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Near death scientist talks about her research into what happens in the brain/body when healing.

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Near death scientist talks about her research into what happens in the brain/body when healing.

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Biophysicist discovers new life after death: Joyce Hawkes at TEDxBellevue

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Scientists watch as 14 generations of memories passed down - Epigenetics 

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Scientists watch as 14 generations of memories passed down - Epigenetics 

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Scientists found how our minds affect our biology, mainly through the study of epigenetics, which is a branch of science that looks at inherited changes in phenotype (appearance) or gene expression!
Scientists stopped looking at DNA as the only determinant to control human biology. Now, specialists are searching for ways to understand what controls our DNA and the search led them to the mind.

The genetic instructions from our DNA are passed down through generations. Moreover, recent discoveries show that the environment we live in could change our genetics, which then continues to pass the new genetics through future generations. Scientists from the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in Spain conducted this ground-breaking study.

Environmental Genetic Changes Passed Down Through Generations

The study used genetically engineered nematode worms that carry a transgene fluorescent protein, enabling the worms to glow under ultraviolet light. That way, the scientists could determine how many generations the environment could leave a mark on genetic expression. They placed the worms in different containers where they could control the temperature of their environment. The scientists then examined how the heat and the cold affected their ability to glow.

In the colder containers (20° Celsius), the worms exhibited weak activity, and they barely glow. However, when the same worms were placed in a warmer container (25° Celsius), the transgene in the worms became more active, shown by the worms' bright glow. After that, the scientists took the glowing worms from the warmer containers and put them back in the cold containers.

Surprisingly, the worms kept glowing meaning that they maintained an "environmental memory" from the warmer containers, which allowed the transgene to continue active even with the change in the environment.

The interesting fact was when the worms had offspring, and the environmental memory was passed on to their babies for seven generations, allowing the babies to glow even though they have never experienced the warmer climate.

To further test their epigenetic capabilities, the researchers maintained five generations in a warmer climate of 25° Celsius and only then took their offsprings from them, and placed the babies in colder temperatures. Amazingly, the worms that were taken when babies from the warmer containers, had highly active transgene for 14 generations.

"Worms are very short-lived, so perhaps they are transmitting memories of past conditions to help their descendants predict what their environment might be like in the future," revealed co-researcher Tanya Vavouri from the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute in Spain.

This study moved fast because the 14 generations studied only took about 50 days. Nonetheless, this study brings us closer to understand how genetic change based on environmental conditions might pass down in other species, including humans.

Other Research on Epigenetics

Another research showed how our environment could affect the development of our children and our grandchildren. A study conducted by Rachel Yehuda, an epigenetics researcher with interest in the intergenerational effects of trauma and her colleagues examined the consequences of trauma survivors and their offspring. Their conclusions pointed that the descendants of Holocaust survivors have unconventional stress hormone profiles compared to that of the average human being.

Holocaust survivors had low levels of cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that supports recovery after trauma. However, unlike their parents, the children from Holocaust survivors had higher levels of the cortisol-busting enzyme. This level of cortisol was developed in-utero, say scientists. The enzyme is typically present in higher levels in the placenta to shield the fetus from the mother's circulating cortisol. The Holocaust survivors could have had low levels of this enzyme in the placenta during pregnancy, which exposed the offspring to more cortisol than usual, and therefore developed high quantities of the enzyme to protect itself.

Dr. Bruce Lipton is also a prominent researcher in the field of epigenetics is a cellular biologist, and he showed how our emotions and overall health could regulate gene expression. He said: "Medicine does miracles, but it is limited to trauma. The AMA protocol is to regard our physical body as a machine, in the same way, that an auto mechanic regards a car. When the parts break, you replace them-a transplant, synthetic joints, and so on-and those are medical miracles."

"The problem is that while they have an understanding that the mechanism is not working, they are blaming the vehicle for what went wrong. They believe that the vehicle, in this case, our bodies, is controlled by genes, " Dr. Lipton adds.

"But guess what? They do not take into consideration that there's a driver in that car. The new science, epigenetics, reveals that the vehicles-or the genes-aren't responsible for the breakdown. It is the driver."

To summarize, our lifestyle, environment, and our brain are responsible for our general health. This can be applied to many illnesses, including cancer. "It used to be that we thought a mutant gene caused cancer," Dr. Lipton revealed, "but with epigenetics, all of that has changed."

"I placed one stem cell into a culture dish, and it divided every ten hours. After two weeks, there were thousands of cells in the dish, and they were all genetically identical, having been derived from the same parent cell. I divided the cell population and inoculated them in three different culture dishes."

"Next, I manipulated the culture medium-the cell's equivalent of the environment-in each dish. In one dish, the cells became bone, in another, muscle, and in the last dish, fat. This demonstrated that the genes did not determine the fate of the cells because they all had the same genes. The environment determined the fate of the cells, not the genetic pattern. So if cells are in a healthy environment, they are healthy. If they are in an unhealthy environment, they get sick."

Louise Hay explains in her book, You Can Heal Your Life, the same thing that Dr. Lipton is talking about. She fought cancer and the way she cured her disease in only six months was using a combination of visualization, affirmations, nutritional cleansing, and psychotherapy. According to Hay, cancer is the manifestation of deep pain, longstanding resentment, secrets, hatred, and grief.

Dr. Lipton compares our body, which contains fifty trillion cells, to a skin-covered petri dish. If you move your body from one environment to another, it will alter the composition of the 'culture medium,' the blood. The blood's chemistry is mainly impacted by the chemicals released from your brain. Brain chemistry can adjust the composition of the blood, based on your perceptions of life.

The perception of any given thing, at any given moment, can influence the brain chemistry, which, in turn, affects the environment where your cells reside and control their fate. In other words, your thoughts and perceptions have a direct and overwhelmingly significant effect on cells.

A study made at the Chopra Center for Wellbeing examined a group of meditators and a group of non-meditators and discovered that meditating could have long-term benefits, including increased mental and cellular health. As a result, meditation may be able to decrease the risk of several health problems.

Conclusion

It is clear that the environment and the mind can have a substantial impact on human biology, which could continue to influence future generations. The exact amount remains unclear. However, epigenetics helps to understand the mind's relationship to the body.

Source:
https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-observed-epigenetic-memories-passed-down-for-14-generations?utm_content=bufferb0e56&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/356/6335/320
https://phys.org/news/2017-04-environmental-memories.html
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/descendants-of-holocaust-survivors-have-altered-stress-hormones/
https://www.brucelipton.com/resource/article/epigenetics
http://www.chopra.com/about/the-chopra-center
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04414.x/abstract

[mashshare]

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Scientists Observed Epigenetic Memories Being Passed Down For 14 Generations

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Scientists found how our minds affect our biology, mainly through the study of epigenetics, which is a branch of science that looks at inherited changes in phenotype (appearance) or gene expression! Scientists stopped looking at DNA as the only determinant to control human biology.

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This September we held our 19 th and final Advanced Workshop, marking the end of almost five years of scientific testing. Of the 700+ students in attendance at Indian Wells Resort in Palm Springs, California, 82% were first time participants. The group was excited, enthusiastic, willing, and coherent. As a result, the energy we recorded in the room broke all records of our previous workshop measurements. In addition, according to our Sputnik measurements, this particular group's pineal gland meditation was one of the best ever.

As usual, we had volunteer students-interested in furthering scientific discovery-connected to heart-rate-variability monitors to measure heart coherence. We also measured the energy around people's bodies before and after the event using GVD readings. One of the most notable aspects of the event was how the energy in the room grew after every meditation. This was unique because usually the group energy dips at various points throughout the four days. At the end of each day, we showed our students how the energy they contributed to the field continued to rise-energy that was available to heal bodies, create futures, and manifest mystical experiences.

