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Stress and Cognition

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I need help in explaining how stress can affect cognitive functions, including the roles of the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex. Also, can you explain by providing examples of situations when stress affectedt one's attention, memory, problem solving, or decision making. Can you help me explain how one might mitigate the effects of stress on cognitive functions?

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This solution explains how stress affects cognitive functions.

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(1) How stress affects cognitive functions

Cognition is concerned with a wide range of mental processes including thoughts, perception, performance and intellectual ability (Fleischhauer, Enge, Brocke, Ullrich, Strobel, & Strobel, 2010). Thus, cognition shapes the way people process and understand information. For example in their study Fleischhauer et al (2010) examined the relationship between cognition and intelligence. They suggest that individual cognitive motivation influences an individual's cognitive performance or intellectual ability. In addition, cognitive behavior is associated with personality incorporating variables such as: (a) memory, (b) learning, (c) motivation and (d) emotions. Similarly, stress produces a pattern of physiological changes. Thus, stress also affects a range of mental processes in the brain. According to Pinel (2006) all stress produces a pattern of physiological changes.

Stress should be considered as a cognitive perception of uncontrollable and unpredictable changes that is expressed in physiological and behavioral responses. Therefore, stress as a concept when applied to individuals can be viewed ...

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