Home> Archive> 2022> Volume 12 Number 2 ( May. 2022)
IJSSH 2022 Vol.12(2): 62-65 ISSN: 2010-3646
doi: 10.18178/ijssh.2022.V12.1067

The Importance of Acknowledgment in Increased Permeability of the Blood-Brain Barrier Under Chronic Immobilization Stress

Claire Margaret Shi

Abstract—The brain uses a large proportion of our daily energy intake despite its small mass percentage relative to our entire body. The system that transports this vital energy to the various structures in the brain, in the form of glucose, is composed of intricate blood vessels that remain isolated from the brain mass, thanks to the blood-brain barrier. But this seemingly impermeable armor of protection can be vulnerable to an emotion we are all familiar with – stress. Hyperpermeability of the blood-brain barrier is more common and dangerous than it might sound. The gag response experienced on the late Saturday nights after excessive alcohol consumption is one example of waste materials entering and endangering the brain. Alcohol, because of its unique chemical composition, easily penetrates the blood-brain barrier and disrupts the communication between neurons, causing reckless behavior and sluggish information perception when one is intoxicated. The gag response is our brain’s attempt to protect the brain again foreign contaminants. So, the next time we chug down a mug of beer, perhaps take a moment to consider the invisible victim of our indulgences. To test the hypothesis that chronic immobilization stress increases the permeability of the blood-brain barrier, two groups of researchers both used plastic tubes to restrict the activity of groups of mice for a different duration of days. At the end of their experiments, both groups injected the mice with chemical tracers. They examined the movement of the dye into the mice's brain to investigate whether more dye has leaked into the experimental group mice's brain relative to that of the control group, as an indication of disrupted blood-brain barrier function as a result of the immobilization treatment. We are no stranger to the insomnia, migraines, and stomach aches artistically named “butterflies” when placed in extremely stressful environments. The disruption of the blood-brain barrier is a possible additional aliment induced by chronic stress. If conclusive evidence can be secured to prove the causational relationship between chronic confinement stress and a compromised blood-brain barrier function, doctors and......

Index Terms—Blood-brain barrier dysfunction, chronic immobilization stress.

Claire Margaret Shi is with Shanghai High School International Division, China (e-mail: Clairemshi@hotmail.com)

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Cite: Claire Margaret Shi, "The Importance of Acknowledgment in Increased Permeability of the Blood-Brain Barrier Under Chronic Immobilization Stress," International Journal of Social Science and Humanity vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 62-65, 2022.

Copyright © 2022 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).

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