Sep. 5, 2009
The distinction lies in the story that each of the students is telling himself. One student may be saying to him, “I will just do my best. Everything will be fine.” Meanwhile the other is saying, “I am terrible at standardized tests, and my whole future depends on this one test.”
In both cases, the story is the creation of the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that analyzes and judges our environment. In the case of the stressed-out student, he is sending out a message that says, “Emergency! Sound the alarms!” The hypothalamus, sitting like a guard on top of the brain stem, hears the message and then relays it through hormonal and bio electrical signals to the rest of the body. The sympathetic nervous system also known as the fight-or-flight response, is activated digestion is slowed, heartbeat is increased, and circulation is compromised, including in the brain.
Ironically, the student who put so much weight on the outcome of the test has done little to help himself succeed. A mild stress response may have helped him perform better, but in this case it is too extreme, and he is caught in a state of imbalance.
Sorry, comments for this entry are closed at this time.