On the last day of the event we recorded our highest room measurements ever. The previous record was from Bonn, Germany with a group of 1550 people. The fact that we had more energy in the room at the end of the Indian Wells than in Bonn, Germany is fascinating because it means there was more energy in the room with less than half the people. In other words, we had half the matter and twice the energy, or to say it yet another way-half the particles and twice the intensity of the wave function. This is a good indicator that these people were connected and emitting and contributing energy to the field. In addition, the energy in the room continued to rise when our students were doing the walking meditations at a considerable distance from the room. As they walked as their future selves in another location, both days we practiced the walking meditation the energy in the room rose higher than what was recorded at our first meditation of the event. Think about that. This suggests that as our students were walking at a significant distance from the ballroom, the location where they were the previous day was being affected. Is it possible then that what they were doing would affect where they were (the past), where they are (the present), and where they will be (their future)? This portends to the fact that when you change your energy, you affect all aspects of your life.
Together, We've Made Scientific History
When we began our Advanced Workshop in 2013, we wanted to see if we could quantitatively measure transformation. We did this by performing pre and post-studies on the brain to determine if after four days of training, we could objectively measure that changes were happening not just in a person's mind, but in their brain. We also sought to measure levels of coherence (both in the brain and the heart), the way certain areas of the brain communicate with each other, and what happens during the meditative process when people overcome themselves and really connect to the unified field. We measured the amount of energy a person came to the event with and how that had changed when they left. We were able to record, measure, and demonstrate how a person could influence their energy centers by affecting their autonomic nervous system. Finally, in years past, before we began taking measurements, people would often say the energy in the room was incredibly high, so we wanted to see if that is actually true. Turns out it is.

Other things we wanted to explore was to see if a person could sustain heart coherence for an extended period of time. Could our students regulate internal states independent of conditions in their environment-and thus make it a skill? We also wanted to measure genetic changes, neurotransmitters, protein expression (as a result of genetic changes), and hormonal changes.

I'm pleased to say we did all these things with greater results than we could ever have imagined. As a consequence, we made scientific history, the results of which are compiled in my new book Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing the Uncommon, due out at the end of October. When we began our measurements, I never thought we would see the kind of measurements we recorded-measurements that are so profoundly outside of natural and normal-but measurements that prove we all have the ability to be supernatural.

The transition of 2017 to 2018 marks the end of a cycle and the beginning of a new one. While we'll still be performing some scientific measurements, the format of our workshops will become week long retreats. Why? Because at the end of a few days, when people are just starting to break through, they have to go home. So I thought- what will happen if we give them a little more time to retreat from their lives so they can really create a new future and really become supernatural?

I suspect we'll be making more scientific history, but at a much more grand and personal level for our students. Our students will no longer be studying history-they'll be making history.

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What We Accomplished in the Last Five Years

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This September we held our 19th and final Advanced Workshop, marking the end of almost five years of scientific testing. Of the 700+ students in attendance at Indian Wells Resort in Palm Springs, California, 82% were first time participants. The group was excited, enthusiastic, willing, and coherent.

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Thoughts Become Chemistry - Dr. Bruce Lipton

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Our thoughts, whether they're right or they're wrong, are actually changing our biology. The Buddha said, "What we think, we become." Epigenetics is now saying, "What you are thinking is translated into chemistry, which will determine what you will become."

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Dr Bessel van der Kolk on trauma and how it affects the brain

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Dr Bessel van der Kolk on trauma and how it affects the brain

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Bessel van der Kolk on the Treatment of Trauma: How Childhood Trauma is Different from PTSD

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We carry the energies of the forefathers

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Get Your Mind Out of the Gutter | MarriageToday | Dr. Caroline Leaf

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Dr. Caroline Leaf is a world-renowned Cognitive Neuroscientist with decades of experience and knowledge on how our mind works in miraculous ways. In this video, Dr. Leaf shares how important it is to get your mind out of the gutter and make mind choices that have the power to change the future generations of your family.

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Heart sends signals to your brain telling it what kind of energy to send to your body

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In this video with Greg Braden, you'll learn how the heart-brain connection works: * The science behind http://superhumanencoder.com/ * Every moment of every day, your a heart is having a conversation with your brain * Around the heart is a field of energy 3-5 feet in diameter.

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Motor output

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The Basal Ganglia - UBC Flexible Learning

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The Neuroanatomy of a Dance - Learn how Basal Ganglia affect training, emotional output and motor coordination.

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How Quickly Does Grounding Affect Your Body (Laura Koniver, M.D. The Intuition Physician)

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http://www.Intuition-Physician.com Let Laura Koniver, M.D. run you quickly through the vast body of medical literature to tell you exactly what happens to your body instantaneously when you touch the earth, what happens to your body after a few minutes of grounding, after a few hours, after a few days, and even years of connecting to the earth.

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Andrew Newberg: Three main changes in meditative brains

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VOD release of DMT: The Spirit Molecule in Oct 2011. Visit the official website for more updates: http://www.thespiritmolecule.com

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joe dispenza quote memory without emotion

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Dr Bruce Lipton explains how we benefit from integrating both sides of the brain

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Dr Bruce Lipton explains how we benefit from integrating both sides of the brain

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Using 100% of Your Brain - Dr. Bruce H. Lipton

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www.brucelipton.com Dr. Bruce Lipton dispels the myth that we only use 10% of our brain. On the nature of Glial cells

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Trauma and Behavior Part 1: "How Trauma Affects the Brain"

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Dr Bruce Lipton The Wisdom of Your Cells

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Dr Bruce Lipton The Wisdom of Your Cells

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What our doctors and scientists say about energy

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What our doctors and scientists say about energy

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What our doctors and scientists say about energy

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Bursting the Bubble on Genes - Charan Surdhar

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https://www.CharanSurdhar.com - Bursting the Bubble on Genes - Charan Surdhar - Do you believe that you have an influence over your biology? - Or do you believe that you are just a victim to your genes? - If you are open to the possibility of having unlimited influence over your biology, you might want to stay and listen.

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If you had to name the most exciting recent medical discovery, what would you say? As a physician, I know my answer, hands down: the microbiome.

That's the community of trillions of bacteria that inhabit our gut, mouth, lungs, nasal passages, skin, and brain. Although we've been aware of these bacteria for a while, until now we didn't realize what a crucial role they play in just about every aspect of our health.

Here are the 10 most important things you need to know about your gut microbiome:

1. You are more bacterial than cellular.

Bacteria outnumber your cells by a factor of 9 to 1. And the genes in your microbiome outnumber your own genome by a whopping 150 to 1!

2. You depend on the microbiome for crucial functions.

Humans evolved in a symbiotic relationship with the microbiome, which is why our bodies depend on our bacteria for so many basic biological processes. Friendly bacteria digest our food, govern our appetite, control our metabolism, orchestrate our immune system, influence our mood, promote mental sharpness, determine heart health, support bone development, produce crucial vitamins and other nutrients, manufacture natural antibiotics, and even help to determine our genetic expression!

3. We're used to thinking of bacteria as our enemies, but most bacteria are allies.

The bacteria in our microbiome don't just help us perform basic bodily functions, such as digesting our food. They also help us restore gut health and heal symptoms such as fatigue, anxiety, depression, headaches, acne, eczema, colds, infections, joint and muscle pain.

4. Keeping the microbiome healthy with a wide variety of friendly bacteria is the key to health and weight loss.

Most bacteria seem to wish us well, organizing themselves into extraordinary arrangements to ensure good digestion and healthy weight. However, some bacteria promote inflammation (a response to stress) and other bacteria create sugar cravings! Too many unfriendly bacteria and we end up overweight, stressed, fatigued, and at risk for a wide variety of disorders, from acne to cancer.

5. The microbiome is the key to weight loss.

One of the most exciting developments is the huge number of research studies showing that when you rebalance your microbiome, you can boost your metabolism and shed fat. This was a discovery I made in my medical practice some years ago, so I was excited to see more evidence emerging to confirm an approach whose success I had already witnessed with thousands of patients.

6. A balanced microbiome is crucial to mental function and emotional health.

Your brain depends on biochemicals known as neurotransmitters to process thought and emotion. If your microbiome is out of balance, you are likely to end up anxious and/or depressed, suffering from fatigue, memory problems, and brain fog.

7. Stress can unbalance the microbiome in just a single day.

The lifespan of a bacterium is about 20 minutes. So 24 hours represent about 1,500 years in bacteria time. In just one day, you can alter your microbiome's balance by killing off unfriendly bacteria and allowing friendly bacteria to proliferate. Supporting your microbiome with probiotics, prebiotics, and healthy foods can make an enormous difference very quickly.

