The human brain plays a key role in our mental health and well-being. Gaining an understanding of the workings of your brain can be an important part of living a happy, healthy and satisfying life. To learn more about the different parts of the brain and the role that these parts play in our functioning, click here. You can also follow this link to see how providing stimulus to certain parts of the brain can create movement in our bodies.
Katherine Benziger has developed a theory of personality and career development that is based on our cognitive strengths. Benziger believes that everyone has one part of their brain that is naturally more efficient than the others. Her belief in a nutshell is that people who choose careers that use the part of their brain that is naturally efficient experience greater job satisfaction. (You can find more information about Benziger's theory at businessballs.com.) She also believes that we choose friends with similar brains to our own, but typically choose partners with brains that are complementary to our own. Having a greater understanding of your brain truly can lead to better life decisions and satisfaction in a variety of realms.
Until recent years, scientists believed that the brain was relatively unchangeable after our early years. It is true that amazing growth occurs in the brain during early childhood, however with the development of advanced brain imaging technology, (follow this link to learn more about these techniques), scientists have learned that our brain is much more changeable than we had ever imagined regardless of our age!
As infants, our brain creates neural connections at a rapid rate. These connections are built in response to the many things that the infant experiences in his or her environment. To watch a video clip of this process, click here. At one time, it was believed that the brain did not change much after childhood, however research now shows that the brain experiences a second period of rapid change during the teenage years that can affect many areas of functioning. To access a video and multiple resources about the changing teenage brain, click here.
We are now learning that the brain changes in response to our thoughts, habits and environment. What we focus our attention on truly changes our brain. The more we focus on a particular thought, the more connections to this thought are built in the brain, causing us to focus on it even more. If this is a thought that brings us joy, this can improve our lives. However, if we form a habitual thought that is negative, we inadvertently change our brain in a way that makes this thought easier to access. Thankfully, we can also learn to reverse this process by shifting our attention and changing our thoughts. This is one of the reasons that meditation, affirmations, and therapy can all help people to make permanent changes in their lives.
We have also learned that it is important to continually try to experience new things. The brain can get stuck in a rut, leading to boredom and even neural degeneration. Research is beginning to show that people can avoid some of the negative effects of aging by continually searching out novel information, learning and experiences. Doing something new actually seems to create new growth and connections in the brain regardless of our age.
Finally, neuroscientists have discovered a new kind of brain cell, or neuron, that seems to be the source of a person's ability to empathize. The discovery of this particular type of neuron has huge implications in our ability to understand and treat people with autism and asperger's disorder (for a brief, but incredible video clip about a man with autism who is an artistic savant, click here. Well worth your time in the quest to understand the potential of the human brain!) It also helps to explain any of our everyday social behaviors. To learn more about mirror neurons click here. The video segment of this website does a great job of explaining why so many of us will be at the edge of our seats during the Super Bowl this weekend!
About Me
- Kennebunk, Maine, United States
- Christy A. Cole, MA is a licensed clinical mental health counselor, consultant and educator who specializes in applying positive psychology to promote personal growth and increase happiness in people's lives. Christy has a bachelor's degree in Psychology and Women's Studies from UNH and a master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Lesley University. Christy holds a certification in Positive Psychology from the Zur Institute has been providing positive-psychology informed psychotherapy and consultation for the past eleven years within a variety of settings, including public schools, colleges, non-profit organizations, businesses, and agencies. She is the co-founder and co-director of Positively Maine, an organization dedicated to promoting positive psychology principles through coaching and educational pursuits. Christy also has a successful psychotherapy practice in Kennebunk, Maine where she provides psychotherapy and coaching services to adults, adolescents, children, families and couples.
2 comments:
In the movie we watched in class there was a brief about how we remember things that are negative stonger than positive ones. It also said that similar situation to a negative memory can trigger that.I can relate to that becuase I was hit by a car and I'm very jittery in a car or around vehicles. Quick actions can make me grab for whatevers around and I am very cautious when driving because I am always anticipating the worst. I've tried to overcome it but it's taking a lot and a long time. I've been working on it for over a year, but I can't seem to overcome the fear although I was not scared when it occured. I think the fear came upon me when I realized I came very close to the end.
What a frightening thing to have gone through! I'm so sorry you had to experience this! When people survive a traumatic event, like the one you have described, it's very common for them to have anxiety when they are faced with things that remind them of their experience. These triggers can be everything from being in the same place or situation, to a smell or sound that reminds them of that time. Thankfully, over time these triggers typically lose some of their power. However, often times it does take work to get there and it can be important to make sure that you have enough support while going through this.
It's also very normal to have a "delayed emotional response" after a trauma. In other words, people often experience the fear and emotion AFTER they have had some time to process what happened to them. There are biological reasons for this that we will be talking about in class this week.
In the same film, (The Brain Fitness Program which has been airing this week on PBS), one of the psychologists refers to research out of UCLA that was conducted by Jeffrey Schwartz that found that the "worry center" of the brain could be calmed by teaching people to respond by telling themselves "this isn't real" and "that's just my brain talking and I don't have to pay attention to it." These simple statements seemed to help people to rewire the neural connections in their brains. While this research was about OCD, it certainly could be worth a try in this situation as well!
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