Here is the full transcript of Nicole Byers’ talk titled “How Stress Drains Your Brain — and What To Do About It” at TED conference.
In this TED talk, neuropsychologist Nicole Byers delves into the impact of stress on memory and cognitive function. She explains that daily stressors, coupled with the enormous number of thoughts we process daily, can significantly affect our ability to recall information and multitask effectively. Byers highlights a study revealing that interruptions and multitasking increase stress and reduce efficiency.
She also discusses the different ways stress impacts memory retrieval and problem-solving abilities, emphasizing that even minor day-to-day pressures can overload our cognitive resources. Drawing on personal anecdotes, Byers illustrates how stress can lead to forgetfulness, like misplacing keys or forgetting passwords. She advises against trying to force memory recall, as this can further inhibit cognitive function due to competitive inhibition of neurons.
Finally, Byers suggests practical strategies for mental resets, such as engaging in different activities or taking breaks, to alleviate stress and improve memory performance.
Listen to the audio version here:
TRANSCRIPT:
Memory and the Modern World
I came home from vacation recently, jet-lagged, tired, after delayed flights and a lost bag, with my cranky preschooler and my husband trudging behind me, and I forgot the code to my front door. We’ve lived in this house for seven years. I’d put the code in the door hundreds of times before. And as I stood there, staring at the keypad, I thought, “Oh boy, I’m finally losing my mind.”
Our brains have an incredible capacity to store memory, but not all of that information is accessible at once. An article in “Scientific American” estimates the human brain can store 2.5 million gigabytes of data. That’s about 5,000 iPhones.
But if you’ve ever forgotten a password before, you know that memory is not always easy to access because memory is not just one system.
The Intricacies of Memory
Those different systems have limits, and a number of factors in our daily lives can impact our memory efficiency. There was a famous neuropsychology case study of a patient referred to as patient HM, who became like a real-life Ten-Second Tom after brain surgery to treat a seizure disorder. In terms of his seizures, the surgery was a success. They were less severe and less frequent. But after his surgery, HM became unable to consciously learn new things.
For example, he worked with the same neuropsychologist for years. He never remembered meeting her; he’d introduce himself each time. And he never remembered doing the different tasks that she would bring to test his memory.
But here’s the interesting part. His performance got better on some of those tasks over time. He never remembered doing them. He always thought he was doing them for the first time. But his brain had learned the procedures without him being aware.
We learned from patient HM and others like him that there are different types of memory. Some memories come to mind almost automatically. Like if you’re walking through a garden and you smell the flowers that your grandma used to keep on her kitchen table, and all of a sudden, you’re thinking of your favorite memory with your grandma. But other memories take more brainpower and effort to recall. Like trying to remember my new computer password.
Because some memories take more brainpower and effort to recall, they’re also more prone to interference. You’re at the grocery store, and you’re trying to remember 10 things that you need to pick up. But you run into your neighbor in the produce section, and after a few minutes of chit chat, hearing about their new car, you can only remember two of those 10 things.
Even though our memory storage is pretty impressive — 5,000 iPhones big — the short-term memory that you’re using to keep track of your grocery list is more like seven, plus or minus two, bits of information.
The Challenge of Distraction
And it’s really easy to throw that active short-term memory off track. The problem? We live in a very distracting modern world. You’re at a meeting at work, and you’re trying to remember all the details of a project that you’re working on so that you can share it with your team.
But at the same time, your brain is paying attention to what your colleagues are saying, trying to ignore all the email alerts popping up on your computer, distracted by text messages from your family asking what’s for dinner, and wondering if they’re going to take a break soon because you could really use some more coffee.
Ignoring all those distractions and competing priorities takes up a lot of energy. When our brains are juggling 400 things, we’re more likely to make a memory error, like forgetting a colleague’s name in a meeting or missing a key part of your presentation, and then beating yourself up for the rest of the day for making that mistake. Which brings us to another brain-draining habit that can mess up your memory and make it hard to remember where you left your keys: stress.
The Impact of Stress on Memory
Doesn’t have to be huge or major stressors, either. All those day-to-day stresses, pressures and deadlines take up brain space, too, and force our brain to do a bunch of mental multitasking. Last summer, I locked myself in a stairwell twice in the same week because I was trying to do this mental multitasking.
I was packing up at the end of the day, and at the same time, I was thinking about phone calls I needed to make tomorrow, ideas for a project that I was working on, and what I was going to make for supper that night. I was also wondering whether I should pick up my daughter before or after I get groceries. And I left my keys in my office. Twice in the same week. Apparently, door locks aren’t my thing.
An article from Queen’s University estimates we have 6,200 thoughts each day. That’s a lot of potential for distractions. There was a study at the University of California that found when we’re interrupted, like with distractions or multitasking, we try to compensate by working faster. But this makes us feel more stressed, and as you can imagine, it’s not very efficient.
Stress and Memory
We’ve all been in situations where we feel a bit stressed out and overwhelmed by our never-ending to-do lists. Between emails, phone calls, Zoom meetings, and project deadlines, we’re coming home from work feeling tired, and our brains are burnt out.
There was an article published in the journal “Science of Learning” that showed stress not only impacts our memory retrieval, making it hard to remember that door code when you need it, but stress also makes it hard for our brains to problem-solve and think of creative solutions, like how I’m going to get into my house when I can’t remember my door code.
We know all those day-to-day stresses, pressures, and deadlines can mess up our memory. But what about bigger stresses, like the uncertainty and change of living through a multi-year pandemic, financial pressure, family stress? These stresses drain brain resources, too, making us more likely to make mistakes and making it harder to remember the things we need to remember. So, memory errors are normal, especially when you’re tired, overworked, or stressed out.
Boosting Memory in Stressful Situations
That’s great to know, but I still need to get into my house at the end of my vacation. How do we boost our memory in these situations and recharge those brain cells? It’s tempting to try and just think harder, but that doesn’t always work. Have you ever been trying to think of the name of a movie or an actor, and it’s right on the tip of your tongue, but you can’t quite remember it? And then four hours later, you’re driving home from work and that name comes to you out of the blue? Yeah, me too. Totally normal.
When it comes to our memory, thinking harder doesn’t always work because of a process of competitive inhibition of the neurons in your brain. Basically, when you try to think too hard about one super specific piece of memory, like a name or a code, the brain cells in that part of your brain get overloaded and blocked. They need time to recharge. That’s why, four hours later, that memory comes back to you. It’s still there, still in your memory storage, just the access route has been exhausted and needs time to reset.
Practical Tips for Memory Reset
Plus, remember how stress makes our brains less efficient? When we’re worried about making mistakes, we’re more likely to make more mistakes. Do this instead: if you’re feeling more forgetful than usual, or your brain feels stuck and you can’t seem to find the memory you need, it might be a sign that your brain needs a reset. Can’t remember a code or a password, standing at your door like me, and you can think of every four-digit code you know, except the one you need? Think about something else for a few minutes.
Anything else. Chat with the store clerk at the grocery store about the weather instead of staring at the debit machine, trying to remember your bank code, or pull out your phone and scroll social media for a few minutes. This works because instead of exhausting the brain cells you need to find that memory, you activate other parts of your brain, giving those memory centers a chance to recharge and reset.
Making more mistakes than normal at work, you can’t seem to send an email without a typo or you’re stumbling over your words in a meeting? Get up and take a real break. Go for a walk around your office or do something fun for a few minutes. These micro-breaks refresh your mental resources and give your brain back the energy and focus it needs to find that information.
Memory errors aren’t a sign you’re losing your mind. They might be a sign your brain needs a little break and a reset. Thank you.