How Worry Affects Your Brain
It’s a well known fact among the Mental Science community that chronic stress can actually alter brain anatomy. Stress (depression, fear, etc.) may cause specific areas of the brain to shrink in size. As the brain areas shrink, their functions (brain chemical secretions and electrical impulses) are altered. This anatomical adaptation to stress will ultimately affect how a person thinks, behaves, and reasons.
In other words, changes in the brain due to stress, makes us less able to think of logical solutions to our problems.
In addition to the irrational problem solving capacity produced by stress, the actual brain cells will change according to your thoughts.
On every brain cell (spinal cord cell too) there is a covering called myelin. This myelin covering acts as an insulator for the brain cell’s electrical activity. The more insulation on the brain cell, the stronger the electrical impulse can be relayed through that particular nerve.
In the past 15 years, scientists have observed how the myelin covering changes according to different factors. Specific diseases (Multiple Sclerosis, encephalomyelitis, etc.) or injuries can decrease or dissolve the myelin covering. The diminished covering is what eventually results in a number of disorders or death.
One interesting finding in recent research is how the myelin covering grows or thickens on the brain cell, according to the individuals intensely focused thoughts. You will want to pay close attention to this part of what I’m sharing.
Since our intense thoughts (good or bad) cause an increase of myelin covering, which in turn causes a stronger thought to occur in the individual, this produces stronger POSITIVE or NEGATIVE thoughts. The determining factor is based upon what the person is choosing to emotionally think about most of the time.
Of course, there are many branches of science utilizing these findings and one of them is Quantum Physics. Quantum Physics is the branch of science that studies the elements of life that are smaller than an atom.
Quantum Physicists are observing how thought can actually make subatomic particles appear and disappear right before their eyes. It’s some of this information that my Mental Codes Book and The Progression Video are based. These two pieces of work explain in laymen’s terms how our thoughts are creating—good or bad—our results.
The bottom line is this, “Our thoughts do something to our lives.” If this is so, then, the stronger our thoughts, the stronger will be the effect on our lives. If you don’t change your thinking to have stronger emotions around the correct thoughts, you will produce more myelin and strengthen the negative thoughts instead.
As you strengthen, the negative thoughts, you will end up producing more negative results. Now, we have scientific evidence to this fact.
If you are getting emotional (negative) about the economy , your weight, your relationships, your energy and how it’s affecting your life, you are actually strengthening the negative impact and preventing your ability to come up with logical solutions. Now, we have scientific evidence to this fact as well.
To change your thoughts has been a challenge since the early days of time. There are numerous therapies, drugs, and techniques that work to make desired changes. Although the person feels better (at least temporarily), we find limited, long lasting results. But, there are answers for you.
I will share some of these solutions with you in the coming weeks. Note: I’m not treating you, any condition, or rendering any type of professional advice. I’m simply sharing with you what is working for me and thousands of other people. What you do, or don’t do, with the information is entirely up to you.
Solutions to our current challenges and future will need to come from ourselves. The solution to any challenge always starts with the way we look (think) about it.
Be IDEAL,
Dr Rob and the Team at the Sport of Mind Institute
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
We have discovered Human Optimization
We all want to change something but can't. It's a matter of willpower, right?
Did you know:
98% of us fail at keeping New Year's resolutions to change bad habits.
70% of Americans who pay off credit card debt with a home equity loan end up with the same or higher debt in 2 years.
Americans spend $40 billion a year on diets, but 19 out of 20 lose nothing but their money
The average alcohol or drug abuser who tries to quit is back at it within 4 to 32 days.
Marriage counseling saves fewer than 1 in 5 couples on the brink of divorce.
The statistics go on and on.
So why can't we change?
Maybe it's because we have far less control over our behavior than we think.
Maybe it's because there are powerful sources of influence working against us that shape our choices.
Maybe we can't change because we simply lack the skills!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
About Sport of MInd and the IDEAL Plan
About us:read more
If you are ready to commit to making the necessary changes to achieve your dream life, we are committed to providing you with all of the research, science and artistic expression to help you Live your IDEAL Life. .
Get ready to discover how to IDentify, and Experience Accelerated Learning. Once you can identify and become aware of your direction and impediments, be willing and open to new technology, accomplishment can be yours every day. Dr Irwin has worked alongside Jim Rohn, Dennis Waitley, Brian Tracy and Zig Zigler amongst many others for more than a decade and has expressed his unique view and interpretation of how to live your IDEAL life through his "Accomplish Workshop".
A credentialed expert and authority on the psychology of performance, Dr Rob Irwin believes there are two elements that can produce an extraordinary quality of life—the science and art of accomplishment. These are principles that, regardless of gender, race, religion, or financial status, create lasting results when acted upon.
He recently joined forces with a leader in the field of performance as well. Dr Jason Richardson has personally been on world wide stages competing as a BMX Cyclist. He accomplishments have been a 15 year career while winning a Gold Medal at the Pan-Am Games and held the title of World Champion. He has MBA in Business and now a Doctorate in Psychology aiming to share his wisdom, skill and education to you and the world.
Their company, Sport of Mind, is committed to providing you the tools to help turn your ultimate dreams into reality—whether it’s achieving financial freedom, taking your career or sport to new heights or connecting with your loved ones at the deepest level.
The strategies you’ll discover will help make you unstoppable toward the life you desire and deserve. Their Accomplishment Workshopwill help you find the source of your power that naturally guides you on purposeful journey of life. Sport of Mind's trainings, seminars, and programs will help you build the emotional muscles you need in order to achieve your highest level of performance.
We know living a fulfilled life is unique to every individual. For this reason our programs are designed and tailored to help people from around the world, from virtually every socio-economic background, from the most successful to the most challenged. It’s the understanding of the psychology and neuroscience that allows us to provide you the most state of the art life technologies available today.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Neurogenises - For those Who Really want to know....
How does neuroplasticity work? A large amount of research focuses on this question. Scientists are certain that the brain continually adjusts and reorganizes. In fact, while studying monkeys, they found that the neuronal connections in many brain regions appear to be organized differently each time they are examined! While it remains uncertain at this writing (April 2003) whether reorganization in the adult brain involves the formation of new neural connections, existing neural pathways that are inactive or used for other purposes do show the ability to take over and carry out functions lost to degeneration. Understanding the brain's ability to dynamically reorganize itself helps scientists understand how patients sometimes recover brain functions damaged by injury or disease.
Brain Reorganization
Genes are certainly not the only factor determining how our brain develops and forms its inner connections. Conditions in our environment, such as social interactions, challenging experiences and even fresh air can play a crucial role in brain cell survival and the formation of connections. Just as the brain changes in response to environmental conditions, it can also change and rearrange in response to injury or disease. Commonly, these rearrangements involve changes in the connection between linked nerve cells, or neurons, in the brain. Brain reorganization takes place by mechanisms such as "axonal sprouting", where undamaged axons grow new nerve endings to reconnect the neurons, whose links were severed through damage. Undamaged axons can also sprout nerve endings and connect with other undamaged nerve cells, thus making new links and new neural pathways to accomplish what was a damaged function. For example, although each brain hemisphere has its own tasks, if one brain hemisphere is damaged, the intact hemisphere can sometimes take over some of the functions of the damaged one. Flexible and capable of such adaptation, the brain compensates for damage in effect by reorganizing and forming new connections between intact neurons.
New connections can form at an amazing speed, but in order to reconnect, the neurons need to be stimulated through activity. In one study, researchers damaged a small brain area in several monkeys, which resulted in the loss of particular hand movements. Due to the lack of hand activity, even the neurons surrounding the damaged brain area withered, resulting in further impairment of hand movements. These observations confirm the notion that it is important to provide stimulation to neurons in order for them to remain active and form new connections, promoting rehabilitation.
Unfortunately, this same brain reorganization may sometimes contribute to the symptoms of disease or impairment. For example, people who are deaf sometimes suffer from a continual ringing in their ears, which may be the result of the rewiring of brain cells starved for sound. It is important to stimulate the neurons in just the right way for them to form beneficial new connections. By better understanding how the brain reorganizes itself, we can better learn how this task can be accomplished.
Strategies for Promoting Brain Reorganization
A first key principle of neuroplasticity is this: brain activity promotes brain reorganization. In other words, "brain workouts" help the brain reorganize connections more quickly and stimulate reorganization when the brain is not capable of reorganizing on its own. Even simple brain exercises such as presenting oneself with challenging intellectual environments, interacting in social situations, or getting involved in physical activities will boost the general growth of connections. However, generalized stimulation may not be very helpful for rebuilding a specific damaged area of the brain.
