Using Your Brain To Improve Your Own Mental Health

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He who increases knowledge, increases sorrow but who wants to live a life of ignorance?

The key to a happy life

The key to a happy life is the ability to transcend personal suffering, find a balance, and recognise that the world has problems. This requires mental effort and those of us who strive to better understand ourselves in the world come out the other side as a new person, with some peace of mind and a way to live.

Fundamental or accidental?

A limit to understanding ourselves in the world is the fact that we do not know that some of the things we perceive to be truly fundamental today may actually be just accidental. For instance, the brain uses systematic patterns of thought to produce philosophy including science, mathematics, literature, ideas and beliefs including a belief in a deity to guide us towards new insights. What we need to understand is that none of these may be fundamental in themselves. They are just tools that our ancestors used to probe the unknown and to see what is possible – knowing that what is common for us is just a tiny sliver of what actually exists.

Accidental fundamentalism is often mistaken for truth

In the West we have made the truth our highest value. This motivation while important is weak compared to the actual power of belief. We are born into a culture which often insists on a particular religious or ideological philosophy as fact and the only way to understand ourselves in the world, but adhering to this belief may cause personal suffering by impeding insights necessary to achieve peace of mind. Resisting enculturation is the highest expression of human psychological development and is a hallmark of what is called in psychology as the fully self-actualised person.

Recasting reality

Self-actualisers reject accepted cultural ‘truths’ and see beyond the confines of an era to achieve a clearer perception of reality. A further subtle difference sets these people apart. Most of us see life as striving to get this or that – whether it be material things or having a family or doing well career wise. Self-actualizers in contrast do not strive as much as develop. They are only ambitious to the extent in being able to express themselves more fully and perfectly, delighting in what they are able to do. Another general point is their profound freedom of mind. In contrast to the conforming pressures around them self-actualizers are a walking example of free will.

Mental health requires courage

In this way happiness can be described as personal autonomy. The independence of mind to explore and choose the best skills and tools needed to achieve personal insight. Where you are no longer beholden to culture, creed or religion and without any attendant guilt or fear in abandoning old ways in order to try new ones as you evolve to become the master of your own fate.

What to believe?

Mental health is two things:(i) being in touch with reality and (ii) being open to new experiences. But here’s the thing – there is no reality only perception. Understand that the world is not necessarily as you perceive it. Everyone has filters and only by acknowledging them can you begin to get a clearer picture. Even in a close relationship the same simple act can be viewed differently. A man will see paying all the bills as his duty while his wife will see it as an act of love. Appreciate that your views might be prejudices. Most importantly make sure that the perceptions you do retain or adopt are grounded in verifiable fact and can be tested. Otherwise any actions you take based on your beliefs will be on shaky ground.

As part of the Limerick Lifelong Learning Festival 2021 I will give a public talk on Thursday, May 27th @ 4pm entitled: What to believe? The brain and the nature of truth in a post-COVID world. In this talk you will learn how the brain provides insights, values and priorities in informing the mind as to what it believes to be true, and how you can use this information to improve your own mental health

Click here to register via Eventbrite https://bit.ly/3ffa2LQ 

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International Day of Happiness

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Today has been designated International Day of Happiness. I’d like to take the opportunity to share again a video that I shared several years ago on some simple but profound changes we can make to create a happier brain.

Twenty years ago, Dr. Amit Sood, a Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic, came to the U.S. thinking he was coming to the Disneyland of the world.

He expected everyone here to be very happy.

What he saw surprised and shocked him.

In this funny, fast-moving, and deeply insightful talk, Dr. Sood shares his journey over two decades and across two continents, finding a way to help us outsmart our neural predispositions to suffering. I

n the process, he takes us on a back-stage tour of the human brain and outlines the gist of a structured program he is taking globally to decrease stress and improve focus, resilience, and happiness.

Weekly Neuroscience Update

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A new study argues the way in which humans store memories is key to making human intelligence more superior to that of animals.

IgA cells that originate in the gut play a role appear to have neuroprotective properties against diseases associated with neuroinflammation, such as meningitis.

Researchers have discovered how the brain adapts in a study of children born without a corpus callosum.

The attentional control that organisms need to succeed in their goals comes from two abilities: the focus to ignore distractions and the discipline to curb impulses. A new study shows that these abilities are independent, but that the activity of norepinephrine-producing neurons in a single brain region, the locus coeruleus, controls both by targeting two distinct areas of the prefrontal cortex.

New research reveals higher levels of vitamin D during pregnancy were linked to increased IQ in children.

Neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex play a critical role in encoding subjective values. Activation of these neurons leads directly to the choice of one option over another.

Finally, this week, a new study reveals a correlation between multimedia multitasking, memory loss, and difficulties in maintaining attention.

 

 

 

Weekly Neuroscience Update

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Illustration of a hand action in typically developed individuals and a foot action in individuals with dysplasia. A network in frontal and parietal areas, shown in yellow-orange, prefer a specific action type, regardless of the acting body part. Credit: Yuqi Liu, PhD

 

A new study of reaching and grasping with hand or food reveals novel brain insights. 

