There are two regions of the brain critical to memory formation and retrieval; the pre-frontal cortex (PFC) and the hippocampus. The PFC, the boss of the psyche, encodes memory via the excitations of its numerous synaptic networks, while the hippocamus, often refered to as the major memory centre, consolidates memories through its short-term and long-term memory compatments. Unfortunately, chronic stress exposure, including repeated trauma, affects these two regions of the brain. Under intense stressors, the PFC loses its neuronal access to integrative memories that could have prevented a cascade of fight-or-flight responses, while the hippocampus' nervous projections shrivel and retract Continue reading
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All posts by Wale Oladipo
The part of the brain that is heavily involved in survival activities is also involved in mediating appetite. This means that trauma or stress can dysregulate the neuro-physiological networks involved in the regulation of appetite, leading to maladaptation. For example, acutely stress out a lab rat and it becomes hypophagic (its appetite is surpressed). Chronically stress out the same rat (please don't try this at home😊) and it becomes hyperphagic(its appetite is stimulated). Although this process is also applicable to humans, it is far from straightforward as humans are extremely complex. There are several factors that can mediate whether Continue reading
Your body is a powerful biofeedback device. It communicates with your awareness centre about your state of being. The term 'soma' is a Greek word that means 'body.' The subconscious intelligence of the body that evaluates environmental and viscera risk factors while alerting the brain accordingly via its sensory nerves is what is referred to as The Somatic Intelligence. Your somatic intelligence is designed to draw your attention to a potentially state of unease before it becomes a full blown disorder. Unfortunately, many of us override or are complete unaware of our bodily cues to self-regulate. This could lead to Continue reading
Do you know that regular singing can help you manage anxiety and stress? Singing aloud is perhaps one of the most underrated stress management activities. Singing is a powerful neuro-exercise that has the ability to not only change your mood but also your physiological state. The management of your exhalation (out-breathe) that is consistent with singing aloud triggers a neuro-regulation of safety in your heart’s pacemaker, leading to a physiological shift from a defensive mode of stress to a safety mode of relaxation, tranquility and healing. In this clip, I explain in detail how this process works and how singing Continue reading
Like many modern cars that are equipped with an adaptive cruise-control with the capability to know when to cruise, accelerate, slow down or shutdown, the human nervous system contains an inbuilt adaptive mechanism that constantly evaluates risks and safety in your environment to determine whether or not it should cruise, mobilise or immobilise survival energy. In humans, the immobilisation defence system (such as, dissociation, numbness, passing out, frozenness, vasovagal syncope etc.) is as crucial for survival as the mobilisation defence system (such as, hyperarousal, hyper-vigilance, insomnia, panic attacks and anxiety, etc.). These two systems are designed to enhance your chances Continue reading
Your physical and emotional wellness is strongly connected to the quality of your social affiliations. The brain is a relational organ that requires constant social interactions to stay in a positive state that supports cognitive and emotional resilience. The resiliency of your entire nervous system is encoded in its regular cues of safety and love it derives from its environment. Social isolation is by far a bigger risk factor regarding shorter life expectancy than smoking, obesity, diabetes or even hypertension. Humans rapidly degenerate into an immuno-suppressive state in an environment of chronic social deprivation. Isolation compromises your immunity and leaves Continue reading
If you missed my Q&A session on mental health, you can catch up here. Continue reading
Hope is the unwillingness to give up on life in spite of raging adversities. It is the resolution to continue to climb the upward-steps of life, even though you can’t see the entire stair-case. Hope is not just psychological, it is also bio-chemical, meaning that it can readapt your cognition, emotions and physiology. Hope affects almost all the hormones/neurotransmitters in your body, including your stress hormones, growth hormones, reproductive hormones, sex hormones, motivation hormones, and so on. In fact, your entire endocrine system is at the mercy of your willingness or unwillingness to hold-on to hope when the goings of Continue reading
[Please Note: This clip contains some background noises as it was recorded while on a trip to the beautiful Linton Falls in West Yorkshire] Stress is an adaptive response of the body to a perceived threat. Your stress response (fight-flight-freeze response) is an attempt of the nervous system to enhance your chances of survival. Although the neuro-physiological mechanism of your stress response is largely automatic, humans have an enduring capacity to mediate and influence the autonomic stress response through the power of mindful awareness and relaxation-based activities. You can learn to manually interrupt your fight/flight cycle by initiating a neurophysiological Continue reading
Your body is the external interpreter of your internal emotions. Whatever repressed emotions or feelings you continue to repress will eventually find their expression through your somatic (bodily) symptoms. In stressful moments of life, listening to your body is critical to diminishing the hyperarousal of your body that is often induced by the over-activation of the fight-or-flight response. By listening to your body and accurately evaluating its basic, adaptive and homeostatic needs at a given time (e.g. rest, sleep, water, food, exercise, social interaction, self-compassion, self-care, relaxation, gratitude, support, respite, appreciation, solitude. etc.) and meeting that need as much as Continue reading
