Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Two parts of your brain

All species are created with various gifts to aid in survival. Some have size, some speed, and some strength. Some are given beaks, some teeth, some wings, and some hands. Humans were given a brain with amazing abilities and yet difficult limitations.

Internal organs were given to effect bodily functions that allow us to adapt to our environments. Vessels carry blood and nutrients to organs and muscles pump the blood. Sleep is given to restore the internal systems. All systems were placed under a regulator that manages body temperature, heart-rate and blood flow to name a few. Working together, these systems are designed to keep organisms in a state of homeostasis.

Homeostasis is balance – this is important to remember. Your body is always trying to maintain balance. Still able to respond to the stimuli around us, our bodies strive to find balance to maintain life at an optimum level. This is all driven by the brain. The brain is a marvelous organ. Our bodies are directed by the brain to step it up when we need to address a threat, and to balance us out when the threat is removed. However, our bodies were not meant to stay in a heightened state for long periods of time. This entry will discuss two parts of our brain that work together and often against each other to maintain safety and live in a state of homeostasis. The limbic system and the neo-cortex will be broken down in a simplistic way to explain the activities of our brains.

If you form a fist with your thumb being inside the fingers, this represents the two parts of the brain that we'll be talking about. The fingers represent the front of your head and the back of your hand represents the back of the head with the spinal column going down your wrist. This is what we will refer to as the 'neo-cortex' or thinking part of the brain. The thumb represents the small but powerful 'limbic system' that is tucked deep inside your brain.

The limbic system, known as the reptilian brain, performs functions necessary for survival. It’s responsible for all of our automated responses such as heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, etc. We have little control in responses to these areas. This is why lie detector tests work. The limbic system is responsible for life and death functions. It therefore processes all information as safe or dangerous. The limbic system doesn't understand time or reason - it processes experience, not information. This is why you can hear music from your youth and be prompted to buy that 9-CD set of oldies music. Your limbic system remembers the experience as happy and prompts you to act on the request. It can recall such a memory as pleasant or painful based on the emotions that were recorded in association to the experience. If it's pleasant, it wants to experience it again. If the memory was painful the limbic system wants to avoid it at all costs.

Fun sidenote...

The Gottman Institute hosts a couple retreat weekend to find out what makes healthy relationships work. They have explored the science of how our bodies function in spite of what we say. We know the old saying, 'Actions speak louder than words.' This is true as our instictive responses say more about what we really believe than our words often do.

At the Gottman Institute, couples are video taped in an apartment laboratory as they discuss how their day went, read, and simply spent time together. Each partner wears halter monitors that measured two channels on an electrocardiogram, urine samples measure stress hormones, blood samples measure their immune systems... all while people in the other room recorded facial expressions to discover more about how their emotions match behaviors. Other than that, it is like an ordinary bed and breakfast experience. :) They learned that the art and science of love and relationships rests within the brain. You can find out more about their findings by visiting the website http://www.gottman.com/.

The limbic portion of the brain directs survival behaviors and initiates the gotta-have-it responses when it senses cravings being initiated by the body. The three primal survival behaviors are eating, avoid being eaten, and reproducing – and are all driven by the limbic system. Without a focus on these three areas, each species would cease to exist – thus life and death are the only concepts understood by the limbic system. Whether foraging for food (ancient activities) or ordering Chinese on the phone (today’s version), or swimming up stream to spawn (animal responses to reproduction) or squeezing into a tight pair of jeans (today’s responses to reproduction), the limbic system is what drives these behaviors.

The limbic system takes in data from our internal and external environments to determine the relative importance of the information as it relates to a threat. It does most of this work unconsciously. It is scanning what we need for survival and then sends messages to the neo-cortex to get the task carried out at a conscious level. While sitting in a meeting, the limbic system is continually scanning the environment. It assesses the temperature in the room, the tension of those involved, the sounds around the room, the smells, and even distance between people. It does all of this at about 100 times faster than the neo-cortex can process and it is all at a subconscious level. When the limbic system believes something to be of importance, that is it threats your comfort, it will send a message to the neo-cortex to get it's imput. All addictive and destructive behaviors are born within the limbic system.

It's important to note something about addictive behaviors here before we move on, lest you think you have no addictive behaviors. At Acres of Hope, our women explore more than 30 areas of addictive behavior. Addiction is considered a chronic and compulsive drive/desire for a substance, behavior or activity that results in a way of coping or 'making it' through. There are socially unacceptable addictions such as drugs, gambling, pornography, or alcohol. However, there are more socially acceptable addictions than unacceptable; many of which we rarely ever classify as addictions. In fact, some are encouarged, such as becoming a work-a-holic. We give pay raises for this addiction. Shopping, busyness, eating, arguing, drama, smoking, sexual promiscuity, and many other addictions can also get the best of us. Back to the lesson.

