Summary of Loretta Graziano Breuning's Habits of a Happy Brain

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 Your brain is focused on survival, and it is not easy being a survivor. You have inherited a brain that is focused on survival, and it is not easy being a survivor.
#2 The four happy chemicals are dopamine, endorphin, oxytocin, and serotonin. They are triggered when your brain sees something that is good for your survival, and they turn off when something bad crosses your path.
#3 The human brain has a limbic system, which is made up of the hippocampus, amygdala, pituitary, hypothalamus, and other parts. The human brain is surrounded by a huge cortex. Your cortex and limbic system are always working together to keep you alive.
#4 Your inner mammal rewards you with good feelings when you do something good for your survival. Each of the happy chemicals motivates a different type of survival behavior: dopamine motivates you to get what you need, even if it takes a lot of effort, endorphin motivates you to ignore pain, and so on.

Sujets

• Santé et bien-être
• Bien-être émotionnel
• Bien-être émotionnel
• Bien-être
• Bien-être
• Bien-être
• Bien-être
• Personal development
• Happiness

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 01 mars 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669349396
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Loretta Graziano Breuning's Habits of a Happy Brain
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5 Insights from Chapter 6 Insights from Chapter 7 Insights from Chapter 8 Insights from Chapter 9
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Your brain is focused on survival, and it is not easy being a survivor. You have inherited a brain that is focused on survival, and it is not easy being a survivor.

#2

The four happy chemicals are dopamine, endorphin, oxytocin, and serotonin. They are triggered when your brain sees something that is good for your survival, and they turn off when something bad crosses your path.

#3

The human brain has a limbic system, which is made up of the hippocampus, amygdala, pituitary, hypothalamus, and other parts. The human brain is surrounded by a huge cortex. Your cortex and limbic system are always working together to keep you alive.

#4

Your inner mammal rewards you with good feelings when you do something good for your survival. Each of the happy chemicals motivates a different type of survival behavior: dopamine motivates you to get what you need, even if it takes a lot of effort, endorphin motivates you to ignore pain, and so on.

#5

The mammal brain is a collection of impulses that are designed to help us survive. It motivates us to go toward things that trigger happy chemicals and avoid things that trigger unhappy chemicals.

#6

Animals can help us understand our own brain chemicals. The goal is not to glorify animals or primitive impulses, but to understand what turns on our happy chemicals. Good feelings promote survival.

#7

The brain is like a computer, and the parts that change the most are the ones that are used the most.

#8

The limbic system cannot process language, so when you talk to yourself, it’s all in your cortex. The limbic system never tells you in words why it activates a happy or unhappy chemical.

#9

The brain is like a water pipe, and each time you experience something, your senses take in the world and trigger electricity in your brain. That electricity finds the paths of least resistance, and these paths become superhighways for your electricity.

#10

Your human cortex can adjust your old circuits with new inputs, but your old circuits are very efficient. You tend to rely on them because the world overwhelm you with information and your superhighways help it flow so well. But those superhighways don’t always take you where you want to go.

#11

When you were young, you built new circuits easily. In adulthood, building a new circuit is as hard as slashing through a dense rainforest. Every step requires huge effort, and the new trail you worked so hard for disappears into the undergrowth if you don’t use it again soon.

#12

The human brain is designed to seek out good feelings, but it is also constantly on alert for potential threats. When you are safe from physical threats, your brain scans for social threats.

#13

When your cortisol surges, you respond by noticing what it’s paired with. It could be low blood sugar, or the smell of danger, or social isolation. Life experience builds myriad circuits that light up when your cortisol turns on.

#14

When you are not distracted by happy chemicals, your brain will seek ways to relieve the do something feeling. Easy happy-chemical activators may tempt you. But when you constantly seek a high, you may end up in a vicious cycle.

#15

Vicious cycles are everywhere. They can be external things like alcohol, food, money, sex, and drugs, or they can be internal thought habits like getting angry, seeking approval, escaping, thrill-seeking, and rescuing. Each of these behaviors can make you feel good in a moment when you were feeling bad.

#16

You can stop a vicious cycle in one instant by resisting that do something feeling and living with the cortisol. This is difficult to do because cortisol screams for your attention. But you can build the skill of doing nothing during a cortisol alert, even as it begs you to make it go away by doing something.

#17

The human brain is capable of imagining things that don’t exist, which gives us the ability to imagine solutions before it’s too late. But this is not a realistic expectation with the brain we have.

#18

You cannot make other people happy, and you cannot make yourself happy if you focus on their brains and fail to make them happy. Each person must manage his or her own limbic system.

#19

Love is a huge surge of happy chemicals because it’s relevant to the survival of your genes. You aren’t thinking about your genes when you’re in love, but your genes are inherited from people who did what it took to reproduce successfully.

#20

Oxytocin is a hormone that is triggered by touch and trust. It is related to love in so many ways that it is often called the bonding hormone or the cuddle chemical.

#21

Serotonin is the brain chemical that is triggered when you feel the pride of association with a person of a certain stature. You may hate thinking of your love in this way, but you can easily see it in others. Animals with higher status in their social groups have more reproductive success.

#22

Cortisol helps your brain rewire itself to associate old love interests with negative expectations, so you're more likely to seek new love.

#23

Love is a powerful feeling that can be addictive. It feels good because it is hard to keep your DNA alive in the state of nature. It is difficult to obtain mating opportunities in nature, so love makes it feel worthwhile.