Everyone knows that chronic stress is dangerous, especially for the developing brain. It prunes dendrites and inhibits the birth of new neurons. It shrinks the hippocampus, swells the amygdala and can lead to an elevated risk for heart disease, depression and diabetes. At times, these persuasive studies can make it can seem as if the ideal childhood is an extended vacation, shielded from the struggles of life.

But the human brain resists such simple prescriptions. It is a machine of tradeoffs, a fleshy computer designed to adapt to its surroundings. This opens the possibility that childhood stress – even of the chronic sort – might actually prove useful, altering the mind in valuable ways. Stress is a curse. Except when it’s a benefit.

A new paper by a team of scientists at the University of Minnesota (Chiraag Mittal, Vladas Griskevicius, Jeffry Simpson, Sooyeon Sung and Ethan Young) investigates this surprising hypothesis. The researchers focused on two distinct aspects of cognition: inhibition and shifting.

Inhibition involves the exertion of mental control, as the mind overrides its own urges and interruptions. When you stay on task, or resist the marshmallow, or talk yourself out of a tantrum, you are relying on your inhibitory talents. Shifting, meanwhile, involves switching between different trains of thought. “People who are good at shifting are better at allowing their responses to be guided by the current situation rather than by an internal goal,” write the scientists. These people notice what’s happening around them and are able to adjust their mind accordingly. Several studies have found a correlation between such cognitive flexibility and academic achievement.

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