Different aspects of memory are stored in different areas of the brain simultaneously. Memory retrieval is not like looking at a snapshot--it's always a reconstruction and coming together of pieces and parts. So when we think we remember exactly what…
Science now says we have 100 billion neurons in the brain. There are 5 times as many neuronal networks allocated for threat detection than there are for non-threat input. This is why negativity is so easy to default to AND so…
Your cortices, like muscles, grow with use. So if you use your limbic brain to function mostly--in fear and threat--you strengthen that part of the brain so it dominates. If you use your prefrontal cortex mostly--for higher level thought like…
The VLPFC (ventro lateral prefrontal cortex) controls our braking system and helps us inhibit behavior and exercise self-control. This area is easily exhausted and uses up large amounts of glucose and oxygen to function. SO exercising lots of self-control in…
Neuroscience and fMRI's now tell us that insight and higher-order thought processes such as empathy, unity consciousness, and a sense of one-ness all occur in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. We also know that stress and fear strengthen the…
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…
Hebb's Law states that neurons that fire together wire together. This is the basis of neuroplasticity--our ability to rewire our brains, behaviors, moods and thoughts. This happens when our brains are signaled to pay attention, like when we're learning something…
Our ability to accurately read facial expression comes mostly from our prefrontal cortex. When we are stressed we shut down our prefrontal and actually impair our ability to accurately label others' expressions and motivations. So being in "threat" mode predisposes…
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…
Our mental, physical, and spiritual self is intimately related to our brain functioning. Much of what we fuel ourselves with, including our thoughts, can harm or heal this delicate and miraculous command center. Aspartame, which is structurally similar to glutamate,…
