Grateful Brain ALEX KORB Venkatachalam salem health TIPS library

 

Gratitude, particularly if practiced regularly, can keep you healthier and happier. (Abridged version).

Written by Alex Korb Ph.D.

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சுறுக்கமாக தமிழில்
சில பகுதிகள் மட்டும்

(*) அடிக்கடி நன்றி உணர்வு உங்களுக்கு ஏற்பட்டால், நீங்கள் கூடுதல் ஆரோக்கியமாகவும் மகிழ்ச்சியாகவும் இருப்பீர்களாம்.

  

(*) தினமும் 15 நிமிடம் படுக்க செல்லும் முன்பு, யாரையாவது அல்லது எந்த சம்பவத்தை யாவது நன்றி உணர்வுடன் சில வரிகள் எழுதியவர்கள் வாழ்க்கை மகிழ்ச்சியாக ஓர் அளவு மாறி உள்ளதாம்.

(*) நன்றி உணர்வு மனப்பான்மை மூளையில் உள்ள ஹைப்போ தாளமஸ் (hypothalamus) என்ற பகுதியில் நிறைய செயல்பாடுகளை செய்ய துண்டுகிறதாம். இந்த பகுதி தான் நாம் சாப்பிட, தூங்க, மது குடிக்க போன்ற பல செயல்களை நாம் செய்ய அடிப்படை கட்டளைகளை இடுகிறதாம். 

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தமிழில் இணையான கட்டுரையை படிக்க .. இதை அழுத்தவும்
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Equivalent Tamil article

**CAUTION :

This is a very short version chunked by me with great efforts from the original article titled "The Grateful Brain" by Dr. Alex Korb, Ph.D.
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Abridgement and "slight" improvisation for easy reading. I pray that Dr. Alex Korb agrees to my hard work and good intentions.

 Ezhilarasan Venkatachalam.
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The Grateful Brain ~The neuroscience of giving thanks.

Please take a moment to be grateful for this article you are about to read.  It can have a profound impact on your life.

Dopamine and gratitude.

Thanks giving. Giving of thanks, also known as gratitude. Gratitude, particularly if practiced regularly, can keep you healthier and happier.

In this article I’ll share the results of studies that show how gratitude can, among other things, help you exercise more, sleep better and be happier.

One study by a couple of American researchers assigned young adults to keep a daily journal of things they were "grateful for". They assigned other groups to journal about things that "annoyed" them, or reasons why they were better off than others.



The young adults assigned to keep gratitude journals showed greater increases in determination, attention, enthusiasm and energy compared to the other groups.

Realizing that other people are "worse off than you" is not gratitude. Gratitude requires an appreciation of the positive aspects of your situation. You actually have to show appreciation for what you have, for it to have an effect.

In another study, subjects who were assigned to journal weekly on gratitude showed greater improvements in optimism. That makes sense. But that’s not all; it also influenced their behaviors. Keeping a gratitude journal also caused greater improvements in exercise patterns. Lastly, it also caused a reduction in physical ailments, so these subjects had fewer aches and pains.

In another study, a group of Chinese researchers looked at the combined effects of gratitude and sleep quality.. They found that higher levels of gratitude were associated with better sleep, and with lower anxiety and depression.

So gratitude had a direct effect on depression symptoms (the more gratitude, the less depression).

They found that subjects who showed more gratitude overall had higher levels of activity in the brain region called  "hypothalamus". This is important because the hypothalamus controls a huge array of essential bodily functions, including eating, drinking and sleeping. It also has a huge influence on your metabolism and  stress  levels.


Furthermore, feelings of gratitude directly activated brain regions associated with the neurotransmitter "dopamine." Dopamine feels good to get, which is why it’s generally considered the “reward” neurotransmitter. But dopamine is also almost important in initiating action. That means increases in "dopamine" make you more likely to do the thing you just did. It’s the brain saying, “Oh, do that again.”

Gratitude can have such a powerful impact on your life because it engages your brain in a virtuous cycle.

Your brain only has so much power to focus its attention. It cannot easily focus on "both" positive and negative stimuli. It is like a small child: easily distracted. Oh your tummy hurts? Here’s a lollipop. So you lost your job? Isn’t it wonderful we’re having KFC for dinner?

On top of that your brain loves to fall for the  confirmation bias, that is...

"it looks for things that prove what it already believes to be true. "

And the dopamine reinforces that as well.

So once you start seeing things to be grateful for, your brain starts looking for more things to be grateful for. That’s how the virtuous cycle gets created.

It’s "not always easy" to remember to be grateful, particularly since the human brain is so adaptable. We easily get used to whatever comforts are around us. When was the last time you turned the key in your car’s ignition and praised the miracles of the internal combustion engine?

Gratitude takes practice like any other skill. Thanksgiving Day is a good time to start, but if you want to reap all the benefits, keep practicing after that. Try thinking of one thing every day that you’re grateful for. I’m practicing it too.

While my wrists hurt and my eyes are strained from sitting at my computer too long, I am grateful for all the researchers who made this article possible. (Same problem experienced by me, Ezhilarasan abridging this scientific article late night for the benefit of my daughter and other youth who need to read this matter).

I am grateful for my Macbook Air for not weighing me down.  And I am grateful to you for reading all the way to the end.
   
Alex Korb Ph.D.

Source :

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/prefrontal-nudity/201211/the-grateful-brain
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I am grateful for the Tamil article writer who wrote an article that appeared in the Tamil The hindu on April 06, 2017.

It said that .....
DEPRESSION IS GOING TO BE THE NO.1 KILLER DISEASE BY 2020.
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by

Ezhilarasan Venkatachalam
Global Tamil Based English Trainer
Salem
South India.

THANKS TO