This book explains how your feel good chemical serotonin works and some simple ways you can adjust your sleep, food or exercise to get the best out of your natural feel good chemicals.
Know Your Inner Mammal: The Neuroscience of Happy RelationshipsLoretta Breuning, PhD
The mammal brain produces ups and downs, and we blame these feelings on others until we know how we produce them. When you know what trigger dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin in the state of nature, you stop blaming your ups and downs on others. Our brain evolved to promote survival, not to make you feel good all the time. It saves the happy chemicals for steps that meet survival needs, but it defines your needs in a quirky way. We all do quirky things to stimulate our happy chemicals. When you accept these quirky impulses in yourself and others, your relationships improve. We can all improve but we have to start with realistic acceptance of our natural impulses!
Your ability to manage your brain is your most important skill. When you understand the animal origins of your dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin, you have power. Your happy chemicals are wired by past experience so they're hard for your verbal brain to make sense of. Mirror neurons also shape our responses in ways that are not obvious to the verbal brain. To be a good leader, understand your own responses.
Our brains are wired by early experience. We can build new wiring later on, but it's hard. When you know why it's hard, you know why we revert to old patterns, and what it takes to change them. Our brain learns from rewards, so you need to find healthy rewards to build healthy new pathways.
Happy brain chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin and EndorphinLoretta Breuning, PhD
Here's a simple introduction to the brain chemicals that make us happy. You can rewire yourself to turn them on in new ways. This simple look at our neurochemistry what turns them on in the state of nature, and why they inevitably droop. Ups and downs are natural, but you can build new circuits to enjoy more ups.
Guided Neuroplasticity can help you relieve cortisol and stimulate your happy brain chemicals. You can enjoy more dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphin when you know how your brain works. You can build new neural pathways instead of repeating old pain endlessly.
Here you will learn what it takes to build new neural pathways, and why old pathways are so powerful. You will learn what turns on your happy chemicals in the state of nature, and what turns on your stress chemicals.
Our brain evolved to protect us from harm, so it is constantly alert for potential danger signals. Cortisol is turned on by pain and the anticipation of pain. The bad feeling prompts your brain to scan for more evidence about the threat. You can easily wind up with endless pain, but you can also rewire your brain with new responses. You'll be glad you did!
The brain chemicals that make us feel good are inherited from earlier animals: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphin. They are not meant to flow all the time for no reason. They evolved to do a job. They reward a mammal with a good feeling when you take action to promote your survival. They're controlled by pathways built from early experience. You can enjoy more happy chemicals when you know how they work. You can re-wire yourself to turn them on in new and healthier ways.
Your happy brain chemicals: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin Loretta Breuning, PhD
Here's a simple introduction to the mammal brain that controls your happy chemicals: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin. You learn how they're wired from past experience, and how you can rewire them by feeding your brain new experiences. You learn why they're not on all the time, so you can build realistic expectations. Our happy chemicals are inherited from earlier animals, and when you know how they work in animals, you can find better ways to stimulate them.
Know Your Inner Mammal: The Neuroscience of Happy RelationshipsLoretta Breuning, PhD
The mammal brain produces ups and downs, and we blame these feelings on others until we know how we produce them. When you know what trigger dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin in the state of nature, you stop blaming your ups and downs on others. Our brain evolved to promote survival, not to make you feel good all the time. It saves the happy chemicals for steps that meet survival needs, but it defines your needs in a quirky way. We all do quirky things to stimulate our happy chemicals. When you accept these quirky impulses in yourself and others, your relationships improve. We can all improve but we have to start with realistic acceptance of our natural impulses!
Your ability to manage your brain is your most important skill. When you understand the animal origins of your dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin, you have power. Your happy chemicals are wired by past experience so they're hard for your verbal brain to make sense of. Mirror neurons also shape our responses in ways that are not obvious to the verbal brain. To be a good leader, understand your own responses.
Our brains are wired by early experience. We can build new wiring later on, but it's hard. When you know why it's hard, you know why we revert to old patterns, and what it takes to change them. Our brain learns from rewards, so you need to find healthy rewards to build healthy new pathways.
Happy brain chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin and EndorphinLoretta Breuning, PhD
Here's a simple introduction to the brain chemicals that make us happy. You can rewire yourself to turn them on in new ways. This simple look at our neurochemistry what turns them on in the state of nature, and why they inevitably droop. Ups and downs are natural, but you can build new circuits to enjoy more ups.
Guided Neuroplasticity can help you relieve cortisol and stimulate your happy brain chemicals. You can enjoy more dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphin when you know how your brain works. You can build new neural pathways instead of repeating old pain endlessly.
Here you will learn what it takes to build new neural pathways, and why old pathways are so powerful. You will learn what turns on your happy chemicals in the state of nature, and what turns on your stress chemicals.
