How Your Brain Controls You and How to Hack It

hey 42 here have you ever looked back on something you've said or done and thought whoa it was that psycho i'm not talking about that awkward moment when you called your boss dad i'm referring to those occasions when you've totally overreacted to a situation perhaps you lost it as another driver in rush hour traffic maybe you turned into a fire-breathing maniac after stepping on your kid's lego maybe you had a fight with your ex and threw a toaster at her it happens most of us can recall at least one or two occasions in which we behave like a character from a stephen king novel though we're usually too embarrassed or ashamed to admit it this kind of behavior is usually so unusual and catches you're so off guard that it seems like a different person altogether centuries ago periodic spells of insanity were attributed to the cycles of the moon hence the word lunatic but nowadays we have neuroscience to provide a more plausible explanation you sometimes act this way because your brain has been hijacked before you whip out your tinfoil hat let me explain your brain is not being controlled by aliens or lizard people or any outside entity for that matter it's an inside job and as we'll see shortly it involves a formidable cocktail of chemicals in fact almost every decision you make is influenced by a collection of powerful brain chemicals that controls a variety of physical and psychological functions including your mood your eating patterns your breathing your digestion your ability to learn and your sleep cycles there are six principal brain chemicals that control you on a daily basis and dictate your personality adrenaline dhea dopamine serotonin and oxytocin let's discover how each has been controlling your life up to now and the simple steps you can take to influence those chemicals to hack your brain and change your life let's go back for a moment to one of those times you acted a little wacko remember i said your brain had been hijacked well it probably was by a collection of nuclei deep within the brain's temporal lobe called the amygdala this small almond-shaped brain mass is tasked with keeping us safe usually the data received from our senses is processed by the neocortex responsible for thinking reasoning planning and storing long-term memories making up most of the mammalian brain layer the neocortex evolved later birds for instance don't have a neocortex hence bird brain which is why they fly into windows and then do the same damn thing the very next week most of the time the neocortex is the primary arbiter of our actions and reasoning but when danger is present the amygdala a much older and more primal part of the brain has the power to take the reins and activate the fight or flight response this is the neurological equivalent of your pants and hitting the big red button instantly your body is flooded with adrenaline and cortisol two powerful hormones designed to prepare you for combat or escape it's sort of like turning into the hulk except you're not green and you usually keep your pants on in phytoflight the amygdala bypasses the neocortex and takes over decision-making that's why in times of extreme fear you feel like you're in a mental fog and unable to think clearly this entire process happens in milliseconds the fight or flight response has two stages firstly the autonomic nervous system which is piloted by the amygdala and controls involuntary bodily functions such as your heartbeat triggers an almost instantaneous reaction to the impending danger this happens so quickly that your body will react before you're consciously aware of the danger secondly the sympathetic nervous system kicks in which pumps your body full of adrenaline increases blood flow to your muscles by 300 percent widens airways in your lungs to increase breathing your pupils dilate your hearing becomes sharper and much more it's your brain's equivalent of dumping petrol on a bonfire and the entire process takes a few seconds to a few minutes to fully engage we are not in control of this response which is how we arrive at the amygdala hijack and the profound impact that cortisol and adrenaline are having in all of our modern lives the term amygdala hijack was coined by daniel goldman in his book emotional intelligence and refers to a sudden and intense emotional reaction that's out of proportion to the surrounding situation to see it in action look out for examples of road rage watch a football fan react to his player being fouled or read twitter during national elections or any other time to be honest the problem is that we no longer spend the majority of our days on the open savannah and when your amygdala is hijacked you lose control over your senses and can't moderate your emotions in a rational manner like an instagram takeover of your brain by someone with rabies the amygdala and fight-or-flight response are actually a nuisance in the modern day office environment and you end up involuntarily punching your co-worker in the crotch because he snuck up behind you wielding a hole punch the amygdala hijack is considered a modern malady because it is the product of persistent stress and the consequent overproduction of adrenaline and cortisol as you'll recall these two chemicals are released in force during the fight or flight response as previously mentioned this survival mechanism used to serve as well earlier in human history when we needed to constantly be on the lookout for predators or attacks by marauding tribes the threats were physical and real but for most of us alive in the 21st century death at the jaws of a wild animal is not a major concern we are far more likely to be worried about our job our relationship or paying our mortgage today's threats are mostly psychological yet the chemical process in our brain remains the same unfortunately despite the awesome power it wields the amygdala is not very good at discerning the difference between a risk to our physical well-being and a threat to our psychological safety when you're in a work meeting and your boss unexpectedly turns to you in front of 10 other people and demands to know your opinion