Our subconscious spins out ideas constantly, whether or not we expect them to. As intrusive feelings begin to appear, they fuel a rumination pattern that is at the core of depression and anxiety disorders through our attempts to regulate them.
Experts describe what occurs in the brain when these intrusive thoughts arise and that certain brains are stronger than others at managing them. But you can do something about it.
Why do we have unwanted feelings?
Much study has concentrated on the prefrontal cortex, the brain's executive regulation core, as the region responsible for controlling emotions, both the guided form and the constant, distracting type. By searching the brain's recollection area for answers, the new analysis followed a particular approach.
As this was going on, using a mixture of fMRI (brain imaging) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy, which detects chemical shifts, the study team studied the brains of the subjects.
The findings found that in the hippocampus, a brain region essential to memory, amounts of the neurotransmitter GABA rendered all the difference between whether anyone was willing to tolerate the unwelcome thinking from materializing.
GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that preserves balance in the brain induced by "excitatory" neurotransmitters by reducing neurons' activity. We also realized that GABA levels are essential to conditions of fear, and now it seems that they often play a major role in how well we can handle unwanted thinking.
Michael Anderson, the lead author of the study at Cambridge University, said neurotransmitters are possibly critical. As a consequence, he said that these neurons would help individuals to avoid unwelcome thinking.
While the analysis was not based on understanding medications, learning the function GABA plays in thinking control may lead to more successful interventions for anxiety, depression, and other disorders.
But when you think of taking a GABA supplement to improve the management of cognition, bear in mind that there is very little proof that such nutrients cross the blood-brain-barrier to have advantages, nor are they in a manner that the brain can utilize even though they can make it through. However, evidence-based rationale suggests that high-fat diets in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus reduce GABA concentrations.
How to rid yourself of unwanted thoughts
Recent psychological research comes at exactly the right moment. The three easiest methods to erase a thought from your mind have now been discovered through brain imaging and behavioral science.
Dwelling on an issue can lead to problems
Although it might appear like certain thoughts need our full attention for as long as it takes, researchers suggest that focusing on something will influence how you perceive new thoughts in the future, especially if it is unpleasant. In a press release, co-author Marie Banich of CU Boulder warns that this may also contribute to mental health problems.
It might be addressed as 'I'll get sick if I don't wash my hands again' in obsessive-compulsive disorder or could be 'This plane is going to crash' in anxiety.
It's not what you are doing; it's how you are doing it.
Although the findings suggest that each of the main words causes a person to wash their memories efficiently, they didn't all accomplish this at the same speed.
Researchers found that a brain picture fades quicker by asking someone to "replace" or "clear" a thought. Although they can be faster, part of the picture always stays in the context for the results.
Although it takes longer to instruct someone to suppress a memory to clear the idea, researchers found that the brain signature fades away more entirely. It leaves the mind more accessible to fresh concepts.
The point is you should use 'clear' or 'replace' if you want to get things out of your mind fast. But if you need to take something out of your mind before you can bring fresh data in, Banich said 'suppress' fits well.
Out of sight, out of mind
The research authors agree that their results indicate that the easiest approach to coping with it is to avoid worrying about it for a while for people stuck on a topic or have problems multitasking.
People always assume that I'll fix this dilemma if I think about it harder. The practice of clinicians indicates, according to the CU-Boulder investigator, that it will potentially give you tunnel vision and trap you in a circle that is impossible to pull out of.
For mental well-being counselors, the report indicates that the patient will need to concentrate on it consciously and then set it back to erase a disturbing recollection fully. The team adds that brain imaging could one day help health practitioners watch how well patients get rid of negative thoughts.
Researchers believe that if we can get a sense of what their brain might look like if they effectively inhibit an idea, then we can guide them to a more efficient technique for doing that.
Check out more news and information on Psychology in Science Times.
