habits, we can regulate these neurochemicals at the molecular level and improve how the brain handles stress.