Some brains are more similar than others when under stress

Psychological resilience – the ability to cope effectively with adversity – plays a crucial role in how we feel about ourselves. So why are some people better able to cope with stress and mental strain over time than others?

“The way you deal with adversity or stressful situations does not necessarily mean you lack resilience. But some people have greater reserves to draw on,” explained neuroscientist Maryam Ziaei, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

Visible on MRI scans

In collaboration with Alireza Salami at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, Ziaei and her team at NTNU's Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience have now taken a closer look at what happens in our brains when we are exposed to psychological stress.

“We wanted to test whether it was possible to understand why people experience situations so differently. And we could actually see it in the neural mechanisms. People with high tolerance – what we call resilience – react similarly. People with low tolerance react more individually,” added Ziaei.

In the study, the researchers observed 33 men and 29 women in an fMRI scanner while they watched two different films. The participants were aged 19 to 35, in good mental health and were not substance users. A ‘neutral’ film showed a woman making pottery, while the other film showed a woman desperately trying to avoid falling into an abyss. The participants’ brains were scanned as they watched the films.

“When an area of the brain is activated, such as an emotional response to something we see, blood flows to that specific area of the brain. Blood contains haemoglobin and oxygen, and as brain cell activity increases, oxygen is consumed. Oxygen leaves the haemoglobin and the blood becomes deoxygenated. This is what we measure with functional MRI,” Ziaei said.

Problems arise in different ways

The participants in the study were asked to complete a series of questionnaires about themselves, including questions about anxiety, depression and perceived stress. They were also asked to complete computer-based tasks.

The scans revealed that the participants who reported high psychological tolerance activated the same areas of the brain while watching the films. Those who reported low tolerance, however, activated other areas. Within this group, there were also fewer similarities in the areas that were activated.

“It’s not that the areas don’t work, they just work in different ways,” said Ziaei.

“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” wrote Leo Tolstoy in his literary masterpiece Anna Karenina. Neuroscientists often refer to the Anna Karenina model: well-functioning systems are similar to one another, while problems can arise in many different ways.

“You can compare it to a car. Cars consist of many different parts, and all of them must work properly for the car to run. If one or more of the parts malfunctions, the car will eventually break down altogether.”

An important aspect of mental health

According to the researchers, mental resilience is not a stable personality trait, but a dynamic process that influences how we perceive stress, assess situations and mobilise coping strategies. People with high resilience often experience more positive emotions, are quicker to let go of negative stimuli and regulate their emotions more effectively.

“Psychological resilience is about our ability to cope with adversity and to adapt when something unpleasant happens. It is an important part of our mental health,” asserted Ziaei.

In addition to studying the neurobiological mechanisms, the researchers also wanted to investigate the role that intolerance of uncertainty played in the relationship between brain activity and resilience. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is a personality trait in which uncertain situations are often perceived as threatening, stressful and upsetting.

Discomfort in connection with uncertainty

UI is a risk factor for developing anxiety disorders.

This was assessed among the participants using a questionnaire in which they could select options such as ‘Unexpected events make me very upset’.

“We found that individuals with higher intolerance of uncertainty exhibit lower resilience-related similarity in brain activity,” said Ziaei.

In other words, people who are less comfortable with uncertainty tend to have brain activity that is less ‘synchronized’ in the areas that help them focus and be resilient.

“This suggests that discomfort in connection with uncertainty can make it harder to recover from challenges because it affects what they focus their attention on in their surroundings,” added Ziaei.

Strengthening strategies

She believes that the findings are important for understanding how people can learn to become more resilient.

“If you become very anxious when something seems uncertain, it will affect how you function and how you use your resources to achieve mental well-being. People have different strategies for regulating their emotions, and these strategies can be worked on and strengthened,” emphasized Ziaei.

If an individual is intolerant of uncertainty, it will affect how they understand the world around them. They may experience it as being less resilient.

“Now that we know this component is important, we may be able to develop methods that can influence these mechanisms,” said Ziaei.

This may help people develop their ability to tolerate uncertainty or to regulate their emotions more effectively.

“That might be a good idea, considering that low resilience over time can make people susceptible to anxiety, depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders,” Ziaei said.

Reference:
Shuer Ye, Leona Rahel Bätz, Avneesh Jain, Alireza Salami, Maryam Ziaei; Resilience-related neural similarity during naturalistic movie viewing. Imaging Neuroscience 2026; 4 IMAG.a.1165. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/IMAG.a.1165