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The frontal lobes, the little brain down under and “Stayin’ Alive” (3/3)

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[Editor’s note: Con­tin­ued from Explor­ing the human brain and how it responds to stress (1/3) and On World Health Day 2020, let’s dis­cuss the stress response and the Gen­er­al Adap­ta­tion Syn­drome (2/3)]

More on the Cor­tex, the Lim­bic Sys­tem, and Stress:

The cor­tex is made up of four major sec­tions, arranged from the front to the back. These are called the frontal, pari­etal, occip­i­tal, and tem­po­ral lobes. Each of the four lobes is found in both hemi­spheres, and each is respon­si­ble for dif­fer­ent, spe­cial­ized cog­ni­tive func­tions. For exam­ple, the occip­i­tal lobe con­tains the pri­ma­ry visu­al cor­tex, and the tem­po­ral lobe (locat­ed by the tem­ples, and close to the ears) con­tains the pri­ma­ry audi­to­ry cortex.

The frontal lobes are posi­tioned at the front most region of the cere­bral cor­tex and are involved in move­ment, deci­sion mak­ing, prob­lem solv­ing, and plan­ning. There are [Read more…] about The frontal lobes, the lit­tle brain down under and “Stayin’ Alive” (3/3)

Study: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), not medication, drives long-term rewiring of the brain to help reduce psychosis symptoms

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Talk­ing ther­a­py changes the brain’s wiring, study reveals for first time (Sci­enceDai­ly):

“A new study from King’s Col­lege Lon­don and South Lon­don and Maud­s­ley NHS Foun­da­tion Trust has shown for the first time that cog­ni­tive behav­iour ther­a­py (CBT) strength­ens spe­cif­ic con­nec­tions in the brains of peo­ple with psy­chosis, and that these stronger con­nec­tions are asso­ci­at­ed with long-term reduc­tion in symp­toms and recov­ery eight years lat­er. [Read more…] about Study: Cog­ni­tive Behav­ioral Ther­a­py (CBT), not med­ica­tion, dri­ves long-term rewiring of the brain to help reduce psy­chosis symptoms

To reduce heart disease and stroke risks, regulate stress and improve brain health

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How stress may increase risk of heart dis­ease and stroke (Sci­enceDai­ly):

“Height­ened activ­i­ty in the amyg­dala — a region of the brain involved in stress — is asso­ci­at­ed with a greater risk of heart dis­ease and stroke, accord­ing to a study pub­lished in The Lancet that pro­vides new insights into [Read more…] about To reduce heart dis­ease and stroke risks, reg­u­late stress and improve brain health

What Everyone Should Know About Stress, Brain Health, and Dance

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-- Dancing to the clapping of bands. Egyptian, from the tomb of Ur-ari-en-Ptah, about 3300 B.C. (British Museum.)
– Danc­ing to the clap­ping of bands. Egypt­ian, from the tomb of Ur-ari-en-Ptah, 6th Dynasty, about 3300 B.C. (British Museum)

Every­one expe­ri­ences stress at some point in our lives. It is impor­tant to know that stress can harm the brain, and also that dance can be a great avenue for a per­son resist, reduce, or escape it.

Stress can change the phys­i­cal struc­ture and func­tion of the brain, affect­ing wiring and thus per­for­mance of one’s activ­i­ties. [Read more…] about What Every­one Should Know About Stress, Brain Health, and Dance

Should Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (not antidepressant drugs) be the first-line treatment for depression?

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Depres­sion: A change of mind (Nature):

“Cog­ni­tive ther­a­py, com­mon­ly known as cog­ni­tive behav­iour­al ther­a­py (CBT), aims to help peo­ple to iden­ti­fy and change neg­a­tive, self-destruc­tive thought pat­terns. And although it does not work for every­one with depres­sion, data have been accu­mu­lat­ing in its favour. “CBT is one of the clear suc­cess sto­ries in psy­chother­a­py,” says Ste­fan Hof­mann, a psy­chol­o­gist at Boston Uni­ver­si­ty in Massachusetts…

Anti­de­pres­sant drugs are usu­al­ly the first-line treat­ment for depres­sion. [Read more…] about Should Cog­ni­tive Behav­iour­al Ther­a­py (not anti­de­pres­sant drugs) be the first-line treat­ment for depression?

Trend: School-based programs to enhance resilience and emotional/ cognitive flexibility

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Dozens of pro­grams to encour­age resilience have been intro­duced in schools all over the world, both to help chil­dren recov­er from trau­ma, but also cope bet­ter with their day-to-day stress­es. Many use tech­niques such as [Read more…] about Trend: School-based pro­grams to enhance resilience and emotional/ cog­ni­tive flexibility