The hectic, harried, too-busy nature of our lives means we're often experiencing stress. The upside of this: Some stress may do us good, according to a new study from the University of California, Berkeley. While there's been past reseach showing benefits to some kinds of stress, this research clarifies cognitive benefits that can actually help us in the workplace.

The study, recently published in the journal eLife, found that short, stressful events can actually lead to a better-performing brain. “Some amounts of stress are good to push you just to the level of optimal alertness, behavioral and cognitive performance,” said study author Daniela Kaufer, PhD, UC Berkeley associate professor of integrative biology.

While previous research on chronic stress found that it can lead to impaired memory, Dr. Kaufer, post-doctoral fellow Elizabeth Kirby and colleagues from UC Berkeley’s Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute were interested in learning the mental effects of acute stress. Their studies on rats indicates that memory improves two weeks after an acute stressful event, versus two days after the event. Brief stressful events cause brain stem cells to turn into new nerve cells that improved the rats’ mental performance after two week's time. “I think intermittent stressful events are probably what keeps the brain more alert, and you perform better when you are alert,” said Dr. Kaufer.

It's good to know that at least some of our stress boosts our brain power.