From Dr. Robert Sapolsky, one of the world's foremost researchers on stress and neurobiology, comes this fascinating 24-lecture course that guides you through the science of the stress that is a central part of daily life. You'll explore the nuts and bolts of the stress-response system, its various effects on the body, its ramifications on psychological health, and more. Filled with intriguing case studies, helpful analogies, and heartfelt stories, Stress and Your Body will give you a thorough knowledge of how and why stress affects you the way it does.
Stress and Your Body
Discover how stress is negatively affecting your health and learn new strategies to minimize its impact in this course taught by a Macarthur "Genius."
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Gharmjo from
A Kindred Spirit
Sapolsky begins this 2010 course Scope by viewing body homeostasis as a key to longevity – a concept he notes is utterly lost on formal Medicine. Whereas medical care is now divided into organ “Specialties", Sapolsky says one can't functionally break down the body into separate parts. While specialization is practical because no single physician could master all medical techniques, my observations as a former physician agree entirely with Sapolsky. Two docs in different specialties don't (and often can't) talk to each other. Their (often tiny) area of expertise does not permit a working knowledge of the integration of body systems, often to the detriment of patient care. As Sapolsky points out in Lecture 5 (L5) "it's the intersection (of organ functions) that's important". Since this 2010 course, insurance and hospitals have more radically defended specialty turf. Insurance wants to “keep costs down by eliminating extraneous tests" (often those which would point to multi-organ difficulties) and hospitals who glorify high profit physician subspecialties - while hiring generalists with lower standards and fewer years of training than the prior holistic gold standard of Family Practice. Sapolsky's POV is that human beings are integrative systems that produce unexpected outcomes when parts of the system are ignored. PRO: Course works well in audio. CON: The Guidebook left out much of the meat of this course. I suggest a Transcript.
A second theme appears in L2: "we humans are unique with the ability to change our body's function" positively or negatively. One dramatic illustration is the improvement in neonatal ICU results by simply touching the babies on a regular basis. This illustration sidled up nicely with L3's observation that women finding others who are burdened with stress "tend and befriend". L6 discusses The Dutch Hunger Winter of starvation that affected fetal programming to later produce the metabolic syndrome not only for the affected fetus, but also through the third generation. L7's on "stress dwarfism", L8 on the negative effects of over-exercise, and L9 on stress vs testosterone on erectile dysfunction are teachings that would save a lot of misdirected effort. L9: “60% of the doctors’ visits in this country are due not to organic cases of impotency but to psychogenic, stress-related cases. This is a system that is spectacularly vulnerable to stress effects." L10 diagrams illustrate T-cell function well, but the Guidebook had no accompanying text explanation. The corresponding lecture was better, though necessarily condensed. L12 on pain and L13 on implicit vs explicit memory are quite useful. L17: the prefrontal cortex is key to "maturity". That the brain doesn't fully develop until age 25 seems to be forgotten in our recent views of “transition” surgery.
L19-23 on sleep patterns, depression, anxiety, and personality type interact were short but nicely done. In L19 he noted that depression was ("by 2020") expected to be the second leading cause of disability (with up to 15-20% of hypothyroidism cases masquerading as depression). The story behind the origin of the “Type A” personality was particularly interesting from a stress POV.
CON: In L24 he provided 4 stress management tools: exercise, transcendental meditation, social support, and religion. The first 3 have been increasing in the US yet stress/depression increases. Religion he says, "definitely is some protection". A prior lecture had, in fact, related how mothers of cancer victims tended to be superiorly functioning and more cognitively flexible when handling it as God’s will. Since religion is the ONLY mentioned stress management technique in decline as the U.S. rate of stress/depression rises, where are his statistical studies? Could religion be a methodology for Sapolsky's valid call for cognitive flexibility? Another hint at the power of religion over stress came in the Great Course, "Wisdom of History" by Fears, L17: the well-known Roman arena behavior of everyday Christians facing death that amazed brutal audiences. I don’t have answers, but such omissions seem glaring.
SUMMARY: Loved his imaginative, slightly sardonic sense of humor. My prior field of medical interest was how nonlinear biochemical responses are generated from identical individual cells within an organ. How they affect interconnected, tightly controlled pathways simultaneously lies within the bounds of complexity theory (see Strogatz’s Great Course “Chaos”) but reinforces the Sapolsky's L6 quote: "If all you do is concentrate on one piece of the story, you're not going to know what's going on." Finally, the most accurate quote of this course is (L1): “No one knows how it works, especially me" which reflects the humility, rather than the arrogance, of true science.
Date published: 2022-08-23
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Endogirl from
Incredible Lecturer
If you have read this man's books, you know he's brilliant. Listening to him lecture, off the cuff, make me even more convinced that he has so much more to offer the general population. I hope the Teaching Company continues to invite him to create content that is relevant today - possibly the biology of viruses and pandemics! I wish I had him as a professor during my medical education. That being said, I bet his finals are brutal! Very well done and fascinating. Thank you.
Date published: 2022-06-13
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Annat6 from
Amazing course
I am a huge fan of professor Sapolsky. And this course did not disappoint. Wealth of information presented in easy to understand format
Date published: 2022-03-26
Rated 5 out of
5
by
chris53202 from
A genius breaking down a somewhat difficult topic
Dr. Sapolsky is clearly a genius and probably a titan in his field(s). I think he did a great job taking a somewhat difficult subject and relaying it to the audience. He has an innate sense of when the material is getting too thick and slipping in a self-deprecating line of humor. I, unlike some of the other reviewers, think he has a very intelligent and witty sense of humor. As smart as he is, I'm sure it would be easy to get on the high horse and talk down to the crowd. I feel like he does not do this. He does his best to put that aside and disseminates things nicely.
Date published: 2021-05-05
Rated 5 out of
5
by
mkeyes from
Love this professor!
Robert Sapolsky is my FAVORITE professor on the Great Courses. He is very knowledgeable and engaging (also hilarious). I am almost done watching all the courses he has on this site and i wish there were more.
Date published: 2020-09-29
Rated 5 out of
5
by
The GuanajuatoKid from
Interesting Course:Well Taught
I' m glad I took this course. The course is filled with interesting information that is pertinent to everyone. Dr. Sapolsky is engaging, humorous, and I would recommend his courses to others.
Date published: 2020-08-31
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Les N from
Robert Sapolsky is always captivating
This is the third course I have taken with Robert Sapolsky.
He is a great instructor and always stimulating. His language level is non-academic and frequently enjoyable.
I'm in agreement with his remark in lecture 9 (or8) - there should be a Great Course on hyenas!
Date published: 2020-06-10
Rated 5 out of
5
by
marw from
VERY INFORMATIVE
Lots of practical and entertaining information. Great presenter.
Date published: 2019-12-21
Overview
About
Dr. Robert Sapolsky is John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Professor of Biological Sciences at Stanford University and Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery in Stanford's School of Medicine. Professor Sapolsky earned his A.B. summa cum laude in Biological Anthropology from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in Neuroendocrinology from The Rockefeller University in New York. He is also a research associate at the Institute of Primate Research operated by the National Museums of Kenya in Nairobi. Dr. Sapolsky is a recipient of a MacArthur genius fellowship. His teaching awards include Stanford University's Bing Award for Teaching Excellence and an award for outstanding teaching from the Associated Students of Stanford University. Professor Sapolsky is the author of several books, including Stress, the Aging Brain and the Mechanisms of Neuron Death (MIT Press, 1992); The Trouble with Testosterone (Macmillan Library Reference, 1997); and Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: A Guide to Stress-Related Diseases and Coping (W.H. Freeman, 1995), which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award. He also regularly contributes to magazines and journals such as Discover, Science, Scientific American, Harper's, and The New Yorker.
Trailer
01: Why Don't Zebras Get Ulcers? Why Do We?
In Professor Sapolsky's introductory lecture, get a behind-the-scenes look at the science of stress and preview the groundwork for the course ahead. What exactly happens to our bodies when we come under stress? And how is our response to stress different from that of a zebra being hunted al ong a savannah?
31 min
02: The Nuts and Bolts of the Stress-Response
Every time you have a thought or emotion, things change in your body. Here, explore the two factors responsible for these changes: the nervous system and hormones. Learn how these systems work, how they're regulated, and-most important-what happens to them during moments of stress.
31 min
03: Stress and Your Heart
Armed with the necessary background information, explore how specific organ systems suffer when faced with chronic stress. In the first of a series of lectures on this subject, learn how long-term stress can damage heart muscles, inflame and clog blood vessels, and even lead to sudden cardiac arrest.
31 min
04: Stress, Metabolism, and Liquidating Your Assets
The next organ system you focus on: the metabolic system. Discover how cycles of chronic stress lead to a persistent activating and storing of energy, which in turn can lead to an inefficient use of energy and play a critical role in the prevalence of adult-onset diabetes.
31 min
05: Stress, Overeating, and Your Digestive Tract
Focus now on the role stress plays in our gastrointestinal tracts. Why do most of us eat more during stressful periods? How does stress affect bowel disorders like irritable bowel syndrome and spastic colons? And how does stress combine with a bacterial infection to produce a common stress-related disease: ulcers?
31 min
06: Stress and Growth-Echoes from the Womb
The first of two lectures on stress and child development takes you inside prenatal and postnatal life. Using two extraordinary examples, Professor Sapolsky reveals the ways a fetus can respond to the environmental stressors of its mother, and how different parenting styles can affect the stress levels of young children.
31 min
07: Stress, Growth, and Child Development
Investigate how chronic stress can disrupt the growth of young children by focusing on stress dwarfism and the connection between stress and low growth hormone levels. Also, learn how mid-20th-century experiments with monkeys proved how important love-and not just nutrients-is in raising less-stressful children.
31 min
08: Stress and Female Reproduction
Get an insightful overview of the multifaceted effects of stress on the female reproductive system. Some of the topics you explore are the intricate relationships between stress and fertilization, ovulation, spontaneous miscarriages, high-tech in vitro fertilization, and the strength of the libido.
30 min
09: Stress and Male Reproduction
Despite being simpler than its female counterpart, the male reproductive system is just as vulnerable to chronic stress. Here, discover how stress leads not to a major decrease in testosterone so much as an increase in erectile dysfunction (with a focus on two of the most common symptoms: impotency and premature ejaculation).
32 min
10: Stress and Your Immune System
Turn now to the relationship between stress and your immune system. After mastering the basics of how this system works, delve into how frequent stressors can result in flare-ups of autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, can increase your vulnerability to infections like the common cold and herpes viruses, and more.
31 min
11: Stress and Cancer
Can an increase in stress actually cause cancer? Can it cause a relapse among patients in remission, or speed up the rate of a cancer's progression? Professor Sapolsky offers his insights on these and other controversial questions and myths about the possible links between stress and cancer....
31 min
12: Stress and Pain
Stress and pain have an intriguing relationship: Stress can increase your sensitivity and resistance to pain, while pain constitutes its own particular stressor. Explore this fascinating bidirectional relationship, and expand your knowledge of how both balanced and stressed minds and bodies react to all varieties of pain.
29 min
13: Stress, Learning, and Memory
Memory-whether implicit or explicit-is an essential part of everyday life. So it's all the more important to understand how it's affected by stress. This lecture explains the science behind how short-term stress enhances memory and learning, while chronic stress may actually work to kill neurons in the hippocampus.
29 min
14: Stress, Judgment, and Impulse Control
In addition to affecting the hippocampus, stress can prove harmful to the frontal cortex as well-the seat of behavioral regulation. As in previous lectures, discover what happens to this essential part of the brain when it comes under attack from chronic stress.
31 min
15: Stress, Sleep, and Lack of Sleep
Most of us don't get as much sleep as we should. Yet the amount of sleep we get is highly intertwined with how our bodies deal with stress. Investigate why high levels of stress disrupt not only how long we sleep-but the quality of sleep's vital restorative powers as well.
31 min
16: Stress and Aging
As you age, your ability to deal with stress decreases. What's more: Lots of stress throughout your lifetime can accelerate aspects of aging. Here, examine a series of intriguing experiments and studies that explain the science behind these two views about the intersection between stress and aging.
31 min
17: Understanding Psychological Stress
Why are some stressors more unbearable than others? This lecture introduces you to three powerful psychological factors that work to modulate the stress response: having an outlet, taking advantage of social support, and having predictive information about when and how long a stressor will occur.
30 min
18: Psychological Modulators of Stress
Conclude your look at ways to modulate the stress response by looking at two subtler variables: your control over the stressor, and your interpretation of whether the stress is getting better or worse. You also see why, despite being enormously powerful, these variables can work only within certain parameters.
30 min
19: Stress and the Biology of Depression
Turn to the realm of mental health with this close look at the ties between stress and major depression-one of the leading causes of disability in the world. Start with an overview of the disorder's symptoms before delving into the particulars of its neurochemistry and neuroanatomy.
31 min
20: Stress and the Psychology of Depression
To truly understand clinical depression, you need to grasp its psychological aspects as well. In the second lecture on stress and this prevalent disease, explore the pivotal role stress hormones play in depression. Then, use your newfound knowledge of stress to knit together the psychological and biological models of depression.
30 min
21: Anxiety, Hostility, Repression, and Reward
Anxiety disorders, feelings of intense hostility, a decreased capacity for pleasure, and a repressed or addictive persona are just a few of the many distinct effects that chronic stress can have on an individual's personality and behavior. The ways these psychological disorders emerge are the subject of this fascinating lecture.
31 min
22: Stress, Health, and Low Social Status
How strong a role does socioeconomic status play in what stressors you're exposed to, as well as your potential for chronic stress? It's a provocative question whose answer Professor Sapolsky reveals in this penetrating look at the characteristics and effects of psychosocial stress on both primates and humans.
30 min
23: Stress Management-Clues to Success?
Before learning tips to manage chronic stress, it's essential to understand why certain individuals cope better with stress-both physically and mentally-than others. Discover that the key lies in grasping predictors of successful aging, including a position of respect, a resilient personality, a healthy lifestyle, and a realistic approach to life's challenges.
30 min
24: Stress Management-Approaches and Cautions
Exercise. Meditation. Social support. Religious beliefs. In this concluding lecture, learn how these and other outlets can potentially help you manage life's everyday stressors-both biologically and psychologically. Regardless of how many stressors you deal with daily, all of us, according to Professor Sapolsky, have the potential to keep them in perspective.
32 min
