Stress causes gray hair: new study reveals the mechanism

A new study confirms that stress can cause gray hair. Researchers found a specific reaction to stress plays a key role in hair pigment loss. This study, conducted on mice, reveals the underlying biological process. The color of hair depends on melanocytes, produced by melanocyte stem cells. Stress accelerates the depletion of these stem cells in hair follicles. This leads to hair losing its color, turning gray or white. Under stress, the sympathetic nervous system releases noradrenaline into hair follicles. This causes stem cells to convert into pigment cells prematurely. Once these stem cells are depleted, the damage is irreversible.