Brain Basics

Brain Facts: The human brain weighs about 3 pounds and is 75% water. It uses about 20% of the oxygen in the body. There are five kinds of brain waves, and the brain is influenced by chemicals known as neurotransmitters. The brain is very complex, but one of the Brain regions at Brainfacts.org is the prefrontal cortex which is responsible for executive functions.

The brain and emotions: the fight or flight response

The fight or flight response is a physiological and emotional response to danger, perceived threats, or stressful situations. The brain’s alarm system (the amygdala) instantly sends chemicals to signal the hypothalamus (command center) to immediately prepare with a rush of hormones (adrenaline, epinephrine, and cortisol). This triggers the acceleration of breath and heart rate and other physical responses, as well as emotional responses like anger or fear. This response helped our ancestors survive when facing wild animals and other dangers. In today’s world we rarely face life-or-death threats, but the same response can be triggered by social stressors like job interviews, public speaking, or arguments. This powerful reaction makes it difficult to access the thinking part of the brain (prefrontal cortex). To manage emotions, PAUSE:

• Pause and notice: the physical cues in the body, the situation, your thoughts and emotions.
• Accept and reset: name the emotion, and calm the reaction with coping skills. The inital flooding subsides in 6 seconds, and flows through in 90 seconds.
• Uncover the drivers of your reaction, resist urges.
• Stop and step back: take a time out if possible. It takes 20+ minutes for the body to return to normal.
• Explore options and express empathy: when calmer, choose best actions, learn about the experience of others.

Resources:

• Articles: What happens during fight or flight response? from Cleveland Clinic, What is emotional flooding? from Time, Emotional flooding and what to do about it from Giusi Silvestri
• Videos: Emotions and the Brain, Resilience: The Up side of down TED talk by David Donaldson. Learn more about the Power of a Pause.

How to optimize your brain:

• Make and listen to music. https://liveinnovation.org/music-neuroscience-magical-evidences-ted-talks/
• Add exercise. Wendy Suzuki Big Think videos: Workout routine (3:48), 10 minute brain reset (18:11). (see book & TED talk below) Harvard School of Medicine says so too.
• Select healthy food. Drew Ramsey Optimize your brain Big Think video (7:02). Try a Mediterranean or MIND diet, https://www.brainhealthkitchen.com/recipe-grid/, and add a bit of dark chocolate! Psychology Today says so.
• Take a pause and do some deep breathing.
• Explore meditation. 7 ways meditation can change the brain from Forbes.
• Rest and reduce stress. Lisa Genova Protect Your Brain Big Think video (9:15)
• Include awareness and self-care.
• Novelty and challenge, notice small wins. David Eagleman TED interview Best thing you can do for your brain (2:27) Nicole Vignola Reclaim your brain Big Think video (6:25)
• Grow social connections. Matthew Lieberman book and TED talk, below.

Maybe try some brain games.

Scientific American debates the effectiveness at brain games at Brain Games: do they really work. See one man’s experience at Training my Aging Brain from Discover magazine. But if you’d like to try a few just in case, there are some free online brain games at this Pinterest Board.

Books and TED talks:

Amazon affiliate links to books below provide a small commission to help support the Daily PlanIt.

• “Your Brain at Work” by David Rock, TED Talk Learning About the Brain Changes Everything
• “The Emotional Life of Your Brain” by Richard Davidson, TED talk How mindfulness changes the emotional life of your brain
• “Healing the Modern Brain” by Drew Ramsey, TED talk Feed your mental health
• “Healthy Brain, Healthy Life” by Wendy Suzuki, TED talk The Brain changing effects of exercise
• “Remember” by Lisa Genova, TED talk What would you do if nothing could stop you?
• “Social” by Matthew Lieberman, TED talk The social brain and its superpowers
• Frank VanOverwalle TED talk The social brain
• Sabine Doebel TED talks on executive function and context

More Resources:

• Core Concepts from brainfacts.org, and a downloadable book
• Your Brain at sciencemuseum.org.uk
• Mayo Clinic tips to keep your brain healthy

GREAT Skills are a) in demand in the workplace b) rarely taught, and c) very helpful in all areas of life! The GREAT Skills Trading Cards provide key information from experts for learning these skills. The links below lead to posts at The Daily PlanIt with more resources. This set on the brain and motivation is available for download at slideshare.

The brain and motivation set includes:

• David Rock “Your Brain at Work” + TED Talk “Learning About the Brain Changes Everything“
• Dan Pink “Drive” + TED Talk “The Puzzle of Motivation“
• Simon Sinek “Start With Why” book + TED Talk
• Dan Ariely  “Predictably Irrational” book + TED Talk
• Angela Duckworth “Grit” book + TED Talk
• Sabine Doebel TED talks on executive function and breaking away from habit

You may also be interested in weekly activities for a Year of Personal Growth and resources to develop the top 10 skills employers want. Find more tools the Personal Development Toolkit, including more GREAT Skills Trading Card sets that cover skills you probably didn’t learn in high school (and wish you had).

About dailyplanit

I seek to create order from the chaos of complex information. Join me at the Daily PlanIt to gain insights, inspiration, and information to increase skills for a better life. I unlock the power of teaching reading with phonics in the pursuit of literacy at www.phonicspow.com. In my spare time I explore books and movies, often choosing titles available on both screen and page.