Productivity is always connected to levels of happiness, although few people will admit it. Humans are creatures of momentum. Stagnation suffocates self-fulfilment and stifles serendipity. Two parameters are key to gauging your happiness-meter in life; progress and relationships. The degree to which you think your life is moving forward will influence your subjective assessment for personal happiness. Similarly, the quality of your close relationships will decide your stress or happiness levels. In this 60 sec video, I focus on the science of progress and share a simple but powerful key to improving productivity, thereby boosting the readings on your happiness-meter. Continue reading
Here I answered the questions of our audience on OCD, anxiety disorder, addiction, trauma and other anxiety-related conditions. Learn about the neurobiology of anxiety, OCD and addiction in an engaging and easy-to-understand way. Continue reading
Anxiety is a positive energy that requires leadership. The ultimate purpose of your anxiety pathway is to enhance your chances for survival in any threatening situation. However, if the stressor persists for too long, healthy anxiety can deplete its adaptive energy and become toxic, thereby micromanaging your mind and emotions with elevated stress hormones. A resultant effect of this could be exaggerated anxiety symptoms. Now, what is worth mentioning here is that your unbearable symptoms of anxiety are still an attempt of your stress response to restore internal order and homeostasis. Therefore, a specific cooperative action is required on your Continue reading
Depression is a neuro-biochemical condition that has been found to affect key neurotransmitters and regions of the brain involved in emotions, cognition, pleasure and motivation. It is therefore unfair to blame your depression on the weakness of your character or lack of willpower. Here is why in 60 sec. Continue reading
The hallmark of wellness is knowing how and when to turn off your stress response. Humans are wired for survival. Whenever you feel threatened, the survival network in your brain and body mobilises its adaptive energy to increase your chances of survival. This adaptive energy, originally designed for short-term stress responses, becomes toxic if left turned on for too long or if faced with a prolonged stressor. When you find yourself overwhelmed with negative thoughts, memories or feelings, you can manually turn off your own stress responses and gradually override the survival brain, using all your senses - sight, touch, Continue reading
Stress is a natural bodily response to a perceived threat. There are three types of stress; beneficial, tolerable and toxic. A reasonable amount of acute stress (mild and brief) can be beneficial and promote greater cognitive and immune system functions. However, toxic stress (traumatic and prolonged) are the biggest risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Depending on the severity of your negative life experiences, it is possible to leave your stress response in the 'ON' position for too long. When the nervous system starts to have trouble turning off your stress hormones, cardiovascular disease, among others, may become inevitable. Elevated levels Continue reading
Gratitude practice has been found to be a protective factor against stress and anxiety. Studies have shown that gratitude reduces the cortisol levels (your stress hormone) and increases synaptic serotonin levels (your happiness hormone). Gratitude is energy for rejuvenation. Depending on the intensity of your adversity, there comes a time, when you are faced with a crucial question; 'how can I get myself back up and running?' This is where gratitude comes in. By gradually shifting your focus and starting to pay attention to little things in your environment that you can be thankful for, you start to re-build your Continue reading
The myth of perfectionism: perfectionism is a mirage and illusion of the mind that is neither required nor necessary in the equation of happiness and success. A relentless pursuit of perfection is proof of a battered mind that longs to escape past traumatic experiences caused by just being IMPERFECT human. To be human is to be perfectly imperfect without self-shaming, self-hating or self-rejecting. To fulfil our ultimate potentials in life, we must embrace our imperfection and celebrate little progresses along the way, while seeing inevitable setbacks and adversities as stepping stones to more incremental progresses. In this 60-second clip, I Continue reading
Motivation is a function of focus and courage. In other words, what you focus on most of the time determines your courage or your discouragement, your motivation or your demotivation. In difficult times, you can use the power of focus to increase your motivational energy by redirecting your attention to something positive, encouraging and uplifting, notwithstanding your ongoing negative life experiences . Interestingly, the key neurotransmitters for your motivation and happiness, dopamine and serotonin, can be up-regulated through your tenacity to focus your mind towards sources of inspiration and compassion in the midst of adversity. In this 60-second clip, I Continue reading
In this session, I answered our online participants' questions on PTSD, mental health relapses, ADHD, bereavement, complex Trauma, HPA axis in stress response and more... Continue reading
The gut is not just a vital organ for digestion, it is also your second brain, or even your first brain depending on the theory that you base your argument on. However, what is less controversial about the gut, thanks to decades of scientific evidence, is that it has its own nervous system that is different from the central and periphery nervous system. This means that your gut thinks, feels, talks and even generate its own complex movements (obviously). Over 80% of the communication between the cranial brain (head brain) and the gut brain is bottom-up (from the gut to Continue reading
One of the best gifts that you can give to your brain is persistent goal-setting and goal-oriented actions.The human brain is goal-driven. Without a compelling goal for the brain to gravitate towards, its versatility and genius gradually become redundant. Goals are to the brain what good food is to the body. The longevity of your brain neurones depends on their effective usage. In this 60 seconds clip, I share how you can strengthen your brain by becoming a passionate goal--setter and goal-achiever. Continue reading
