"At the time, I blamed the lack of sleep. That was probably part of it but looking back, I realize something else was happening. The financial pressure wasn't just keeping me awake-it was literally making me dumber. This isn't just my experience talking. Researchers have found that financial worries can hit your thinking skills as hard as losing a full night's sleep. We're talking about the equivalent of a 13-point drop in IQ!"
"Your brain treats poverty like a tiger in the room Here's what's actually happening in your head when financial stress kicks in. Your brain doesn't distinguish between a predator stalking you and an overdue bill. Both trigger the same ancient alarm system. When that system fires up, your prefrontal cortex-the part responsible for planning, decision-making, and self-control-essentially goes offline. Blood flow redirects to more primitive brain regions focused on immediate survival."
A small-business owner working late experienced slowed thinking, trouble processing simple information, and difficulty performing basic calculations under financial pressure. Research links financial worries to cognitive impairment equivalent to a 13-point drop in IQ and comparable to sleep deprivation. Financial stress activates ancient alarm systems, causing the prefrontal cortex responsible for planning, decision-making, and self-control to disengage. Blood flow shifts toward primitive brain regions focused on immediate survival, reducing higher-order cognitive resources. This cognitive narrowing helps explain seemingly irrational financial choices, such as taking high-interest payday loans. Economic decline in communities produced similar patterns of desperate decision-making when jobs disappeared.
Read at Silicon Canals
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