8. Probiotics are live bacteria that help balance the microbiome by supporting friendly bacteria.

You can take probiotics in capsule form, or you can take natural probiotics in the form of fermented foods: yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchee, and pickled vegetables. Taking a daily probiotic and loading up your diet with fermented foods can help you boost your metabolism and lose unwanted weight.

9. Prebiotics are the foods and nutrients that feed the friendly bacteria in your microbiome.

You can take them as powders and capsules, or you can eat whole foods that are rich in inulin, arabinogalactans, and fiber. In my book, I call these "Microbiome Superfoods." They include asparagus, carrots, garlic, jicama, leeks, okra, onion, radishes, and tomatoes, as well as the "Microbiome Superspices," turmeric and cinnamon.

10. The microbiome is the basis for the medicine of the future.

This year, the Mayo Clinic published a primer about how physicians might incorporate research on the microbiome into their clinical practice, proclaiming, "understanding the basic concepts about the interactions between humans and their microbiome will be as important to clinicians as understanding concepts of genetics or germ theory."

I couldn't agree more.

The microbiome has been dubbed "the forgotten organ," but I think it's high time doctors remembered it! Meanwhile, now that you know about your microbiome, you can start supporting it with probiotics, prebiotics, and "Microbiome Superfoods." Your whole body will thank you for it.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com

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10 Things You Need To Know About Your Microbiome

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If you had to name the most exciting recent medical discovery, what would you say? As a physician, I know my answer, hands down: the microbiome. That's the community of trillions of bacteria that inhabit our gut, mouth, lungs, nasal passages, skin, and brain.

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Infusion Techniques ™ , Reiki, Reflexology and Emotional Freedom Technique in Woking, Surrey

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Marian Ryan Holistic Energy - Infusion Techniques ™ , Energy Healing, Reiki, Reflexology and Emotional Freedom Technique in Woking, Surrey. Energy healing in a safe, comfortable environment. Cosmic Light book by Marian Ryan

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Also references epigenetics

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Fact: If we took all the cells of your body and looked at them individually, what we would find is that between 90% - 99% of them are micro-organisms, and between 10% - 1% are human cells.

When I first heard this, it blew me away. Why? Because the microbiome, which is the aggregate of all these micro-organisms in and around our bodies, has huge implications for our health and well being because we live symbiotically with them. A lot of studies done to date have been in the Newtonian way - meaning breaking things down and looking at one aspect here and another aspect there. There is merit in this way of looking at things in order to understand the underlying dynamics at play. But what about looking at the energetic love relationship between our microbiome and our human cells? In so doing would that help us come back to balance rather then isolating microbes in different areas?

Up till Now...

Since the time we discovered microbes existed, there has been a fight to kill them as they were thought to only cause disease. Yes, that is true on one level, but not on another and that is not a discussion for this article. You can watch this animated video I created for more information on how infections actually occur.

As we know, there has been a decline of certain diseases like polio, smallpox and so on. But on the other hand there also has been an increase in diseases like asthma, skin conditions, irritable bowel syndrome, teeth and gum issues, obesity, allergies to a whole host of foods, pollen, animals etc, and in brain health conditions. The list goes on.

Moving Forward With the New...

Let's start from the beginning to explain what the microbiome is, why this is important to restore, how it can be restored, and how to start alleviating so many chronic conditions. I have been inspired to write this article from what I have read and how it has helped me to move forward with it in my work with clients, and it felt important to share this information.

Micro-organisms have existed here on the planet for a long time and continue to do so. We have evolved with them, and with the ratio of 90:10 microbes:human cells, I would say that they contribute a huge amount to our lives. They reside on every inch of your body, including your skin, in your nose, mouth, ears, oesophagus, stomach, especially your gut, and for women in the vagina. The Human Microbiome Project has also found that the microbes in our body have approximately 2 million unique genes (this is a current estimate) and the human genome in comparison has 23,000. This means that 90% of the unique genes in your body are microbial and only 10% are human!

Microbes contribute to the health of our immune system, brain chemistry, psychological well-being, influence our nervous system, our gums, our mouth, and they are essential to optimum digestion by procuring certain enzymes. This function alone helps our bodies in a multitude of ways. Each colony is specific to its location and so the variation of genes is needed to adapt to the location. This helps us maintain balance in those areas they reside. The following is an excerpt from the article That Gut Feeling:

"Research has found, for example, that tweaking the balance between beneficial and disease-causing bacteria in an animal's gut can alter its brain chemistry and lead it to become either more bold or more anxious. The brain can also exert a powerful influence on gut bacteria; as many studies have shown, even mild stress can tip the microbial balance in the gut, making the host more vulnerable to infectious disease and triggering a cascade of molecular reactions that feed back to the central nervous system."

Our initial inoculation happens when we are born and it is crucial it happens in this way to help develop our immune systems. There have been studies to show that the gut flora of a child that is born through the vagina has different gut flora to a child that has been born through a C-section. The latter has more skin microbes in their gut. So the birth process helps in introducing the microbes to our bodies, and as the baby develops and is fed breast milk, then introduced to different foods, the gut flora shifts and changes to accommodate the change in diet so that the body can digest the different foods.

After gathering this information, my thoughts on our symbiotic relationship with the microbiome were from an angle that I feel hasn't been looked at, or I am not aware of if it has. It is this: Just like our cells can be impacted by our emotions and beliefs, these must also be influencing the function of the microbiome. There is no way that it isn't, because all of it is energy.

Along those lines, I began to work with clients to help them energetically balance their microbiome, and this has been fascinating to observe how things turn around for them. These were clients that were taking probiotics before to help their situations, but not finding any relief from it. Yes of course there are many factors that contribute to any situation, but if the microbiome is 90-99% of our makeup, doesn't it make sense to look at it energetically too?

Microbiome Balance = Balance in our Bodies

These are just a few examples of how balancing the microbiome was part of the contribution to bringing about balance to their bodies.

One client, had endured many abdominal surgeries, and had also been prescribed antibiotics many times. I worked on getting her body back to balance, and that included the microbiome. Here is what she said:

"I am so grateful to Charan for helping to clear the underlying issues of my persistent tiredness. I sensed that there was an imbalance within my gut after experiencing several abdominal operations and large numbers of antibiotics some years ago. I have tried many different modalities to clear the causes with some success, Charan rebalanced systems within my body including the microbiome, cleared old trapped trauma and I feel so very much better. I really can't thank her enough." JT

Another client had stools that contained undigested food on a regular basis. She was taking probiotics and enzymes and none of these were helping to digest the food. After her microbiome was corrected, her digestive system has now improved and her stools no longer have undigested food in them.

An 8 year client, with severe eczema, her microbiome was found to imbalanced, and the cause of it was a very traumatic birth, that resulted in her large intestine meridian being imbalanced, which was then imbalancing her digestive tract, and which then contributes to the skin issue.

A client with rosacea, had her microbiome imbalanced by two inherited emotions, shock and worthlessness, both coming from one ancestor seventeen generations ago, on her father's side, who also recently developed similar symptoms! This energy passed on from one generation to the next at conception is referred to as epigenetics, as it impacts the way in which the genes are then expressed. Read more here for this case.

How Do We Move Forward...

I believe that by clearing the underlying energetic issues causing an imbalance in the person's microbiome, we can allow it to come back to balance, and that in turn means that 90-99% of what we are made up of is now balanced. It is the same with positive gene expression. This work helps bring about positive expression of our genes, and if the microbe genes make up 90-99% of the genes in our body, then they shouldn't be excluded from also having these benefits. By so doing we are optimizing this symbiotic relationship on multiple levels.

The implications of this work are huge! It assists the person to come back to an overall state of balance so the body can function at an optimal level. I truly feel I have a new appreciation for the microbiome and really want to share this with a wider audience. The work that I have conducted with my clients which is in no way exhaustive, suggests to me that it is critically important to correct the energetic reasons behind any imbalance in the microbiome and then introduce physical aspects such as probiotics.

This work is just the beginning and there is a lot of research being done on this topic. By writing this article I wanted to bring awareness to the fact that it is important to include the energetic work alongside the physical aspects (such as introducing probiotics in the diet) as they are not separate, because if the microbiome isn't "happy" or balanced energetically, then it just won't be functioning as well and in that case we won't be functioning optimally either.

