10 ways you can optimize

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  • 7/27/2019 10 Ways You Can Optimize

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    The National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine

    www.nicabm.com

    10 Ways You Can Optimize

    Your Brain Today

    The hippocampus is important to learning. Anything we

    can do to support the hippocampus can be helpful in

    countless areas of life. But the corollary is also true its

    important to avoid anything that makes the hippocampus

    shrink. Keep this in mind as we go along.

    The amygdala is constantly on the alert for danger. Were

    hard wired this way but . . . this hyper-reactivity can

    be very harmful it affects our blood pressure and our

    interpersonal relationships. But it also affects our brains.

    Aerobic exercise increases BDNF, which stands for

    brain-derived neurotrophic factor. When BDNF

    is released into the system, brain growth and neural

    connections are enhanced its like miracle grow for

    the brain. Research indicates that for approximately 24

    hours after exercise, its easier to grow new neurons and tomake new neural connections.

    Weight training not only builds muscles and contributes

    to bone health, but it also improves cognitive functioning.

    Improvements are in areas such as a heightened ability to

    make decisions, resolve conict and improve focus.

    Meditation quiets the amygdala and activates the

    hippocampus. (Keep in mind take-away number ten,

    anything that supports the hippocampus is good for you.)

    The cerebral cortex thins with various brain diseases. Well,

    unfortunately, it also thins with age. But researchers are

    nding that mindfulness practices help to thicken cell

    walls in the brain.

    All the brain science in the world wont help unless its got a good dose of application to go along with it.

    Thats why we created this video. These are the top ten actions to take care of your brain today.

    Use this document to take notes on your action plan as you listen to the video.

    Your Action Plan:

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    http://www.nicabm.com/http://www.nicabm.com/http://www.nicabm.com/
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    The National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine

    www.nicabm.com

    Too much stress can be harmful, not just to the

    cardiovascular system, but also to your brain. As we

    reported in the blog last year in studies with rats, it

    was shown that when corticosteroids were increased,

    neurogenesis decreased.

    Corticosteroids are hormones released from the adrenals in

    response to stress. So, when stress went up, brain growth,

    or whats known as neurogenesis, went down.

    In fact, chronic stress can shrink the brain making it hard

    to learn new information or to even simply retain the

    information you already have.

    The sweet spot for neuroplasticity. New learning is most

    likely to take place when the brain has an optimal

    amount of arousal. Too much arousal and the brain shuts

    down, not enough and it gets distracted and lazy. Its

    important to keep this in mind during psychotherapy . . .but really during all our interventions.

    Teachers, parents, managers - this is useful information.

    The harmful side of neuroplasticity. We normally think

    of the possibility of the brain growing and changing as

    a positive thing, but there can also be a dark side to

    neuroplasticity. When you are experiencing trauma, you

    are also in learning mode but this time, your brain is laying

    down neural connections that include vivid memories and

    sensations of terrifying experiences.

    All people are neuroscientists! And change is only possible

    with neuroplasticity.

    Heres a way to think about it and this is key: You want

    to bias your brain in favor of hippocampal learning

    rather than amygdala learning.

    We shared a lot of specics about what goes into an optimal

    experience in the transcript of the call with Lou Cozolino,

    PhD last year. If you havent read that yet, be sure to take

    a moment to go back and check it out. Youll nd a link to

    it below.

    http://www.nicabm.com/optimize-your-brain/conrmed

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    http://www.nicabm.com/http://www.nicabm.com/http://www.nicabm.com/optimize-your-brain/confirmedhttp://www.nicabm.com/optimize-your-brain/confirmedhttp://www.nicabm.com/