Why are we relieved when talking to a friend or journaling? The answer is provided by new brain research conducted by psychologists from the University of California (USA).
Why are we relieved when talking to a friend or journaling? The answer is provided by new brain research conducted by psychologists from the University of California (USA). In an experiment by Matthew Lieberman, volunteers looked at photographs of people with an expression of anger or fear on their faces. At that moment, the scanner recorded the natural activity of their amygdala, the area of the brain that “triggers” negative emotions. When participants talked about how they felt, their right prefrontal cortex increased dramatically, which in turn decreased amygdala activity, and fear or anger disappeared. Another experiment was conducted by David Creswell, who used the Buddhist mindfulness meditation technique. It involves concentration on feelings, thoughts, breathing, bodily sensation of the moment. While meditating, the volunteers also looked at the photographs, but did not name their feelings aloud, but said them to themselves. And in this case, their right prefrontal cortex was activated, and negative emotions faded away. Conclusion: putting feelings into words, we distance ourselves from our experiences and calm down.