Our brain evolved to protect us from harm, so it is constantly alert for potential danger signals. Cortisol is turned on by pain and the anticipation of pain. The bad feeling prompts your brain to scan for more evidence about the threat. You can easily wind up with endless pain, but you can also rewire your brain with new responses. You'll be glad you did!
The brain chemicals that make us feel good are inherited from earlier animals: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphin. They are not meant to flow all the time for no reason. They evolved to do a job. They reward a mammal with a good feeling when you take action to promote your survival. They're controlled by pathways built from early experience. You can enjoy more happy chemicals when you know how they work. You can re-wire yourself to turn them on in new and healthier ways.
Your happy brain chemicals: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin Loretta Breuning, PhD
Here's a simple introduction to the mammal brain that controls your happy chemicals: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin. You learn how they're wired from past experience, and how you can rewire them by feeding your brain new experiences. You learn why they're not on all the time, so you can build realistic expectations. Our happy chemicals are inherited from earlier animals, and when you know how they work in animals, you can find better ways to stimulate them.
Happy at Home: Keep up your dopamine and oxytocin when you're stuck at homeLoretta Breuning, PhD
You can stimulate your happy chemicals and avoid threat chemicals, even when you're stuck at home. It's not each because your old ways of triggering them don't work. But you can find new ways to trigger them when you know how they work in animals. You can enjoy dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin even when you're stuck at home.
Our happy brain chemicals (dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, endorphin) are inherited from earlier mammals. They did not evolve to make you happy all the time. They are meant to motivate you to go toward things that promote your genes, and warn you to avoid things that threaten your genes. No conscious interest in your genes is involved - these chemicals create such strong impulses that we search for information to make sense of them. That's the job of our big cortex. It's not easy being a mammal, but your ups and downs are easier to manage when you know the job they do in the state of nature.
Your brain evolved to meet your needs, so your neurochemicals surge in response to anything relevant to your needs. Natural selection built a brain that responds to opportunities and threats with a sense of urgency. No wonder politics gets us going! It's easy to see how this works in others, especially your social rivals. It helps to see how this works in yourself. Then you can make careful decisions about where you invest your limited brain power.
Your brain releases happy chemicals when you see something good for survival. You define survival with neural pathways built from experience. They can lead to behaviors that are not really good for survival. You can build new pathways, but it's not easy. It helps to know how the old ones got there. Neurons connect from emotion and repetition. Emotions are chemicals controlled by the brain structures we've inherited from earlier mammals. You cannot just ignore your animal brain because it's part of your operating system. Your three brains have to work together, even though they're not on speaking terms.
Dopamine makes you feel good when you anticipate a reward. It evolved to promote survival, not to make you happy. But our brain defines survival in quirky ways, so we do quirky things to stimulate it. Fortunately, you can rewire yourself to turn on the good feeling of dopamine in new ways.
You were born with billions of neurons but very few connections between them. You built connections whenever your happy chemicals or unhappy chemicals were flowing. Your brain relies on the pathways it has, but we all end up with some pathways we're better off without. You can build new pathways in your brain to turn on your happy chemicals in new ways. It's not easy, but when you know how your brain works you can do it.
The Biology of Belonging
Loretta Breuning, PhD
If belonging were easy, we would not be talking about it. Belonging is not easy, and that’s hard to explain since it feels so good. Biology can help us explain.
Animals seek safety in numbers in order to survive. Natural selection built a brain that rewards you with a good feeling when you find social support. The good feeling is produced by the chemical, “oxytocin.” We humans seek social support because oxytocin makes it feel good.
You may have heard that touch stimulates oxytocin, but it’s more complicated. Touching someone you don’t trust feels bad. Oxytocin comes from trust. But how do you know who to trust? Neurons connect when oxytocin flows, and that wires you to turn on the good feeling more easily in similar future circumstances. Each brain looks for social trust in ways that worked for it before.
It would be nice to enjoy oxytocin all the time, but our brain does not work that way. Trusting everyone all the time would not promote survival. Our brain evolved to make careful decisions about when to release oxytocin.
For herd animals, isolation means instant death in the jaws of a predator. The mammal brain releases the bad feeling of cortisol when it sees that it’s isolated. Cortisol is relieved when a mammal returns to its herd, but a different bad feeling results when it competes for grass that others have trampled on. We mammals long for greener pasture, but when you go your own way, your oxytocin falls and your corisol rises. What’s a big-brained mammal to do?
Animals have a simple solution: they gather when predators lurk, and space out as threats subside. Baboons quickly forget their differences when a lion approaches. Humans do the same. We bond against common enemies because oxytocin makes it feel good. But we pay a high price for this strategy. Your groups dwell on “enemies,” and the fear keeps you following the herd when you’d rather not. It’s not easy being a mammal!
