Excellent story, Alex. Your analysis is further supported by some of my research published last year in Nature Communications. With my colleagues in Zurich and Oxford, we developed the first whole-brain functional map of the central serotonergic system and then took a look at how this system is affected by acute stress. Amongst a host of other findings, most relevant to your story is that stress activates the serotonin producing neurons of the dorsal raphe (we all expected that) and that strong activation of dorsal raphe serotonin neurons results in a PROFOUND blunting of activity in the prefrontal cortex (less expected, and now we know for sure).

Article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-08256-w

Translating this understanding into something helpful for people everywhere, my company Mobio Interactive has produced a clinically-validated stress resilience app that personalizes training according to objective measurement of what practices most reduce stress in every individual.

App here: https://www.midigitaltherapeutics.com/am-mindfulness.html

I invite you to have a look at both and share your thoughts.

Warmly,

Bechara