Looks like we have it backwards again.

We think our natural state of being is calm and calm. Then, the “noise” of life intrudes to spoil things. People, family demands, work pressure, bad news and the general chaos of modern living can spoil all the thrills, right?

Wrong.

Marcus Raichle, MD, a neurologist and teacher of radiology, neurology, neurobiology and biomed engineering at Washington University in St Louis, has changed the model forever. He is the medical researcher who first discovered the brain’s Default Mode Network (DMN).

A default is the setting that comes loaded in computer software and electronics. It is the font the word processing software uses unless you change it or the date and time that appear blinking on your digital clock after the electricity goes out. The default mode is the one which comes standard and preloaded.

Doctor. Raichle’s research proves unquestionably that the brain’s default mode is anything but quiet and peaceful. It's an ocean boiling over with noise and activity. When you are not consciously engaged “when your grey matter is at “rest” “this is the cue for the DMN to turn on! All this activity that happens in the DMN while the mind isn't consciously engaged in an external task is not totally understood, but proved to be thru fMRI scans.

The DMN is your brain’s autopilot that keeps your intelligence occupied with a stream of consciousness, even if you do not want them. An overactive DMN leads to the following scenarios:

You lie up at night with spinning thoughts, unable to turn your attention off and sleep.

You are in a pleasant, warm shower that should be relaxing, but your mind is speeding far ahead of you, concerned about the day ahead.

You want to read focus on a pleasurable book, but can’t focus.

You are driving in traffic with a stream of boiling thoughts and feelings that bother you.

You take a enjoyable walk in the park but don't enjoy the scenery due to your busy mind

You attempt to meditate, butforget it!

You need to hear your youngster or a mate, but rather than actually listen, you concentrate more on the rambling inside head.

You don't consciously try to think distracting, stressful, disturbing or infuriating thoughts. Your brain doesn't need your assistance to form them. This is what your grey matter does in default mode!

Effective stress relief occurs automatically when you understand how to deactivate your DMN. Yes, the neurological network accountable for the steady stream of thoughts and bodily strain that keeps us all preoccupied and stressed out, can be deactivated. Dr. Raichle’s team discovered this by accident.

In the March 2010 copy of Systematic American, Doctor. Raichle asserts the following:

In 1998 we actually had a paper refused because one proof reader advised that the reported drop off in activity was an error in our data. The circuits, the reviewer claimed, were really being switched on at rest and switched off during the [cognitive] task. Other analysts nevertheless , reproduced our results for the medial parietal cortex and the medial prefrontal cortex. Both areas are now considered major hubs of the DMN.

There you have it, health articles reference a major brain network being switched on and off when needed by collusion in specially designed cognitive tasks. Further research, both scientific and casual, has proven that resting the DMN leads to more pleasure, inner calm, emotional contentment, improved rest, decreased stress and a stress-free way of being.

Mark Bondu is associated with Newspaper San Diego and Newspaper Temecula.

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