Understanding Interest-Based Nervous System (Part 1)
There are three basic systems at work, two enabling us to be ON, one enabling us to switch OFF. Both of the ON systems manage and direct our energies and attention towards or away from things in our world in anxiety, fear, reward or pleasure.
Vincent Deary • How We Break
the auto-nomic nervous system consists of three neural circuits: the ventral branch of the vagus nerve (positive states of relaxation and social engagement), the spinal sympathetic chain (fight or flight), and the dorsal branch of the vagus nerve (slowdown, shutdown, and depressive behavior).
Stanley Rosenberg • Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve: Self-Help Exercises for Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, and Autism
“we are interested in the social world because we are built to turn on the default network during our free time.” Put another way, our brains adapted to automatically practice social thinking during any moments of cognitive downtime, and it’s this practice that helps us become really interested in our social world.
Cal Newport • Digital Minimalism
The parasympathetic nervous system, when you read the literature, is always associated with health, growth, and restoration—it is the “good guy.” The sympathetic is always presented as if it is the “mortal enemy” that we need to control.
Stephen W. Porges • The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory: The Transformative Power of Feeling Safe (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology)
Andrew Huberman • How Your Brain Works & Changes
And while the nervous system extends throughout the body, and is tuned by environmental and social factors, today’s science rightly insists that the brain—and its contribution to curiosity—is importantly unique.
Perry Zurn • Curious Minds: The Power of Connection
Driven by the neurotransmitter dopamine, our SEEKING system is meant to cue us to feel enthusiastic about going into the world to pursue what we need and want through experiences. When this system becomes overstimulated and hijacked by chronic stress and attention overload, a domino effect occurs, disrupting all the systems at once, making us hyper
... See moreNan Wise • Why Good Sex Matters: Understanding the Neuroscience of Pleasure for a Smarter, Happier, and More Purpose-Filled Life
It constantly scans our environment for cues: Should I be careful here? Is this a dangerous situation? Is this person a friend or foe? Am I properly hydrated and fed to deal with any threats? The autonomic system uses something called neuroception – a ‘sixth sense’ that operates outside our conscious awareness – to assess our environment and put pe
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