Another way to promote neuronal connections in the brain has been learned from efforts to help stroke patients. Studies show that drugs that increase the availability of the hormone norepinephrine help in the rehabilitation of movement loss. These drugs stimulate or provoke the synapses of the nerve cells, making them more capable of forming new connections. Because they can be costly and have unintended side effects, drugs alone may not be the optimal approach to rehabilitation. However, drugs may well be beneficial when used in conjunction with a third approach: physical or rehabilitation therapy.
Building on the principle that neuronal activity promotes new connections, rehabilitation therapy attempts to stimulate particular neurons that have not been active for some time. Here the goal is to promote selective self-repair and reorganization through specific motor activity. Because brain reorganization generally becomes more difficult as we age (for reasons not yet fully understood), a damaged adult brain needs a specific "neuroplasticity jump-start" to rebuild. For example, practicing a particular movement over and over-referred to in the literatures as “constraint-induced movement-based therapy”-helps your brain form and strengthen the connections necessary for that movement. Thus in Germany, seven patients who had lost the ability to walk was placed on a treadmill with a parachute and harness. They were given as much physical support as possible, but the treadmill forced the movement of their legs. By the end of therapy, this forced movement enabled some of the intact neurons in the damaged area of the brain to form new connections, which in turn enabled three of the patients to walk independently and another three to walk with supervision.
An important aspect of rehabilitation therapy is timing. If a person who has suffered from brain damage does not practice a lost movement, the damaged neurons-as well as surrounding neurons-are starved of stimulation and will be unable to reconnect. However, research on non-human animals indicates that if an injured limb is used immediately after the brain area has been damaged, damage to the brain actually increases. To be successful, rehabilitation must wait a week or two. By the second week, use of the injured limb stimulates damaged connections that would otherwise atrophy without input. Yet, a particular movement can be practiced too much. If practiced millions of times per month over years, for example, the pattern of connections can grow so much that it inhibits or "squeezes out" other patterns of connection, resulting in the inability to perform other movements. In short, rehabilitation therapy can indeed take advantage of the brain's natural flexibility for forming new neural connections; however, this is a delicate process that must be done carefully and under professional guidance.
The Limits of Innate Brain Plasticity
Neuroplasticity enables the brain to compensate for damage, but sometimes an area of the brain is so extensively damaged that its natural ability to reorganize is insufficient to regain the lost function. In the case of Huntington's Disease and other diseases that cause neuronal death, the death of many cells may render the brain unable to reorganize corrective connections. In order to have a chance of repair, a certain (as yet unknown) number of neurons must remain intact. Thus, if a highly specialized brain "circuit" is completely destroyed, the associated mental function may be lost. Currently there is no way of determining with certainty whether a lost function can be recovered. However, there is another source of hope. Recent research (discussed in the next section) has shown that the brain can sometimes generate new neurons, not simply new connections, and that these new neurons can sometimes "migrate" within the brain. This raises the possibility that, under certain conditions, new neurons could migrate to damaged areas, form new connections, and restore some or all lost functions. It is too early to tell for sure: we still have much to learn about neuroplasticity!
Neurons and Neurogenises
Billions of tree-shaped nerve cells make up the human brain. Neurons are produced through a process called neurogenises, which begins during the third week of development in humans. Nerve cells develop at an average rate of 250,000 per minute during the prenatal period, but by birth, the process of neurogenises has largely ceased. (To read more about neurons, click here.)
A widely held belief is that neurons, unlike other cells, cannot reproduce after the first few years of life. This would mean that neurons that are destroyed couldn't be replaced. However, recent research suggests that this belief is not supported by evidence. In 1999, production of new neurons was discovered in the neocortex of adult primates. Also in 1999, researchers at the Salk Institute in San Diego, California discovered neurogenises occurring in the brains of adult humans, including in a 72-year-old adult. In this study, researchers used a chemical marker to identify new neurons and observed neurogenises in the hippocampal region, a brain region that controls certain types of memory.
This research indicates that neurogenises may well continue to occur throughout the human life span, although it occurs less rapidly in adults. Many of the new neurons that form in adults die almost immediately, but evidence suggests that some cells that are able to integrate themselves into the existing web of neural connections. Other researchers have also found definitive evidence that the brain does not stop producing new neurons after the "critical period" of development; the brain has been shown to generate new neurons from stem cells in select regions of the brain.
Research in the area of neurogenises has resulted in an exciting recent discovery bearing on Huntington's Disease. By studying post-mortem brains of people with HD, researchers at the University of Auckland in New Zealand found evidence suggesting that HD-affected brains produce new neurons throughout the course of the disease. Moreover, there is a correlation between the rate of neurogenises and the severity of the illness. The brains of individuals at the most severe stages of HD showed the most neurogenises. It appears that the brain is attempting to compensate for the neural damage resulting from the disease. Unfortunately, however, brains damaged by HD seem to be unable to generate new neurons quickly enough to replace the dying ones. Another problem may be that the new neurons are unable to migrate to the areas where they are needed.
Neuronal Growth Factors
The discovery of neurogenises in the brain of adult humans, including those suffering from HD, has spurred an investigation of how to influence neural development as well as how to replace dying cells with new ones. In an attempt to increase the production of new neurons, scientists are experimenting with neuronal growth factors. Growth factors have been successful at stimulating stem cells to produce new neurons. (To read more about stem cells, click here.) One possibility is to use the growth factors with a patient's own brain tissue to generate new cells. However, these new lab-produced neurons would need to be transplanted safely and effectively into the brain of the patient, which could prove very difficult. Ideally, the growth factor could be produced directly in the damaged area, stimulating neuronal growth in the damaged area. Two scientists at the Salk Institute in San Diego, California, Fred Gage and Mark Tuszynski, experimented with this possibility. They removed skin cells from rats with severed spinal cords and added new genes to the cells, which caused them to produce neuronal growth factors. They let the cells multiply and then implanted the daughter cells into the damaged areas. The rats were able to regrow neurons and regain some of their lost function, a very promising finding.
The future for people with brain damage may likely involve some combination of rehabilitation therapy, drug therapy, and possibly, the transplantation of new brain cells into the damaged brain area. Unfortunately, the use of new neurons and growth factors for treatment is not yet ready for clinical use. Scientists need to learn more about how the process of neurogenises is controlled and how to successfully integrate the new neurons into the existing brain circuitry. As research continues, there is growing hope that science will discover a safe and effective way to guide the process of neuronal growth in order to repair areas of the brain that are damaged by injury or disease.
Future Research
Scientists continue to investigate the workings of neuroplasticity and continue to ask how best to encourage this natural process of reorganization? Studies confirm that an active lifestyle maintains brain function; thus, new research aims to develop lifestyle behaviors and medications that could improve normal brain development as well as repair damaged brains. Complementing this area of research, some scientists are exploring the ability of an especially stimulating environment to boost reorganization and repair damage. Research also continues in the treatment of diseases such as HD and Parkinson's with cell transplantation in conjunction with physical therapy (To read more about cell transplantation, click here.)
Another technique called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) may soon be very helpful for guiding the process of brain reorganization; however, this technique requires more study before it is deemed safe and ready for clinical use. Scientists have used TMS to modify the process of reorganization to enhance the benefits of "rewiring". TMS consists of a wire coil that produces a magnetic field, which surrounds the head and produces an electrical current in nearby regions of the brain. The electrical current is used to stimulate areas of the brain that will benefit from input, and to prevent stimulation of brain regions where the formation of new connections is not beneficial. The ability to focus brain reorganization could bring about more rapid and more successful recoveries from damage to brain areas.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Brain Based Facts
From Daniel Amen: Amazing Facts....
• Your brain is the most complex, mind-blowing organ in the universe.
• It is estimated to be only about 3 pounds, which is usually around 2 percent of your body’s weight.
• Unbelievably, given that it is the bedrock of your personality, some think even your soul, it is 85% water!
• It is estimated that the brain has 100 billion nerve cells and more connections in it than there are stars in the universe, which is about the number of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy.
• There are also trillions of supportive cells in the brain called glia.
• Each neuron is connected to other neurons by up to 40,000 individual connections (called synapses) between cells. Multiplying 100 billion neurons times 40,000 synapses is equivalent to the brain having more connections in it than there are stars in the universe.
• A piece of brain tissue the size of a grain of sand contains 100,000 neurons and 1 billion synapses, all "talking" to one another.
• Information in your brain travels at about 268 miles per hour, unless of course you are drunk, then things really slow down.
• Even though your brain is only about 2% of your body’s weight, about 3 pounds, it uses 20-30% of the calories you consume.
• If you don’t take care of your brain, you lose on average 85,000 brain cells a day. That is what causes aging. With appropriate forethought, however, you can reverse that trend and dramatically slow the aging process.
