Hi, I'm Dr. Tracey Marks, a psychiatrist, and I make
mental health education videos. Random unintentional thinking like what you do when your mind wanders happens in a different part of the brain than intentional thoughts, and too much mind wandering is bad for you and it makes you more anxious and unhappy. Here's how that works. The part of the brain that is
responsible for mind wandering is called the default mode network. It's actually several brain structures in the lower part of your brain that all communicate with
each other to form a network. It's kind of like they're in a group chat. When you're not actively
thinking about something, your brain's default state is to think about things from the past and some things from the present. Letting your mind wander in this way is called stimulus independent thought. It's like having the television on or a video running in the background that you're not really
paying attention to, but it still fills your mental space. When you turn your attention to something, the default mode turns off while your mind processes
the intentional thoughts. And this is a process
that goes back and forth throughout the day. If you have anxiety, you are someone who has an
overactive default mode. The kinds of things that you think about are not nice, creative
productions or problem-solving. It tends to be more self
critical and judgmental. And this is the mechanism
behind rumination and intrusive thoughts. Some rumination is intentional and you can purposely run things
over and over in your mind, but rumination is usually negative. And where do you get the
negative material from? From your default mode. It's like you can be busy doing something. And then the moment that
you're not mentally occupied, your mind says, "Hey, what about that time your brother cheated you out
of money, wasn't that awful?" "Yeah, it sure was. I can't stand him now." Then your phone rings and
interrupts that thinking. When you get off the
phone, your mind says, "Yeah, that was really wrong, wasn't it?" "It sure was." And there you are back on it again. Intrusive thoughts work
a little differently. They can still be triggered
by the default mode, but they have more of a quality
of being forced upon you. With the ruminations, it's like you have this
person over here saying, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, your brother, your brother was wrong, right?" But the intrusive thoughts are like, "Your brother stole from
you, what you going to do?" Not everyone gets intrusive thoughts. We tend to see them triggered
by traumatic memories or obsessive compulsive disorder. One research study on
the default mode network estimated that 47% of people
spend their waking hours thinking about something
other than what they're doing. And this mind wandering
typically makes them unhappy. As I mentioned, some
people are more predisposed to having this active
default mode network, whether it be in the form
of negative ruminations or intrusive thoughts. But the good news is your default mode responds to neuroplasticity changes. So you can change your hard wiring to improve your mental experiences. Neuroplasticity is the
ability of the brain to remodel itself in
response to new experiences. Think of the nerves in your brain as a complex electrical circuit where the wires or
nerves all link together. In an electrical circuit, you need the wires to connect
securely to each other in order to pass the
signal along the path. Anxiety, depression, and inflammation weaken these nerve connections
in the parts of the brain that override the default mode. So what improves neuroplasticity
in the parts of the brain that can keep your default mode in check? Antidepressant medications if you have depression
or anxiety and your diet. I talk in other videos
about how magnesium, curcumin and intermittent fasting all improve neuroplasticity. Meditation is also a powerful way to get control over your thoughts and keep the default mode turned off. If you think about it, drifting off into default mode thinking is the opposite of being
mindful and present. Meditation is like engaging
in a fitness program for your brain. Learning to control what
you're thinking about builds up a mental
muscle that protects you against anxiety and
depressive ruminations. It takes work to keep your mind focused on something in the present. And if you're not in
the habit of meditation, a simple exercise that you can do to get you started with this
is called the body scan. All you have to do is systematically focus on
different parts of your body. You could start with your
feet and move up to your head and down your arms to your hands. When you do it, engage all of your senses
in the observation. For example, if you start with your feet, you would take notice of how they feel. Is any material touching them? Are they pressing against the floor? Are they warm or cold? Can you smell anything
emanating from them? Then you move to your lower legs. If you're not practiced with
this, your mind will wander. When it does, you simply
bring your attention back to the body part that you're on. You don't want to fly through this, but it could be as basic
as a 10-minute exercise. The exercise builds attentional control, which helps you focus on and appreciate your present experience. And we know from research that people who spend more
time in the present experience have less anxiety and
more life satisfaction. One other thing that reduces
default mode activity, and that is the psychedelics. ♪ I know it's all good ♪ ♪ Good ♪ ♪ Know it's all ♪ Psychedelics are a class of drugs that generate altered mental states and hallucinogenic experiences. Some of them were used
back in the '60s and '70s to assist with psychotherapy before they were eventually
banned from legal use. Currently, only ketamine is
FDA approved for medical use. In psychiatry, ketamine is used for treatment resistant depression. But the race is on on studying others like
MDMA, also known as ecstasy, psilocybin or mushrooms, mescalin, which is the active
ingredient in peyote cactus, LSD, which is a synthetic compound, and DMT, which is the active ingredient in a drink called Ayahuasca. MDMA and psilocybin are the
closest to coming to market as FDA approved drugs. And I've seen estimates
as early as 2023 for MDMA. You just got to hold on one more year. MDMA is in the final
trials for use in therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. But here's why the psychedelics
are all the rage now. Clinical trials have shown
that these substances treat mental disorders fast, and usually with one or two doses. But also, many people
in the studies reported that the drugs change
their life perspective and help them feel more
connected to others. Their internal negativity was purged and stayed that way for
months after the doses. Where does this magic come from? Researchers believe that it
has to do with psychedelics changing your default mode
and decreasing ruminations. It's like the negative
script just gets deleted. We still have a few years to get there, but if you don't want to
take something mind altering, you can alter it yourself
with meditation and diet. It will take longer, but they are interventions
that are within your control. Take a look at this video comparing the effects of
meditation to relaxation exercises and this one on intermittent fasting. Thanks for watching. See you next time.