Warmly

Charan Surdhar
Epigeneticist
BSc (Hons) Microbiology
MSc Human Genetics

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More about how the Body Code works in this animated video

More on Epigenetics in this animated video

If you want to hear more about the microbiome you can do so in this video

Big Thank you to Forrest Samnik, for help with editing.

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Is Your Microbiome Happy? Why Should you Care? - Charan Surdhar, GeneOM

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Fact: If we took all the cells of your body and looked at them individually, what we would find is that between 90% - 99% of them are micro-organisms, and between 10% - 1% are human cells. When I first heard this, it blew me away. Why? Because the microbiome, which is ...

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Nutritional therapist Jeannette Hyde has come up with the perfect plan to balance your gut bacteria, lose up to 13 pounds and improve mood, skin and immunity.
If counting calories or going hungry hasn't worked for you it may be time for a new approach in 2016. Recent discoveries from leading scientific researchers have found that the state of our gut bacteria is not only the key to weight loss but also could lead to better mood, immunity and skin. Those who have previously tried this exclusive four-week gut makeover plan from nutritional therapist Jeannette Hyde have lost up to 13 pounds and reported increased energy, reduction in food cravings, menopausal symptoms, mouth ulcers, asthma, heartburn and acne.

The collection of bacteria living in and on our body has been dubbed the 'microbiome' and consists of about 100 trillion bacterial cells, the highest concentration of which is in your gut. In scientific circles, having a wide diversity of these bugs is understood as essential to many aspects of health, but many of us have a depleted microbiome because we are eating a poor diet that's high in sugar, refined carbohydrate grains, processed foods and artificial sweeteners or antibiotics.

But what does that mean for weight? If our microbiome doesn't contain enough friendly species of bacteria and a wide diversity of types we may extract more calories from the foods we do eat, leading to weight gain, whatever our diet. Moreover, bacteria interact with hormones in our guts that regulate appetite, such as leptin and ghrelin.

Based on Jeannette Hyde's new book The Gut Makeover (Quercus £14.99) - which contains 50 family-friendly recipes - this diet brings you a 30-day plan to improve your gut functioning and help you lose up to 13 pounds along with changes you can make for life to help keep your gut flora happy forever.

THE 30-DAY GUT MAKEOVER

WHAT'S OFF LIMITS
Alcohol
Damages the mucus in our intestines and lead to unfriendly bacteria dominating. It's only for four weeks! A good replacement is fizzy water with a squeeze of lime in a wine glass.
Caffeine
It can raise stress hormones and sugar in the blood which impacts the gut. Try slowly cutting down 1-2 weeks before you start your gut makeover in order to not get a caffeine withdrawal headache.

Great alternatives include Rooibos tea, hot water with sliced ginger or lemon or herbal teas.
Sugar and artificial sweeteners
These can contribute to an imbalance of gut bacteria but sugar contained in fruit (not juiced) is fine.
Dairy
Cheese and milk are generally off the menu but you will be having small amounts of fermented dairy in weeks 3 and 4.
Grains
Wheat and rye contain gluten which can irritate the gut lining if you're sensitive to them - you'll also avoid grains such as quinoa, rice and oats on the plan so you have room on your plate to load up with plants to help your friendly bacteria to flourish.

Beans and pulses
These contain substances called lectins which can irritate the gut lining leading to unbalanced gut flora in some individuals. Vegetarians can eat them during the second fortnight as protein sources but meat-eaters should avoid them. Eat them again on the maintenance programme if they don't cause you bloating.

Days 1 - 14: REPAIR YOUR GUT - What to eat

It's just protein and plant foods for the first two weeks and no dairy. So replace milk in tea with almond or soy milk.

Plant foods
Vegetables contain fibres and plant chemicals which feed your gut bacteria and help it grow which is why they're crucial to a healthy gut, even more so than probiotics which are like microbe top ups for the gut. Aim for a minimum of seven cups of plants a day, five as vegetables and two as fruit.

Tip: At dinner, have a starter made from a salad of bitter leaves such as radicchio, rocket, chicory or endive as they trigger enzyme release which can aid in the digestion of the meal to follow. Likewise adding vinegar, lemon or grapefruit juice to your bitter leaf salad can aid digestion further by releasing stomach acid to help the break down of food.
Fruit

Have two serves of fruit a day choosing any type including kiwis, clementines, blueberries, papayas, oranges, melons, watermelon, banana, pears and peaches. Tip: if you're opting for berries, one cupful counts as a serve or a single piece of other fruit.
Non-dairy fats
Use virgin olive oil to cook and make dressings as it contains plant chemicals called polyphenols that have been linked to boosting bacteria in the gut. Coconut oil is great for cooking too and is an anti-inflammatory. Add nuts such as almonds, walnuts and pine nuts and seeds such as sesame, sunflower and pumpkin to cooking to increase the variety factor.

Tip: Keep an eye on portions - one tablespoon olive oil or coconut oil and a small handful of nuts or sprinkling of seeds is sufficient. High-fat diets have been linked to an unhealthy gut bacteria.

Quality protein
Protein at every meal helps repair and rebuild the gut lining. Look for the best quality meat, fish, eggs, nuts or seeds you can afford. The antibiotic load should be less in animals reared organically and shouldn't be present at all in wild game. Good sources for vegetarians include eggs, nuts and seeds in the first fortnight and lentils, beans and chickpeas in the second (see below).

Tip:The average adult needs about 45 - 56 grams of protein each day and this comes from the numbers of protein in the food, not the food itself. For example, one egg has 7g of protein and a piece of chicken or fish the size of a deck of cards (about 100g) contains 20g of protein. So a piece of chicken the size of a pack of cards, fish the size of a check book and one egg would balance your daily protein needs. Find protein content of food at nutritiondata.self.com

Days 15-30: REBUILD GOOD BACTERIA - What to eat

During the second half of the gut makeover, vegetarians can introduce pulses such as chickpeas and lentils once a day but meat-eaters should continue with the plan from the first two weeks. During the second fortnight, everyone can add probiotic foods and also more powerful prebiotic vegetables. Though you're still off dairy, you are permitted to eat one serve of Roquefort or other fermented cheese (see below) a day.
Powerful prebiotics
Some vegetables and fruits have extra punch in feeding good bacteria and include bananas, Jersualem artichokes, asparagus, fennel, garlic, cold potatoes (not hot!), garlic, fennel, apples, pak choi, leeks and onions. Eat them whenever you fancy.

Tip: If you don't normally eat these, introduce and build them up gradually to avoid wind!

Probiotics
Have one serving a day of fermented foods (see list). These contain bacteria species that may be missing from your gut thanks to antibiotics or high alcohol intake. By adding these, you're introducing friendly flora to your microbiome, essential to maintaining weight loss.

Tip: choose food over pills, as it's more sustainable habit for the long term - and less expensive.

Best probiotic foods

Roquefort cheese - or any runny, smelly, French cheese! (Make sure it is limited to a small matchbox size in a meal).

Kefir - a fermented milk popular in Eastern Europe. Try it as a breakfast smoothie blended with flaxseeds, grated ginger and fresh pineapple. From Tesco or Polish supermarkets.

Live miso - fermented soya bean paste. Try as stock or in dressings. From health food stores.

Sauerkraut - look for the live variety in the fridge in health food stores.

Maintaining a healthy gut for life

In the week following your plan start by slowly re-introducing small amounts grains, and pulses, for example by having a serve of rice on one day and some rye bread on another. Note the effects they have on your gut or your appetite, skin, mood, or pain levels and if they cause any bloating, or headaches.

When it comes to grains and pulses, you might do well with rice but badly with oats so experiment to find what works for you. Then slowly work in small amounts of dairy foods in the same way, followed by alcohol and caffeine. This way you will be able to identify the foods that agree with you and those that bring you symptoms.

Four gut-friendly lifestyle changes to make for life

Small changes that can be continued after the 30-day plan to ensure your gut stays healthy and the weight stays off.

1. Rethink your plate. Make each meal two-thirds plant foods (vegetables and/or fruits) and one third protein. Variety is key, so aim for at least 30 different types of vegetables, herbs, and fruit per week.

