epigenesis

New growth in old, 7/26/12, a photo by altiemae on Flickr.

p. 13

Scientists are finding one of the ways your brain changes itself is by actually changing your genes - or more correctly, by the acting out (or not) of certain genes - in the process of epigenesis.

...

Another layer of information, called the epigenome, is stored in the proteins and chemicals that surround and stick to the DNA. It's a kind of chemical switch that determines which genes are activated (or not): it tells your genes what to do and where and when. 

Researchers have discovered that the epigenome can be affected by many things, from aging and diet to environmental toxins to even what you think and feel. This means that even your experiences can literally change your mind by chemically coating the DNA that controls a function. The coating doesn't alter the underlying genetic code; rather, it alters specific gene expression, shutting down or revving up the production of proteins that affect your mental state.

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Epigenetics can profoundly affect your health and, it seems, your happiness, changing not only your vulnerability to some diseases such as cancer but also your mental health. Scientists have found, for example, that a mother rat's nurturing, through licking and loving behaviour that boosts the expression of a gene that eases anxiety and stress, bolsters emotional resilience in her newborn pups. They've also found that distressing events can turn off the expression of genes for brain cell growth protein and therby trigger depression, and that epigenetic changes may also underlie the pathology of schizophrenia, suicide, depression, and drug addiction.

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So it turns out that your brain is a nursery: every day, it seems, new brain cells are born. But it seems that your brain doesn't always keep these newborn neurons. Just like all other babies, they need special care to survive. And it's not pampering: your newborn neurons, scientists are finding, need to be challenged , exercised, and run hard. 

If you don't use those new cells, they will disappear ... unless that brain is challenged to learn something new and, preferably something hard that involves a great deal of effort. And new  is key here as well: just repeating old activities won't support new brain cells.   

The Scientific American Brave New Brain
Judith Horstman
2010
Wiley USA

Brave New Brain

Brain View , a photo by Suranga's Photo Collection - InstagramSriLanka on Flickr.

p.8

The revolutionary findings about your brain's remarkable ability to change itself are barely a decade old.

In the 1990s, scientists rocked the field of neurobiology with the startling news that the mature mammalian brain is capable of sprouting new neurons in the hippocampus and the olefactory bulbs, and that it continues to do so even into old age. This process is called neurogenesis.

Scientists also confirmed what was long suspected: your brain is not hardwired. It can reinvent itself, as it were, by creating new pathways to reroute, readjust, and otherwise change the networking and connections, sometimes even substituting one area for another. 

Your brain also changes to reflect what you learn, do, and think. In fact, your brain is physically rearranging its networks just about every minute of every day. That's neuroplasticity.

Then they discovered that your actions, thoughts, feelings, or environment can change your genes - more specifically, whether certain genes are expressed - altering brain fuction; character traits; and risk of some diseases, from cancer to schizophrenia. That's epigenetics. 

p. 9

They showed how neglect, abuse, and bullying in childhood can stunt brain development, and they gave some credibility to age-old concepts of positive personal transformation through religious experiences, meditation, self-help programs, and even positive thinking and your own will. They also explain how and why talking cures such as psychotherapy and cognitive behaviour therapy can change lives.

The Scientific American Brave New Brain
Judith Horstman
2010
Wiley USA

Emotional Disclosure

'Just as being unaware of one's feelings can lead to illness, knowing and attending to them can have a positive impact on health. In one study, Holocaust survivors spoke for one to two hours about their experiences during World War II. The investigators then measured the extent to which they had talked emotionally about traumatic events (Pennebaker, Barger, & Tiebout, 1989). The more emotion they expressd as they recounted the events, the better their health for over a year later. In another study, patients with painful arthritis spoke into a tape recorder for 15 minutes a day about either stressful or trivial events (Kelley, Lumley, & Leisen, 1997). Those who spoke about stressful events were in better emotional and physical shape three months later, and, the more unpleasant emotion they experienced while discussing stressful events, the less painful their joints were three months later. The moral of the story? No pain, no gain.

Researchers have been tracking down some of the precise mechanisms through which emotional disclosure affects health (Pennebaker, 1997a, 1997b; Pennebaker & Seagal, 1999). Writing about stressful or unpleasant events has been shown to increase the functioning of specific cells in the immune system (the system of cells in the body that fights off disease). Disclosure also decreases autonomic reactivity that keeps the body on red alert and takes its toll over time.

Perhaps most importantly, disclosure permits a change in cognitive functioning that allows the person to rework the traumatic experience in thought and memory. People who benefit from disclosure tend to begin with disorganised, disjointed narratives about the event, suggesting emotional disruption of their thinking. After writing, their narratives become more coherent. The more complex and coherent people's narratives after disclosing traumatic events, the more their health improves (Suedfeld & Pennebaker, 1997).'

p. 398

Drew Westen, Lorelle Burton, Robin Kowalski  2006

Psychology

Wiley, Australia