How to hack Your brain

HOW TO HACK YOUR BRAIN 

This might sound like a lot to take on board, but hopefully you have the basic gist regarding a number of your brain’s functions.

 

Hopefully, you also might have found some of this pretty interesting. After all, it is very relevant to all of us!

So now the question is how you can actually use this information in a productive way?

Controlling Neurotransmitters

One way to hack your brain for greater productivity, happiness or whatever else, is by influencing the production of neurotransmitters. We’ve learned that these influence our mood and our ability to learn… so changing the balance of these chemicals could certainly be very useful.

This is why a lot of people are interested in the idea of ‘nootropics’. Nootropics are smart drugs – supplements and medications that can influence the production of neurotransmitters so that we have more goal-oriented dopamine or less fearinducing cortisol. Modafinil alters the production of orexin, which can completely change our sleep/wake cycle so we feel more awake more of the time. This is also what caffeine does, by removing the inhibitory neurotransmitter adenosine (or neutralizing it, to be more precise). 

The problem with this strategy is that it fixes the brain into a specific, unnatural state and prevents you from being able to

easily ‘switch modes’. No one brain state is superior to all others – for example, creativity actually requires relaxation, not stimulation.

Worse, the brain can adapt to those changes by creating more or less ‘receptor sites’ (the points where the neurotransmitters work) to make us more or less sensitive to the neurotransmitters in question. This can eventually lead to addiction.

Some neurotransmitters work better by focussing more on neuroplasticity, or more on energy production, but for the most part this is not the solution.

What is a much more useful solution is to look at those factors that natural influence neurotransmitter release. If you want to hack any system, then the answer is to look at what the inputs are.

So, we know that bright light can increase energy and make us less sleepy, so why not consider investing in a daylight lamp which is designed to combat SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) by simulating the sun’s rays? We know that cold likewise can increase focus, while heat can help us to feel more relaxed and happy. We know that the sun and that exercise can boost our mood through the production of serotonin.

We also know that our brain is subject to certain natural cycles – those relating to sleep and hunger for instance. By timing our productivity around those things, we can work more effectively and freer from distraction.

And if you find yourself feeling very stressed or depressed, then it might pay to consider some of the biological factors that may be causing that. Perhaps you’re hungry? Or perhaps you’re a little ill and the pro-inflammatory cytokines are causing brain fog? Once you know the problem is transient and biological, it can be much easier to let it pass. 

                 Here are two other special ways to hack your brain

     1. laughter

Laughter is a powerful action. When we laugh, our stress hormones and blood pressure









drop; blood flow and oxygenation to our cells and organs increases, and the levels of endorphins – the “pleasure” chemical – in the body and brain spikes.

 2.

Single task 

According to neuroscientists, multitasking is a drain on our  resources. Although it may feel “productive,” it’s actually much less effective than focusing on one task at a time. Physiologically, the brain is not capable of efficiently processing two different stimuli at once, with the only exception being for rote tasks that require little effort.

Dr. Josh Davis – renowned neuroscientist and Director of Research for the NeuroLeadership Institute – explains:

“It (multitasking) is a bad practice. Having said that, here’s when multitasking can be okay: when you don’t care about the quality of the work…let’s say you’re doing something fairly routine and uninteresting. You put on the TV in the background just to make it so you’re at least enjoying the time (while doing the routine task)…you’re more likely to make errors, but it might not matter for the task.”

Controlling Your Brain 

More importantly though, it is critical that you learn to create the moods and the feelings that you need by changing the way you think and use your brain.

The thing that makes humans unique is our ability to visualize – to internalize events and to imagine future scenarios or possibilities. This is our working memory at play and it is what enables us to think of long-term goals and to invent new ideas. And if you believe in the theory of ‘embodied cognition’, then you might find that this is even what we use to understand plain English (look it up – it’s fascinating!). 

When we visualize or imagine, we do so by lighting up the same neurons in the brain as though the event were really happening. 

Neurologically, we find actually doing something and imaging doing something almost indistinguishable. 

This means that you can use visualization in order to practice things and develop skills – you can trigger brain plasticity just as though you were really practicing the event! Not only that, but you can also use this as a way to trigger the correct neurotransmitters in order to put yourself in the correct state of mind.

Ultimately, this will lead to the ability to control your own emotions – to trigger the best possible mental state for the task at hand. It requires training of your visualization skills and the awareness to then use those skills to ease your anxiety and to motivate  yourself to focus and to become more alert as necessary. This is the neuroscience that underlies psychological approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy and philosophies such as stoicism. 

This is also why it is so important to avoid bad habits – even bad habits in our thoughts – as ruminating and indulging actually strengthens connections that make those habits harder and harder to break.

There’s a lot more to making the most from your own brain, but I hope this basic primer has given you a better understanding a little more control