{"id":593,"date":"2021-02-01T00:48:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-01T00:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/?p=593"},"modified":"2025-10-16T09:09:30","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T16:09:30","slug":"the-hidden-brain-in-your-skin-how-the-mind-skin-connection-is-stronger-than-you-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/the-hidden-brain-in-your-skin-how-the-mind-skin-connection-is-stronger-than-you-think\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The hidden brain in your skin\u2019: How the mind-skin connection is stronger than you think"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cBe kind to your mind to help your cells stay resistant to damage.\u201d\u2014Dr. Howard Murad, board-certified dermatologist and founder of Murad Skincare<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you\u2019re feeling embarrassed, do you blush? When you\u2019re feeling nervous or overjoyed, do you get goosebumps? Although the connection may not immediately come to mind (pun intended), these are just a couple obvious manifestations of how your mind is inextricably linked to your skin. Or as neuroscientist Dr. Claudia Aguirre puts it, it\u2019s evidence of \u201cthe hidden brain in your skin<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSkin is highly innervated and intricately connected to the brain and central nervous system, just as other sensory organs are,\u201d explains Dr. Aguirre, who received a Ph.D. in neuroscience from USC. \u201cWe\u2019re discovering that the skin has a lot of neuro potential that\u2019s gone unrecognized. For example, just as our eyes have receptors that transduce light photons into signals to the brain that we process as vision, we\u2019re discovering that our skin also has light receptors. Similarly, we\u2019re discovering that we have olfactory receptors in hair follicles, just as we do in the nose. How they work remain a mystery, but the more we learn, the more we realize how important skin is. These capabilities are what I mean by the hidden brain in skin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So as much as we\u2019d like to simply slather on a cream to \u201cfix\u201d a condition like eczema, acne or the like, it\u2019s becoming harder to ignore how your mind can significantly affect your skin, too. Here are four factors to remember, if in doubt about the power of the mind-skin connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Psychodermatology Factor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The link between your mind and skin has given rise to an entire\u2014and relatively new\u2014subspecialty of psychiatry and dermatology called psychodermatology. In short, practitioners of this burgeoning field strive to improve patients\u2019 skin by treating their mind. Though the \u201cGut-Brain-Skin Axis\u201d (basically how your digestive system, psyche and skin can affect one another) was discovered in 1930s at the University of Pennsylvania, the causal mind-to-skin relationship practiced in psychodermatology still has a way to go to be universally established. However, one thing is clear: This connection is based in biology and has already been demonstrated in peer-reviewed studies, with places like the Psychodermatology Specialty Clinic at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center bound to multiply and gain in popularity as total wellness trickles into every aspect of life. (For more on the latest in this fascinating field of psychodermatology, directly from one of the best in the biz, click here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Psychological Profile Factor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

State-of-minds and psychological profiles are often associated with skin conditions, according to both researchers and dermatologists. For instance, a Stanford study published in the Archives of Dermatology in 2003 found that college students had acne flare-ups during finals, when they reported more stressed mental states. Moreover, in the thousands of patients Dr. Murad has seen over the years, he says, \u201cPeople who have eczema or atopic dermatitis have tendencies toward an interesting psychological profile. They tend to be overprocessed in many ways. They\u2019ll work really hard to become the best student or the perfect child. They\u2019ll put a lot of pressure on themselves to succeed.\u201d He adds that this profile is commonly seen in dermatologists\u2019 offices everywhere, and while there is a genetic component to eczema, Dr. Murad has also always tried to dig deeper and understand what\u2019s happening in his patients\u2019 lives to tackle the condition from all angles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Stress + Skin Barrier<\/a> Factor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re under stress<\/a>, you release cortisol stress hormones that have a deleterious effect on skin, specifically the skin barrier,\u201d Dr. Murad explains. \u201cCortisol is needed, it protects you, but like so much else, too much of a good thing can turn into a bad thing.\u201d What exactly is that bad thing for your skin? Most commonly, it\u2019s dehydration. Cortisol can cause a slowdown in hyaluronic acid<\/a> production, which leads to moisture loss. This dehydration can then compromise the skin barrier that defends against all manner of skin woes ranging from premature aging to inflammation to environmental threats. And remember, while most people associate the word \u201cstress\u201d with psychological (e.g., sadness, anxiety) and psychosocial (e.g., relationship troubles, financial worries) stress, there\u2019s also physical (e.g., injuries, unhealthy eating) and psycho-spiritual (e.g., finding meaning, purpose) stress that can drive up cortisol levels to negatively affect skin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Covid Factor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mental health tendencies exacerbated by the pandemic should not be forgotten when it comes to skin health, according to Dr. Murad. \u201cWith Covid, people can become more obsessive-compulsive to different extremes,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen we look at acne<\/a>, for example, I\u2019ve seen so many cases that I call \u2018acne imitators,\u2019 which isn\u2019t acne at all. It can be acne excoriee\u2014this might be a person who has one of those magnifying mirrors, and now that they\u2019re home all the time, they\u2019re constantly examining their skin and seeing these perceived imperfections that they start to pick, which is introducing surface bacteria and causing red bumps. There\u2019s no pimple, no whitehead\u2014just a picked-at red spot.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cBe kind to your mind to help your cells stay resistant to damage.\u201d\u2014Dr. Howard Murad, board-certified dermatologist and founder of Murad Skincare When you\u2019re feeling embarrassed, do you blush? When you\u2019re feeling nervous or overjoyed, do you get goosebumps? Although the connection may not immediately come to mind (pun intended), these are just a couple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mind","category-skin"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1760632047:21"],"_wp_old_date":["2021-06-05"],"_thumbnail_id":["446"],"_edit_last":["21"],"primary_category":["2"],"_primary_category":["field_608c33bdd26d5"],"show_featured_image":["1"],"_show_featured_image":["field_609ee1cf1ce13"],"adobe_analytics_repeatable":["a:1:{i:0;a:2:{s:4:\"name\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"value\";s:0:\"\";}}"],"post_views_count":["6563"],"mobile_image":[""],"_mobile_image":["field_60bf7692abe28"],"_post_views_count":["field_6107dfafd6a27"],"sidebar_products_use_global_default":["0"],"_sidebar_products_use_global_default":["field_63a349a11086a"],"sidebar_products_title":["Related Products"],"_sidebar_products_title":["field_6408d62123449"],"sidebar_products_items":[""],"_sidebar_products_items":["field_63a349a110878"],"sidebar_products":[""],"_sidebar_products":["field_63a349a0dadad"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["5"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["4"],"_yoast_wpseo_title":["The mind-skin connection explained | Murad Skincare"],"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":["Discover your skin's hidden brain and the powerful mind-skin connection. How emotions and stress directly affect your complexion."],"_aioseo_title":["Mind skin connection: How stress affects your complexion | Murad Skincare"],"_aioseo_description":["Understand the mind skin connection and how psychological stress triggers inflammation, breakouts, and premature aging. Expert solutions for holistic care."],"_aioseo_keywords":["a:0:{}"],"_aioseo_og_title":[""],"_aioseo_og_description":[""],"_aioseo_og_article_section":[""],"_aioseo_og_article_tags":["a:0:{}"],"_aioseo_twitter_title":[""],"_aioseo_twitter_description":[""]},"aioseo_notices":[],"acf":{"primary_category":{"term_id":2,"name":"Mind","slug":"mind","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":76,"filter":"raw"},"show_featured_image":true,"post_views_count":"6563","mobile_image":false,"sidebar_products":{"use_global_default":false,"title":"Related Products","items":""}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13527,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593\/revisions\/13527"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}