• On average women say 7,000 words per day. Men manage just over 2000.
• Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.
• Your brain is very soft and it is housed in a really hard skull
• Your brain is the consistency of soft butter, tofu, custard or somewhere between egg whites and jello.
• And it is housed in a really hard skull that has many sharp boney ridges.
• Brain injuries matter “¦ they can damage the brain and they can ruin your life.
• The brain uses 20% of the oxygen we breathe and about 20% of the calories we consume.
• When whole body scans are performed on people, the brain is so active, compared to the rest of the body, that it looks like a small, powerful heater, while everything else appears almost ghostlike.
• A neuron’s main job is to generate an electrical signal called an “action potential” which it does if sufficiently excited by other neurons.
• The action potential of a single neuron is like a lightning bolt that may stimulate many other neurons.
• The stimulated neurons can then generate their own signals that travel to and stimulate yet other neurons to which they are connected creating a network of neurons that perform a specific brain function.
• Action potentials travel down nerve cells at about 60 miles per hour. The signals can travel at these high speeds because a part of neurons, called axons, are wrapped and insulated by a special substance called myelin.
• Axons that are not insulated by myelin, either by design or disease, transmit signals 10 times slower.
• Many people have heard that we only use 10 percent of our brains. Nonsense! You may not use every neuron in your brain at the same time, but each is important.
• The brain never turns off or even rests through your entire life. It is very active at night, especially during dreaming.
• Brain development is a fascinating construction tale, where genes and environment collaborate to make us who we are.
• At times during pregnancy, the baby’s brain makes 250,000 new nerve cells per minute.
• Babies are born with 100 billion neurons; however, only a relatively small number of neurons are connected.
• In the first decade of life, a child’s brain forms trillions of connections.
• New research has shown that early experiences do not just create a background for early development and learning, they directly affect the way the brain is wired. In turn, the wiring profoundly affects our patterns of emotion, language, and thought.
• Experiences do not just influence a child’s development; they finish the job of molding and sculpting the brain.
• About three-quarters of the brain develops outside the womb, in response to the physical and social environment. Nature and nurture always work together.
• Brain development is especially rapid during the first year.
• Brain scans show that by twelve months, a baby’s brain resembles that of a normal young adult.
• By age three, a baby’s brain has formed about 1,000 trillion connections””about twice as many as adults have.
• Also, the areas of the brain that develop early, such as vision, are the first areas to become myelinated (wrapped in myelin), which helps that part of the brain become more efficient.
• The “years of promise” between three and 10 are a time of rapid social, intellectual, emotional and physical development. Brain activity in this age group is more than twice that of adults, and although new synapses continue to be formed throughout life, never again will the brain be able to easily master new skills or adapt to setbacks.
• At age 11, the brain begins to prune extra connections at a rapid rate. The circuits that remain are more specific and efficient.
• The brain is one of the best examples of the “use it or lose it” principle. Connections that are used repeatedly in the early years become permanent; while those that are not used are pruned.
• During late adolescence and into the mid 20s, the front third of the brain, called the prefrontal cortex (PFC) or executive brain, continues to develop.
• Even though we think of 18 year olds as adults, their brains are far from finished.
• Myelin continues to be deposited in the PFC until age 25 or 26, making the executive part of the brain work at a higher and more efficient level.
• Were you more mature at 25 than 18? I sure was. It is ironic that the car insurance industry knew about maturity and brain development long before society. Typically, car insurance rates change at 25 because drivers are more thoughtful and get into significantly less accidents.
• The knowledge of brain development into adulthood is critical to disseminate. Early smoking, drug or alcohol abuse, and brain injuries from risky sports all have the potential to disrupt brain development, in some cases permanently.
• After about 25, just as we reach peak development the brain starts slowly shrinking. Some research has suggested that the male brain shrinks faster than the female one. I think it is because men do more stupid things to their brains, such as they have more problems with alcohol, play tackle football and hit soccer balls with their heads.
• In college, 70% of football players and 62% of soccer players get at least one concussion per year.
• There are three distinct areas of the brain, controlling our instincts (brain stem), our emotions (limbic system), and our thoughts (cortex).
• The brain is also divided into the left and right hemispheres, or halves. The left side is often known as the detail oriented, get to the point, speech and happiness center; while the right side is known as being more fretful, more creative, and holistic processing center.
• When it comes to the brain SIZE MATTERS. The stegosaurus brain was about the size of a walnut. The adult human brain weighs about 1,300 to 1,400 grams. The average cat brain weighs only about 30 grams. This is why human curiosity helps invent space travel and cures for cancer, while curiosity requires cats to have nine lives.
• The highly convoluted folds of grey matter on the outside surface of the brain is known as the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex is about 2 millimeters thick and has a surface area of about two and a half square feet. This is about the size of three and a half sheets of 8.5 x 11 inch paper.
• In order to wok properly, the brain needs fuel, oxygen, and stimulation. Just like any other living thing, a brain needs fuel to grow, function and repair itself.
• Glucose and oxygen run the engine powered by your brain cells. Unlike other cells in your body, glucose is the only fuel your brain knows how to use. Anything that impairs glucose delivery to brain cells is life threatening.
• Oxygen is required to produce energy, without it the energy powerhouses of neurons called mitochondria will not produce enough energy to keep your brain alive. Because blood delivers glucose and oxygen to your brain, nothing must get in the way of blood flow if the brain is to stay healthy. Unconsciousness will occur after 8-10 seconds after loss of blood supply to the brain.
• The human brain is dependent on proper stimulation to grow and develop in healthy ways throughout childhood and to maintain its functioning into old age.
• When you stimulate neurons in the right way, you make them more efficient; they function better, and you are more likely to have an active, learning brain throughout your life.
• The best sources of stimulation for the brain are physical exercise, mental exercise, and social bonding, which will be discussed in greater detail later on.
• Your brain is the most complex, mind-blowing organ in the universe.
• It is estimated to be only about 3 pounds, which is usually around 2 percent of your body’s weight.
• Unbelievably, given that it is the bedrock of your personality, some think even your soul, it is 85% water!
• It is estimated that the brain has 100 billion nerve cells and more connections in it than there are stars in the universe, which is about the number of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy.
• There are also trillions of supportive cells in the brain called glia.
• Each neuron is connected to other neurons by up to 40,000 individual connections (called synapses) between cells. Multiplying 100 billion neurons times 40,000 synapses is equivalent to the brain having more connections in it than there are stars in the universe.
• A piece of brain tissue the size of a grain of sand contains 100,000 neurons and 1 billion synapses, all "talking" to one another.
• Information in your brain travels at about 268 miles per hour, unless of course you are drunk, then things really slow down.
• Even though your brain is only about 2% of your body’s weight, about 3 pounds, it uses 20-30% of the calories you consume.
• If you don’t take care of your brain, you lose on average 85,000 brain cells a day. That is what causes aging. With appropriate forethought, however, you can reverse that trend and dramatically slow the aging process.
• On average women say 7,000 words per day. Men manage just over 2000.
• Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.
• Your brain is very soft and it is housed in a really hard skull
• Your brain is the consistency of soft butter, tofu, custard or somewhere between egg whites and jello.
• And it is housed in a really hard skull that has many sharp boney ridges.
• Brain injuries matter “¦ they can damage the brain and they can ruin your life.
• The brain uses 20% of the oxygen we breathe and about 20% of the calories we consume.
• When whole body scans are performed on people, the brain is so active, compared to the rest of the body, that it looks like a small, powerful heater, while everything else appears almost ghostlike.
• A neuron’s main job is to generate an electrical signal called an “action potential” which it does if sufficiently excited by other neurons.
• The action potential of a single neuron is like a lightning bolt that may stimulate many other neurons.
• The stimulated neurons can then generate their own signals that travel to and stimulate yet other neurons to which they are connected creating a network of neurons that perform a specific brain function.
• Action potentials travel down nerve cells at about 60 miles per hour. The signals can travel at these high speeds because a part of neurons, called axons, are wrapped and insulated by a special substance called myelin.
• Axons that are not insulated by myelin, either by design or disease, transmit signals 10 times slower.
• Many people have heard that we only use 10 percent of our brains. Nonsense! You may not use every neuron in your brain at the same time, but each is important.
• The brain never turns off or even rests through your entire life. It is very active at night, especially during dreaming.
• Brain development is a fascinating construction tale, where genes and environment collaborate to make us who we are.
• At times during pregnancy, the baby’s brain makes 250,000 new nerve cells per minute.
• Babies are born with 100 billion neurons; however, only a relatively small number of neurons are connected.