right there and then your amygdala doesn't see boss using his power to put me in an uncomfortable position it just sees lion and opens the floodgates of adrenaline and cortisol that's why sometimes when you're abruptly put on the spot you may suddenly feel hot perceive your heart thumping get sweaty palms and find it impossible to think of a sensible answer it's not because you're stupid you might be it's because you're in fight or flight mode the adrenaline and cortisol in your system have cut off access to your higher faculties it's only after this chemical rush dissipates that you suddenly think of a hundred things you should have said that transition back to normality is supposed to be quite quick the fight or flight response is designed to be a short and sharp reaction however the chronic stress of modern life keeps cortisol levels unnaturally elevated as your brain tries to keep you alert and ready to respond to danger your body also works overtime to deliver repetitive bursts of adrenaline in response to apparent perils in the environment over time the results of this imbalance can be catastrophic left untreated high cortisol can lead to elevated blood sugar weight gain especially belly fat a suppressed immune system and increased risk of serious health conditions like cardiovascular disease osteoporosis insulin resistance and diabetes if adrenaline levels stay elevated too long they can leave you feeling overly excited ungrounded and fidgety making you seem manic research has shown that you may be able to lower your cortisol levels by engaging in stress reducing techniques like meditation yoga massages and watching my videos however it's important to remember that cortisol and adrenaline are not bad these are crucial chemicals in living a healthy happy life it's cortisol like gets you out of bed in the morning gets adrenaline that gives you the kick to act in important situations but the key here is balance balance with what you may ask well that leads me on to our next chemical dehydrophyll dehydrophysium dehydr dhea apart from being impossible to pronounce the hormone known as dhea is a natural high performance chemical in fact it's so potent that the synthetic version has been banned in most professional sports this chemical gives us our vitality and it is associated with a healthy high functioning body and mind it is a counterpoint to cortisol the more cortisol we have the less dhea and vice versa dhea is directly linked to aging which is the main reason it has received so much attention from scientists endocrinologists and other people who value their youthful looks dhea production starts in the womb fetal adrenal glands produce about 200 milligrams of dhea a day 10 times that's produced when you're an adult after you're born this production drops to almost nothing and it stays that way until you reach puberty this is probably because dhea acts as a precursor to producing hormones like estrogen progesterone and testosterone a study of traders and testosterone found your long-term business prospects might also have something to do with your fingers in men and boys the right pointer finger is shorter in relation to the right ring finger than it is in girls the higher your testosterone level before birth the lower your pointer finger to ring finger ratio according to a study of testosterone and traders men with the lowest pointer to ring finger ratios made the most money and had the most long-term success but as the swedish king crew ate himself to death adolf frederick learnt you can have too much of a good thing both cortisol and dhea are essential for life and as we've discussed too much cortisol and too little dhea can have serious health implications including the debilitating condition cushing's syndrome but too little cortisol causes the life-threatening addison's disease you need to maintain a happy balance and on the subject of happy let's introduce the next two chemicals in our hit parade dopamine and serotonin like cortisol and adrenaline dopamine and serotonin love to work together serotonin is the happiness chemical and is fundamental to our sense of well-being it's produced when we laugh or eat chocolate and the persistent deficiency of this chemical can lead to depression if you ever find it difficult to be happy when you're stressed that's partly because serotonin levels are negatively impacted by high cortisol what's the remedy fake it till you make it just smile crazy as it sounds studies suggest that happiness doesn't just cause smiling smiling causes happiness by stimulating the release of serotonin and other neurotransmitters like dopamine and oxytocin which we'll cover later smiling even when you don't feel like it can trick your brain into believing you're happy the effects go even further happiness has a positive influence on the immune system one study suggested that smiling can even shorten our recovery time from stress and reduce one's heart rate and another study performed at the university of cardiff in wales found that people who could not frown due to botox injections were happier on average than those who could frown whoever thought injecting your face with a lethal toxin could be the secret to happiness serotonin is core to feeling happy but so is dopamine dopamine is the feel good hormone it's released as a reward for purely hedonistic pleasures such as sex eating chocolate binge watching netflix or all three at once if you're feeling particularly talented it also kicks in when we experience success like scoring the winning goal in a sports game or getting a sought after promotion at work buddha postulated that life is suffering and if the teachings of the man with boobs is to be believed then it is natural to further extrapolate that almost all human behavior can be reduced to either the avoidance of pain or the pursuit of pleasure to soothe one's existential suffering and that makes dopamine possibly the most important brain chemical of all it affects one's attention span focus motivation willpower and what one considers to be important in his life to illustrate this let's use science's go-to proxy for humans rats when influenced by dopamine rats