Education Which Raises Intelligence vs Education Which Raises Stress: A Psychoimmunological Perspective

(Also refer : https://durgaswati.blogspot.com/2025/12/for-higher-intelligence-and-better.html)

Education does not only shape knowledge; it also influences the brain–hormone–immune axis of developing children. From a psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) perspective, the quality of intelligence is determined not by the number of hours spent in classrooms, but by the information absorbed which depends on the neurochemical and emotional environment in which learning occurs.

An education system that aligns with human neurobiology raises intelligence. Peace raises Iq and EQ.

An education system driven by chronic stress raises physiological dysregulation- eg.aggressiveness, disorientation, disharmony.

Central to this distinction is the concept of Internal Dominant Focus (IDF)—the emotional–cognitive state that remains most frequently active in the nervous system. IDF determines which neurotransmitters, hormones, and immune signals are repeatedly released, thereby shaping long-term learning capacity, behaviour, and health.

Given that the peace in the world has not risen significantly by the current education system, there is a need to change the education system than live on dictates of past conditioning. 

 Taking learning to task means reviewing the methods of teaching and imparting education than blame the children for not learning . This blog is on the method of imparting education but there are several aspects of what is taught and scored which also affect quality of human happinness. There is a need to remove rote learning and replace it with critical thinking , with rewards for compassion over competition so that children and adults feel rewarded when they help more than harm. Competition has become an agent of self improvement even at the cost of abusing or harmong others. A mind trained in compassion would help others be happier and feel respected as it evolves itself to higher intelligence.

An education system that aligns with human neurobiology raises intelligence.- IQ and EQ
An education system driven by chronic stress raises physiological dysregulation -eg. aggressiveness, disharmony, agitation, anxiety, depression

Neurological Foundations: How Stress Alters Learning Biology

Psychoneuroimmunology demonstrates that emotional states directly influence:

• neural signalling,

• endocrine balance,

• immune functioning.

When children operate under sustained stress, the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis remains overactivated, releasing cortisol and inflammatory cytokines. This suppresses hippocampal neurogenesis, weakens memory consolidation, and reduces cognitive flexibility.

In contrast, emotionally regulated learning environments promote neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, acetylcholine, and GABA, which enhance calmness, focus, attention, motivation, memory encoding, and immune stability.

Repetition of Emotional States: A PNI Explanation of Learning Patterns

PNI research shows that repeated emotional states create repeated neurochemical patterns.
The dominant emotional tone—calm or stress—reproduces itself across neural pathways, hormonal responses, and immune signalling.

• Repeated calm → coherent neural firing → hormonal balance → immune resilience

• Repeated stress → neural overload → cortisol dominance → immune inflammation

Thus, education does not only teach subjects; it conditions biological patterns of functioning that persist into adulthood.

The Morning Window: Subconscious Programming and Immune Set-Point

Early morning hours are a critical neurobiological transition phase. During this period, the brain shifts from restorative sleep states to active cognition. PNI research indicates that emotional stress during this transition primes the HPA axis and immune system for the entire day.

A stress-free awakening allows:

• parasympathetic dominance,

• optimal neurotransmitter release,

• stable immune signalling.

A rushed, anxious morning imprints stress chemistry onto the child’s physiology, reducing learning receptivity and increasing inflammatory load.

What happens in shock & panic 

When a person experiences danger neurologically in the body when confronted by sudden threat or panic eg. by being forced to get up from deep sleep ,the noise of a bomb , a war signal, an animal attacking, the mind used a fight/flight mechanism , arouses the stress levels to inflammation levals and actovates teh para-sympathatic nervous system to protect the self from danger which includes symptoms like excessive fatigue, sleepiness, brain fog, high insulin rise, helplessness, pain in joints etc. to enable rest  .

The steps taken by the mind when suddenly woken up in childhood :

• The amygdala signals danger

• Locus coeruleus neurons fire rapidly

• Large amounts of norepinephrine are released across the brain

• This causes:

  • hypervigilance

  • racing thoughts

  • rapid heart rate

  • blood pressure /aggressiveness rise

  • narrowed attention (tunnel vision)

This is the core neurochemical signature of panic and acute shock.

Secondary neurochemicals involved

• Glutamate – amplifies fear circuits (excitatory)

• Cortisol –stress neurotrasmiters released slightly later via the HPA axis after school or office is over

• Reduced GABA – loss of inhibition, increasing panic throughout the day , lack opf sleep 

Three PNI-Based Reasons Early School Timings That Raise Stress

1. Stress Transmission from Parent to Child

Parental stress is biologically contagious. When parents awaken fatigued or anxious, their emotional state is transmitted to children through tone, urgency, and behaviour. Pressure is on the child to rush to school . 

Rushed routines disrupt:

• digestive neuroimmune signalling,

• skin-based sensory regulation,

• vagal nerve activation.

Eating and bathing performed under pressure increase cortisol and suppress relaxation-related neurotransmitters, programming the child’s nervous system toward chronic stress.