• In the first decade of life, a child’s brain forms trillions of connections.
• New research has shown that early experiences do not just create a background for early development and learning, they directly affect the way the brain is wired. In turn, the wiring profoundly affects our patterns of emotion, language, and thought.
• Experiences do not just influence a child’s development; they finish the job of molding and sculpting the brain.
• About three-quarters of the brain develops outside the womb, in response to the physical and social environment. Nature and nurture always work together.
• Brain development is especially rapid during the first year.
• Brain scans show that by twelve months, a baby’s brain resembles that of a normal young adult.
• By age three, a baby’s brain has formed about 1,000 trillion connections””about twice as many as adults have.
• Also, the areas of the brain that develop early, such as vision, are the first areas to become myelinated (wrapped in myelin), which helps that part of the brain become more efficient.
• The “years of promise” between three and 10 are a time of rapid social, intellectual, emotional and physical development. Brain activity in this age group is more than twice that of adults, and although new synapses continue to be formed throughout life, never again will the brain be able to easily master new skills or adapt to setbacks.
• At age 11, the brain begins to prune extra connections at a rapid rate. The circuits that remain are more specific and efficient.
• The brain is one of the best examples of the “use it or lose it” principle. Connections that are used repeatedly in the early years become permanent; while those that are not used are pruned.
• During late adolescence and into the mid 20s, the front third of the brain, called the prefrontal cortex (PFC) or executive brain, continues to develop.
• Even though we think of 18 year olds as adults, their brains are far from finished.
• Myelin continues to be deposited in the PFC until age 25 or 26, making the executive part of the brain work at a higher and more efficient level.
• Were you more mature at 25 than 18? I sure was. It is ironic that the car insurance industry knew about maturity and brain development long before society. Typically, car insurance rates change at 25 because drivers are more thoughtful and get into significantly less accidents.
• The knowledge of brain development into adulthood is critical to disseminate. Early smoking, drug or alcohol abuse, and brain injuries from risky sports all have the potential to disrupt brain development, in some cases permanently.
• After about 25, just as we reach peak development the brain starts slowly shrinking. Some research has suggested that the male brain shrinks faster than the female one. I think it is because men do more stupid things to their brains, such as they have more problems with alcohol, play tackle football and hit soccer balls with their heads.
• In college, 70% of football players and 62% of soccer players get at least one concussion per year.
• There are three distinct areas of the brain, controlling our instincts (brain stem), our emotions (limbic system), and our thoughts (cortex).
• The brain is also divided into the left and right hemispheres, or halves. The left side is often known as the detail oriented, get to the point, speech and happiness center; while the right side is known as being more fretful, more creative, and holistic processing center.
• When it comes to the brain SIZE MATTERS. The stegosaurus brain was about the size of a walnut. The adult human brain weighs about 1,300 to 1,400 grams. The average cat brain weighs only about 30 grams. This is why human curiosity helps invent space travel and cures for cancer, while curiosity requires cats to have nine lives.
• The highly convoluted folds of grey matter on the outside surface of the brain is known as the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex is about 2 millimeters thick and has a surface area of about two and a half square feet. This is about the size of three and a half sheets of 8.5 x 11 inch paper.
• In order to wok properly, the brain needs fuel, oxygen, and stimulation. Just like any other living thing, a brain needs fuel to grow, function and repair itself.
• Glucose and oxygen run the engine powered by your brain cells. Unlike other cells in your body, glucose is the only fuel your brain knows how to use. Anything that impairs glucose delivery to brain cells is life threatening.
• Oxygen is required to produce energy, without it the energy powerhouses of neurons called mitochondria will not produce enough energy to keep your brain alive. Because blood delivers glucose and oxygen to your brain, nothing must get in the way of blood flow if the brain is to stay healthy. Unconsciousness will occur after 8-10 seconds after loss of blood supply to the brain.
• The human brain is dependent on proper stimulation to grow and develop in healthy ways throughout childhood and to maintain its functioning into old age.
• When you stimulate neurons in the right way, you make them more efficient; they function better, and you are more likely to have an active, learning brain throughout your life.
• The best sources of stimulation for the brain are physical exercise, mental exercise, and social bonding, which will be discussed in greater detail later on.
Questions about NeuroTraining
Welcome Back to your Routine!
Some of you have asked general and specific questions about Neurofeedback. The most popular question I listed below and for a more detailed inquiry I attached a document for your learning pleasure.
How long are the affects of neurofeedback?
The product of the training is a learned skill that belongs to the client for the duration of their lives. Gaining the skill today does not mean that the skill will be satisfactory for future demands. Future training requirements will be directly proportional to how much demand the client takes on in the future.
Example: a client does the training to improve sleep and after the initial training the sleep issues are resolved and now the client is sleeping well and at the same time the client realize an improvement in his or her golf game. The satisfaction of playing better prompts them to enter golf tournaments, which leads to more success which puts them under more demand (stress) and then they start having sleep problems. This client will benefit from ongoing training to take them to new levels of efficiency that they previously did not have.
On the other hand if a person completes the basic training and their life is improved overall, but their life choices remain relatively static and in a satisfied routine, then they may not realize any need for additional training.
Additional training might be necessary if the client who successfully completed their program is exposed to a traumatic event. A physical or emotional trauma such as a car accident or divorce can cause overwhelming stress to the brain and central nervous system. This trauma can disrupt the new learned way of being calm and focused brain state.
Some of you have asked general and specific questions about Neurofeedback. The most popular question I listed below and for a more detailed inquiry I attached a document for your learning pleasure.
How long are the affects of neurofeedback?
The product of the training is a learned skill that belongs to the client for the duration of their lives. Gaining the skill today does not mean that the skill will be satisfactory for future demands. Future training requirements will be directly proportional to how much demand the client takes on in the future.
Example: a client does the training to improve sleep and after the initial training the sleep issues are resolved and now the client is sleeping well and at the same time the client realize an improvement in his or her golf game. The satisfaction of playing better prompts them to enter golf tournaments, which leads to more success which puts them under more demand (stress) and then they start having sleep problems. This client will benefit from ongoing training to take them to new levels of efficiency that they previously did not have.
On the other hand if a person completes the basic training and their life is improved overall, but their life choices remain relatively static and in a satisfied routine, then they may not realize any need for additional training.
Additional training might be necessary if the client who successfully completed their program is exposed to a traumatic event. A physical or emotional trauma such as a car accident or divorce can cause overwhelming stress to the brain and central nervous system. This trauma can disrupt the new learned way of being calm and focused brain state.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Train Your Brain to Learn Better - Even Without Drugs
Training Your Brain to Learn Better (Even Without Drugs)
By Maia Szalavitz
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/07/using-brains-to-study-better/#ixzz1Fo21CDWJ
I'm excited to be starting my “new school year” as a blogger here on Healthland — and what better way to begin than with news about boosting your ability to learn, using neuroscience! One of the hottest articles flying around the Web today is Benedict Carey's great New York Times science story headlined "Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits."
In it, Carey shows, among other things, why the conventional wisdom about learning — getting into the habit of studying in the same place each time — is wrong. How come? Essentially, making studying monotonous contradicts key aspects of what we know about learning. Novelty is a key part of the connections that ease learning. Studies find that simply switching study rooms helps make new associations and keep them fresh. Carey writes:
The brain makes subtle associations between what it is studying and the background sensations it has at the time, the authors say, regardless of whether those perceptions are conscious. It colors the terms of the Versailles Treaty with the wasted fluorescent glow of the dorm study room, say; or the elements of the Marshall Plan with the jade-curtain shade of the willow tree in the backyard. Forcing the brain to make multiple associations with the same material may, in effect, give that information more neural scaffolding.
“What we think is happening here is that, when the outside context is varied, the information is enriched, and this slows down forgetting,” said Dr. Bjork, the senior author of the two-room experiment.
Throughout the NYT piece, Carey illustrates that, in education as in medicine, we have a big problem moving from research evidence into practice.
Incidentally, here's another study tip based on research evidence about how the brain learns by association. Learning is, to a large extent, "state dependent." What that means is that if you study something while anxious, happy or while experiencing some form of altered consciousness, you will remember it better if you are in that same state again when you are tested for what you've learned.
While I definitely recommend against studying while intoxicated and certainly don't condone test-taking while under the influence, oddly enough, this research (much of which was done with drugs) does suggest that recall may be improved by trying to match your studying and test-taking emotional states. This may account for part of why last-minute cramming sometimes helps — you are anxious both while studying and while taking the test.
Research also finds that while mild to moderate stress increases learning, severe stress can impair memory. Extreme stress can actually cause the higher regions of the brain to shut down, shunting mental energy into areas devoted to aiding the fight-or-flight instinct. So, absolute panic will worsen performance even if you are panicked both while studying and during the test.
