Future seem gloomy – or full of promise? A new study suggests that specific parts of our brain may be hard-wired for optimism. It found that portions of the brain (the rostral anterior cingulate cortex) are consistently activated in response to thinking “positive thoughts.” Which might give a bit more credence to the anecdotal evidence we’ve heard for years from various self-help groups. You can read the abstract here, or this brief mention in the Boston Globe here.
Monthly Archives: October 2007
Brain Activity Differs For Creative And Noncreative Thinkers
This just in from ScienceDaily –
A new study by John Kounios, professor of Psychology at Drexel University and Mark Jung-Beeman of Northwestern University indicates that basic differences in brain activity between creative and methodical problem solvers exist and are evident even when these individuals are not working on a problem. The study shows that greater right-hemisphere activity occurs even during a “resting” state in those with a tendency to solve problems by creative insight. This finding suggests that even the spontaneous thought of creative individuals, such as in their daydreams, contains more remote associations.
The study compared a methodical versus a more diffuse “aha” type of thinking.
Link: ScienceDaily
Angry? Get a little Sleep
Sleep deprivation causes the emotional centers tied to the amygdala to become quite a bit more active.
“It’s almost as though, without sleep, the brain had reverted back to more primitive patterns of activity, in that it was unable to put emotional experiences into context and produce controlled, appropriate responses,” said Matthew Walker, director of UC Berkeley’s Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory and senior author of the study, which is to be published in the journal Current Biology.
This lack of sleep was found to increase amygdala emotional response by over 60%. It also caused the brain to first connect to the ocus coeruleus, the oldest part of the brain which releases noradrenalin to ward off imminent threats to survival, rather than to the prefrontal cortex.
This has a certain logic. A tired animal needs to react quickly to survive. But, as humans, we need to be able to cognitively assess all situations and this neurological predisposition leads to increased volatility in emotional responses such as anger. Worse, it increases the likelihood of making inappropriate responses to situations – doing things that we would normally not do in a rested state.
Bottom line – make sure that a coachee is rested before having a heart-to-heart. And when that is not possible, be prepared to factor in the extra emotional response.
Link: ScienceDaily
The Brain, Myth and Coaching
Our ability to accept and promote inaccurate information and mis-perception can often seem astonishing. This is, in part, fueled by how our brains process and remember information. Here are a few factors in our brain’s assessment of information that help propagate these misunderstandings, along with relevant coaching principles.
- Things that are repeated often become more accessible in memory, and one of the brain’s subconscious rules of thumb is that easily recalled things are true.
Therefore, when coaching – repetition, repetition, repetition is a key to change.
- Long-term memory is more apt than short-term memory to retain the bias that well-remembered false information is true.
Get the coaching information into long-term memory for change to stick. Repeat, repeat, repeat as above.
- Once an idea has been implanted in people’s minds, it can be difficult to dislodge.
Planting the coaching idea is the first step and its mere planting is useful.
- The brain is not good at remembering when and where a person first learned something.
The coachee may not remember that you gave him or her the idea, but they may well remember the idea itself, and our egos aside, that of course is what’s most important.
- When accusations or assertions are met with silence, they are more likely to feel true.
You must respond to a coachee’s assertions with something in order to affect change.
What we are referring to here is the difficulty that we, as coaches, find in changing people’s mental models. Often a coachee seems willful or even malicious in his or her obstinacy to retain incorrect beliefs and affect change. What is suggested here is that at least a portion of this behavior involves brain hard-wiring and that if we will work with that hard-wiring we can obtain better results.
Link: Persistence of Myths Could Alter Public Policy Approach
This is your Brain on Advertising
An article in BusinessWeek highlights the emerging field of “neuromarketing” – using brain imaging technologies to test, and ultimately help clients control, consumer response. To quote:
Do you ever get the creepy feeling that advertisers know how to put a lump in your throat, inspire subconscious brand loyalty, or make your mouth water? Just wait: It could get worse. An emerging technique called neuromarketing that uses brain scans to measure human response to promotional messages is starting to catch on in Europe—and soon ads may become even more effective at prompting you to pull out your wallet.
Which begs the question, of course – how much control can I maintain over my own brain? With increasing refinement of brain imaging technologies and continually deepening understanding of how our brains actually function we face the recurring and inevitable question of how to use this knowledge.
This is the world of mental models, of philosophy, ethics, theology and other disciplines. It is also the place of coaching. How do we coach? What do we coach? How do we answer those difficult questions revolving around making our individual and collective lives better?
This Random Sense of Wonder 