You've probably heard many times that it is not really what happens to us in life that is the most critical regarding our emotional wellbeing, but how we respond to what happens to us. It is our response-ability, the story that we construct from what happens, that determines the eventuality of our mental wellness. Your autonomic nervous system speaks the language of emotions. The meaning that we derive from our ordeal, your conscious and subconscious interpretation, produces the emotions that instructs your nervous system to either mobilise your survival response (fight/flight) or your relaxation response (safety and social engagement). In Continue reading
Psychological trauma does not just devastate the human mind, it also distresses the entire nervous system. Using the somatic-psychological approach (bottom-up), we can get the healing process started by restoring safety and resiliency to the nervous system, even before you talk about your traumatic #memories in details. Here is how in 60 seconds. Continue reading
Your thoughts are electrochemical impulses that signal a cascade of hormonal responses that puts your entire being into a state of relaxation or anxiety, depending on the nature of our thoughts. If you think negatively, your brain produces negative chemicals that transform into negative feelings, and negative feelings eventually transmute into physical symptoms. But it doesn't end there. There are other important implications you need to be aware of in order to become an active participator in your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. In this 60 seconds video, I share how you can start to gradually elevate your body out Continue reading
Your significance lies in your uniqueness, and not in your commonalities with others. We all have something that sets us apart from others. This is your uniqueness that should be identified, developed and deployed to serve humanity. In this 60 seconds video, I share the 4 Cs of happiness, progress and significance. Continue reading
There is greatness in everyone of us. We're all walking miracles. You are a miracle waiting to happen to someone somewhere. Somebody needs the passion, insights, wisdom, expertise, gifts and talent that you carry. But the fact that we're all loaded with possibilities and potential does not mean that we will all self-actualise and achieve our greatest ideal. This is because your potentials are seeds that must be planted, watered, and nurtured before they can be harvested. Believing in your true self is central to the germination and prosperity of your seeds of greatness. Unfortunately, many people have disowned their Continue reading
I was interviewed by the ‘Time to Glow Up’ podcast. In this interview, I share about how your brain reacts to the COVID-19 anxiety and steps to protecting the mental wellness of yourself, your children and your elderly relatives during this extremely challenging time. Continue reading
Overcoming the Fear that Binds Creativity|Progress|Fulfilment|MindBody Breakthrough Fear is a known enemy of creativity. When fear strikes, the creative brain freezes and goes offline. But creative pursuit has been an integral part of our paths to progress and fulfilment as humans. We are all designed to be creative connoisseurs at different endeavours of life. Some are good with numbers while others are good with people. Some are coders while others are readers. Some love to sing while others love to dance. Whatever you are blessed with, that genius within you will have to rely on your conscious resolution to master Continue reading
Grieving is a necessary emotion for healing and adaptation after losing someone or something that matters dearly to us. Your willingness to fully embrace your grief reaction as a natural protocol for healing will determine whether you adapt well or maladapt. Unfortunately, many people do not grieve well. They either move on too quickly in denial as a way of escaping retributions from today's society with zero tolerance for people who grieve too long or totally numb grief feelings and pass themselves off as though nothing has happened. Grieving is an honourable process that is situation-specific, as well as person-specific. Continue reading
It's now been accepted as self-evident fact that the number one key to all achievements in life is self-discipline. Your willingness to become your own 'disciple' and judiciously carry out your own daily growth plans and action-steps in a tenacious and relentless act of self-leadership is the hallmark of all human progress. Self-delusion is hoping that your desired future will somehow find its way to your inner room while snoozing up in bed in a non-chalant and dissociative state of perpetual slumber. Progress does not have to happen; but if you must walk into it, you will have to use Continue reading
Your life is your habits; nothing significant will unfold in your future that does not dominate your daily habits. Habit is anything you've repeated so often that your brain and being have no choice but to encode it as your new subconscious operating command. We're creatures of habits. When you choose your habits, you decide a destiny. Your future is nothing but an accumulation of your daily routines. We are all geniuses in some ways. But what separates top achievers from the rest is the quality of their daily routines. Habits are more powerful than genius and natural abilities. Without Continue reading
Self-doubt is a notorious dream-murderer. It kills passions and stifles destinies. But the most powerful factories for change still lie within you; your mind, your imagination and your applied faith. Your mind is the factory for ideas. Imagination is the eye of the mind that attracts and cultivates possibilities. “Faith is taking the first step even though you can’t see the entire staircase,” as rightly observed by Martin Luther King Junior. In this short clip, I share how you can rise above self-doubt and move on to unleash your maximum potential. Continue reading
Your ability to make yourself do what you have to do, at the right time that you have to do it, and whether you feel like doing it or not is a powerful life-force for all accomplishments. Taking right-actions in spite of the resistance of the force of inertia is a virtue for progress and greater life contributions. If you won’t step out, you can't step into your breakthroughs. The difference between greater contribution and mediocrity is the tenacity to launch and persist without any guarantee of success. This is the difference in people. In this short clip, I share Continue reading