Stimulants as mild as caffeine can produce state-dependent learning boosts — so if you drink coffee or soda while studying, drink them before the test, too.
For people who use medication for ADHD, testing and studying should either both be done medicated or unmedicated to maximize state-dependence effects.
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/07/using-brains-to-study-better/#ixzz1Fo1fPeEY
By Maia Szalavitz
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/07/using-brains-to-study-better/#ixzz1Fo21CDWJ
I'm excited to be starting my “new school year” as a blogger here on Healthland — and what better way to begin than with news about boosting your ability to learn, using neuroscience! One of the hottest articles flying around the Web today is Benedict Carey's great New York Times science story headlined "Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits."
In it, Carey shows, among other things, why the conventional wisdom about learning — getting into the habit of studying in the same place each time — is wrong. How come? Essentially, making studying monotonous contradicts key aspects of what we know about learning. Novelty is a key part of the connections that ease learning. Studies find that simply switching study rooms helps make new associations and keep them fresh. Carey writes:
The brain makes subtle associations between what it is studying and the background sensations it has at the time, the authors say, regardless of whether those perceptions are conscious. It colors the terms of the Versailles Treaty with the wasted fluorescent glow of the dorm study room, say; or the elements of the Marshall Plan with the jade-curtain shade of the willow tree in the backyard. Forcing the brain to make multiple associations with the same material may, in effect, give that information more neural scaffolding.
“What we think is happening here is that, when the outside context is varied, the information is enriched, and this slows down forgetting,” said Dr. Bjork, the senior author of the two-room experiment.
Throughout the NYT piece, Carey illustrates that, in education as in medicine, we have a big problem moving from research evidence into practice.
Incidentally, here's another study tip based on research evidence about how the brain learns by association. Learning is, to a large extent, "state dependent." What that means is that if you study something while anxious, happy or while experiencing some form of altered consciousness, you will remember it better if you are in that same state again when you are tested for what you've learned.
While I definitely recommend against studying while intoxicated and certainly don't condone test-taking while under the influence, oddly enough, this research (much of which was done with drugs) does suggest that recall may be improved by trying to match your studying and test-taking emotional states. This may account for part of why last-minute cramming sometimes helps — you are anxious both while studying and while taking the test.
Research also finds that while mild to moderate stress increases learning, severe stress can impair memory. Extreme stress can actually cause the higher regions of the brain to shut down, shunting mental energy into areas devoted to aiding the fight-or-flight instinct. So, absolute panic will worsen performance even if you are panicked both while studying and during the test.
Stimulants as mild as caffeine can produce state-dependent learning boosts — so if you drink coffee or soda while studying, drink them before the test, too.
For people who use medication for ADHD, testing and studying should either both be done medicated or unmedicated to maximize state-dependence effects.
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/07/using-brains-to-study-better/#ixzz1Fo1fPeEY
Catalyst for Success
The CATALYST FOR SUCCESS
IDentify and Experience Accelerated Learning
12-week Accelerated Learning for groups, families, organizations, and teams.
Scientifically proven method to make big gains in a short amount of time.
CATALYST FOR SUCCESS consist of 3 fundamental pillars:
(Pillar 1)
Physiology presented with real world application in real world terms.
The Science of Belief - Leading edge neurology
(Pillar 2)
A New BELIEF SYSTEM – setting the scientific principles of Your customized Belief system in motion.
(Pillar 3)
Re-creation of Opportunity – having mastered the 1st and 2nd
pillars, you will have the ability to reinvent your
What CATALYST FOR SUCCESS 12-Week clients receive
• Half-day workshop explaining the science and teaching the and
• Breakout sessions with Dr. Rob and Dr. Jason working to help clients
• find their focus.
• Remote Coaching/ Team Leader - will facilitate 6 TEAM conference calls to offer support and guidance.
IDentify and Experience Accelerated Learning
12-week Accelerated Learning for groups, families, organizations, and teams.
Scientifically proven method to make big gains in a short amount of time.
CATALYST FOR SUCCESS consist of 3 fundamental pillars:
(Pillar 1)
Physiology presented with real world application in real world terms.
The Science of Belief - Leading edge neurology
(Pillar 2)
A New BELIEF SYSTEM – setting the scientific principles of Your customized Belief system in motion.
(Pillar 3)
Re-creation of Opportunity – having mastered the 1st and 2nd
pillars, you will have the ability to reinvent your
What CATALYST FOR SUCCESS 12-Week clients receive
• Half-day workshop explaining the science and teaching the and
• Breakout sessions with Dr. Rob and Dr. Jason working to help clients
• find their focus.
• Remote Coaching/ Team Leader - will facilitate 6 TEAM conference calls to offer support and guidance.
Community, It Gives you a Brain High - Time Article
You may remember the experiment from Psych 101: the one in which people are compelled to doubt their own good judgment and give wrong answers to simple questions, just to go along with the rest of the group. Now, brain research reviewed by the Dana Foundation offers more insight into why people conform: the feeling of fitting in activates brain regions that spur pleasure.
One study published this summer by researchers Chris Frith and Daniel Campbell-Meiklejohn found that people's reward regions lit up strongly when their ratings of pop songs agreed with those of two "experts." From the Dana Foundation:
"Everyone has an opinion on pop music," says Frith. "And we found that activity in the ventral striatum was very high when the individuals and the experts agreed on a song."
Their finding suggests that others' opinions, when shared with your own, are rewarding. "That shared opinion is a reward like food or money," says Campbell-Meiklejohn. "And it has the power to influence behavior."
This could explain that small but extremely satisfactory sensation you feel when proven right — this, after all, is basically realizing that what you thought conforms with reality or at least with the expert view you most believe does so, anyway. (More on Time.com: Special Report: Kids and Mental Health)
The idea that conforming would bring pleasure makes evolutionary sense for a social species. After all, it probably doesn't often promote survival to stand out from others in a small, tight-knit group on which you depend to meet all your fundamental needs.
Obviously, there are times that bucking convention is necessary and beneficial. But determining what allows some individuals to overcome the discomfort of standing out — or even prefer being the rebel or the outsider — is much more challenging for psychologists. (More on Time.com: Why Spamming Your Friends With Cute Kitties Is Good Karma)
Frith and Campbell-Meiklejohn's work shows the biological underpinnings of a long-studied phenomenon: yielding to peer pressure gets you high, even when you aren't saying yes to drugs.
To get a sense of the power of peers, see the video, below, on the famous Asch conformity experiments from the 1950s:
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2010/11/04/why-we-conform-to-the-group-it-gets-your-brain-high/#ixzz1FnwLmqFn
One study published this summer by researchers Chris Frith and Daniel Campbell-Meiklejohn found that people's reward regions lit up strongly when their ratings of pop songs agreed with those of two "experts." From the Dana Foundation:
"Everyone has an opinion on pop music," says Frith. "And we found that activity in the ventral striatum was very high when the individuals and the experts agreed on a song."
Their finding suggests that others' opinions, when shared with your own, are rewarding. "That shared opinion is a reward like food or money," says Campbell-Meiklejohn. "And it has the power to influence behavior."
This could explain that small but extremely satisfactory sensation you feel when proven right — this, after all, is basically realizing that what you thought conforms with reality or at least with the expert view you most believe does so, anyway. (More on Time.com: Special Report: Kids and Mental Health)
The idea that conforming would bring pleasure makes evolutionary sense for a social species. After all, it probably doesn't often promote survival to stand out from others in a small, tight-knit group on which you depend to meet all your fundamental needs.
Obviously, there are times that bucking convention is necessary and beneficial. But determining what allows some individuals to overcome the discomfort of standing out — or even prefer being the rebel or the outsider — is much more challenging for psychologists. (More on Time.com: Why Spamming Your Friends With Cute Kitties Is Good Karma)
Frith and Campbell-Meiklejohn's work shows the biological underpinnings of a long-studied phenomenon: yielding to peer pressure gets you high, even when you aren't saying yes to drugs.
To get a sense of the power of peers, see the video, below, on the famous Asch conformity experiments from the 1950s:
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2010/11/04/why-we-conform-to-the-group-it-gets-your-brain-high/#ixzz1FnwLmqFn
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Article from Time Hearland Series on the Mind
Article from Time Hearland Series on the Mind
New Science of Relationships
People tend to think of "attachment" and "bonding" as the subjects of child psychology, but in fact, these factors are just as important to adult health and happiness. So what defines the healthy adult relationship — is there such a thing as too "clingy" or "dependent?" — and can people change in order to find lasting love?