will pull a lever over and over again to get food we can all relate to this anytime you eat or drink too much of something be it cake or beer that's because dopamine has caused a reward sentence in your brain to regard something as valuable even necessary even though you don't need any more of it and you really should have stopped after the third slice of cheesecake barbara when taken to its extremes dopamine causes addiction a person with low levels of dopamine is more likely to get addicted to drugs alcohol food or whatever it is that provides his pleasure fix the fast food industry knows this better than anyone it has spent years of research and millions of dollars to achieve just the right balance of salt sugar and fat to make that pizza burger or glazed doughnut in your hand literally irresistible the dopamine mechanism also explains why people will do irrational even depraved and violent things to get more of an addictive substance let's turn to our rodent friends again in lab studies rats with more dopamine have proved willing to climb a wall to get to a larger pile of food than the pile right in front of them in short dopamine's motivational pull is so strong that it reshapes one's perception of effort even risk dopamine depletion can lead to moodiness forgetfulness apathy and poor concentration basically you turn back into a teenager when experiencing these symptoms it's common to reach for a boost through caffeine nicotine or high sugar high fat foods these are all very effective in delivering a dopamine shot but dopamine only provides an empty and shallow form of pleasure the long-term impact of creating this reward circuit in your brain is seldom positive if your dopamine is low get some exercise and work at reducing your stress through relaxation find yourself a hobby and a purpose instead of filling your time with hedonistic pursuits and instead of fast food you're better off eating foods high in tyrosine an amino acid that helps your brain to create more dopamine via a less artificial process like cheese fish meat dairy soy seeds nuts beans and lentils red and yellow bananas are full of dopamine and very useful if you have a snail infestation too being a diuretic dopamine is deadly to all slimy creatures like snails slugs and that dodgy uncle nobody wants to invite to christmas so next time piedo pete does come knocking for his jolly holidays try lobbing bananas at him to finish off our trip down brain chemical lane we've saved my favorite for last oxytocin this is known by many names the love hormone the cuddle chemical the hug hormone even the moral molecule if brain chemicals were the beetles oxytocin would be john lennon imagine all the people living life in peace that's oxytocin talking and the class a drugs this hormone is deeply interwoven with our sense of connection and belonging when you feel like the people around you are there for you oxytocin levels increase however if you feel excluded or unseen oxytocin drops your body and mind are flooded with oxytocin when you fall in love it's the fuel for the honeymoon period of any relationship it's nature's way of making us blind to the many idiosyncrasies and annoying as habits that begin to drive us crazy when we've been with someone for more than a few months without oxytocin we may never hang around long enough to build the bonds that lead to procreation and the survival of the species itself bond building may also be why breastfeeding stimulates the release of oxytocin this has been labelled the tend and befriend response in contrast of the fight or flight response mentioned earlier it's a helpful comparison because unlike the survival stress triggered by cortisol and adrenaline oxytocin stimulates relaxation lowers anxiety and decreases blood pressure research suggests that oxytocin may encourage men to stay faithful to their partners which confirms an opinion long held by many women men are voles well one particular vote to be precise the prairie role common to europe and asia is naturally monogamous part of the only three percent of the mammal kingdom that takes one mate for life science has yet to prove whether humans also fall within this category once prairie voles mate they stay together for good by contrast the prairie vole's cousin the montaigne vol couldn't be less interested in commitment despite the two species sharing 99 percent of the same genes life for the montaigne vole is a series of one-night stands and raging rodent orgies scientists believe that the difference involved behavior may come down to oxytocin reception oxytocin is released in the prairie vole's brain during mating when the hormone is blocked the vol tends to treat sex as a once-off affair similar to his montane kinfolk however when the hormone is added to the prairie vole's brain without the vole having sex he still develops a bond with his partner what happens when we add oxytocin to the mantein vole nothing he carries on philandering as usual the difference it seems is not the chemical itself but whether the animal's brain is designed to receive it so the big question is are human brains identical to those of cute little woodland rodents obviously not but the lesson is the same our behavior can be radically shifted by changing the mix of hormones and neurotransmitters in the brain everything from the food we crave to the people we desire can be altered by the levels of different brain chemicals flowing through our gray matter but you're no victim of this process you are the master of what happens in your brain so look after it treat it right and you will strike the right chemical notes for a life well lived thank you for watching you can now pre-order my brand's new book stick a flag in it on amazon link in the description thank you

Channel: Thoughty2

Views: 672,038

Rating: 4.95402 out of 5

Keywords: brain, psychology, mind, hormones, chemicals, dopamine, human brain, science, brains, neuroscience, psychology tricks, psychology facts, brain structure, the human brain, the brain, anatomy, human body, neuroanatomy, brainstem

Id: sLSXkmSqhEY

Length: 21min 3sec (1263 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 11 2020