Researchers have discovered a new mechanism by which clumps of tau protein are created in the brain, killing brain cells and causing Alzheimer’s disease.

New research reveals a single brain region links depression and anxiety, heart disease and treatment sensitivity. 

A Danish study shows that people doing hard physical work have a 55-percent higher risk of developing dementia than those doing sedentary work.

A new theory suggests electromagnetic energy in the brain enables neurons and brain regions to create consciousness and our ability to critically think.

Brain cell dysfunction in low oxygen is, caused by the very same responder system that is intended to be protective, according to a new published study.

A new study reveals a correlation between multimedia multitasking, memory loss, and difficulties in maintaining attention.

A recent study reveals how gene control mechanisms define the identity of developing neurons in the brainstem. The researchers also showed that a failure in differentiation of the brainstem neurons leads to behavioural abnormalities, including hyperactivity and attention deficit.

The decline of striosomal activity in the brain may explain why people lose the motivation to learn as they age.

Finally this week, researchers have shown how a genetic mutation throws off the timing of the biological clock, causing a common sleep syndrome called delayed sleep phase disorder.

 

 

 

Weekly Neuroscience Update

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A new study reveals a new role for serotonin in the development of the human neocortex.

When the brain forms a memory of a new experience, neurons called engram cells encode the details of the memory and are later reactivated whenever we recall it. A new study reveals that this process is controlled by large-scale remodeling of cells’ chromatin.

Increasing time spent sleeping immediately following a traumatic event can help to significantly reduce the effects of trauma.

Brain cell dysfunction in low oxygen is, surprisingly, caused by the very same responder system that is intended to be protective, according to a new published study.

A new study reveals a new role for serotonin in the development of the human neocortex.

DNA variation in a gene called ROBO1 is associated with early anatomical differences in a brain region that plays a key role in quantity representation, potentially explaining how genetic variability might shape mathematical performance in children, according to new research.

Early childhood trauma has an impact on glucose metabolism and blood composition, which are passed on to the next generation.

Brain cell dysfunction in low oxygen is, surprisingly, caused by the very same responder system that is intended to be protective, according to a new published study.

 

 

Weekly Neuroscience Update

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A new study reveals a high fructose diet could contribute to bipolar disorder, ADHD, and behavioral aggression.

In Alzheimer’s disease, impaired blood flow to brain regions coincides with tau protein buildup. This relationship strengthens as cognition declines, according to new research published in Journal of Neuroscience.

A new lab test can accurately pinpoint and analyze the deadliest cells in the most common and aggressive brain cancer in adults.

A greater density of cells in a key reward center of the brain is associated with obesity in children and predicts future weight gain, a new study finds.

A team of researchers has found that an amino acid produced by the brain could play a crucial role in preventing a type of epileptic seizure.

The characteristics of language structure and writing system may explain why some bilingual people are dyslexic in English, but not in their other proficient language.

Finally this week,  a study of four drugs to combat chronic neuropathic pain finds Nortriptyline has the highest efficacious percentage and lowest quit rate.

 

How To “Vaccinate” Yourself Against Depression #WorldMentalHealthDay

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world-mental-health-day-10th-october-2016 (1)

Today is World Mental Health Day, which is observed on 10 October every year, with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health.

Depression is very common – it is estimated that at least one in five people in Ireland will develop depression during their lifetime. Depression is not to be confused with the normal ups and downs of everyday life. Everyone can feel a bit ‘down’ from time to time as a reaction to an upsetting event, but will start to feel better after a few days or weeks. It is a natural, short-lived response to stressful times in life.

However, some people are unable to escape this low mood, and find it difficult to carry on with life as usual. They may experience low/sad, irritable or indifferent mood, loss of interest and enjoyment in daily life and a general lack of energy. This may be often accompanied by some or all of the following physical symptoms, fatigue and reduced activity, disturbed sleep or excessive sleep, changes in appetite and weight, loss of sex drive, unexplained aches and pains e.g. headache, backache and changes to the menstrual cycle.

Depression affects different people in different ways – not everyone has the same symptoms. Other symptoms include poor concentration or reduced attention, difficulty in making decisions, tearfulness, restlessness, agitation or anxiety, low self-confidence and self-esteem, feelings of guilt, inability to cope with life as before, avoiding other people, bleak view of the future, morbid thoughts, ideas of self-harm.

Treatment is available and recovery is possible.

Starting in the 1960’s neuroscientists regarded depression as a kind of ‘anaemia’ in the brain – a lack of three important neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline in key emotional regions in the brain. Antidepressant drugs were then developed to bring the levels of these neurotransmitters particularly serotonin back to normal. Prozac is a good example of this type of drug and it has proved to be a safe and effective life saver for many the depressed patient.

However, recently neuroscientists have had a radical change of mind with respect to the nature of depression. This change of view is partially due to evidence from brain imaging studies in depressed patients showing dramatic changes in nerve activity in the frontal lobe of the brain.

