Neuroscientist Lila Landowski explains how exam anxiety affects our brains – and why some stress can actually help
Teenage brains are physically rewired by the stress of year 12 exams – but a leading neuroscientist says these simple techniques can help students perform at their best.
Prolonged periods of stress during year 12 exam season can affect memory and heighten emotional response – undermining performance.
But multi award-winning neuroscientist and University of Tasmania senior lecturer Dr Lila Landowski says understanding the brain’s response means there are plenty of stress-busting strategies available to students and their parents.
“A little bit of stress is fantastic for your brain and it helps it to perform better,” Dr Landowski said.
“You release all of these neurochemicals that improve your attention, they improve your focus, they improve your alertness.”
On the other hand, when stress becomes “chronic”, the effects can be highly negative.
“When that stress is just constant for months to years, then we start to see negative changes to the brain and it really impacts your performance and your memory and all those sorts of things in the long term,” she said.
Dr Landowski said stress wasn’t just a feeling, it’s a biological process where hormones are triggered in the body.
Chronic stress can shrink the hippocampus – the memory part of the brain – making it harder to remember and learn. It also enlarges the amygdala – the processing centre for emotions.
“You’ll freeze, you’ll forget, your brain will be focused on surviving and thinking about what’s happening within you, not actually making decisions and solving the questions in the exam,” the social media star said.
Dr Landowski said while chronic stress was something that came after two months or more of constant stress, particularly when studying for exams, there are ways to cope.
“If you’re going into an exam feeling just totally overstimulated and totally panicking about everything, you might want (to breathe deeply three times in a row) to help bring down your stress to just the right level to help you perform a little bit better,” she said.
Dr Landowski advised parents to encourage their children to take breaks, offer them food and be supportive.
“Don’t stress out students more by creating these unrealistic expectations because students are already setting expectations on their own,” she said.
“Putting extra pressure on them could actually be creating this extra layer of stress that means they perform less well.”
Jiya Iyer, 17, a year 12 student at Mount Carmel College in Adelaide, said exam season was about balance – and that includes making time for her “happy place”, watching her favourite TV series The Vampire Diaries.
“When I feel like I’m getting stressed I like to just put everything away, take time for myself and practice things which relax me,” she said.
“Like doing some of my hobbies, go take a walk, exercise, take a nap, just take a break from the schoolwork and focus on something else to prioritise my mental and physical health.”
Her mother Shailja Prasad said regular check-ins and making special food were among ways she provided de-stressors for Jiya.
To find out more about your brain, you can follow Dr Landowski on social media @rockatscientist
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Originally published as Neuroscientist Lila Landowski explains how exam anxiety affects our brains – and why some stress can actually help
