Neuroscience - WOW factor

Exciting, fascinating, WOW! I have been reading “Your Brain at Work” by David Rock. The research done in the field of neuroscience in the past five years has been incredible. In his book, David Rock, has given me the science behind several of my life guiding principles.

1. My principle - write it down! I personally have experienced the power of writing things down and have shared this technique with my clients and friends. It is an amazing technique for remembering things, sorting things out and self-awareness.

How the Brain Works It was wonderful to discover the scientific reason this works. Briefly and in my simplified interpretation of Rock’s work, writing things down moves large amount of data from the pre-frontal cortex (which is energy intensive and has a limited capacity) to other large regions of the brain.

2. My principle -The brain is our most expensive real estate! Do not waste this valuable resource storing information, keep it organized and easily accessible for future reference. Yes, this is actually true.

How the Brain Works: the pre-frontal cortex which is our processing centre can get overloaded. Too much arousal means too much electrical activity in the pre-frontal cortex. Clear it out (my words) – Rock’s recommendations – write it down, take a walk. Read more about this in Rock’s book- fascinating techniques for discovering your “sweet spot” or being in the “flow”.

3. My principle - Sometimes we need to let ideas/thoughts cook for some time. Like preparing a good soup, add some ingredients and then let them slowly cook for several hours, the flavors integrate and boost each other. In the end you have a complety different taste then when you started.

How the Brain Works: Rock describes our thoughts as players/actors that come onto the stage (pre-frontal cortex) for processing. Some thoughts stay in the background and are called forward when needed; some are front stage, looking for their time on stage immediately. He describes a process called ARIA, Awareness, Reflection, Insight and Action for optimizing the processing power of the brain. At the Insight stage, there is a burst of gamma band brain waves, the fastest brain waves which signify brain regions communicating with one another. Insight is defined as recombining knowledge (the maps in your brain) in a whole new way.

Like the soup, there is a point where something new is created!

Note: these are my interpretations of Rock's work (,not necessarily Rock's words). Please read his book, How the Brain Works, to establish your own interpretations.

I have recently been struggling with a decision about my current employment. It has been a very difficult struggle; as Rock says, too many players on the stage and overload is the result, stress not clarity.

I have taken Rock’s suggestions to heart. Spent a weekend away in the mountains, star gazing and enjoying the peace and quiet. Started dancing again – Salsa and Argentine Tango. Dancing allows me to forget everything for a couple of hours.

Rather than travelling this Eid Al Adha holiday I have stayed in Oman. Time to catch up on some rest and some reading. Very nice!

Insights have been plentiful! I encourage you to find your unique way to clear the stage and allow the insights to emerge

Wonder what insights will come as I journey through the rest of his book? It is divided into Four Acts and I just finished Act One.

This connection between neuroscience and daily life is very affirming!