Graphic facilitation lights up the brain. Literally. As a facilitator or participant, the process engages multiple areas of the brain, specifically, the ACC.
The anterior cingulate cortex can be divided anatomically based on attributed functions into executive, evaluative, cognitive, and emotional components. The ACC is connected with the prefrontal cortex and parietal cortex as well as the motor system and the frontal eye fields making it a central station for processing top-down and bottom-up stimuli and assigning appropriate control to other areas in the brain.
It is also a key tool in controlling pain and positive thinking.
The ACC seems to be especially involved when effort is needed to carry out a task such as in early learning and problem solving. Many studies attribute functions such as error detection, anticipation of tasks, motivation, and modulation of emotional responses and nonverbal messages to the ACC.
Nonverbal messages are so potent and compelling because they are processed in ancient brain centers located beneath the newer areas used for speech. From paleocircuits in the spinal cord, brain stem, basal ganglia, and limbic system, nonverbal cues are produced and received below the level of conscious awareness. They give our days the "look" and "feel" we remember long after words have died away.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Imagine receiving a big chunk of cash in the future. Or winning a prize.
Chances are, such optimistic thoughts are coming from two places in the brain that play an important role in enabling people to, as the old song says, accentuate the positive, New York University scientists said Wednesday.
Pinpointing the brain regions involved in optimism and positive thinking about the future, the researchers said, may also have shed light on what might be going wrong in people with depression.
The researchers used sophisticated brain imaging to track brain activity in 15 young adults -- seven men and eight women -- while they asked them imagine future scenarios. They included getting a lot of money, winning an award, going to a birthday party or ball game or the zoo, being lied to, the end of a romantic relationship, going to a funeral and others.
When scenarios filled with optimism were imagined, two brain regions -- the rostral anterior cingulate and amygdala -- lit up with activity in the brain scans, the researchers said.
"What's interesting is these two regions that we saw that were involved in projecting optimistic futures are also the same two regions that we see affected in depression," Elizabeth Phelps, an NYU professor of psychology and neural science involved in the research, said in a telephone interview. read full article >>
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