Education systems should cultivate emotionally regulated intelligence, not biologically stressed endurance.

2. Sleep Deprivation, Neuroinflammation, and Behaviour

Digital exposure has altered adolescent sleep cycles globally. Many children sleep late and wake early, resulting in chronic sleep deprivation.

PNI research links sleep loss to:

• increased inflammatory cytokines,

• impaired neurotransmitter regulation,

• heightened aggression and impulsivity.

Children require 7–8 hours of sleep to maintain neuroimmune balance. Later school start times—or flexible academic schedules—align education with biological reality.

3. Teacher Stress and Neuroimmune Spillover

Teachers operate within the same brain–immune systems as students. Chronic early mornings, low compensation, and workload stress elevate cortisol and emotional exhaustion.

PNI studies show that stressed educators transmit aggressiveness through:

• reduced emotional attunement,

• rigid teaching styles,

• lowered immune resilience.

Adequately rested and fairly compensated teachers foster safe neuroimmune learning environments, enhancing creativity, flexibility, and encouragement.

Evidence from Chronobiology and Education Research

School systems that delayed start times—such as trials conducted in the UK—demonstrated:

• reduced absenteeism,

• improved engagement,

• enhanced emotional stability.

From a PNI viewpoint, these outcomes occur because neuroendocrine and immune rhythms are respected, allowing intelligence to emerge without biological cost.

Conclusion: Redefining Education Through PNI

Education that raises intelligence:

• respects sleep biology,

• stabilises neurotransmitter balance,

• supports immune resilience.

Education that raises stress:

• disrupts circadian sleep rhythms,

• activates chronic cortisol pathways,

• conditions inflammatory learning patterns.

True education enhances brain coherence, emotional regulation, and immune health.
A neuroimmunologically-informed education system does not exhaust children—it allows intelligence to unfold naturally.

Executive Summary

The existing education system is made to create warriors and labourers . The existing human history is either war history or a history of slavery and education supported the needs of the system. As humanity moves towards peace with a  hoigher quality of happiness, the current need is to change the education system to create more peacekeepers & inventors than terrorists, by raising happy kids than stressed bullets charged to explode  be it in homes or wars. 

This policy brief applies Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) to education reform, examining how school timing, sleep biology, and emotional stress directly influence intelligence, learning capacity, and long-term health. Drawing on evidence from neuroscience, stress physiology, and neuroimmune research, it demonstrates that education systems misaligned with biological rhythms elevate cortisol, disrupt neurotransmitter balance, and impair cognitive and emotional regulation in children.

The brief contrasts education imparting models that raise intelligence—by supporting adequate sleep, calm morning transitions, and emotionally regulated classrooms—with systems that raise stress, leading to neuroinflammation, behavioural dysregulation, and reduced learning efficiency. It further highlights how parental stress, teacher exhaustion, and early school start times collectively condition stress-dominant neural pathways during critical developmental years.

By aligning educational structures with brain–hormone–immune functioning, this policy brief advocates for later school start times, biologically informed routines, and systemic support for teachers. Such reforms enable intelligence, emotional stability, and well-being to develop without biological cost.

Implementation Note: Office Timing Adjustments to Support Later School Start Times 

The proposal to begin school hours between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. requires a complementary adjustment in adult work schedules to prevent continued morning stress within families. Education reform cannot succeed in isolation from workplace policy.

Evidence from neuroscience, occupational health, and international work-time reform indicates that 4–6 hours of focused cognitive work produces higher-quality output than prolonged 8-hour schedules, which were originally designed for industrial labour rather than modern knowledge work.

Shorter, later-starting office hours—such as 12:00–4:00 p.m., 12:00–5:00 p.m., or 12:00–6:00 p.m.—allow parents to support calmer mornings, eliminate the need for fragmented lunch and tea breaks, and reduce cumulative stress exposure. In workdays of six hours or less, a separate meal break is typically unnecessary, as neurocognitive fatigue and hormonal depletion do not reach levels requiring prolonged recovery pauses.

International experiences from Nordic countries and recent four-day-week trials demonstrate that productivity is maintained or improved when work is reorganised around intensity rather than duration, while long-term maintenance costs—burnout, absenteeism, and health-related attrition—are reduced.

Aligning later school start times with shorter, later office hours therefore represents a system-level intervention: it supports child neurodevelopment, adult cognitive efficiency, and public health sustainability simultaneously, without increasing operational costs.

Also check : 

https://durgaswati.blogspot.com/2025/12/for-higher-intelligence-and-better.html

References (APA)

Hebb, D. O. (1949). The organization of behavior: A neuropsychological theory. Wiley.

McEwen, B. S. (2007). Physiology and neurobiology of stress and adaptation: Central role of the brain. Physiological Reviews, 87(3), 873–904. https://doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00041.2006

Walker, M. P. (2017). Why we sleep: Unlocking the power of sleep and dreams. Scribner.