How to spoil our brain stress and what to do Bashny.Net

We can perfectly master musical instrument to play good basketball and know a lot of facts, but now comes the crucial moment - an important concert, match report, which affects our career - and the brain It brings us. We stutters, can not do simple throw, forget everything you were taught! Why is this happening? How to cope with anxiety and learn to control your mind and body? This says a professor of psychology, University of Chicago Sayen Beilock in his book "The Moment of Truth." Website publishes a compilation of the most important ideas in this book.

Our brain is in a stressful situation h3>

Even if you can boast excellent skills and deep knowledge, it is likely that you will not be able to show their best under stressful conditions. The student learned the material perfectly capable flunk the exam just because they did not know how to cope with anxiety. But why is this happening? Is it possible to forget what you really know and understand? You can, and how!

So far so good, the brain works as a coherent system. Explicit memory allows us to memorize facts, to analyze, to solve theoretical problems or look for logical arguments. Working or short - helping to operate the known information when we are busy with something else. The greater its volume, the better our mental abilities.

But numerous studies have shown that under stress most intelligent students are among the worst. The scientists' looked into the head "of the subjects with MRI and found that during the great excitement disturbed the interaction between different parts of the cortex. As a result, students can not use the full potential of the prefrontal cortex, responsible for working memory.

The reason for failure sports performances h3> Another thing - procedural memory, is responsible for the reflexes and skills that are essential for athletes and musicians for successful performance. It was she who tells how to make a golf swing, after landing the double axel in figure skating or use the mobile phone. And she, too, can fail under stress.

For a successful sport performance does not need to go to the prefrontal cortex and analyze each step. However, worrying, athletes often take control of their actions. They're too concentrated on their knowledge, and this interferes with the hours worked on the training algorithm to automatic movements. The same applies to the musicians.

How to deal with stress h3> There are several reasons that make us nervous before an important exam or performance. One of them - patterns. If we advance convinced that the audience or the teacher waiting for our failure, and treat us biased because of gender, nationality, or for some other reason, probably, we will meet these imaginary expectations. This threat is linked to our self-esteem. To reduce stress, you need to make a list of their achievements and positive qualities before the decisive day. In one experiment, this method has helped significantly improve the performance of black students

Another reason for anxiety on the eve of important events is that we give them great value too. We think that a unit will determine the success or failure of our entire future life, and, of course, mistaken. From this factor, too, can get rid of stress. Just make a list of alternative cases in which you can achieve a good result. So you will realize that you are much more likely than it seems.

A great way to become more focused and learn to ignore stressful circumstances - meditation. Its effectiveness is proven neuroscientist Richard Davidson, who looked at the MRI, which is done in the mind of those who practice this method. Their working memory has been unloaded, even in the most adverse conditions, and intellectual ability remained quite high.

No less effective method to overcome stress - prepare for it in advance. It proved an experiment conducted among police officers. Those who during the exercise shot soap charges of his colleagues, the result is better than that of those who shot at the usual targets. Training in conditions close to real, helps to get used to the stress. Therefore it is better to carry out sample tests or to read the report before an imaginary audience than just cramming stuff.

Why do we say too much h3> Often, we are not just worried before an important interview or conversation, but also trying to control your thoughts. Scientists have discovered an interesting fact: If we think about how to say too much, it is likely, exactly the information and issue a companion. The same happens with our actions: when a party you just think about how not to drop one of the favorite of the ancient vases owner of the house, the result is the opposite.

Daniel Wegner, a psychologist at Harvard University, for a long time and seriously studied the question of why thoughts or actions, which we carefully avoid, just there. According to Wegner, in the moments when we are trying not to think about something, in our brain two processes occur. Consciousness chooses a different theme, which you can replace unwanted. A subconscious mind, on the contrary, looking for the most unwanted thoughts in order to eliminate possible errors.

However, both processes help us avoid those, we do not want to touch. Under normal conditions, everything is fine. But the situation changes when the stress comes in. It affects the prefrontal cortex - the center of conscious thought. In a stressful situation is only a subconscious level. And he was just busy looking for the idea or group of ideas that we want to avoid. As a result, it increases the likelihood that we will express exactly the idea, which would like to keep to yourself, or will take unwanted action.

More interesting facts about the behavior of the brain during stress - in the book "The Moment of Truth».

via factroom.ru