Men & Women: A Move Towards Conscious Communication
According to Dr. Brizendine females have a larger prefrontal cortex, insula, and ACC – all areas that relate to empathy, sensing our own bodies, and considering other people’s mental states. Men have larger amygdala’s – the area that deals with fight-or-flight, automatic response, survival needs and emotions. Knowing our strengths and predispositions can lead to […]
It’s Written All Over Your Face!
In 2001 neurologist Patrik Vuilleumeir found that a person’s amygdala responds in threat mode to the appearance of fearful expressions of others EVEN IF that person is paying attention to something else. The amygdalae’s job is to signal our stress response so that we have valuable stress hormones actively recruiting blood to the large muscle […]
Stress is Killing You
Are you setting yourself up for a stress related disease? Are you shortening your own lifespan? Over time, the allostatic load of stress on the body can no longer be mitigated by the sympathetic nervous system. We end up with impaired immunity, atherosclerosis, metabolic syndrome, bone demineralization, atrophy of brain nerve cells, hippocampus damage, growth […]
A Fear-Orientation is Killing You!
In our modern world of green-house fears, war atrocities, environmental pillaging, and global threats the social media is rife with stories of conspiracy, fear, and apocalyptic preparedness. What is this focus doing to us? While it’s not advisable to put our heads in the sand and ignore the direction of current events, we can effect […]
Who’s in the Mirror?
In neural imaging studies done in 1996, it was found that viewing images of fearful, stressed, or angered faces activated the viewer’s fear response in the amygdala. Take a look in the mirror today and make note of the expression on your own face at various times. Do you have a furrowed brow? Are your […]
Hydrogenated oils, Aggression and Your Amygdala
In a new study from the University of California, San Diego it was shown that those who eat more trans fats (fried foods or hydrogenated oils) are more prone to aggression. Perhaps this is because the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain capable of quieting our fight or flight center (the amygdala), seems to […]
Are You Cross-Wired?
It’s proven we can wire neutral events to fearful responses. Ex: a dog barks each time you get a bit of bad news. Soon, you cringe at the dog bark, even if no bad news follows. The auditory cortex delivers the “dog bark” message at the same time as the “bad news” message enters the […]
Taming the Fear Response
Our Amygdala is the cornerstone of our fight-or-flight and fear response. It keeps us safe in emergencies, action-oriented in crisis, and powerful when we have little reserves. It also happens to dominate with use and become our filter for the world over time. The more we exercise fear, the more we view the world through […]
Use Your Illusions for Good!
If you give the prefrontal cortex the “perception” that it has control over your stress response, it will signal all the way back to the amygdala and brain stem and override the primitive brain stress response. Creating visuals and acting them out in your mind gives your PFC this exact perception! Engage your imagination for […]
Mindfulness Changing the Political Brain?
The time has come for politics to recognize the magic of both compassion and neuroplasticity! “The fact that our brain is always changing means we’re not locked in to having the stress superhighway built into our nervous system…The cutting-edge research today shows us how mindfulness can help us reshape our brain and nervous system…Now studies […]
