{"id":104,"date":"2016-11-26T09:39:14","date_gmt":"2016-11-26T09:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cornelverwey.com\/?p=104"},"modified":"2016-12-04T13:59:59","modified_gmt":"2016-12-04T13:59:59","slug":"the-neuroscience-of-gratitude","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cornelverwey.com\/af\/the-neuroscience-of-gratitude\/","title":{"rendered":"Die neuropsigologie van dankbaarheid"},"content":{"rendered":"

What are you most grateful for in this moment? Right here, right now. Seriously, stop and ask yourself. If you\u2019re having a tough day and aren\u2019t able to come up with anything off the top of your head, that\u2019s all the more reason to ask the question. The New York Times <\/a>recently referenced a scientific study <\/a>that found that even if you aren\u2019t able to think of anything to be grateful for, simply asking the question is powerful enough to change your brain chemistry. But the reality is there is ALWAYS something to be grateful for.<\/p>\n

So take a moment right now, and think of five things that you have going for you. It doesn\u2019t have to be huge; try \u201cI have clean air to breathe,\u201d \u201cI have legs to walk on,\u201d \u201cI have people who love me,\u201d or \u201cI have a place to sleep tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reasons to Give Thanks<\/h3>\n

Wondering why this exercise is important? Take it from Oprah, who says that starting a gratitude journal<\/a> and writing down five things a day for which she\u2019s grateful has been the single most powerful decision she\u2019s ever made. If you\u2019re not an Oprah fan, here is a bit more science to get you on the gratitude train.<\/p>\n

Gratitude can be a natural antidepressant. When we take the time to ask what we are grateful for<\/a>, certain neural circuits are activated. Production of dopamine and serotonin increases, and these neurotransmitters then travel neural pathways to the \u201cbliss\u201d center of the brain \u2014 similar to the mechanisms of many antidepressants. Practicing gratitude, therefore, can be a way to naturally create the same effects of medications and create feelings of contentment.<\/p>\n

Neurons That Fire Together Wire Together<\/h3>\n

It gets better: The more you stimulate these neural pathways through practicing gratitude, the stronger and more automatic they become. On a scientific level, this is an example of Hebb\u2019s Law<\/a>, which states \u201cneurons that fire together wire together.\u201d But it\u2019s also something you can see plainly in everyday life: If you\u2019re forging a new path through the woods, the first trip is the most challenging and you have to be deliberate. But the more times the path is traveled, the more defined it becomes and the easier it is to follow it. Your brain works the same way: The more times a certain neural pathway is activated (neurons firing together), the less effort it takes to stimulate the pathway the next time (neurons wiring together).<\/p>\n

Because of this, what we put our attention on grows. If we\u2019re constantly looking at the negative and searching for problems, the neural pathways for negative thinking become stronger. But practicing gratitude can shift our attention to look for what is going right instead of looking for problems to solve. Over time, this encourages our brains to more consistently search for the constructive themes in our life instead of the destructive ones, helping us water the flowers instead of watering the weeds.<\/p>\n