Overthinking can shorten your life, according to a new study

It’s a curse that many of us can’t seem to break, but, it turns out that overthinking is actually really bad for your health.

A study conducted at Harvard Medical School found that excessive brain activity could lead to a shorter life. Researchers used a sample of people ranging in age from 60s and 70s and compared their brains to those who lived to be 100 years or older. The results showed study that those who died at younger ages had significantly lower levels of a protein called REST (RE-1 Silencing Transcription), which quietens brain activity. In short, excessive thinking causes excessive brain activity, leading to a depletion in the protein REST.

REST itself has also been studied and results determined that it can protect against Alzheimer’s disease.

Cynthia Kenyon, vice president of ageing research at Calico Labs spoke to The Washington Post where she who commended the study’s findings, saying, “I think this is overactivity, out-of-control excitation — it’s not good for the brain,” she told the Post. “You want the neurons to be active, when and where you want them to be active, not to be just generally firing off.”

So there’s something extra to think about while you’re replaying arguments from five years ago in your head tonight.