2. Eat breakfast at 7am and dinner no later than 7pm. A study from the Salk Institute in California found mice restricted to eating in specific windows of time absorbed less calories from food and had more diversity of bacterial species.

3. Relax and chew properly. This stimulates acid and enzymes for digestion and the renewal of cells in the gut lining which you need to absorb nutrients from food and prevents a skewed microbiome.

4. Avoid snacking. Sticking to regular meals helps you tune into your 'full' and 'hungry' signals and avoid over eating.

Jeannette Hyde's new book The Gut Makeover £7.99 was published on by Quercus on December 31st, 2015. To order call 0844 871 1514 or visit books.telegraph.co.uk

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Nutritional therapist Jeannette Hyde has come up with the perfect plan to balance your gut bacteria, lose up to 13 pounds and improve mood, skin and immunity. If counting calories or going hungry hasn't worked for you it may be time for a new approach in 2016.

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The Neuroanatomical Transformation of the Teenage Brain: Jill Bolte Taylor at TEDxYouth@Indianapolis

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Anxious people, it turns out, may make better decisions. Gregory Samanez-Larkin, a graduate student in psychology at Stanford University, scanned the brains of healthy people (none of them had anxiety disorders) and found that a particular region, the anterior insula, lit up when the subjects anticipated losing money. But those who were more anxious showed even more activity in the anterior insula.

Later he brought the same group back to the lab to play a computer game for real cash. Those with greater insular activity-the more anxious ones-were better at learning how to avoid losing money in subsequent games. "Their anxiety over losing money perhaps led them to be more precise in the way they played the game," Samanez-Larkin says.

Anxiety isn't the same as stress per se, but if your body is in a stressful state and you don't feel happy about it, (as you would when keyed up for an exciting or fun event), then you will likely feel anxious.

Martin Paulus, professor of psychiatry at the University of California at San Diego, studies anxiety's effects on decision-making. "Under certain circumstances anxious people are more sensitive in detecting potentially bad outcomes associated with choices. They do avoid harm, so, as a consequence, it may be useful to be anxious," he says.

But those who are too sensitive to threats in their midst will make decisions that err on the side of caution. "Highly anxious people may decide not go to a mall, for example, because they feel extremely uncomfortable. Over time they may avoid engaging in interactions with other people, and this could hurt them," Paulus says.

Paulus and his team have found that anxious people tend to take a "bottom-up" approach to life-their emotional reactions to events are stronger, while their ability to reason and intellectually interpret events is weaker. "Chronically anxious peoples' brains experience everything as aversive," he says. Less anxious people, in contrast, take more of a "top-down" approach-the rational parts of their brain take over when they experience something potentially anxiety inducing, and they essentially talk themselves into not getting worked up.

Paulus hopes to eventually identify a specific therapy that would employ, say, meditative exercises to calm anxious people's emotional reactions (possibly in tandem with anti-anxiety medication) and also cognitive-behavioral therapy to help them think in ways that would also help them interpret situations as not dangerous.

Since a little stress is good for you and a lot is bad, how do you know if you are in the "just right" zone? Depending on what state you are in, Paulus says, you respond differently to touch and to temperature. Physiological tests built around these insights could eventually help tell us if we're stressed out a good amount or not. In the meantime, just relax and rely on your own intuition.

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Anxious people, it turns out, may make better decisions. Gregory Samanez-Larkin, a graduate student in psychology at Stanford University, scanned the brains of healthy people (none of them had anxiety disorders) and found that a particular region, the anterior insula, lit up when the subjects anticipated losing money.

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I recently received an interesting comment that I wanted to respond to in greater depth. Cheryl , a nurse, described a technique that patients with breathing problems (e.g. chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder) used to overcome attacks of rapid, shallow breathing that led to shortness of breath. Anyone who has been submerged in water for longer than they expected knows how frightening shortness of breath is when you feel you can do nothing about it. The fight/flight response quickly activates.

She taught patients a breathing technique, pursed lip breathing, that slows air intake. At the same time, she instructed them to visualize positive memories, such as cooking with grandchildren. The combination of pursed-lip breathing and soothing thoughts quickly helped her patients to slow their breathing, calm down and turn off the stress response.

Cheryl has a 3 year old granddaughter who has temper tantrums, and she wondered if the fight/flight response might be driving the tantrums. If so, could tantrums be short-circuited with the breathing exercise?

The reason this comment interested me is because I've always found the relationship between the mind and body fascinating. For instance, simply recalling an argument with a girlfriend can trigger a flood of angry thoughts and, in less than a second, cause your heart to race, raise your blood pressure and make your gut tense up.

The short response to Cheryl's question is that yes, I do believe tantrums reflect a fight/flight response and yes, the breathing technique could help children calm down. The fun part is thinking about why the breathing/happy thought technique works. To answer this question, it's necessary to explore the brain and body relationship.

When our lives are in danger, we have a built in response to mobilize our defense. The fight/flight response would naturally kick in if, on a hike in the mountains, you stumble upon a bear. The bear is processed in the brain as a potential threat to your survival, so within seconds your brain releases norepinephrine (also called noradrenaline), and within minutes a surge of cortisol will circulate through your body. These chemicals rapidly mobilize your body for energy utilization. You will release sugar into the blood stream for energy, your pupils will dilate to take in more information and your muscles will be ready to contract rapidly.

Temper tantrums are a version of the same response. Conflicts, such as a battle over whether to buy a bag of skittles at the store, may not be life-threatening, but they are fights nonetheless. A tantrum also speeds the heart rate and is accompanied by bursts of norepinephrine and cortisol. As evident by how long an adamant child can carry on, energy must be mobilized so the child can make sure its demands are heard, often by everyone in the store.

Life is full of stress, including not getting our way, and this is how young children deal with it. In my opinion, learning better ways to cope with stress is one of the most important skills a child learns. The pursed-lip breathing/soothing thought training is certainly a way to deal with stress.

The critical element of the technique, I think, is that it disrupts the thought process. Stress is a feedback loop. Anxious thoughts lead to sweaty palms, and the awareness of sweaty palms reminds you how anxious you are, which makes your palms sweat (this idea is similar to the classic James-Lange theory of emotion). To stop the cycle, you must either stop your palms from sweating or curb your anxious thoughts. For someone experiencing shortness of breath, pursed-lip breathing and thinking happy thoughts interrupts the cycle in both places, the mind and body.

One of the mysteries of this process-one that we are beginning to uncover-is how the brain processes this bodily awareness and how that affects our behavior. A critical structure seems to be the insula. This prune shaped region buried an inch beneath the outer surface of the brain is activated as we become aware of our bodies. When consciously thinking of your heartbeat, for example, the insula is hard at work.

One of the tasks our lab uses is designed to tweak the insula. While lying in a MRI scanner, we give participants a nose plug and place a mouthpiece on them so that we can restrict their breathing using a resistor. They are still able to take in oxygen, but it requires much more effort. As breathing, an act that usually takes place beneath conscious awareness, becomes restricted, it comes front and center in your attention. At the same time, insula activation increases, presumably encoding enhanced awareness of your body's condition.

The interesting part is that not everyone becomes equally aware of their body, even when their breathing is restricted. Highly trained endurance athletes, for example, have greater insula activation during breathing restriction than typical people do. This heightened awareness may indicate that their insula helps them anticipate their body's needs and respond to them. That way, during a grueling 10 hour bike ride, they can anticipate pain and deal with it before it cripples them, allowing them to make it to the finish line.

To tie this back to temper tantrums, toddlers' insular cortices may indicate what their bodies need. However, their insula may not have developed enough to anticipate discomfort and deal with it calmly. When they want a toy, they feel that they need it. They lack the insight to distinguish between needs and wants. I have not seen developmental studies showing how insula activity matures over time, but one hypothesis about how temper tantrums relate to the brain and the fight/flight response is that their insula becomes more attuned to their body's condition as they grow older, allowing them to better respond to their body's needs..

Finally, current studies are examining how training the mind affects the insula. We're examining a group of students before and after a mindfulness course to see if it affects activity in the insula. Just as mindfulness training could train the insula, so too could slowed breathing and soothing thoughts train your toddler's insula. A few years from now, we should have a better answer to that question.

