Plasticity - culmulative effective
Hi
jyearta,
First let me apologize for the length of this post. It's just that it's hard to explain this to the best of my ability without the post becoming lengthy, especially because I like to use graphics/images. So here goes: :embarrassed:
Your increased fears may be attributed to your meds, which may be contributing to your negative thinking (fear), which then wires your brain with more neural pathways. A process of elimination (yet again) might be necessary or some adjustment. I know you are concerned about this, understandably so, but it also may not be med related but rather a culmulative effect over time, and it's becoming more noticeable. Our brain is very plastic, as you are aware, so any kind of worry can increase plasticity that might enhance networking and extra electrical activity in areas that encourage fear, i.e., the right amygdala, left hippocampus. I also have TLE, so I can really relate to unusual fear activity. Reading that you are a decorator tells me that you may be more right brain dominate, but one doesn't have to be right brain dominate to experience fear and anxiety, certainly. However, studies have shown that too much right hemisphere activity tends to lead to depression, and women also tend to be more prone to worry because we have a thicker corpus callosum by 38%. That gives us greater access to specific regions of the right hemisphere. We also tend to be big picture thinkers due to this default, if you will. This easy access can also exacerbate fear when our imagination or negative thinking gets the best of us.
When a person utilizes techniques, i.e. mindfulness, visualization, guided imagery, neurofeedback and/or cognitive therapy, etc., on a regular basis, the idea is to wire to specific regions both on the right and the left, to integrate both hemispheres, and to atrophy or neutralize networks and pathways that are disadvantageous.
fMRI research shows that Buddhist meditators use different areas of the brain than other people. Meditation has, for the most part, been predominately a practice in male circles throughout the centuries. Male brains tend to be more left hemisphere dominated (not always i.e., the artistic - musician type), especially during puberty due to the flood of testosterone. When they are little boys, their CC is much thicker, around the same thickness as females. Testosterone thins the corpus callosum. When they meditate, pray or use mindfulness, visualization techniques to wire to the right, thickening their CC & Insula as well. They get in touch with their 'feminine' side as the term has been coined. They are increasing the nerve connections between the two hemispheres (Integration) and are able process more information between both hemispheres. This also increases empathy and connection with others, 'right thinking', if you will excuse the pun. The advantage of neurofeedback and mindfulness techniques are that they can help one learn to regulate the emotional centers (lower electrical activity) so that they do not overexcite the right amygdala and/or the left hippocampus while creating deep beneficial circuitry (plasticity).
In my next post, I'll show some mapping of the right and left hemisphere and share a mindfulness video that explains the benefits and necessity of both hemispheres and why brain balance is beneficial, health wise. According to the studies and stats, females are twice as likely to experience depression than males. We can tend to become too self-reflective due to the nature of our brain. Again, this may not always be the case with females, but we sort of have a default, if you well, due to having the natural ability to access specific regions on the right more easily. Just as some male brains may require more wiring to the right, female brains may also requiring some wiring to the left.
Psychology Today:
"When there is any pause in our daily activities, many of us are flooded with worries, thoughts and emotions that swirl out of control, sucking our emotions and energy down, down, down. We are suffering from an epidemic of overthinking—caught in torrents of negative thoughts and emotions that overwhelm us and interfere with our functioning and well-being."
Source: Trapped in Reflection
When one is experiencing fear/anxiety, the symptoms dont just exist in the mind. There is an obvious physical - mind/body process going on and one can become flooded with biochemicals that are not pleasant or healthy in abundance, i.e., adrenaline and cortisol, (when not necessary, becomes toxic). The brain and body doesn't know what thoughts are a real threat and what thoughts are from our imagination/thoughts...it simply reacts to what it perceives as a threat, something we evolved over time (reflex - fight or flight) in times of real danger. The brain/body simply reacts to the thoughts brought on by our perception(s). This is where becoming an impartial spectator will be beneficial when you feel overwhelmed by your thoughts. The first step is to pay attention to those thoughts or what you are feeling/experiencing, as an impartial spectator. Basically, that means to become the observer of your experience, not just the one experiencing it, if that makes any sense. You don't need to be hooked up to an EEG to experience the benefits, for sure. You can do this practice while taking a shower. In fact, that may be the best time to practice this. Just be sure that your hubby is around. This is not invasive, but because you already fear being home alone while taking a shower, it's probably best to keep that security net.
I have drug resistant epilepsy, so I had to find ways to cope and to atrophy negative thinking pathways that I didn't even realize I had created through feelings of fear, whether I had reason or not to fear. I feel so grateful for the few dedicated and sincerely compassion doctors and scientist that have our best interest at heart. Dr. Todd Murphy is no exception. I have gain many benefits from his research. He is a behavioral neuroscientist and has done a lot of research in this area, especially where TLE is of concern. He had TLE as a child so he is vested and 'gets us'. ;D Here are some brain exercises that may be beneficial for you. (more to follow in next post)
Dr. Todd Murphy
The questions: "why are you anxious " or "what are you anxious about " are meaningless. When you're in the middle of an anxiety attack, everything you experience will seem to be a bit of a threat. There's a very distinct sensation going on in your body. Pay attention to it. Try to feel it, in all its details. Watch how it changes slightly as you breathe. Then, just relax as completely as you can. Go totally limp. Keep your attention on your body so that it isn't pointed at your thoughts. Then, try to imagine that you are floating in space. That's all there is to it. You can add music if you want, because its processed through these same areas, too. Make sure you choose something uplifting.
You see, the part of the brain that's most involved in anxiety is very heavily connected to the part of the brain that mediates our perception of space, and both of these parts are fairly strongly connected to the parts of your brain that allow you to feel and control your body. Doing this meditation, or guided visualization, during an anxiety attack is a way of trying to move the center of electrical activity out of the emotional structure and into another one. The emotional structure (on the right) is where most anxiety attacks come from, and the structure next door (also on the right), seems to have something to do with positive thinking as well as spatial perception, according to some lab results I've had.
How does this work? Well, the brain structure that is activated in moments of extreme fear (the right amygdala) is very closely connected to the part that gets active when we are experiencing positive thoughts ( the right hippocampus). If we let go and relax into fear, it can invoke totally opposite experiences, as excess activity from the 'feeling bad' place spills over into into the 'thinking positive' place. It sounds paradoxical; even the opposite of how we 'feel' it should be, but that's only because we are so accustomed to trying to escape fear.
The Amygdala - an emotional structure.
The left is specialized for positive emotions,
and the right for negative ones.
The Hippocampus is a cognitive structure.
The one on the right is specialized for positive
expectations (and cognitive style) and the one
on the left for negative ones.
These structures are the foundation of the limbic system,
here coded with the ones that feel positive when activated.
green = Positive <-------> red= Negative
If you look at this last image, you will notice how close the 'negative emotions' amygdala is to the 'positive expectations' hippocampus. That can definitely be to our advantage when we know how to 'work the system', so to speak. ;D
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