Change the Brain; Relieve the Pain; Transform the Person
Section 6: Mood and Pain
Stimulating and Soothing
Soothing calms the brain. It can be as simple as a thought or as complex as competing in a triathlon. We are soothed by others and learn to self-soothe over time. The range and variety of soothing behaviors is nearly infinite. People soothe themselves in positive ways and in negative ways. Regardless, the act of soothing requires activation of circuits extending from deep brain centers into higher brain centers in the limbic system, an important part of the Associational Cortices (see pages 35 and 46 of the Neuroplastic Transformation workbook). The limbic cortex is responsible for regulating mood, autobiographical memory and problem solving. A description of the limbic cortex and its ability to disrupt or calm pain and mood circuits is mapped out on page 57 of the Neuroplastic Transformation workbook. Soothing activities allow for the proper balance of neurotransmitters, electrical circuits and resting networks.
Stimulating the brain results in the release of excitatory neurotransmitters, honing focus, sharpening memory and unleashing creativity. Too much stimulation can lead to runaway anxiety and pain. Too little stimulation causes depression and fatigue. Staying in the zone requires that stimulation of the brain is balanced by soothing. Being in the flow of an experience is achieved when a perfect balance is reached between the two, and a person merges with the activity being performed. The peak moments of life are the times we are in the flow.
Restoring Balance
The goal is to restore the balance between soothing and stimulating. Every process in the body is set up to have it’s own regulation, it’s own check and balance system. In any disease, the balance in one or many systems is disrupted. This leads to pain and dysfunction. In order to work properly, the body has to right itself. It has to work it’s way back to a place where the paired processes function as they should. This is known as homeostasis and it exists as a wide range, rather than a precise target.
Review the text on page 57 of the Neuroplastic Transformation workbook. It addresses the issue of release of calming neurotransmitters to restore balance in the limbic emotional and pain processing region of the brain. Using pain, anxiety and depression as signals to consciously self-soothe is an important strategy to restore balance to the brain and to a person’s life.
Brain Rhythms
Large networks in the brain influence each other by using waves of electricity in slow rhythms. These oscillating signals are measured in fractions of a cycle per second, with the optimal rhythms being 1 cycle every 10 seconds. To put this into perspective the lowest sound that is audible to the human ear is 20 cycles a second. Even through these rhythms are slow, they are the fastest processes to make neuroplastic change. Making and breaking synapses takes minutes to hours, but changing these network influences only takes a matter of seconds. While these network rhythms cause rapid change in brain function, they also make it harder for the brain to re-establish old patterns. Capturing these rhythms and restoring them to normal is an excellent strategy for restoring normal brain processes and function.
Pain and the Default Mode Network
Neuroplasticity is an essential activity of the brain associated with new learning. It involves constant changing of the ways that nerve cells connect to each other and organize networks dedicated to many different functions. Larger networks of cells in the brain connect to each other by electromagnetic waves that fire in slow rhythms and are called Resting State Networks. These networks rhythmically activate one another when we are at rest. One of the most studied of these Resting State Networks is the Default Mode Network (DMN). Under normal conditions the DMN fires every 10 seconds and is related to consciousness and our sense of self. Essentially, the DMN tells us who we are. The network is activated when people daydream, meditate, or are being introspective.
The Ripple Effect of Calming
Just as anxiety, pain and depression cause more of themselves, so does soothing create more calm. Self-soothing activities and soothing to and from others causes a release of calming and pleasure neurotransimitters, harmoniously resets the rhythm of the Default Mode Network and the Frontoinsular Network, and slows down long term potentiation of nerve cells. This takes counter-stimulation and shifts it to multi-dimensional neuroplastic change. Experiencing calm and soothing becomes the norm. The Default Mode Network shifts a person’s sense of self from being agitated to being calm.
The Brain in 3-D
This section of the Neuroplastic Transformation Workbook takes the key graphic on page 13 and gives it a 3 D perspective on page 58 through 62. Starting with the intact brain as viewed from above on page 58 the personal access to the brain that each of us has is described using thoughts, images, sensations, memories, soothing emotions, movement and beliefs. On page 59, with the upper part of the brain removed, the two insulas are visible and their function is described in detail. On page 60, the insulas are removed to reveal the two almond shaped amygdalas below. Their functions are also listed. On page 61, we see the brain from the left side, showing the primary somatosensory cortex, the primary motor cortex, the orbital frontal cortex and their functions. Finally on page 62 we see the brain’s central structures, the prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, posterior parietal cortex and the primary and secondary somatosensory cortex and the supplementary motor area. The functions of these areas are, once again, listed.
The 3 dimensional view shows the anatomical layout of the brain. This allows us to see the spatial relationship between the various brain regions that make up the circuit responsible for pain perception. It’s easy to see how stimulating other functions directly and purposefully can counteract the constant stimulation of persistent pain.