If you have any thoughts or ideas related to this post, feel free to share them in the comments below.

image source: mdanys

image source: Wikipedia

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Are Temper Tantrums a Fight/Flight Response?

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I recently received an interesting comment that I wanted to respond to in greater depth. Cheryl , a nurse, described a technique that patients with breathing problems (e.g. chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder) used to overcome attacks of rapid, shallow breathing that led to shortness of breath.

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This morning, I noticed an exciting correlation between two new studies which separately identified that optimizing the functional brain connectivity of the default mode network (DMN) can have significant psychological and physical health benefits.

The first study found that stimulating the vagus nerve dramatically reduces the severity of depression. The second study found that mindfulness meditation also optimized functional connectivity of the default mode network which lowered inflammation and improved the brain's ability to manage stress and anxiety.

After reading dozens of new scientific studies over coffee this morning, I had an 'aha' moment when I realized that these two studies-both published in the current issue of Biological Psychiatr y-are using similar language to describe very different research.

Both of these studies offer holistic ways to optimize the functional connectivity of the default mode network using non-pharmacological interventions that have the power to improve psychological and physical well-being.

Non-Invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation Can Significantly Reduce Depression

The first study used a new non-invasive vagus nerve stimulator (tVNS) to improve functional connectivity of the default mode network which reduced symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD).

The February 2016 study, " Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation Modulates Default Mode Network in Major Depressive Disorder," was published in Biological Psychiatry. This research was a collaboration between the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences and Harvard Medical School.

Patients with major depressive disorder who volunteered to participate in this study either received the new transcutaneous VNS or a 'sham' VNS, which served as a placebo. Then, they underwent a functional neuroimaging (fMRI) scan both before and after one month of treatment. When the researchers compared patients who received real or sham VNS, they found that the patients who received real VNS showed significant improvement of their depressive symptoms.

The real breakthrough of this new vagus nerve stimulator is that it's inexpensive and completely non-invasive. The device sits in the ear like a pair of headphones. Traditional VNS is a neurostimulation technique that has been used to alleviate treatment-resistant symptoms of depression. Typically, VNS is costly and requires potentially risky neurosurgery to implant the device.

In a press release, lead author Peijing Rong concluded, "This non-invasive, safe and low cost method of depression treatment can significantly reduce the severity of depression in patients and shows promise for future use."

Mindfulness Meditation Alters Default Mode Network Brain Connectivity

The second study identified that practicing mindfulness meditation improves the functional connectivity of the default mode network which lowers a biomarker for inflammation (Interleukin-6) while improving executive control and stress resilience.

The Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) researchers identified how mindfulness meditation optimizes brain connectivity and lowers stress. The fMRI brain scans from this study showed that mindfulness meditation training increased the functional connectivity of the participants' resting default mode network in areas directly linked to attention and executive control.

The February 2016 study, " Alterations in Resting State Functional Connectivity Link Mindfulness Meditation with Reduced Interleukin-6: A Randomized Controlled Trial," was published in Biological Psychiatry.

For this randomized controlled trial, 35 job-seeking, adults-who were experiencing the stress of unemployment-were enrolled in an intensive three-day mindfulness meditation retreat program or a well-matched relaxation retreat program that did not have a mindfulness component.

The participants who completed the mindfulness meditation program showed changes in brain functional connectivity and reduced Interleukin-6 which accounted for the lower inflammation levels. Participants who relaxed, but didn't practice mindfulness meditation, did not show similar outcomes.

In a press release, David Creswell, lead author and associate professor of psychology in the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences at CMU, said,

"We've now seen that mindfulness meditation training can reduce inflammatory biomarkers in several initial studies, and this new work sheds light into what mindfulness training is doing to the brain to produce these inflammatory health benefits.

We think that these brain changes provide a neurobiological marker for improved executive control and stress resilience, such that mindfulness meditation training improves your brain's ability to help you manage stress, and these changes improve a broad range of stress-related health outcomes, such as your inflammatory health."

Conclusion: Mindfulness Meditation and Vagus Nerve Stimulation As a Dynamic Duo

The most exciting aspect of these studies is the prospect of combining mindfulness meditation with the new non-invasive vagus nerve stimulator to create a double whammy that leads to a wide range of psychological and physical health benefits.

Currently, I listen to an 'Om/Aum' playlist from iTunes when practicing my daily mindfulness meditation. I can easily see plugging in the new VNS headphone-like device while meditating to reap all the benefits of both mindfulness meditation and vagus nerve stimulation simultaneously.

Both of these studies offer inexpensive and effective ways to improve people's health without the use of pharmaceuticals or invasive surgeries. Stay tuned for more on the fascinating interconnections between the vagus nerve, mindfulness meditation, and the default mode network.

To read more on this topic, check out my Psychology Today blog posts,

© 2016 Christopher Bergland. All rights reserved.

Follow me on Twitter @ckbergland for updates on The Athlete's Way blog posts.

The Athlete's Way ® is a registered trademark of Christopher Bergland.

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Mindfulness Meditation and the Vagus Nerve Share Many Powers

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This morning, I noticed an exciting correlation between two new studies which separately identified that optimizing the functional brain connectivity of the default mode network (DMN) can have significant psychological and physical health benefits. The first study found that stimulating the vagus nerve dramatically reduces the severity of depression.

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What situations make you feel nervous, fearful, or anxious to the point that you get butterflies and feel sick to your stomach? Are there people, places, or situations in your life that evoke a "fear conditioned" response? Scientists in Switzerland recently identified how the vagus nerve conveys threatening " gut feelings " to the brain.

The vagus nerve is known as the "wandering nerve" because it has multiple branches that diverge from two thick stems rooted in the cerebellum and brainstem that wander to the lowest viscera of your abdomen touching your heart and most major organs along the way. Vagus means "wandering" in Latin. The words vagabond, vague, and vagrant are all derived from the same Latin root.

In a fascinating new study, researchers at ETH Zurich have identified how "gut instincts" coming up to the brain via the vagus nerve are linked to different responses to fear. The team of scientists was led by Urs Meyer, a researcher in professor Wolfgang Langhans' group at ETH Zurich.

The study is titled, "Gut Vagal Afferents Differentially Modulate Innate Anxiety and Learned Fear" and was published May 21, 2014 in the Journal of Neuroscience.
The Vagus Nerve Conveys Messages Between the Brain and Gut
The vagus nerve is constantly sending updated sensory information about the state of the body's organs "upstream" to your brain via afferent nerves. In fact, 80-90% of the nerve fibers in the vagus nerve are dedicated to communicating the state of your viscera up to your brain.

The terms "afferent" and "efferent" typically refer to nerves that lead into or out of the brain. Afferent signals are sent from a nerve receptor into the brain while efferent signals are sent from the brain to the peripheral body.

Visceral feelings and gut instincts are literally emotional intuitions transferred up to your brain via the vagus nerve. In previous studies, signals from the vagus nerve traveling from the gut to the brain have been linked to modulating mood and distinctive types of fear and anxiety.

As with any mind-body feedback loop, messages also travel "downstream" from your conscious mind through the vagus nerve (via efferent nerves) signaling your organs to create an inner-calm so you can "rest-and-digest" during times of safety, or to prepare your body for "fight-or-flight" in dangerous situations.

For this study, the Swiss scientists snipped the afferent nerve fibers of the vagus nerve going from the gut to the brain. Cutting the vagus nerve turned the usual feedback loop between gut instincts and the brain from a two-way communication into a one-way street. This allowed the researchers to hone in on the role that the vagus nerve plays in conveying gut instincts up to the brain.

In particular, the researchers were interested in identifying the link between innate anxiety and conditioned or "learned" fear. In test animals, the brain was still able to send signals down to the stomach, but the brain couldn't receive signals coming up from the stomach.

Healthy vagus nerve communication between your gut and your brain helps to slow you down like the brakes on your car by using neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine and GABA. These neurotransmitters literally lower heart rate, blood pressure, and help your heart and organs slow down so that you can rest-and-digest.
The Vagus Nerves Is Linked to Fear Conditioning
The new Swiss study explored the consequences of a complete disconnection of signals from the vagus nerve coming up from the gut to the brain and how this affected innate anxiety, conditioned fear, and subsequent neurochemical changes in the brain.

