Is stress contagious?

Comment on this story
Comment

Yes, says neuroscientist Tony W. Buchanan, a professor at St. Louis University. In 2010, he measured the response of people who were simply observing stress in others. Buchanan found that the observers’ cortisol levels spiked via a phenomenon known as stress contagion — the spread of stress from person to person like a virus.

Now, more researchers are investigating whether this contagiousness is something seen across the animal kingdom.

Scientists hope to learn whether stress could pass through channels completely distinct from squawks, squeaks and raised hackles. What they learn could inform animal treatment and shed light on the nature of stress in humans.

Researchers are “trying to understand how these processes can happen simultaneously across different taxa in birds, in humans, in fish, in mice, so that you have the same phenomenon occurring in very different species that have evolved to a very different level,” says Jens Pruessner, a psychology professor at McGill University in Montreal.

You probably have experienced stress contagion. A friend drops by and spends a few minutes complaining about their work or their partner. Suddenly, even though these aren’t your problems, you’re breathing faster and feeling a little on edge.

That’s because, as you’ve listened, your body has given you a quick jab of adrenaline and cortisol — hormones that mobilize energy stores for running, fighting and finishing projects on deadline. Stacks of research show that over time, frequent jolts of stress are corrosive to the body and reproduction.

Why do cats knead? Why do dogs lick you? The science of pets’ quirks.

Neuroscientist Jaideep Bains studies how stress imprints on the brain.

In 2014, Bains started investigating in his University of Calgary lab how stress passes from individual to individual in mice. He found that a stressed mouse emits a pheromone from its anal glands, which is then sniffed by a nearby mouse.

“It kind of makes sense, right?” Bains said. “If you think of what a mouse would do — it might be out in the field and ge …