With studies showing again and again that our relationships are critical to our long-term mental and physical health, researchers are increasingly turning their attention to the nature of adult connections. In their new book Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How it Can Help You Find — and Keep — Love, psychiatrist and neuroscientist Amir Levine and co-author Rachel Heller explore the topic. And just in time for Valentine's Day, they offer a new perspective on how to find the right partner.
(More on Time.com: 5 Little-Known Truths About American Sex Lives)
What are attachment styles and what characterizes them?
There are three major attachment styles: anxious, avoidant and secure. [To find out yours or your partner's style, take this quiz.] Around 20% of people are anxiously attached. Anxious people need to be close; they love to be intimate. They are very preoccupied with relationships, and very sensitive to small cues of threat in a relationship. Let's say their partner is going to the airport — it's anxiety provoking for the relationship. They would start to worry if they didn't hear from their partner soon. It's almost like they have a very sensitive alarm system.
What about avoidant?
About 25% of people are avoidant. Avoidant people want to be in relationships — because we're all programmed to get attached to other people — but something strange happens when they get close to a person. They are uncomfortable with too much closeness. They keep their partners at arm's length and constantly try to negotiate intimacy and closeness. They see it as something that interferes with their independence.
And secure?
They make up 54%, the majority, of the population. Securely attached people are warm and loving and love to be close, but they don't have a sensitive alarm system. They don't get preoccupied with the relationship; they don't mind things so much. They have a talent for being in relationships. If they're going to the airport and you're anxious, they would call you before you even think about calling them.
The avoidant person would hit ignore and think, "Oh, she's calling again," and you end up yelling at each other. You can see what kind of a different life you would have with someone secure.
[By knowing about attachment styles], you actually have way to go about finding the right person.
Isn't there one more style?
There's also disorganized, or anxious/avoidant. That's much more rare. When children have this, it is linked to trauma.
Therapists often tell people that you can't be loved until you are able to love yourself, and suggest that people take time to work on themselves before getting into a relationship. But there's no data to support that, and in fact, the research shows that you need to be loved before you can love. Why do we have this cultural misunderstanding about relationships?
[People say it] because there's a kernel of truth to it, but that's one of the reasons we wrote this book. [In it, we describe] someone we know who is well-rounded and functional in every aspect of life, and clearly very much loves herself and her life. But she went into a relationship with someone who was very avoidant, and then became very anxious to the point that she almost lost her job.
It's funny because one of most amazing things that this theory teaches is that if you are anxious or avoidant, and you meet someone who is secure, there are huge healing powers [in that relationship]. You become more secure. You don't even have to work hard, it just happens. Sometimes, magic can happen. The science breaks it down, it really challenges your perception and ideas and beliefs about relationships in a good way, and you change [in ways] that would be very hard to do on your own. (More on Time.com: Allergic to Valentine's Day Gifts? 5 Last-Minute Alternatives)
You can do [some of that] in therapy but it's so powerful when you do it in a relationship. When we get attached, powerful forces [are involved]. People think about psychological aspects but it's also very much physiological. Your partner starts to control your blood pressure and autonomic nervous system. It has huge implications for physical health.
(More on TIME.com: Does Men's 'Bond' with Porn Spoil Them for Real Sex?)
Anxious people are often stigmatized as clingy and needy and desperate.
It really isn't that. You are only as needy and clingy as your unmet needs. [If your needs are met, you can just relax.]. If kids feel safe, they don't cling to their mothers, they play with their toys. It's the same with adults.
You have a chapter titled "Dependency Is Not a Bad Word" Yet the common wisdom about codependency suggests that caring too much can be a disease.
We stigmatize dependence. Our society is avoidant, in a way. We really put emphasis on independence. But dependence is a biological fact. Once we become attached, we're dependent whether we want to be or not.
I understand why, in the context of addiction, some people say it's a bad thing. It's really only bad because there's no good treatment [for addiction]. In that context, you can see why you sometimes have to withdraw support from the person — but even there, it's problematic. I've seen enough cases where the family withdrew and then something [awful happened to the addict].
And in other areas, it really doesn't hold water — as if you have a disease if you help someone?
Do two avoidant people ever get together?
We looked through the literature. It hardly ever happens, obviously. They can get together, but they tend to lack the glue that keeps people together.
(More on TIME.com: Why Methamphetamine Is Almost as Cuddly as Ecstasy)
You write that avoidant people are overrepresented in the dating pool.
When you go to a therapist and your relationships haven't worked out, they may tell you that you have a pattern of always finding the wrong person. That may be right — some people do get addicted to the highs and lows of tumultuous anxious/avoidant relationships — but [the problem may not be] all about them.
There are some social forces. What happens with someone avoidant is that they tend to stay in relationships less. They are more likely to divorce. They tend to circulate back into the dating pool more often than anxious or secure people.
Anxious attachment sounds stereotypically female: is it more common in women or is this a myth?
The good news is that the majority of men and women are secure. But there are some stereotypes we have about men and women — Mars and Venus. The idea that men don't like to communicate, for example — that's more descriptive of avoidant men. The majority of men can be close and communicate; they want to get married and have kids. They're the silent majority. We don't hear much about them because there's very little drama.
There is a slight excess of men who are avoidant, but a lot of women are avoidant, too. [The same is true with a slight excess of anxious women, but the majority are secure.]
(More on TIME.com: Do Tight Times Make Better Marriages?)
The original tests of attachment were done in very young children, looking at how they responded when they were left alone by their mothers. Does your infant attachment style stay with you into adulthood?
If there is a correlation, it's weak at best, which is good news because it means that we can change our attachment style. Adult attachment styles are stable but plastic. When [researchers] looked at a group over four years, 25% had changed their attachment style. It can happen in several ways, for example when someone anxious or avoidant gets into a relationship with someone secure.
So what can you do to change your attachment style if you are not secure?
First of all, by understanding your relationship from an attachment perspective, you can work to identify insecure patterns and learn how you can change them to become more secure.
We have examples in the book. One couple moved in together. One of them was very avoidant; he had a hard time and got to the point where he was thinking about breaking up. But he was also able to say how he was having hard time letting her in, and to think about how lonely he was before and how he really longed to share his life. A transition occurred when he was able to see his role in what was going on and take step back and not feel like he was being pushed into a corner.
[I also worked with a] 40-year-old woman. She was dating and was sick of it and wanted a man and kids. She started to just say, I want to get married and have kids as soon as possible. She was able to do two things there, express that need and be authentic, which correlates very highly with satisfaction and happy relationships. A lot of people were scared off, but that way she didn't waste her time. And the way she did it, it can come from place of strength, it doesn't have to come from place of weakness.
See more of Healthland's Mind Reading series of author interviews.
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/02/13/mind-reading-how-the-new-science-of-adult-attachment-can-improve-your-love-life/#ixzz1FnrTIROJ
New Science of Relationships
People tend to think of "attachment" and "bonding" as the subjects of child psychology, but in fact, these factors are just as important to adult health and happiness. So what defines the healthy adult relationship — is there such a thing as too "clingy" or "dependent?" — and can people change in order to find lasting love?
With studies showing again and again that our relationships are critical to our long-term mental and physical health, researchers are increasingly turning their attention to the nature of adult connections. In their new book Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How it Can Help You Find — and Keep — Love, psychiatrist and neuroscientist Amir Levine and co-author Rachel Heller explore the topic. And just in time for Valentine's Day, they offer a new perspective on how to find the right partner.
(More on Time.com: 5 Little-Known Truths About American Sex Lives)
What are attachment styles and what characterizes them?
There are three major attachment styles: anxious, avoidant and secure. [To find out yours or your partner's style, take this quiz.] Around 20% of people are anxiously attached. Anxious people need to be close; they love to be intimate. They are very preoccupied with relationships, and very sensitive to small cues of threat in a relationship. Let's say their partner is going to the airport — it's anxiety provoking for the relationship. They would start to worry if they didn't hear from their partner soon. It's almost like they have a very sensitive alarm system.
What about avoidant?
About 25% of people are avoidant. Avoidant people want to be in relationships — because we're all programmed to get attached to other people — but something strange happens when they get close to a person. They are uncomfortable with too much closeness. They keep their partners at arm's length and constantly try to negotiate intimacy and closeness. They see it as something that interferes with their independence.
And secure?
They make up 54%, the majority, of the population. Securely attached people are warm and loving and love to be close, but they don't have a sensitive alarm system. They don't get preoccupied with the relationship; they don't mind things so much. They have a talent for being in relationships. If they're going to the airport and you're anxious, they would call you before you even think about calling them.
The avoidant person would hit ignore and think, "Oh, she's calling again," and you end up yelling at each other. You can see what kind of a different life you would have with someone secure.
