Rainy Brain, Sunny Brain
The New Science of Fear and Optimism
-
- $11.99
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
Why are some people driven to dangerous risks, while others shun danger? Why do some people seem to be born optimists, while others are more prone to worry and pessimism? Drawing on her own groundbreaking research and the research of many other scientists from around the world, Elaine Fox helps answer why. With a compelling mix of science and anecdotes, Rainy Brain, Sunny Brain addresses
Why optimism is more difficult than pessimism How innocent stimuli can become triggers for terror The emergency brain: how our ancient neural circuits take over our thoughts and memories New techniques for counteracting fear and anxiety disorders Dangerous minds: the psychology of risk
Perhaps most important, Rainy Brain, Sunny Brain shows how malleable our minds really are. There is increasing evidence that we can learn to change our brain states. It is possible for people trapped in pessimistic and negative mindsets to take their more “rainy” brain to a sunnier one with real change that’s reflected at the level of neurons within their brains.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Drawing on a host of studies in neurobiology and genetics, as well as evolutionary and behavioral psychology, Fox explores the struggle between the parts of the brain associated with fear and pessimism (the amygdala) and those associated with pleasure and optimism. Head of the Centre for Brain Science at the University of Essex, England, Fox introduces readers to many new concepts from experimental psychology and recent research on neuroplasticity and neurogenesis. To demonstrate how malleable the mind actually is, she describes an experiment where mice placed in a stimulating environment "grew about three times more cells in their hippocampus" than mice in an ordinary environment. Another experiment revealed that stimulating the prefrontal cortex (the brain's control center) can restrain the amygdala's transmission of fear and anxiety. However, only in a concluding chapter does Fox deal, all too cursorily, with the subject of her subtitle, noting how techniques like mindfulness training can produce positive changes in brain activity and also help strengthen the body's immune system. Fox uses a few anecdotes to good effect, and her book, while occasionally dry, is a welcome, if intellectually demanding, introduction to a key area of brain research. 16 b&w illus.
