title: Stress and the brain.
abstract: Stress is a risk factor for a variety of illnesses, involving the same hormones that ensure survival during a period of stress. Although there is a considerable ambiguity in the definition of stress, a useful operational definition is: "anything that induces increased secretion of glucocorticoids". The brain is a major target for glucocorticoids. Whereas the precise mechanism of glucocorticoid-induced brain damage is not yet understood, treatment strategies aimed at regulating abnormal levels of glucocorticoids, are worth examining.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Benjamin Franklin, Eschenallee 3, 14050 Berlin, Germany. isabella.heuser@medizin.fu-berlin.de
authors.forename: Isabella
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Heuser
authors.forename: Claas-Hinrich
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lammers
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism / Q000523:psychology; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000378:metabolism / Q000523:psychology; D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid / Q000378:metabolism; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids; D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid