From encoding to recall to consolidation, stress can interfere with each of the key stages of memory. In fact, it represents one of the biggest obstacles to the smooth running of this process. Even once information is stored in our long-term memory, stress can momentarily prevent us from retrieving it. That said, the relationships between stress and memory are complex chemistry, some of which may surprise you. Here's a look at some of them!

Knowing more about the modus operandi of a learning brain allows us to re-evaluate our approaches to teaching and studying. As we know, studying is just as important as attending class, if not more so. However, thanks to neuroscience, we now know that not all study strategies are equal and that some are even counterproductive, despite being used for generations. To guide you, here are three mistakes to avoid when you are in study mode!

We talk less about the importance of taking time off work than we do about eating well or being physically active. Our demanding lives and the performance culture we struggle to break away from mean that we too often ignore our signs of fatigue and persist as best as possible in our daily activities, whether we are workers or students. Difficulty concentrating, lack of motivation and mental wandering are part of our normality... However, numerous studies that have examined the consequences of depriving ourselves of rest and vacation time indicate that we put our mental and physical health at risk by ignoring these necessary periods of disconnection. 

Over the last few decades, neuroscience has begun to confirm or refute certain hypotheses we had about how the brain works, in addition to leading us down new paths of knowledge. Given the complexity of this fascinating organ, we are only at the beginning of this promising exploration. However, thanks to brain imaging, we know a little more about some of its particularities at different stages of life and their links with learning.

Our brain is never really at rest. When it is not busy with a specific task, it can daydream or ruminate, depending on our mood, but it never stops being active. This is what neuroscientists have uncovered by discovering the functioning of its so-called "default" network, which is activated in a way that is opposite to the executive network that manages our high-level cognitive processes.

Difficulty concentrating, lack of motivation, mental wandering... Does that sound familiar? Whether these signs appear during a day or more evidently at certain times of the week, month or year, they tell us that we are in need of a break. However, our demanding lives and the performance culture that we struggle to detach ourselves from mean that we ignore them all too often and persist as best as we can in our daily tasks, whether we are a worker or a student.