Brain Cells Die from Law School Stress, Neuroscientists Say

Law school stress can take an enormous toll on cognitive capacity, literally killing off brain cells and inhibiting learning. The bad news continues into the workforce: as a profession, lawyers suffer from depression at three times the rate of non-lawyers.

A recent article published in Loyola Law Review by Debra S. Austin takes a look at the neuroscience behind education and suggests methods of neural self-hacking that can alleviate law school stress. The author identifies sources of chronic stress in the hidden curriculum of law schools, including competitive classroom environments and the grading curve. She then reviews the science behind brain structure, the neurobiology of cognition, and how your emotional brain reacts to law school stress.

The author suggests several methods of neural self-hacking that change the way your brain works and actually help create new brain cells and stronger neural connections. Neural self-hacking includes things like getting enough sleep, exercising, doing yoga, meditating, and practicing gratitude.

Sure, it’s easy for you to blow off these suggestions for neural self-hacking as gratuitous Zen baiting. This is probably the bazillionith time you’ve had some guru tell you that adequate sleep and exercise is good, and that yoga is better than a glass of Jack Daniels. The difference here is that this article explains the science behind what really happens in your brain when you sleep, exercise, or meditate, and how this directly affects your stress levels, learning ability, and ultimately your success as a law student and future lawyer. This is the science behind why you really should relax, go for a walk, and get some zzzs.

The article is heavy on neuroscience lingo like amygdala, hippocampus, parasympathetic nervous system, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, so much so that it includes an appendix at the end. But don’t let that put you off reading it—the insight into the neuroscience of learning and the brain-altering benefits of stress reduction is worth slogging through any sea of science terms.

See Debra S. Austin, Killing Them Softly: Neuroscience Reveals How Brain Cells Die From Law School Stress and How Neural Self-Hacking Can Optimize Cognitive Performance, 59 Loyola L. Rev. 791 (2013). [Full text in WestlawNext].