None of us reach adulthood without facing events that push our body into a stress response but leave us helpless to run away or fight. Brains react to such trauma differently depending on its severity, regularity and how early it happens. For some it becomes a habitual response that forms a narrow foundation for how […]

Trying to control events outside our control produces stress, pushing our bodies into emergency response. Most such reactions are brief and our bodies return to maintenance mode, digesting, sleeping, etc. When this stress becomes ongoing or severe, we can get stuck in the emergency response—a vicious cycle where our minds try harder to control. Anxiety—a […]

Research has studied “normal” brains but also those of peak performers in sport, the arts, business, military and meditators. Individual brains differ but peak performers share a special ability to operate more efficiently than most of us. They use their brain’s auto-pilot state—being in the moment, not thinking, trying or judging. Their minds are still […]

Our brains, like the rest of our bodies, develop from newborn to older adult in response to their experience of their environment. Many brains establish strategies for dealing with the world that slow down or even block parts of its development. As they age, our brains can also become less flexible and responsive as metabolism […]

Our brains have systems to control the frontier between inner and outer worlds. When those controls are weak, we get distracted, act impulsively or fail to stay focused outside ourselves. Inattention, uncontrolled movement or speech, problems with sleep, difficulty processing language can all appear as a result of problems in these areas. A brain “stuck” […]