The Neuroscience of Negativity Bias: "How to Break the Negative Neural Pathway and Nurture a Healthy Thought Pattern".

COLLEGE OF MEDICINE AND HEALTH SCIENCES.
1/17/2024 Prepared By Natnael .D(MSc.) 1
The Neuroscience of Negativity Bias:
"How to Break the Negative Neural Pathway and
Nurture a Healthy Thought Pattern".
Natnael D.(MSc)


Welcome to the world of negativity bias!
And Thanks for joining me!
Here I present you most of us issue of concern !!!

Presentation outline
Exploring Negativity Bias
Neural Mechanisms of
Negativity Bias
05
How to Master Healthy
Thought pattern.
A way forward
Draw back of
Negativity bias
04
02
01
03

Terminologies
 Neuroscience: Is a science seeks to understand how the brain and nervous system work
together to control behavior, perception, and cognition.
 Negative thinking: is a thought process where someone finds the worst in every situation or
event.
 Negativity bias: describes our cognitive preference for attending to, processing, and
remembering negative information more readily than positive due to people natural
character.
Introduction

Negativity bias

E.g.1
 You received a performance review at work that was quite positive overall
and noted your strong performance and a few constructive comments
 Negativity bias: Rather than feeling good about the positive aspects of your
review, you feel upset and angry about the few critical comments.
Negativity bias

E.g.2
 Even if the two possibilities are equivalent, people's negative reaction to
losing $10 is stronger than the positive emotion when they get $10.
Negativity bias

E.g.3
News Consumption: Why do we gravitate towards negative
headlines despite their abundance?
Negativity bias

Objective of the Seminar:
 To explore the science behind negativity bias, its
consequences, and strategies for overcoming it.

Why Our Brains Crave the Negative
 Evolutionary Psychology
 Neuroscience

Evolutionary Psychology
Evolutionary Psychology
 Charles Darwin and others laid the groundwork for understanding
evolutionary Psychology.

. “
Our ancestors' survival depends on detecting threats quickly.
Evolutionary Psychology…

 Our hunter-gatherer ancestors wandering two possible
errors in signal detection:
 Type I errors are false positives, e.g., perceiving a distant
tree as a predator.
 Type II errors are false negatives, e.g., perceiving a distant
predator as a tree.

But over time, those who tended to make type II errors would be
less likely to survive and therefore less likely to pass on their genes.

By natural selection, high sensitivity became the
norm for humans.

• Neuroscience revealed the brain neural pathways and
networks underlying ,is wired to give more attention
and prioritizes processing of negative information.
Neuroscience

Neuroscience…
 Amygdala: is specialized for the processing of emotion.
 Hippocampus: is involved in forming storing and retrieving memory.
 Prefrontal cortex : Play role in the regulation of complex cognitive
,emotional and behavioral functioning.

Neuroscience…
Amygdala:
This brain region acts as the alarm bell, hypersensitive to threats and it
prioritize ,amplify and reacts more strongly to negative stimuli.
NB: the amygdala "uses about two-thirds of the neurons to look for bad news.

Neuroscience…
Prefrontal cortex
 Prefrontal cortex play a crucial role in directing our attention & making us
more likely to be captured by negative signals in our environment.

Neuroscience…
Hippocampus.
 The hippocampus, responsible for memory formation, prioritizes the
encoding and retrieval of negative experiences.
 That’s why people learn from pain rather than pleasure.

Drawbacks of Negativity Bias
 While this bias served our ancestors well in avoiding dangers,
it can have significant drawbacks in today's world,
 It can makes you feel blue about the world, about yourself,
about the future lead to unnecessary stress, anxiety, and
pessimism and health problems.

Drawbacks of Negativity Bias…
Mental health issues
 Increased anxiety and
depression
 Reduced life satisfaction.
 Distorted self-perception
Relationships:
 Miscommunication and conflict:
 Erosion of trust
 Negative feedback bias
 Physical ailments(Sickness) &
Reduced self-care.

Drawbacks of Negativity Bias…
Decision-making
 Overestimating risks and fearing failure can hinder us from taking necessary chances and
pursuing our goals.
 Overlooking opportunities
 Making irrational choices
 Paralysis by analysis:
 Reduced motivation and initiative
Confirmation Bias

 The good news is that we can rewire our neural pathways by training
our brains for positivity and healthier thought patterns.
 The more you think a certain way, the stronger the neural connections
associated with that thought pattern .
 This incredible phenomenon is called neuroplasticity.
Good News
86 billion neurons

1.Mindfulness.
 Observing our thoughts and emotions without judgment.
 Acknowledge that its a pattern you want to change.

Use positive self affirmations.
2.Reframe the Narrative.

3.Cultivate Gratitude

 Friends
 Media etc.
4.Surround yourself with positive vibes.

5.Celebrate small wins

 Prioritize Sleep
 Nourish Your Body
 Move Your Body
 Connect with Loved Ones:
6.Lifestyle Changes:

Remember = 10/90 Principle.
Bonus
 Start your journey towards a more positive and fulfilling life today!

Thank You !
Hope you like this presentation

REFERENCE

Including death death

The Neuroscience of Negativity Bias: "How to Break the Negative Neural Pathway and Nurture a Healthy Thought Pattern".

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