The importance of the frontal lobe in depression

Nervous activity in the frontal lobes forms our attitudes, plans and strategies and is at least in part under our own control.    This view advocates that depression is in fact a disorder of thinking – a sort of obsessional pessimism from which the depressed patient can see no way out and this is what causes the low neurotransmitter levels.

Wisconsin Study

The WISCONSIN STUDY adds another twist by showing that the brains of depressed individuals actually exhibit the same initial levels of activity in positive/pleasure-generating brain regions. Instead they found differences in the ability to sustain those positive emotions.

Findings from my own research group and others show that three important neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline play a key role in sustaining attention and motivation the brain. Thus low neurotransmitter levels may impair the ability to ‘embed’ these new thoughts and emotions leaving the depressed patient feeling like they are back at square one. This study lends support to notion that depression is best treated by psychological/behavioral treatments or in combination of drugs, not drugs alone.

Thus while antidepressants can help treat the chemical anaemia – good mental heath in particular careful monitoring of your everyday thoughts and attitudes will ensure that negative thoughts are nipped in the bud is also vital in the treatment and even the prevention of depression.

Weekly Neuroscience Update

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Researchers used diffusion tensor imaging, which indicates the directionality of water diffusion in the brain, to examine how white matter connections lose integrity. These frontostriatal tracts are shown moving anterior to posterior (green), left to right (red) and superior to inferior (blue). Image is credited to the researchers.

As the human brain ages, the neural circuits that allow its different parts to communicate with each other gradually wear down, even in healthy adults.

Genetic risk score for bipolar disorder is associated with an increased risk of developing bipolar symptoms. The genetic risk factor for schizophrenia is linked to an increased risk of those with depression developing psychosis.

A new study into the causes of sensorimotor impairments prevalent among autistic people could pave the way for better treatment and management in the future, say psychologists.

New research details how the complex set of molecular and fluid dynamics that comprise the glymphatic system – the brain’s unique process of waste removal – are synchronized with the master internal clock that regulates the sleep-wake cycle. 

Future technology may be able to monitor and modify the brain to produce enhanced team performance, while increasing the efficiency and accuracy of decisions.

Parkinson’s disease can be divided into two variants that start in different places in the body. For some, the neurodegenerative disease starts in the intestines and spreads to the brain. In others, the disease begins in the brain and spreads to the intestines and other organs.

New research released from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus proposes that Alzheimer’s disease may be driven by the overactivation of fructose made in the brain.

Anticholinergic medications, commonly used for conditions including allergies, high blood pressure, Parkinson’s disease, and motion sickness, have been linked to an increased risk of cognitive decline and memory problems, especially in those with genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease.

Finally this week, a new study links brain structure to color perceptual function. Microscopy revealed ‘hue maps,’ or color palettes, in the brain that are spectrally organized arrangements of hue responses.

 

 

Weekly Neuroscience Update

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A new study identifies the neural markers of beat synchronization in the brain and sheds light on how auditory perception and motor processes work together.

Current sleep patterns could help determine your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease as you age. People who experience more fragmented sleep and less non-REM slow-wave sleep are more likely to have increased levels of amyloid-beta.

An international research team reports that problems in spatial navigation can also be detected in people with a genetic risk for Alzheimer’s. 

A new study demonstrates that a technology developed at the University of Central Florida could serve as a more reliable clinically-based model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and a better screening tool for novel therapies than currently use preclinical models.

New long-term brain monitoring technologies that can continuously record brain activity could help improve the treatment and management of epilepsy.

Scientists have developed a new theory as to how hearing loss may cause dementia and believe that tackling this sensory impairment early may help to prevent the disease.

A new study compares adolescent siblings to determine the impact of early and frequent use of marijuana on cognitive function

Finally this week a new two-stage model seeks to answer a longstanding philosophical debate over whether consciousness is continuous or discrete. Findings suggest discrete consciousness is preceded by a long-lasting unconscious processing period.

 

Weekly Neuroscience Update

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Researchers have uncovered the neural mechanism underlying rumination. The study reports when rumination occurs, coupling between the core and medial temporal lobe subsystems of the default mode network becomes elevated while coupling between the core and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex decreases.

Researchers have made an important discovery about the mechanisms behind learning and memory.

Individuals who suffer trauma in child- and adulthood may experience a greater amount of cognitive decline as they age than individuals who haven’t experienced trauma, a new study found.

A newly designed synthetic compound could act as a prototype for a novel class of drugs to treat neurological damage.

A single dose of cannabidiol (CBD) helped increase blood flow to the hippocampus, an important area of the brain associated with memory and emotion, finds a new study.

Atypical brain development begins at the very earliest stages of brain organization, at the level of individual neurons.

Finaly this week, children born to mothers who experienced immune disorders during pregnancy, including allergies, asthma, autoimmune diseases, and autoinflammatory syndromes, are more likely to exhibit behavioral and emotional problems according to the findings of a new study.