To make life even harder, cortisol is triggered by disappointed trust. We are disappointed with our friends and family a lot because we expect so much from them. Cortisol makes it feel like a survival threat even though you don’t consciously think that. Neurons connect when cortisol flows, so the bad feeling turns on faster in similar future situations.
The solution is to recognize that belonging as a skill. We all build that skill all the time. My children cannot learn the skill if I create belonging for them. They have to learn it by taking small steps toward social trust, again and again. Each step connects neurons that make the next step easier. It’s the same for adults!Know why belonging is hard so you can transcend the obstacles and meet the need.
Use Your Mind to Change Your Brain: Tools for Cultivating Happiness, Love and...Rick Hanson
Tools for well-being, grounded in cutting-edge science and the wisdom of the world’s contemplative traditions.
More resources are freely offered at http://www.rickhanson.net.
Paper Tiger Paranoia - Rick Hanson, PhDRick Hanson
How the brain’s “negativity bias” makes clients overestimate threats, underestimate opportunities, and underestimate inner and outer resources, leading to anxiety, anger, depression, and conflicts with others – and how to help clients overcome that bias, see the good facts about the others, the world, and themselves, and build resilience for happiness, healthy relationships, and occupational success.
More resources are freely offered at http://www.rickhanson.net.
Pairing Positive and Negative to Fill the Hole in the HeartRick Hanson
Implicit memory systems – including expectations, emotional residues and reactive patterns – are a primary target of therapy. Since they are vulnerable to change during consolidation, the skillful pairing of positive and negative material in awareness can gradually soothe and ultimately replace negative implicit memories. This workshop will explore neuro-savvy methods for doing this, including how to identify the positive material that will best "antidote" old pain or deficits in internalized resources.
New science is showing how mental activity sculpts neural structure. Using the power of self-directed neuroplasticity, you can target, stimulate, and thus gradually strengthen the neural substrates of well-being.
More resources are freely offered at http://www.rickhanson.net.
The Negativity Bias and Taking in the GoodRick Hanson
The brain's evolved bias is like Velcro for negative experiences, but Teflon for positive ones. The unfortunate results include stress and threat reactivity, anxiety, depression, and limited gains in psychotherapy. Happily, through tree steps of mindful attention, we can internalize positive experiences in implicit memory systems, weaving resources for well-being, coping, and kindness into the fabric of the barin and the self.
Happy at Home: Keep up your dopamine and oxytocin when you're stuck at homeLoretta Breuning, PhD
You can stimulate your happy chemicals and avoid threat chemicals, even when you're stuck at home. It's not each because your old ways of triggering them don't work. But you can find new ways to trigger them when you know how they work in animals. You can enjoy dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin even when you're stuck at home.
Our happy brain chemicals (dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, endorphin) are inherited from earlier mammals. They did not evolve to make you happy all the time. They are meant to motivate you to go toward things that promote your genes, and warn you to avoid things that threaten your genes. No conscious interest in your genes is involved - these chemicals create such strong impulses that we search for information to make sense of them. That's the job of our big cortex. It's not easy being a mammal, but your ups and downs are easier to manage when you know the job they do in the state of nature.
Your brain evolved to meet your needs, so your neurochemicals surge in response to anything relevant to your needs. Natural selection built a brain that responds to opportunities and threats with a sense of urgency. No wonder politics gets us going! It's easy to see how this works in others, especially your social rivals. It helps to see how this works in yourself. Then you can make careful decisions about where you invest your limited brain power.
Your brain releases happy chemicals when you see something good for survival. You define survival with neural pathways built from experience. They can lead to behaviors that are not really good for survival. You can build new pathways, but it's not easy. It helps to know how the old ones got there. Neurons connect from emotion and repetition. Emotions are chemicals controlled by the brain structures we've inherited from earlier mammals. You cannot just ignore your animal brain because it's part of your operating system. Your three brains have to work together, even though they're not on speaking terms.
Dopamine makes you feel good when you anticipate a reward. It evolved to promote survival, not to make you happy. But our brain defines survival in quirky ways, so we do quirky things to stimulate it. Fortunately, you can rewire yourself to turn on the good feeling of dopamine in new ways.
You were born with billions of neurons but very few connections between them. You built connections whenever your happy chemicals or unhappy chemicals were flowing. Your brain relies on the pathways it has, but we all end up with some pathways we're better off without. You can build new pathways in your brain to turn on your happy chemicals in new ways. It's not easy, but when you know how your brain works you can do it.
The Biology of Belonging
Loretta Breuning, PhD
If belonging were easy, we would not be talking about it. Belonging is not easy, and that’s hard to explain since it feels so good. Biology can help us explain.
Animals seek safety in numbers in order to survive. Natural selection built a brain that rewards you with a good feeling when you find social support. The good feeling is produced by the chemical, “oxytocin.” We humans seek social support because oxytocin makes it feel good.