Let’s follow the need to eat as one example of how the limbic system works. The body begins to run out of nutrients needed to function at optimal levels and the limbic system addresses this by generating hunger pains. The hunger pains tells our neo-cortex to focus our attention and create stressors in the body that motivate us to take action and eliminate the pain – the craving for food. The brain releases dopamine which signals the body to act. The amount of dopamine depends upon the amount of stress – or lack of nutrients needed to keep the body running efficiently. The faster and greater the rise of dopamine, the more powerful the response. Dopamine is at its highest when we are actively seeking the food to eliminate the pain. We have little power over the commands of dopamine. It will begin with small amounts of dopamine that cause us to crave - and we'll search for what we like. However, if the need is not met, larger amounts of dopamine set in to cause the hunt for food to become more focused. At this time, any meal will work - it simply has to relieve the hunger pains.

Serotonin, on the other hand, generally works opposite dopamine and generates the 'got it' message once sufficient food has entered the body. Serotonin tells the body that it’s satisfied and that the hunt for food can end. As serotonin rises, dopamine decreases and the body is in a satisfied state – balanced. At the peak of enjoying the meal, both dopamine and serotonin are high. When the belly feels satisfied and safe, dopamine begins to decline and the body is once again in balance. The craving for food is gone.

Consider any addictive behavior that you might have, including staying busy! Think about how your body is functioning during these times by noting the underlined words above. The key word that kicks off addictive or compulsive behavior is 'pain' then 'take action.' Let's assume you're someone who stays busy 24/7. This is often a compulsive or addictive behavior yet we've believed it's just how we're wired. One way to know the difference is to stop for a significant amount of time and deny yourself the activity of being busy. (Substitute any behavior or substance here.) What thoughts, emotions or feelings come up for you? Really listen to your body and mind and be honest with yourself no matter how silly or absurd it sounds. You may be surprised to find that you are driven by guilt, shame, fear of being rejected, fear of thoughts you want to avoid, and numerous other hidden drivers. We'll talk later about what to do with this new information. For now let's continue with our overview of the limbic and neo-cortex systems.

Due to its purpose for survival, the limbic system does not understand information. This means that you can’t over-ride the limbic system by reciting information (cake isn’t good for me.) The limbic system doesn’t understand timelines. Instead it brings up memory based upon experiences. It’s the neo-cortex part of the brain that connects the experience (sensation) with a time. For example, you can smell an apple pie and have the same emotions you did when grandma made apple pies for you as a child. Your neo-cortex understands that it was many years ago when this happened. However, the limbic system understands the smell as current with all of the emotions that were attached to it back then. Furthermore, the limbic system stores information based upon experience. That means that it can only be over-ridden by (or learn new behaviors) experiences we feed it most often. This means that we have to try the very thing we're afraid of.

The neo-cortex, on the other hand is where information is stored and logic plays a role. We categorize information in this part of the brain for later use. We attend classes, learn information, store what we’ve learned, and retrieve it for later use. If, however, the information is contrary to the experiences that the limbic system has stored – there becomes a battle within the mind over which part of the brain will win out in making choices. This is where our instinct challenges what we 'know' to be true.

To demonstrate why this is important, think about a child who has experienced neglect and abuse over a lifetime. As an adult, what messages might this child have stored in the limbic system based upon his/her experiences. While trying to maintain an adult relationship, he/she knows logically how they are to behave - yet old emotions keep getting in the way. If not dealt with properly, the once hurt child, now grown adult either lives with guilt and shame because he/she cannot behave properly or the emotions are stuffed and a behavior has to keep them at bay.

As shown in the diagram to the right, the limbic system is responsible for our drive to live or our instinct. We share this part of the brain with all animals. The neo-cortex is responsible for our higher life form to make wise choices and live differently than animals.

Let us Reason: Since our limbic system is in charge of impulses that are driven from emotions and a will to live (be safe), it is in constant competition with the neo-cortex that operates solely on information. When the information being sent by the limbic system is in contrast to the information held in the neo-cortex, there is a battle within the mind. One side must win out and override the other in order for a decision to be made. The limbic system will most often win this battle unless we step in logically and challenge the emotions. In what ways do you override the limbic system with reason?

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