As the end of summer nears and the school year fast approaches it would be helpful to review ways to maximize our brain power. Learning requires optimal focus, concentration, planning, memory, and problem-solving, or what is called executive functioning. Executive functions also include control of our impulses, flexible thinking, judgment, and organization. The front part of our brain, or the Prefrontal Cortex, controls our executive functions. The tricky part about the prefrontal cortex, though, is that it can’t do its job if the center portion of our brain, or the amygdala, which houses our emotions, is running at full speed. So, when we are really anxious or angry, (for example an 8, 9, or 10 on a scale of 1-10), it’s as if the front part of our brain turns off.
We have all probably experienced moments of intense fear or anger when our capacity to think clearly is compromised. That’s because our amygdala is firing and the prefrontal cortex is behaving as if it is disconnected. Modulating emotion in order to keep the front part of our brain working is vital for optimal executive functioning. But how do we keep our emotional intensity below an 8 on a scale of 1-10 in order to keep our prefrontal cortex engaged?
1) It would be important to be aware of the intensity of our emotions and notice when we begin to move up this imaginary number line. We can learn to be attuned to our feelings and notice the physiological sensations associated with increasing emotional intensity. For example, with anger, as we move up the number line we tend to tense our muscles, our breathing and heart rate can increase, and we can feel warmer. Similar physiological sensations can occur with anxiety. We may also notice that our palms and feet become sweaty with increasing anxiety.
2) When we notice that we are beginning to approach ‘8’ on this imaginary number line, it would be helpful to ‘de-escalate’. Slow, deep, abdominal breathing is the fastest way to de-escalate and calm the nervous system. Breathing in and slowly filling the abdomen, ribs, and then chest, and slowly exhaling through the nostrils as we feel our chest, then ribs, then belly breathe out the air that has been oxygenated by the lungs, tricks our brain into thinking we are calm. When our brain thinks we are calm it stops sending out stress hormones and we actually begin to feel calmer.
3) Often, our anger and anxiety are fueled by the thoughts and images we have in our imagination. For example, if we are afraid of riding an elevator because we imagine that the elevator will get stuck, we have our imaginations on the channel with scary elevator stories. Changing the channel and seeing ourselves calmly climbing the floors in the elevator with nothing happening will tend to bring us down the number line of anxiety intensity. This is a visual imagery technique, and we can practice imagining calm images to train our brain to move to the calm channel when needed.
4) Distraction is another very effective way to de-escalate and move down the number line of emotion intensity. When we notice ourselves getting more and more anxious or angry, we can walk away, read a book, listen to music, take a calming walk, or watch a movie. Distracting our mind from what is agitating us at the moment can calm us and keep our pre-frontal cortex working.
5) Regular exercise, yoga, and meditation can also help with overall health and emotion regulation in general.
In order to maximize brain power we must learn strategies to regulate our emotions. When our emotions are balanced, we will then be able to access our executive functions housed in the pre-frontal cortex. Focus, concentration, planning, memory, problem solving, flexible thinking, organization, and good judgment, executive functions that are all necessary for optimal school (and work) performance, will be more available for our use when we can stay below an ‘8’ on the imaginary emotional intensity number line.
Marcia Kaufman, Ph.D.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist