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NEUROSCIENCE BACKS OUR EXPERIENCE – THE UPWARD TREND ACTIVATES THE REWARD CENTRE OF THE BRAIN<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n You get all kinds of happiness advice on the Internet from people who don\u2019t know what they\u2019re talking about. Don\u2019t trust them.<\/p>\n Actually, don\u2019t trust me either. Trust neuroscientists. They study that gray blob in your head all day and have learned a lot about what truly will make you happy.<\/p>\n UCLA neuroscience researcher Alex Korb <\/a>has some insights that can create an upward spiral of happiness in your life. Here\u2019s what you and I can learn from the people who really have answers:<\/p>\n 1. The most important question to ask when you feel down<\/strong><\/span> Believe it or not, guilt and shame activate the brain\u2019s reward center.<\/p>\n Via The Upward Spiral:<\/p>\n THE UPWARD SPIRAL<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Despite their differences, pride, shame, and guilt all activate similar neural circuits, including the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, insula, and the nucleus accumbens. Interestingly, pride is the most powerful of these emotions at triggering activity in these regions \u2014 except in the nucleus accumbens, where guilt and shame win out. This explains why it can be so appealing to heap guilt and shame on ourselves \u2014 they\u2019re activating the brain\u2019s reward center.<\/p>\n And you worry a lot too. Why? In the short term, worrying makes your brain feel a little better \u2014 at least you\u2019re doing something about your problems.<\/p>\n WHY WORRY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n In fact, worrying can help calm the limbic system by increasing activity in the medial prefrontal cortex and decreasing activity in the amygdala. That might seem counterintuitive, but it just goes to show that if you\u2019re feeling anxiety, doing something about it \u2014 even worrying \u2014 is better than doing nothing.<\/p>\n But guilt, shame and worry are horrible long-term solutions. So what do neuroscientists say you should do? Ask yourself this question:<\/p>\n WHAT AM I GRATEFUL FOR?<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Yes, \u00a0gratitude is awesome\u2026 but does it really affect your brain at the biological level? Yup. It feeds the upward spiral.<\/p>\n You know what the antidepressant Wellbutrin does? Boosts the neurotransmitter dopamine. So does gratitude.<\/p>\n The benefits of gratitude start with the dopamine system, because feeling grateful activates the brain stem region that produces dopamine. Additionally, gratitude toward others increases activity in social dopamine circuits, which makes social interactions more enjoyable\u2026<\/p>\n Know what Prozac does? Boosts the neurotransmitter serotonin. So does gratitude.<\/p>\n One powerful effect of gratitude is that it can boost serotonin. Trying to think of things you are grateful for forces you to focus on the positive aspects of your life. This simple act increases serotonin production in the anterior cingulate cortex.<\/p>\n I know, sometimes life lands a really mean punch in the gut and it feels like there\u2019s nothing to be grateful for. Guess what?<\/p>\n Doesn\u2019t matter. You don\u2019t have to find anything. It\u2019s the searching that counts. That feeds the upward spiral.<\/p>\n RE-MEMBERING \u00a0GRATITUDE<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s not finding gratitude that matters most; it\u2019s remembering to look in the first place. Remembering to be grateful is a form of emotional intelligence. One study found that it actually affected neuron density in both the ventromedial and lateral prefrontal cortex. These density changes suggest that as emotional intelligence increases, the neurons in these areas become more efficient. With higher emotional intelligence, it simply takes less effort to be grateful.<\/p>\n And gratitude doesn\u2019t just make your brain happy \u2014 it can also create a positive feedback loop in your relationships. It feeds the upward spiral. So express that gratitude to the people you care about.<\/p>\n But what happens when bad feelings completely overtake you? When you\u2019re really in the dumps and don\u2019t even know how to deal with it? There\u2019s an easy answer\u2026<\/p>\n 2. Label negative feelings<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n You feel awful. Okay, give that awfulness a name. Sad? Anxious? Angry?<\/p>\n Boom. It\u2019s that simple. Sound stupid? Your noggin disagrees.<\/p>\n \u2026in one fMRI study, appropriately titled \u201cPutting Feelings into Words<\/a>\u201d participants viewed pictures of people with emotional facial expressions. Predictably, each participant\u2019s amygdala activated to the emotions in the picture. But when they were asked to name the emotion, the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex activated and reduced the emotional amygdala reactivity. In other words, consciously recognizing the emotions reduced their impact.<\/p>\n Suppressing emotions doesn\u2019t work and can backfire on you.<\/p>\n Gross<\/a> found that people who tried to suppress a negative emotional experience failed to do so. While they thought they looked fine outwardly, inwardly their limbic system was just as aroused as without suppression, and in some cases, even more aroused. Kevin Ochsner<\/a>, at Columbia, repeated these findings using an fMRI. Trying not to feel something doesn\u2019t work, and in some cases even backfires.<\/p>\n But labeling, on the other hand, makes a big difference.<\/p>\n To reduce arousal, you need to use just a few words to describe an emotion, and ideally use symbolic language, which means using indirect metaphors, metrics, and simplifications of your experience. This requires you to activate your prefrontal cortex, which reduces the arousal in the limbic system. Here\u2019s the bottom line: describe an emotion in just a word or two, and it helps reduce the emotion.