Does Instinct Find the Best Answer?

You’re more likely to perform well if you do NOT think too hard, and instead trust your instincts. Research shows that in some cases, instinctive snap decisions are more reliable than decisions reached using higher-level cognitive.

Participants at University College London (UCL) were asked to identify the odd symbol on a screen covered with over 650 identical symbols. They performed better when they were given no time at all to linger on the symbols, and were forced to rely entirely on their subconscious.

Dr Li Zhaoping of the UCL Department of Psychology, said: “This finding seems counter-intuitive. You would expect people to make more accurate decisions when given the time to look properly. Instead they performed better when given almost no time to think. The conscious or top-level function of the brain apparently vetoes our initial subconscious decision — even when it is correct — leaving us unaware or distrustful of our instincts and at an immediate disadvantage. Falling back on our inbuilt, involuntary subconscious processes for certain tasks is actually more effective than using our higher-level cognitive functions.”

Given only a tiny fraction of a second to observe the target, subjects performed with 95 per cent accuracy. With over a second to scrutinize the image, subjects were only 70 per cent accurate. With more than four seconds when subjects had time to engage their higher-level functions, their decisions were more likely to be wrong.

Dr Zhaoping said: “Often our instincts and higher-level functions are in conflict, and in this case our instincts are often silenced by our reasoning conscious mind. Participants would have improved their performance if they had been able to switch off their higher-level cognition by, for example, acting quickly.”

Intuition is also connected to effective use of the law of attraction. A great guide to this is =>The Personal Mastery Blueprint

Can Emotions Boost Your Immunity?

You’re familiar with your 5 basic physical senses: sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing. And you also know about your sixth sense – intuition. But… scientists now tell us we have a 7th sense –  our immune system. And it actually talks directly to the brain. Here’s how it works, and how to use your emtoions to boost your immunity.

A Very Brief History
Back in the 1970’s a Harvard study provided the first scientific evidence that our immune system is directly affected by moods and emotions. The evidence came in the form of the discovery that our immune cells contain neuropeptides – the brain chemicals connected to our emotions.

Immune system research has since taken off, and is today known as psychoneuroimmunology PNI.

A Surprising Two-Way Highway
Today PNI research has confirmed that every part of our immune system is connected to the brain in some way -either by a direct nerve connection, or through the brain’s chemical language of neuropeptides and hormones.

There is actually a two-way highway between the immune system and brain. The immune system acts as an emotional sensory system. It receives information about our emotions FROM the brain, and also sends its own signals back TO the brain. And these immune system signals then directly alter our behavior, thoughts and moods.

The brain and the immune system are actually part of a single, fully integrated defense mechanism. Dr Candice Pert, a neuroscientist who pioneered early body-mind research, says: I can no longer make a clear distinction between the brain and the body.

Moods and our Immune System
As a result of this two-way highway, what happens in your mind has an immediate effect on your immune system. We all know, for example, that certain stressful experiences increase our risk for disease, and even death.

Jane Goodall, the famed primate researcher, says this same phenomenon occurs in other animals. Goodall saw one chimpanzee become listless after the death of its mother, and then die in less than a month.

Several major studies have determined how our mental states influence our immune system. The results are conclusive: Negative mental states, chronic stress, and low self-esteem dramatically reduce our immunity.

Proven immune reducers include: Chronic stress, bereavement, pessimism, low self-esteem, depression, divorce, poor marital or intimate relations, loneliness, and financial loss.

Want to increase your immunity? And there is likewise proof that positive mental states and activities can increase your immunity. Proven immune boosters include: Aerobics, humor and laughter, a sense of hope, relaxation, physical exertion, social support, and satisfying relationships.

The Surprising Issue of Self Confidence
Do you often find your moods and emotions less positive than your would prefer? Most of us would rather feel up than down. But emotional ups and downs are a normal part of life.

But the chronic emotional lows that go hand-in-hand with low self-confidence are different. Low self confidence is NOT just a psychological issue. It sets you up for chronic stress. And chronic stress damages the ability of your immune system to resist disease, infections, and even heart disease.How can you win over chronic low-level stress, and the resulting weakened immune system? Obviously, one important move would be to take steps to=> Boost Your Self-Confidence.

A PROVEN IMMUNE BOOSTER
There is NEW SOLID scientific evidence that subliminal messages absolutely DO register in our brains, and go straight into our powerful subconscious mind. Give yourself a self-confidence mental edge.  Click here to=> Put subliminals to work in YOUR life.

Daydreaming – The Ultimate Problem Solving Mode?

A new University of British Columbia study finds that our brains are much more active when we daydream than previously thought.

The study found that activity in numerous brain regions increases when our minds wander. It also found that brain areas associated with complex problem-solving – previously thought to be dormant when we – are in fact highly active during daydreaming episodes.

“Mind wandering (and daydreaming) is typically associated with negative things like laziness or inattentiveness,” says lead author, Professor Kalina Christoff, UBC Dept. of Psychology. “But this study shows our brains are very active when we daydream – much more active than when we focus on routine tasks.”

Subjects were placed inside an fMRI scanner, where they performed a simple routine task of pushing a button when numbers appeared on a screen. The researchers tracked subjects’ attentiveness moment-to-moment through brain scans, subjective reports from subjects, and by tracking their performance on the task.

The findings suggest that daydreaming – which can occupy as much as one third of our waking lives – is an important cognitive state where we may unconsciously turn our attention from immediate tasks to sort through important problems in our lives.

Until now, the brain’s “default network” – which is linked to easy, routine mental activity and includes the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC), the posterior cingulate cortex and the temporoparietal junction – was the only part of the brain thought to be active when our minds wander.

However, the study finds that the brain’s “executive network” – associated with high-level, complex problem-solving and including the lateral PFC and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex – also becomes activated when we daydream.

“This is a surprising finding, that these two brain networks are activated in parallel,” says Christoff. “Until now, scientists have thought they operated on an either-or basis – when one was activated, the other was thought to be dormant.” The less subjects were aware that their mind was wandering, the more both networks were activated.

The quantity and quality of brain activity suggests that people struggling to solve complicated problems might be better off switching to a simpler task and letting their mind wander.

“When you daydream, you may not be achieving your immediate goal – say reading a book or paying attention in class – but your mind may be taking that time to address more important questions in your life, such as advancing your career or personal relationships,” says Christoff.

The ultimate mind power builder is as close as your desktop => Click Here

Source: ScienceDaily

« Previous Page — Next Page »