While not concretely backed by science, there is a widespread belief that a high amount of stress could cause one’s hair to turn gray.

Now, a new study has not only provided a solid link between stress and hair color but has even confirmed that this phenomenon may, in fact, be reversible.

Conducted by the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University and found on Science Daily, the study asked 14 volunteers to keep a diary in which they would log the stress levels of each week. Not only did researchers discover that there was a very clear relation between the graying of follicles and how agitated the individual’s psyche were, but they found that should the volunteer have more of a relaxing week, the hair would actually revert back to its original color.

“If you use your eyes to look at hair, it will seem like it’s the same color throughout unless there is a major transition,” explains PhD associate professor at the school’s behavioral medicine department and the study’s senior author, Martin Picard. “Under a high-resolution scanner, you see small, subtle variation sin color, and that’s what [we measured].

“There was one individual who went on vacation, and five hears on that person’s head reverted back to dark during the vacation, synchronized in time.”

Picard and his team of researchers believe that these stress-induced grays may be caused by mitochondria, organelles within cells that essentially provide its energy. Should a person be under a hefty dosage of psychological stress, the mitochondria in their hair may inspire pigment loss.

Further studies regarding this topic remain pending.

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