<\/p>\n Ancient methods were way ahead of us on this one. Meditation has employed this for centuries. Labeling is a fundamental tool of mindfulness.<\/p>\n In fact, labeling affects the brain so powerfully it works with other people too. Labeling emotions is one of the primary tools used by FBI hostage negotiators<\/p>\n Okay, hopefully you\u2019re not reading this and labeling your current emotional state as \u201cBored.\u201d Maybe you\u2019re not feeling awful but you probably have things going on in your life that are causing you some stress. Here\u2019s a simple way to beat them\u2026<\/p>\n 3. Make that decision<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Ever make a decision and then your brain finally feels at rest? That\u2019s no random occurrence.<\/p>\n Brain science shows that making decisions reduces worry and anxiety \u2014 as well as helping you solve problems.<\/p>\n Making decisions includes creating intentions and setting goals \u2014 all three are part of the same neural circuitry and engage the prefrontal cortex in a positive way, reducing worry and anxiety. Making decisions also helps overcome striatum activity, which usually pulls you toward negative impulses and routines. Finally, making decisions changes your perception of the world \u2014 finding solutions to your problems and calming the limbic system.<\/p>\n But deciding can be hard. I agree. So what kind of decisions should you make? Neuroscience has an answer\u2026<\/p>\n Make a \u201cgood enough\u201d decision. Don\u2019t sweat making the absolute 100% best decision. We all know being a perfectionist can be stressful. And brain studies back this up.<\/p>\n Trying to be perfect overwhelms your brain with emotions and makes you feel out of control.<\/p>\n Trying for the best, instead of good enough, brings too much emotional ventromedial prefrontal activity into the decision-making process. In contrast, recognizing that good enough is good enough activates more dorsolateral prefrontal areas, which helps you feel more in control\u2026<\/p>\n As Swarthmore professor Barry Schwartz<\/a> said in my interview with him: \u201cGood enough is almost always good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n So when you make a decision, your brain feels you have control. And, as I\u2019ve talked about before, a feeling of control reduces stress. But here\u2019s what\u2019s really fascinating: Deciding also boosts pleasure.<\/p>\n Actively choosing caused changes in attention circuits and in how the participants felt about the action, and it increased rewarding dopamine activity.<\/p>\n Want proof? No problem. Let\u2019s talk about cocaine.<\/p>\n You give 2 rats injections of cocaine. Rat A had to pull a lever first. Rat B didn\u2019t have to do anything. Any difference? Yup: rat A gets a bigger boost of dopamine.<\/p>\n So they both got the same injections of cocaine at the same time, but rat A had to actively press the lever, and rat B didn\u2019t have to do anything. And you guessed it \u2014 rat A released more dopamine in its nucleus accumbens.<\/p>\n So what\u2019s the lesson here? Next time you buy cocaine\u2026 whoops, wrong lesson. Point is, when you make a decision on a goal and then achieve it, you feel better than when good stuff just happens by chance.<\/p>\n And this answers the eternal mystery of why dragging your butt to the gym can be so hard.<\/p>\n If you go because you feel you have to or you should, well, it\u2019s not really a voluntary decision. Your brain doesn\u2019t get the pleasure boost. It just feels stress. And that\u2019s no way to build a good exercise habit.<\/p>\n Interestingly, if they are forced to exercise, they don\u2019t get the same benefits, because without choice, the exercise itself is a source of stress.<\/p>\n So make more decisions. Neuroscience researcher Alex Korb sums it up nicely:<\/p>\n We don\u2019t just choose the things we like; we also like the things we choose.<\/p>\n Okay, you\u2019re being grateful, labeling negative emotions and making more decisions. Great. But this is feeling kinda lonely for a happiness prescription. Let\u2019s get some other people in here.<\/p>\n What\u2019s something you can do with others that neuroscience says is a path to mucho happiness? And something that\u2019s stupidly simple so you don\u2019t get lazy and skip it? Brain docs have an answer for you\u2026<\/p>\n 4. Touch people<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n No, not indiscriminately; that can get you in a lot of trouble.<\/p>\n But we need to feel love and acceptance from others. When we don\u2019t it\u2019s painful. And I don\u2019t mean \u201cawkward\u201d or \u201cdisappointing.\u201d I mean actually painful.<\/p>\n Neuroscientists did a study where people played a ball-tossing video game. The other players tossed the ball to you and you tossed it back to them. Actually, there were no other players; that was all done by the computer program.<\/p>\n But the subjects were told the characters were controlled by real people. So what happened when the \u201cother players\u201d stopped playing nice and didn\u2019t share the ball?<\/p>\n Subjects\u2019 brains responded the same way as if they experienced physical pain. Rejection doesn\u2019t just hurt like a broken heart; your brain feels it like a broken leg.<\/p>\n In fact, as demonstrated in an fMRI experiment, social exclusion activates the same circuitry as physical pain\u2026 at one point they stopped sharing, only throwing back and forth to each other, ignoring the participant. This small change was enough to elicit feelings of social exclusion, and it activated the anterior cingulate and insula, just like physical pain would.<\/p>\n
\nSometimes it doesn\u2019t feel like your brain wants you to be happy. You may feel guilty or shameful. Why?<\/p>\n