You may have heard that touch stimulates oxytocin, but it’s more complicated. Touching someone you don’t trust feels bad. Oxytocin comes from trust. But how do you know who to trust? Neurons connect when oxytocin flows, and that wires you to turn on the good feeling more easily in similar future circumstances. Each brain looks for social trust in ways that worked for it before.
It would be nice to enjoy oxytocin all the time, but our brain does not work that way. Trusting everyone all the time would not promote survival. Our brain evolved to make careful decisions about when to release oxytocin.
For herd animals, isolation means instant death in the jaws of a predator. The mammal brain releases the bad feeling of cortisol when it sees that it’s isolated. Cortisol is relieved when a mammal returns to its herd, but a different bad feeling results when it competes for grass that others have trampled on. We mammals long for greener pasture, but when you go your own way, your oxytocin falls and your corisol rises. What’s a big-brained mammal to do?
Animals have a simple solution: they gather when predators lurk, and space out as threats subside. Baboons quickly forget their differences when a lion approaches. Humans do the same. We bond against common enemies because oxytocin makes it feel good. But we pay a high price for this strategy. Your groups dwell on “enemies,” and the fear keeps you following the herd when you’d rather not. It’s not easy being a mammal!
To make life even harder, cortisol is triggered by disappointed trust. We are disappointed with our friends and family a lot because we expect so much from them. Cortisol makes it feel like a survival threat even though you don’t consciously think that. Neurons connect when cortisol flows, so the bad feeling turns on faster in similar future situations.
The solution is to recognize that belonging as a skill. We all build that skill all the time. My children cannot learn the skill if I create belonging for them. They have to learn it by taking small steps toward social trust, again and again. Each step connects neurons that make the next step easier. It’s the same for adults!Know why belonging is hard so you can transcend the obstacles and meet the need.
Use Your Mind to Change Your Brain: Tools for Cultivating Happiness, Love and...Rick Hanson
Tools for well-being, grounded in cutting-edge science and the wisdom of the world’s contemplative traditions.
More resources are freely offered at http://www.rickhanson.net.
Paper Tiger Paranoia - Rick Hanson, PhDRick Hanson
How the brain’s “negativity bias” makes clients overestimate threats, underestimate opportunities, and underestimate inner and outer resources, leading to anxiety, anger, depression, and conflicts with others – and how to help clients overcome that bias, see the good facts about the others, the world, and themselves, and build resilience for happiness, healthy relationships, and occupational success.
More resources are freely offered at http://www.rickhanson.net.
Pairing Positive and Negative to Fill the Hole in the HeartRick Hanson
Implicit memory systems – including expectations, emotional residues and reactive patterns – are a primary target of therapy. Since they are vulnerable to change during consolidation, the skillful pairing of positive and negative material in awareness can gradually soothe and ultimately replace negative implicit memories. This workshop will explore neuro-savvy methods for doing this, including how to identify the positive material that will best "antidote" old pain or deficits in internalized resources.
New science is showing how mental activity sculpts neural structure. Using the power of self-directed neuroplasticity, you can target, stimulate, and thus gradually strengthen the neural substrates of well-being.
More resources are freely offered at http://www.rickhanson.net.
The Negativity Bias and Taking in the GoodRick Hanson
The brain's evolved bias is like Velcro for negative experiences, but Teflon for positive ones. The unfortunate results include stress and threat reactivity, anxiety, depression, and limited gains in psychotherapy. Happily, through tree steps of mindful attention, we can internalize positive experiences in implicit memory systems, weaving resources for well-being, coping, and kindness into the fabric of the barin and the self.
Molecular mechanism underlying Depression: The relationship between serotonin...Adiba shabnam
Depression has a major effect on the hippocampus. Studies have beyond doubt
associated depression with reduced level of serotonin in the brain. It is for this
reason that most of the treatments for depression are directed towards serotonin
concentration enhancement in synaptic clefts. However, only 50% of the patients
receiving the treatment responds and in the responding patients, although the rise in
serotonin level is rapid, the complete evasion of the depressive symptoms takes weeks
to months. However, Ketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antag-
onist which leads to activation of -amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic
acid (AMPA) receptors has a fast and sustained antidepressive eect. So, research
towards understanding the mechanism behind depression is now targeting gluta-
matergic system too. Clinical evidence suggests decreased
-aminobutyric acid (GABA) level in plasma, Cerebro Spinal Fluid (CSF) and brain of depressed patients. The proposed hypothesis is that these agents function together to reverse the biochemical changes due to depression. This experiment involves addition of 5-HT 1A agonist (8-OH DPAT) and 5-HT 2A/2C agonist (DOI) to cultured HT-22 cells
and observing changes in m-RNA expression of AMPA receptors (GluR1, GluR2,
GluR3 and GluR4), BDNF and GABAAalpha1 receptors.