Sticks and stone may break your bones, but words can change your brain.
That’s right.
According to Andrew Newberg, M.D. and Mark Robert Waldman, words can literally change your brain. In their book, “Words Can Change Your Brain,” they write: “a single word has the power to influence the expression of genes that regulate physical and emotional stress.” Positive words, like “peace” and “love” can alter the expression of genes, strengthening areas in our front lobes and promoting the cognitive functioning of the brain. They propel the motivational centers of the brain into action, explain the authors, and build resiliency.
Conversely, hostile language can disrupt specific genes that play a key part in the production of neurochemicals that protect us from stress. Humans are hardwired to worry—part of our primal brains protecting us from threats to our survival—so our thoughts naturally go here first. However, a single negative word can increase the activity in our amygdala (fear center of the brain) and release dozens of stress-producing hormones and neurotransmitters, which in turn interrupt the functioning of our brains, especially with regard to logic, reason, and language. “Angry words send alarm messages through the brain, and they partially shut down the logic-and-reasoning centers located in the frontal lobes,” write Newberg and Waldman.
According to the authors, using the right words can transform our reality:
By holding a positive and optimistic [word] in your mind, you stimulate frontal lobe activity. This area includes specific language centers that connect directly to the motor cortex responsible for moving you into action. And as our research has shown, the longer you concentrate on positive words, the more you begin to affect other areas of the brain. Functions in the parietal lobe start to change, which changes your perception of yourself and the people you interact with. A positive view of yourself will bias you toward seeing the good in others, whereas a negative self-image will include you toward suspicion and doubt. Over time the structure of your thalamus will also change in response to your conscious words, thoughts, and feelings, and we believe that the thalamic changes affect the way in which you perceive reality.
Image: Chakracenter.org
Originally published on Sanity Break at Everyday Health.
WOW! My aunt has always said, “What you think about, you bring about.” That expression has now proven true by scientific research. Thank you, Therese, for this most informative article! All of us must rid ourselves of the negative and soak in the light and healing of positive, truthful words.