Transform Your Life with Gratitude by: Shanti Medina
Over the past recent years, neuroscience has been sharing what the ancients have known for centuries: Our thoughts shape our reality and inform our destiny. Where our attention goes is literally where energy flows. Feeling and sharing our gratitude is one of the healthiest ways we can pump up our joy and uplift our mood. […]
Oxytocin – The Dark Side of the Love Molecule
With the recent popularity of neuroscience for public consumption the neurotransmitter Oxytocin has gained the nick-name “The Love Molecule”. Who wouldn’t want more love, right? This neurotransmitter is know to be the bonding chemical released during sex, a mother and child nursing, and during heightened moments of trust. There are oxytocin nasal sprays marketed to […]
I resent your tone of voice!
Although there can be too much generalization out there about being either right-brained or emotional beings, or left-brained logical beings, one thing seems clear to neuroscience: we default to prosody, or tone of voice, over the semantic meaning of words when push comes to shove. As babies we need to understand tone of voice before […]
Cynicism May be Leading You to Dementia
Do you suspect others have ulterior motives more often than not? Do you feel that others only assist you because they’ll want something in return? If you tend to look at the world through this lens you may be more inclined to develop dementia in your later years! Social Cognitive neuroscience is consistently finding links […]
Is Your Head full of Plastic?
In the last few decades the concept of neuroplasticity has taken hold of the science community. We agree now that our brains are malleable, waxing and waning in their structure and function, and ever changeable. NOW we know it’s even more plastic than that! Not only can we birth new brain cells, and strengthen […]
What a Difference a Verb can Make!
I AM vs I FEEL Did you know that when the fight-or-flight center of the brain is engaged (the limbic system) saying things like I AM so angry keeps the blood flowing in that direction, feeding that center. But when you switch to I FEEL so angry there is a measurable shift in blood flow […]
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 […]
Biased by Smell – You’ll be Amazed at how Easily You are Influenced!
In studies, unpleasant odors that either preceded or happened simultaneously with facial expressions (Scientific American Mag) or as subjects read short paragraphs (Eagleman, Incognito) caused individuals to feel disgust in relation to the action they were witnessing or engaged in. Bad smells activate the insula, a center of the brain that registers disgust, and […]
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 […]
Seeing in Black and White…Not Just a Metaphor
We sometimes refer to perspectives as “black and white” where there’s little room for moral negotiation. This is actually more than just a metaphor. Recent studies show that when one reads information on a black and white background, such as a newspaper, the information is perceived to have less moral wiggle room as information read […]
