Do you think your own brain is wired or happiness? How would you go about rewiring it?
Are some brains happier than others? Put your hand on your forehead. The answer to the happy brain question may be lying right there in the palm of your hand. Indeed, research using a variety of techniques to study the neuroscience of emotion suggests that there might be a pattern of brain activity associated with feeling good and that this activity takes place in the front of your brain, in the prefrontal lobes (van Reekum & others, 2007). Paul Ekman, Richard Davidson, and Wallace Friesen (1990) measured EEG activity during emotional experiences provoked by film clips. Individuals in this study watched amusing film segments (such as a puppy playing with flowers and monkeys taking a bath) as well as clips likely to provoke fear or disgust (a leg amputation and a third-degree burn victim). How does the brain respond to such stimuli? The researchers found that while watching the amusing clips, people tended to exhibit more left than right prefrontal activity, as shown in EEGs. In contrast, when the participants viewed the fear-provoking films, the right prefrontal area was generally more active than the left.
Do these differences generalize to overall differences in feelings of happiness?
They just might. Heather Urry and her colleagues (2004) found that individuals who have relatively more left than right prefrontal activity (what is called prefrontal asymmetry) tend to rate themselves higher on a number of measures of well-being, including self-acceptance, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and life satisfaction.
However, the fact that a pattern of brain activation is associated with happiness does not prove that these brain processes caused happiness. Can experimental results clarify the picture?
John Allen and his colleagues have provided experimental evidence supporting the role of prefrontal asymmetry in emotional responses (Allen, Harmon-Jones, & Cavender, 2001). They used a procedure called biofeedback to train college women to increase right or left frontal activation. Specifically, these participants wore an electrode cap for EEG measurement and were hooked up to a computer that sounded a tone when they had effectively changed the symmetry of their brain activation in a particular direction. Half of the women were trained to increase activation of the left hemisphere; the other half, to increase activation in the right hemisphere. Seated in front of a computer screen, the participants could use trial and error, changing their thoughts or feelings, to make the tone sound. By applying their training, the participants were generally able to accomplish the goal of changing their brain activation, without any mention of emotional processes at all.
After the training, researchers found that women who were trained to activate the left more than the right side of the prefrontal brain area were less likely to frown while watching a negative clip, whereas those who were trained to activate the right side more than the left responded with less smiling to the happy clips. Among the women who were especially responsive to the biofeedback training, those who had been trained to activate the right side expressed less interest, amusement, and happiness than those who had been trained to activate the left side.
Research on the effects of mindfulness meditation on frontal activation also shows that changing the way we think can change brain processes. Mindfulness meditation (also called awareness meditation ) involves maintaining a floating state of consciousness that encourages individuals to focus on whatever comes to mind—a sensation, a thought, an image—at a particular moment. Richard Davidson and colleagues have shown that mindfulness meditation training can enhance left frontal activation (Davidson, 2010; Davidson & others, 2003; Lutz & others, 2008). This technique has also been used to treat individuals who are suicidal or extremely depressed, have experienced child abuse, or have chronic pain (Kimbrough & others, 2010; Rosenzweig & others, 2010). Bear in mind that brain structure and function depend on experience. Savoring the enjoyable moments of life—looking at the flowers in your garden, getting a phone call from a friend, hearing your favorite song—may be an opportunity to train your brain to be happy.
Source: Laura king Page 84.
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