In a fear conditioning experiment on rats, the researchers in Zurich linked an unpleasant experience to a specific sound. Interestingly, the gut instinct signal from the vagus nerve was necessary for unlearning a conditioned response of fear. Through a variety of behavioral studies, the researchers determined that the rats without a fully functioning vagus nerve were less afraid of open spaces and bright lights compared with controlled rats with an intact vagus nerve.

However, without the two-way communcation of the vagus nerve between the brain and gut the rats showed a lower level of innate fear, but a longer retention of learned fear. From this discovery the researchers concluded that an innate response to fear appears to be influenced significantly by "gut instinct" signals sent from the stomach to the brain. This confirms the importance of healthy vagal tone to maintain grace under pressure and to overcome fear conditioning.

Mark Twain addressed the backlash of conditioned fear when he said, "We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it and stop there lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove lid again and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one anymore."

In my book, The Athlete's Way, I write extensively about ways to overcome learned fear and innate anxiety. If you'd like to read a sample from the book with some practical tips on how to overcome conditioned fear responses click here.

A simple mantra I've used as an athlete to engage my vagus nerve when faced with a threatening challenge is to take a few deep breaths and recite a line by Corra Harris, author of I'd Climb the Highest Mountain, "The bravest thing you can do when you are not brave is to profess courage and act accordingly."

Using positive self-talk and taking deep breaths is a quick and easy way to engage the vagus nerve and parasympathetic nervous system to calm yourself from both the top-down and from the bottom-up.

The most exciting discovery of this study is that under closer scrutiny of the rats' brains, the researchers found that the loss of signals coming up from the abdomen via the vagus nerve altered the production of both adrenaline and GABA in the brain.

When the researchers switched from a negative to a neutral stimulus, the rats without gut instincts coming up to the brain via the vagus nerve required significantly longer to re-associate the sound with the new, "safe" and neutral situation. The researchers point out that this finding is congruent with other recently published studies which found that stimulation of the vagus nerve can facilitate learning.
Conclusion: The Vagus Nerve Has Powerful Psychological Influences
These new findings about the vagus nerve offer exciting possibility for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Stimulation of the vagus nerve might be able to speed up the process by which people with PTSD can learn to reassociate a non-threatening stimuli which triggers anxiety with a neutral and non- traumatic experience. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is currently used to treat epilepsy and depression, although the psychologcial benefits of VNS remain controversial.

In a press release Meyers concluded, "We were able to show for the first time that the selective interruption of the signal path from the stomach to the brain changed complex behavioral patterns. This has traditionally been attributed to the brain alone. The study shows clearly that the stomach also has a say in how we respond to fear; however, what it says, i.e. precisely what it signals, is not yet clear."

The researchers intend to do more research to better understand the exact dialogue between the vagus nerve and the brain which will hopefully lead to more effective treatments for PTSD and other anxiety disorders.

If you'd like to read more on this topic, check out my Psychology Today blog posts:
Follow me on Twitter @ckbergland for updates on The Athlete's Way blog posts.

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How Does the Vagus Nerve Convey Gut Instincts to the Brain?

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What situations make you feel nervous, fearful, or anxious to the point that you get butterflies and feel sick to your stomach? Are there people, places, or situations in your life that evoke a "fear conditioned" response? Scientists in Switzerland recently identified how the vagus nerve conveys threatening " gut feelings " to the brain.

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Deepak Chopra - How to stimulate the Vagus Nerve and Improve your Wellbeing

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Do Not Miss This Video!: Powerful Manifesting Ritual! It is time to take your manifesting to the next level! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG111diH8gg -~-~~-~~~-~~-~- Please SUBSCRIBE To YOU CREATE YOUR RALITY for more daily Empowering Tools for THE MIND!!

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A visual guide to show you what your vagus nerves are and to demonstrate how deep breathing and movement of the diaphragm stimulates activation of your vagus nerve. My aim is to give you a simple visual to internalise for when you are doing deliberate deep breathing and / or relaxation.

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In a remarkable study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, Kymberly Young and colleagues report that depressive symptoms can be substantially diminished by training a region of the brain known as the amygdala to respond more strongly to positive memories. The amygdala is heavily involved in regulating emotions. Earlier research has demonstrated that activity in the amygdala linked to the retrieval of positive memories is blunted in depressed persons as compared to non-depressed individuals.

Over the last decade, functional neuroimaging techniques have advanced to the point that it is possible to measure increases or decreases in brain activity in real time, even in regions as small as the amygdala. In earlier work, Young and associates used a technique called real-time functional MRI neurofeedback to show that individuals can train their amygdalae to increase hemodynamic responses (a surrogate for "activity") if provided immediate feedback of amygdala activity in real time during a positive memory retrieval task.

In this recent study, 33 adults with moderately severe major depressive disorder completed the research protocol. None was being treated with an antidepressant. The study consisted of four visits: During the first visit, participants completed several clinical and self-report assessments of depression and anxiety, as well as an autobiographical memory test. This set of assessments was repeated at each subsequent visit. Five to seven days after the first visit, study participants completed the first neurofeedback training session, and one week later, they completed a second session. During the fourth visit 5 to 7 days later, participants completed the assessments one last time.

At the start of the study, participants were divided into two groups that had almost identical scores on the various depression scales. One group (18 individuals) received neurofeedback from the amygdala; the other (15 individuals) received neurofeedback from a region of parietal cortex that is not known to be involved in emotional regulation.

One week after the first neurofeedback session, participants in the amygdala training group exhibited decreases in depression scores compared to baseline scores. By the end of the study, decreases in depressive symptoms were even greater in this group and were associated with increased amygdala activity during positive memory retrieval. Twelve of 18 participants experienced a greater than 50 percent decrease in depression scores (defined as a "response"), and 6 met criteria for remission (defined as reporting very few depressive symptoms). Only 2 depressed participants who received real-time feedback from the parietal cortex demonstrated 50 percent decreases in depressive scores, and only 1 remitted.

Many important questions remain: Can these results be replicated? Will more sessions lead to a higher percentage of people who respond and who achieve remission? How long do the antidepressant effects last? Can occasional booster training sessions prevent relapse? Can people practice the method in the absence of imaging feedback to sustain improvements?

Currently, this technique requires an individual to be trained for several hours utilizing expensive functional imaging equipment. However, if additional research indicates long-term effectiveness of this approach, it is likely that more affordable methods will be developed.

In recent posts, we have noted several new pharmacologic approaches that might provide rapid treatment of severe depressive symptoms. Here, we describe work showing that a person can utilize biofeedback to train the amygdala and decrease depressive symptoms in the absence of pharmacological treatment.

These preliminary findings again support the idea that basic science research examining specific brain regions may provide a way to develop novel clinical treatments.

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Treating Depression by Training Your Amygdala

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In a remarkable study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry , Kymberly Young and colleagues report that depressive symptoms can be substantially diminished by training a region of the brain known as the amygdala to respond more strongly to positive memories. The amygdala is heavily involved in regulating emotions.

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In his recent posting, "Joe is Not His Amygdala," Dr. George Mastroianni argues that we should not re-name PTSD "post traumatic brain injury" because this makes PTSD a purely brain-based disorder and fails to separate the brain and the mind.

These points are well taken, especially because this could lead people to confuse the impact of psychological trauma-exposure to the threat of one's own or others' death or to life-altering violations of the body-with traumatic brain injuries (TBI), which involve direct physical injury to the brain through concussive assaults such as blast injuries caused by IEDs. PTSD and TBI increasingly are found to co-occur in warzone deployed military personnel, but their causes and symptoms are different.

It's also true that neuroimaging research does not implicate only the amygdala as the "cause" or source of PTSD. Traumatic stressors that involve a psychological assault, but not a physical assault on the brain, such as those experienced by military personnel in war (or anyone who suffers physical or sexual abuse, sexual assualt, exposure to a life-threatening accident, or natural disaster). Traumatic stressors do not injure the brain, but they DO change how the brain works.

Neuroimaging studies suggest that the change is a shift from a brain in which the stress, reward, and self-reflection systems operate in learning mode-enabling the individual to explore and enjoy the world, to gain and remember knowledge that enriches life-to a brain operating in survival mode. A brain in survival mode is on the defensive and prone to negative emotional, cognitive, and behavioral reactions. This shift is observed in changes in the relationship between the emotional brain's limbic (amygdala, hippocampus) and deep midbrain areas, and the prefrontal and cingulate cortex.

