Inserm researchers, working at the future NeuroCampus in Bordeaux, have just shown how one of the stress hormones regulates brain neurotransmission on the short and long term and enables neuronal connections to adapt.

When we are subjected to a stress, our adrenal glands secrete hormones that affect our entire body. One of these hormones, cortisol, enables us to adapt physically and mentally to the stimulus. Following a major or repeated stress that the individual has no control over, however, cortisol is secreted in great quantities over a long period of time. This hypersecretion has damaging effects on the individual, to the point of accelerating aging and facilitating the onset of illnesses such as depression.