Psychological stress causes human hair to turn grey

A. Mendelsohn, J. Larrick. The Danger of Being Too Sympathetic: Norepinephrine in Alzheimer's Disease and Graying of Hair. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1089/rej.2020.2309

Details how stress triggers norepinephrine secretion, which causes the rapid depletion and differentiation of melanocyte stem cells, leading to premature hair greying.

Shayla Clark, C. Deppmann. Fight or flight turns hair white. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-03949-8

Reports that sympathetic nervous system signaling triggered by stress depletes stem-cell populations in hair follicles, causing premature greying.

Bing Zhang, Megan He, I. Rachmin, Xiaoling Yu, Seungtea Kim, D. Fisher, Y. Hsu. Melanocortin 1 receptor is dispensable for acute stress induced hair graying in mice. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1111/exd.14264

Confirms that acute stress leads to the loss of melanocyte stem cells and premature hair greying through sympathetic hyperactivation.

Xinxin Li, Runlu Shi, Lingchen Yan, Weiwei Chu, Ruishuang Sun, Binkai Zheng, Shuai Wang, Hui Tan, Xusheng Wang, Ying Gao. Natural product rhynchophylline prevents stress-induced hair graying by preserving melanocyte stem cells via the β2 adrenergic pathway suppression. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13659-023-00421-z

Demonstrates that stress-induced norepinephrine accelerates hair greying by binding to beta-2 adrenergic receptors on melanocyte stem cells, and that blocking this pathway prevents greying.