[By knowing about attachment styles], you actually have way to go about finding the right person.
Isn't there one more style?
There's also disorganized, or anxious/avoidant. That's much more rare. When children have this, it is linked to trauma.
Therapists often tell people that you can't be loved until you are able to love yourself, and suggest that people take time to work on themselves before getting into a relationship. But there's no data to support that, and in fact, the research shows that you need to be loved before you can love. Why do we have this cultural misunderstanding about relationships?
[People say it] because there's a kernel of truth to it, but that's one of the reasons we wrote this book. [In it, we describe] someone we know who is well-rounded and functional in every aspect of life, and clearly very much loves herself and her life. But she went into a relationship with someone who was very avoidant, and then became very anxious to the point that she almost lost her job.
It's funny because one of most amazing things that this theory teaches is that if you are anxious or avoidant, and you meet someone who is secure, there are huge healing powers [in that relationship]. You become more secure. You don't even have to work hard, it just happens. Sometimes, magic can happen. The science breaks it down, it really challenges your perception and ideas and beliefs about relationships in a good way, and you change [in ways] that would be very hard to do on your own. (More on Time.com: Allergic to Valentine's Day Gifts? 5 Last-Minute Alternatives)
You can do [some of that] in therapy but it's so powerful when you do it in a relationship. When we get attached, powerful forces [are involved]. People think about psychological aspects but it's also very much physiological. Your partner starts to control your blood pressure and autonomic nervous system. It has huge implications for physical health.
(More on TIME.com: Does Men's 'Bond' with Porn Spoil Them for Real Sex?)
Anxious people are often stigmatized as clingy and needy and desperate.
It really isn't that. You are only as needy and clingy as your unmet needs. [If your needs are met, you can just relax.]. If kids feel safe, they don't cling to their mothers, they play with their toys. It's the same with adults.
You have a chapter titled "Dependency Is Not a Bad Word" Yet the common wisdom about codependency suggests that caring too much can be a disease.
We stigmatize dependence. Our society is avoidant, in a way. We really put emphasis on independence. But dependence is a biological fact. Once we become attached, we're dependent whether we want to be or not.
I understand why, in the context of addiction, some people say it's a bad thing. It's really only bad because there's no good treatment [for addiction]. In that context, you can see why you sometimes have to withdraw support from the person — but even there, it's problematic. I've seen enough cases where the family withdrew and then something [awful happened to the addict].
And in other areas, it really doesn't hold water — as if you have a disease if you help someone?
Do two avoidant people ever get together?
We looked through the literature. It hardly ever happens, obviously. They can get together, but they tend to lack the glue that keeps people together.
(More on TIME.com: Why Methamphetamine Is Almost as Cuddly as Ecstasy)
You write that avoidant people are overrepresented in the dating pool.
When you go to a therapist and your relationships haven't worked out, they may tell you that you have a pattern of always finding the wrong person. That may be right — some people do get addicted to the highs and lows of tumultuous anxious/avoidant relationships — but [the problem may not be] all about them.
There are some social forces. What happens with someone avoidant is that they tend to stay in relationships less. They are more likely to divorce. They tend to circulate back into the dating pool more often than anxious or secure people.
Anxious attachment sounds stereotypically female: is it more common in women or is this a myth?
The good news is that the majority of men and women are secure. But there are some stereotypes we have about men and women — Mars and Venus. The idea that men don't like to communicate, for example — that's more descriptive of avoidant men. The majority of men can be close and communicate; they want to get married and have kids. They're the silent majority. We don't hear much about them because there's very little drama.
There is a slight excess of men who are avoidant, but a lot of women are avoidant, too. [The same is true with a slight excess of anxious women, but the majority are secure.]
(More on TIME.com: Do Tight Times Make Better Marriages?)
The original tests of attachment were done in very young children, looking at how they responded when they were left alone by their mothers. Does your infant attachment style stay with you into adulthood?
If there is a correlation, it's weak at best, which is good news because it means that we can change our attachment style. Adult attachment styles are stable but plastic. When [researchers] looked at a group over four years, 25% had changed their attachment style. It can happen in several ways, for example when someone anxious or avoidant gets into a relationship with someone secure.
So what can you do to change your attachment style if you are not secure?
First of all, by understanding your relationship from an attachment perspective, you can work to identify insecure patterns and learn how you can change them to become more secure.
We have examples in the book. One couple moved in together. One of them was very avoidant; he had a hard time and got to the point where he was thinking about breaking up. But he was also able to say how he was having hard time letting her in, and to think about how lonely he was before and how he really longed to share his life. A transition occurred when he was able to see his role in what was going on and take step back and not feel like he was being pushed into a corner.
[I also worked with a] 40-year-old woman. She was dating and was sick of it and wanted a man and kids. She started to just say, I want to get married and have kids as soon as possible. She was able to do two things there, express that need and be authentic, which correlates very highly with satisfaction and happy relationships. A lot of people were scared off, but that way she didn't waste her time. And the way she did it, it can come from place of strength, it doesn't have to come from place of weakness.
See more of Healthland's Mind Reading series of author interviews.
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/02/13/mind-reading-how-the-new-science-of-adult-attachment-can-improve-your-love-life/#ixzz1FnrTIROJ
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
- Amen Clinics scores big with NFL study
- Attention CEOs! The secret to boosting your bottom line
- The Amen Solution—now available!
- Part 7 of The Amen Solution: Know your brain type
- Dr. Amen’s new public television show debuts
Posted: 22 Feb 2011 06:00 AM PST As you may know, over the past two years, our research team here at the Amen Clinics has been performing the world’s largest brain imaging study on active and retired professional football players. All of that hard work has come to fruition. Our study “Impact of Playing Professional American Football on Long Term Brain Function” has been published in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience. This study shows a very serious level of brain trauma in a high percentage of players. I am very proud of this study and think it is an important piece in getting the NFL to stop denying that playing professional football causes long-term brain damage. But I have to admit that it’s the second part of this study that is most exciting to me. Our research team is now conducting a brain rehabilitation study to see if the damaged brains of football players can be rehabilitated. I am so thrilled to say that our preliminary results are astounding. Many players originally came to see me with dementia, depression, and obesity. But after putting them on our brain healthy program, the same one you will find in my new book The Amen Solution, many have made extraordinary progress. One of player lost 107 pounds in 7 months and experienced improvement with his dementia. One player lost 110 pounds and his brain scans showed dramatic brain improvement. Fred Dryer, famed Los Angeles Ram defensive end and television star of the show Hunter, was part of our NFL study. He wrote to tell us that “over the last few months my overall feeling of clarity and confidence is much improved. With the supplements and certainly with the neurofeedback sessions I have replaced a part of me that over time had slowly slipped away.” Big Ed White, age 62, a four-time Pro Bowl offensive guard for the Minnesota Vikings and later for the San Diego Chargers, played 17 seasons in the National Football League. When I first met Ed he weighed 365 pounds and scored very poorly on his cognitive testing profile. All of our players take a test called the Microcog, which measures intellectual functioning in nine different areas, including overall general cognitive functioning, information processing speed, attention, reasoning and memory. He scored very poorly. After six months, on our brain healthy/weight-loss program, he had lost 40 pounds, and his test scores increased dramatically (see below). Ed White’s Microcog Results Before After % Change General Cognitive Functioning 21 39 90%+ Information Processing 25 58 > 100%+ Reasoning 3 13 > 400%+ Memory 14 66 > 470%+ The numbers are Ed’s percentile rankings, comparing him to other people his age and education level. For example, a ranking of 21 percent means 79 percent of people his age and education scored better than Ed. Cam Cleeland, 34, is one of our younger retired NFL players. I have blogged about Cam previously, but I want to share his story again for any new readers. Cam played football at a very high level in high school, in college at the University of Washington, and eight years in the pros as a tight end with the New Orleans Saints, New England Patriots, and St. Louis Rams. He volunteered for our study because he was struggling with problems of depression, irritability, low frustration, tolerance, high stress, obsessive thinking, and memory problems. While playing football in college, he had a concussion and was unconscious for 18 hours. He was diagnosed with a total of eight concussions—three in college and five in the pros. He said his “bell was rung” every week. Once in his rookie year while playing for Mike Ditka in New Orleans, he was involved in a hazing incident during which other players whacked him on the head with socks filled with coins (not the sign of intelligent life). Cam suffered a concussion and vision problems after the incident. Cam said that the NFL changed its position on hazing after the incident. Cam’s evaluation showed clear evidence of depression, brain trauma, and cognitive dysfunction. His