This is not an injured or damaged brain, but a brain that has been hijacked by primitive areas that are essential to survival. This changes the relationship amongst these brain areas from one of dialogue and cooperation that enhances attention and thoughtful decisions to a struggle for control that leads to hypervigilance, impulsivity, and dysphoria.

Mastroiani is right that parts of the brain are not good or bad, but wrong in saying that we don't know what happens to people's brains after exposure to psychological trauma. We have much more to learn, and the science is by no means definitive, but we do know that PTSD involves a change in the brain, in how key sections in the brain interact with each other. This is not an injury, but it is an altered mode of operation, which profoundly changes the way we think and feel. In other words, PTSD changes our state of mind.

PTSD is a change in how the brain operates that changes the nature of the mind. Instead of approaching each new day and experience with interest and optimism, people with PTSD are preoccupied with anticipating and dealing with threats. It's as iif every problem (or opportunity, or even what appears to be a very minor change in themselves, other people, or the environment), no matter how small or large, is now a threat to their survival.

Sounds like a very distorted view of life, especially when the warzone is thousands of miles away and in the past. Have people with PTSD lost their minds? Should they just snap out of it and get back to reality? Or get their thinking back on track and delete those "distorted" thoughts of still being in a survival-threatening situation?

Absolutely not! That's the serious downside of under-estimating the role that changes in the brain play in PTSD. The mind is more than the sum of the neurons in the brain, but nothing that we think or feel is separate from the brain. When people with PTSD think the world is dangerous and feel a profound sense of threat and danger, it's not just "in their mind." It's the brain operating in survival mode, and the solution is to shift the brain back to learning mode.

Which is much easier said than done. Yet that's what every evidence-based psychotherapy for PTSD probably does. Although we don't have the scientific data yet to demonstrate that successful recovery from PTSD involves a shift in the brain's operations from survival to learning mode, we do know that that is the difference in brain activity between people with and without PTSD.

And we know that effective psychotherapies for other anxiety disorders do lead to shifts in brain system activity that are very similar to this picture: as the mind shifts from fear and anxiety to attentive interest, hope, and enjoyment, the brain is shifting from patterns of activity dominated by primitive areas to a two-way interaction between those primitive areas and the higher cortical and cingulate areas.

Successful treatment for, and recovery from, PTSD involves the mind re-setting the brain-re-claiming self-awareness, self- confidence, and clear thinking in ways that restore the mind to itself by stopping the amygdala from hijacking the brain.
Hijacked by Your Brain blogs are co-authored by Jon Wortmann. Visit our website at www.hijackedbyyourbrain.com. You can follow us on facebook or join us on twitter @hijackedbook.

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PTSD is the Amygdala Hijacking Joe's Brain

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The mind is more than the sum of the neurons in the brain, but nothing that we think or feel is separate from the brain. When people with PTSD think the world is dangerous and feel a profound sense of threat and danger, it's not just "in their mind."

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When you're stressed out, you feel thrown off balance. Your thoughts race as you imagine negative outcomes. Your heart pounds, and breathing gets shallow. Your muscles tighten. You feel as if you can't sit still or think straight. Or you zone out with food, alcohol, or mindless TV. Alternatively, you drive yourself so hard that you live an unbalanced, unhealthy life. Sound familiar? You may want to get rid of stress, but you can't. But you can learn to accept your stress and transform the way you think about it so you can benefit from its positive aspects. In my new book, The Stress-Proof Brain, I describe how to put a stop to unhealthy responses to stress and become more cognitively and emotionally resilient.

Your Brain's Stress Response

The first step is to understand your brain and body's natural stress response. Once you understand it, you can work on changing your stress mindset with new tools and ways of thinking that you practice every day. Our brains possess neuroplasticity, which means they can be changed by experience and repeated practice of new ways of thinking.

The stress response begins when the amygdala - an almond shaped structure in the center of your brain - senses a threat. It reacts by initiating a cascade of neurotransmitters and hormones - like adrenaline, norepinephrine, and cortisol, that prepare your body for "fight or flight." If your brain perceives that you can't fight the stressor, the parasympathetic branch of your autonomic nervous system may initiate a "freeze" response. The "fight, flight, freeze" response is very rapid. Your body may react to a snake in the path or an oncoming car, before you can even name what you're facing.

The "fight, flight, freeze" response is adaptive to help you survive an immediate danger, but is problematic when you're dealing with more complex, interpersonal or chronic stressors. When your amygdala "hijacks" your brain, you may say things you later regret, send off an angry email, scream at your partner, colleague, or child, drink too much, or behave in other impulsive, destructive ways. To be happy and successful in work, life, or love, you need to know how to get back on track when your amygdala hijacks your brain chemicals!

Getting Back on Track When Your Amygdala Hijacks Your Brain

To get back on track, you need to use another part of your brain, called the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex, situated behind your forehead is the brain's executive center. Located near the top of your brain, it receives information about the stressor more slowly than the amygdala. The prefrontal cortex is like the CEO of your brain. It can send a message to the amygdala telling it that everything is safe now so it can switch off "fight, flight, freeze." It can also send messages to other parts of your brain to direct a mindful, effective response to the stressor. The strategies below can deliberately recruit your prefrontal cortex to take control of your stress reaction, rather than letting your amygdala be in charge.

Five Ways to Redirect Your Stress Response:

Slow Things Down - Learn to slow down and breathe before responding to the stressor so the prefrontal cortex has time to get on board. This can help for many different types of stressors like when a colleague or partner criticizes you, when you open an unpaid bill, or when you are waiting for a medical test result.

Stay Mindful - Staying mindful means you deliberately redirect your mind from automatic worries and fears to a compassionate, accepting "observer"stance. You may think: "Hmm, what's happening here. Anger is arising in my chest. I'm tempted to say something mean. Would that be a helpful thing to do right now?" Mindfulness works best when you have learned the skill by meditating regularly and practicing a mindful state of mind when you are not stressed. Brain studies show that more mindful people have better communication between amygdala and prefrontal cortex when reacting to an emotional stressor.

Find a Sense of Control - Studies in rats, monkeys, and humans show that our brains and bodies get more stressed out by uncontrollable, unpredictable events than by events we can anticipate and control. So think about which aspects of this situation you can control and which you can't and focus your energies on trying to effect change in the things that you can actually influence (while working on mindfully accepting those you can't).

Broaden Your View - When the amygdala triggers anxiety and negative emotions, this automatically narrows your mental perspective towards monitoring and avoiding the threat. As a result, you don't think about positive aspects of your life or creative ways of solving the problem. Is there a way to see your stressor as a challenge or growth opportunity instead? This can help you redirect your brain chemicals and energy towards mastering the stressful situation - which may actually enhance your motivation and effectiveness.

Find the Right Mindset: Rather than focusing on avoiding stress, focus on what you can gain from the situation and the skills and strengths you have to master it. When you make avoidance the goal, you will be less effective at solving the problem or finding resources to help. Think instead about active, positive ways to address the stressor and how you might learn and grow from dealing with it.
Melanie Greenberg, Ph.D., is a practicing psychologist in Mill Valley, California, and former Professor in the Ph.D. Program at the California School of Professional Psychology. She is an expert on stress, the brain, and mindfulness. She provides workshops, speaking engagements, and psychotherapy for individuals and couples. She regularly appears on radio shows and as an expert in national media. She also does in person and long-distance coaching for executives and entrepreneurs. Her new book, The Stress-Proof Brain was released this month.
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When you're stressed out, you feel thrown off balance. Your thoughts race as you imagine negative outcomes. Your heart pounds, and breathing gets shallow. Your muscles tighten. You feel as if you can't sit still or think straight. Or you zone out with food, alcohol, or mindless TV.

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Dr. Abigail Baird of Vassar College talks about the insula during her lecture "The Neuroscience of the Teen Brain" for the Mind Science Foundation.

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Dr. Abigail Baird of Vassar College talks about the amygdala during her lecture "The Neuroscience of the Teen Brain" for the Mind Science Foundation.