Did you know that you can train your brain and improve your attention?
How to Train and Strengthen Your Brain Muscles to Improve Your Attention? The question of the day in all schools, but it had already begun with questions like: What if we could develop our attention, memory, impulse control and emotional balance…?
Would you be willing to undergo mental training that would allow you to achieve optimal results in your life, in your projects, in your personal development?
If your answer is yes, keep reading because I'm going to show you What is the scientific evidence that demonstrates the real possibility of making such changes?.
Mental Training and Neuroplasticity
In The Mindful Therapist, Dan Siegel, MD. (who I had classes with at UCLA last year) 🙂 tells us that
The brain continues to develop throughout life and, by directing our mental focus appropriately, we can modify strategically our brain for the better.
The key word here is strategically.
Of course, because as neuroscience research reveals more and more surprising discoveries about our brain's ability to modify its activity and structure through learning, it becomes increasingly clear that we can choose what changes we want for our brain, our mind and our life.
I know this may sound “too good to be true”…
But be careful, I'm not talking about the power of "positive thinking" or "materializing unicorns" at will.
No. I'm talking about the state of the art of scientific research on the effects of Mindfulness at a physiological and psychological level.
If you want to see for yourself, just do a search for Mindfulness and brain changes in PUBMED (the database of scientific articles in health sciences).
As such, current research in neuroscience has shown that through mental training it is possible to generate very positive changes in the functional activity and structure of our brain.
And, on a psychological level, some of the effects of this training are:
- Improvements in care
- Reducing the stress response
- Greater mental clarity
- Better regulation and emotional balance
- Reduction of symptoms of anxiety and depression
How are you? Ready to start training your mind?
Mindfulness Can Literally Change Your Brain
Recently, Harvard Business Review published the article Mindfulness Can Literally Change Your Brain, which reviews some of the changes that the practice of Mindfulness can generate at the brain level.
The authors of the article, Christina Congleton, Britta Hölzel and Sara Lazar, are true rockstars of mindfulness neuroscience research and have contributed to some of the most notable studies published to date.
In 2011, the authors conducted a study that showed an increase in gray matter density in practitioners of an 8-week Mindfulness course (gray matter is where neurons are located, so an increase in density suggests a greater number of neurons and/or a greater number of connections between them).
More recently, a group of researchers from the University of British Columbia and the Chemnitz University of Technology, published A systematic review and meta-analysis on the topic (a meta-analysis is a study that studies the results of many other studies to draw more general conclusions).
From this meta-analysis, changes were found in 8 brain regions, of which 4 are particularly interesting to us:
- Anterior Cingulate Cortex
- Hippocampus
- Pre-Frontal Rostro-Lateral Cortex (I know, I know… it’s a bit of a long and complicated name, but you don’t need to memorize it) 🙂
- Orbito-frontal cortex
Now you will see why these brain areas are important to us and what it means - in practical terms - that you can alter their structure through the practice of Mindfulness.
1. The Anterior Cingulate Cortex: The Axis of Self-Regulation
One of the most widely spread theories and the one that has the most support from scientific research on ADHD is the Executive Functions theory.
According to this theory, ADHD symptoms arise from certain failures in these functions, which make possible the ability to direct our attention and behavior to achieve our goals, controlling automatic or impulsive reactions and changing strategies flexibly when necessary.
In a word, Executive Functions make self-regulation possible.
This is why Russell Barkley, PhD., says that ADHD is actually a self-regulation disorder.
Clear, Because when there are problems with executive functions, people with ADHD fail to have the self-control essential to direct and monitor their attention, behavior and emotions (I'm not going to review Dr. Barkley's theory now, but if you want to know more you can read this post).
Well, one of the most important brain regions for self-regulation is the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC, anterior cingulate cortex), a structure located in the middle area of the frontal lobes.
And guess what…
Exactly: the ACC is one of the regions, identified in the study, that consistently shows changes from the practice of Mindfulness.
On the other hand, it has been seen that people who practice Mindfulness tend to have a performance superior in tests that measure self-regulation (they are able to resist distractions and respond correctly more often than non-practitioners).
Furthermore, those who practice Mindfulness also demonstrate greater activity in the ACC than those who do not practice.
Aside from self-regulation, the ACC is also associated with learning from past experiences for optimal decision making, and scientists suggest that the ACC may be particularly important when facing uncertain and changing conditions.
2. The Hippocampus: Memory, Emotion and Resilience
The hippocampus is a seahorse-shaped region (hence its name) located deep within the temporal lobes and is part of the so-called “limbic system” (a series of interconnected structures that fulfill different roles in emotional processing and memory).
In the study by Hölzel et al. (2011) an increase in gray matter in the hippocampus of Mindfulness practitioners was observed.
And this is something VERY IMPORTANT.
Because?
Look…
The hippocampus has numerous receptors for cortisol (the stress hormone) and various studies have shown that can be impaired by chronic stress, contributing to triggering a harmful spiral in the body as a whole.
In fact, people with chronic stress-related conditions, such as depression or post-traumatic stress, generally have smaller hippocampi.
All of this underlines the importance of this brain region for resilience, a key skill in highly demanding work contexts.
3. Pre-Frontal Cortex Rostro-Lateral
It has been suggested that this region may be involved in introspection and meta-cognition (cognition about cognition, or thinking about one's own mental processes), the evaluation of self-generated information, the processing of complex and abstract information, and the integration of multiple separate cognitive processes in the service of higher-order goals.
Phew! If you were able to understand all that at first glance, it means that your lateral prefrontal cortex is doing its job well 🙂
Anyway, the important thing here for us is the following:
In Mindfulness practitioners, a greater capacity for introspection and this ability can be the basis of the ability to observe one's own thoughts and emotional states with some distance and equanimity.
Some researchers have suggested that this meta-cognitive capacity is a key mechanism in preventing relapses in depression (which is one of the most established effects of mindfulness practice).
4. Orbito-frontal cortex
The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC, orbito-frontal cortex) plays a fundamental role in the decision making and emotional regulation.
The OFC is located in the ventral area of the prefrontal cortex and has extensive connections with structures of the limbic system such as the amygdala, striatum and hypothalamus.
Researchers suggest that the OFC allows for more flexible evaluation of options in the present moment and more fluid decision-making based on current circumstances rather than just recollection of similar situations in the past.
All this could explain one of the most powerful effects of the practice of Mindfulness: Greater awareness and behavioral flexibility.
The OFC plays a role in regulation and reappraisal of negative emotions, which is part of a broader role of the OFC in the ability to observe different internal states and the integration of cognitive and emotional cues in decision making.
A greater capacity for self-observation and the ability to regulate negative emotions These are skills that could explain the positive effects of practicing Mindfulness in conditions such as stress, depression and anxiety.
Are you ready to start training your mind and strategically modify your brain to overcome ADHD and achieve your goals?
If you have reached this point, it means that you are as motivated as I am to learn and make the most of the benefits of mental training through Mindfulness.
Now, up to here we have reviewed the importance of these new scientific discoveries and what are the benefits that you can obtain from practicing…
But it still needs to be reviewed as do this…
That's why I want to invite you to my next webinar in which I will teach you how to start practicing so that you can experience for yourself its positive effects on your life.
To attend you only have to register by clicking here.
In the meantime, I want to know your opinion on these amazing changes that we can generate in our brain to improve our attention, self-regulation, emotional balance, introspection, decision-making, and psychological and behavioral flexibility.
Leave your comment and tell me what you think about the possibility of generating these changes in your life 🙂
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