SPECT scan showed left-sided brain damage (he said he was hit in the left eye during the hazing incident and that he felt better on blocks when he led with the left side of his head). His Microcog (a test of neuropsychological function) showed significant decreases in general cognitive functioning, information processing speed, attention, memory, and spatial processing. Eight months later we re-assessed Cam, using the same protocol as before. He reported he felt much better and noticed significant improvements in his attention, mental clarity, memory, mood, motivation, and anxiety level. He felt his anger was under greater control and he was getting along better with his small children. His SPECT scan showed dramatic improvement in the areas of his temporal lobes (memory and mood stability), prefrontal cortex (attention and judgment), and cerebellum (processing speed). His Microcog showed dramatic improvement as well (see the following table). He feels the difference and is excited to do everything he can to change his brain and change his life. You see, changing your brain can make you smarter and happier! It also made him thinner—Cam has lost 25 pounds since starting the program. Cam Cleeland’s Microcog Results Before After % Change General Cognitive Functioning 13 39 200%+ Information Processing Speed 12 30 150%+ Information Processing Accuracy 27 55 100%+ Attention 34 70 100+% Memory 30 77 > 150%+ Spatial Processing 5 77 > 1,400%+ The numbers are Cam’s percentile rankings, comparing him to other people his age and education level. For example, the 5 percent in “Spatial Processing” means 95 percent of people his age and education scored better than Cam. See how another one of our players is doing in this week’s Case of the Week! |
Posted: 22 Feb 2011 06:00 AM PST If you’re a CEO, a small business owner, or a manager, you know that getting the most out of your employees is critical to your success… especially in tough economic time Are you spending too much on new employee training due to high employee turnover? Are your employees calling in sick too often? Do you think your employees should be more productive than they are? Have you tried traditional management strategies to fix these problems but haven’t succeeded in achieving lasting improvement? The problem could be your company’s brain health. Most employers and managers have no clue how important brain health is to the health of their business and their bottom line. Your brain is the supercomputer that runs everything you do to make your business a success or a failure. Your brain and your employees’ brains help you get and keep new customers, create new product lines, come up with innovative sales and marketing strategies, find creative ways to cut overhead costs, and devise effective management tools. If you give your collective brains the attention they deserve, you are much more likely to have a smooth-operating, thriving business or organization. Your team at work will be more productive, thoughtful, reliable, and consistent. And your workplace will be filled with less stress, more fun, and more profit. Want to know how to do it? I will show you how you can achieve better corporate brain health… and a better bottom line… in a 1-day wellness symposium being offered by The LBL Group. I’ll be presenting along with Will Marré, the co-founder and former president of the Covey Leadership Center where he translated the concepts of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People into powerful leadership courses. He has taught these courses to millions of executives worldwide. Personally, as a CEO myself, I can’t wait to hear what he has to say. This symposium will take place March 23 from 8:00AM to 12:00PM in Solana Beach, California. Click here for more information or sign up now at www.healthy-employees-lower-costs.com. |
Posted: 22 Feb 2011 06:00 AM PST My new book The Amen Solution: The Brain Healthy Way to Lose Weight and Keep It Off / The Secret to Being Thinner, Smarter, and Happier has been released! The program in this book is very powerful and life-changing, and I have already seen it work for many people at the Amen Clinics. I know that you and your loved ones can benefit from it too. Some people have been asking me how it will be different from Change Your Brain, Change Your Body so let me explain. Ever since Change Your Brain, Change Your Body hit cyberspace and store shelves, people have been calling and emailing our clinics, posting comments on my blog, and talking to me at book signings, speaking engagements, and other events. What the overwhelming majority of them were begging for was a simple step-by-step brain-based program for weight loss. The Amen Solution is that program. While Change Your Brain, Change Your Body dealt with overall general health, The Amen Solution focuses on weight loss and helping you get thinner, smarter, and happier… all at the same time! In this book I will give you the basic steps to boost your brain to become thinner, smarter, and happier at the same time. I will give you a 10-week program to get started. This is the same program we use at the Amen Clinics, and the same program we use with the NFL players in our retired NFL player brain damage and rehabilitation study. In addition, The Amen Solution profiles “The Amen Solution All-Stars,” real-life people (including several of our NFL players) who have shared their journey to a slimmer shape, greater happiness, and improved brain function. I hope their stories will inspire and motivate you. You will also find “Get Smart to Get Thinner” boxes with thoughtful tips, strategies, insights, and success stories from the everyday people who have been successfully losing weight with this program. By following The Amen Solution 10-week program you will learn how to say goodbye to emotional overeating, curb cravings and boost willpower. Filled with the most up-to-date research, advice on natural supplements, meal plans, recipes, 200 quick ways to leave your blubber behind, and exercises to optimize your mind to shed those pounds, The Amen Solution is not just a 10-week diet. It is a program to get control of your brain and your body for the rest of your life. I can’t wait to hear from you about it. Share your successes with me by commenting on my blog. Order your copy of The Amen Solution today. |
Posted: 22 Feb 2011 06:00 AM PST This is part 7 of a 10-part series on The Amen Solution: The Brain Healthy Way to Lose Weight and Keep It Off and the Secret to Being Thinner, Smarter, and Happier Amen Solution #7: Know your brain type. After looking at over 60,000 brain SPECT scans over the past 20 years one of the most important lessons we have learned at the Amen Clinics is that problems like being overweight or having ADD or being depressed are not single or simple problems in the brain. They all have multiple types. Through our brain imaging work I have described 6 different types of ADD, 7 different types of anxiety and depression and 5 different types of overeaters. Knowing your specific type of a problem is essential to getting the right help. I talk about this concept in great detail in the book. For now, the five types of overeaters include: The “compulsive” overeater … who constantly thinks about food. The “impulsive” overeater … who has poor impulse control. The “impulsive-compulsive” overeater … who tends to be both impulsive and compulsive at the same time. The “sad” overeater, who eats as a way to self-medicate feelings of sadness or depression. And, the “anxious” overeater, who eats as a way to soothe his or her anxiety. Understanding the specific type of brain you have is critical to getting the right help and can help target your diets, supplements or medications if needed. In one study, 42% of “morbidly obese” patients were diagnosed with ADD or attention deficit disorder. These people are typically the impulsive overeaters, and it is virtually impossible to get them to lose weight, even with surgery, without first helping their brains. But for people who are anxious or compulsive, giving them ADD strategies almost always makes them more anxious or more compulsive. People who are compulsive tend to do better with higher carbohydrate diets, because they tend to calm the brain … while people who are impulsive do better with higher protein diets. This is critical because the wrong diet can make some people mean, angry and out of sorts. Recently, I was on the Rachael Ray show, and when I said this to Rachael, she told me that she had tried a low-carb diet, and it made her so mean that she wondered why her husband didn’t leave her. I have seen couples have serious marital problems just because one of the partners got their hands on the wrong diet books. In our clinics we use brain SPECT imaging to help us understand and treat our patients. But a long time ago I realized that not everyone is able to get a scan. My books are now translated into 30 languages and if you read one in Japan or Italy odds are you are not going to get a scan. So based on thousands of scans I developed a series of questionnaires to help people predict what their brain might look like if they could get a scan. Then, based on the answers, I give suggestions on ways to think about helping your brain with certain natural supplements, medications or exercises. The questionnaires are found in the book and they are used by mental health professionals around the world. Of course, you should always talk to your doctor about any treatment you try. When Eileen first joined our program she weighed 187 pounds. When she took our questionnaire she discovered that she was a Type 5 Anxious Overeater and used food as a way to soothe her anxiety. She found that our journal helped keep her on track … and especially loved the exercises in it to help her calm her mind. We are currently working on an online version of the journal that will make it easier than ever to track your calories and brain healthy habits. I’ll let you know when it’s available. Over about 6 months she lost her anxiety and a whole lot of weight. Since starting our program she has lost 39 pounds and 5 pants sizes. In the next few weeks you will learn about how using specific supplements can help you become thinner, smarter, and happier and I will give you the tools to help you stop emotional overeating. Plus, I will also show you how to influence your loved ones to be thinner, smarter, and happier too. That is my favorite part. Make sure you come back. What do you have to lose? Maybe 10, 30, or even 70 pounds? How cool would that be not to have to carry that much fat around anymore. Order your copy of The Amen Solution today. |
Posted: 22 Feb 2011 06:00 AM PST I am so excited to tell you that my new public television special, The Amen Solution, is making its debut Tuesday, February 22! If you’re in the Los Angeles area, tune in to KCET to catch it. The show will air from 7:00PM-9:00PM PT. If you aren’t in the Los Angeles area, stay tuned. I’ll keep you informed when it becomes available in other markets. |
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