Neurological Emotions

Posted by Jonathan Moore on 31 May 2010 | 0 Comments

Today we are going to look at the link between the nervous system (brain) and the emotions we experience every day.

Your brain can be broken up into many distinct regions, each part with its own different function. There is a specific region for helping to create speech, one region for vision, one for movement, and many, many others for all the unique functions within the body.

Not surprisingly, there is also a region in the brain that specifically deals with emotions. This is the "limbic" part of the brain and has many smaller parts that make it up. It has been described as "The emotional core of the human nervous system", and the region that "controls emotional behaviour and motivational drives".

Recently it has been discovered that new memories are formed in part of the limbic brain called the "hippocampus". This is a primary site for neurogenesis (see last email) and demonstrates the close link between emotional states and memories. All of these are controlled and co-ordinated by the nervous system.

Stimulation of the nervous system with chiropractic adjustments will enhance not only memory, but also a balanced emotional state.

Interestingly, scientists have mapped every area of the brain by using different stimulations and noting which regions "light-up" on brain scans. Given the close link between emotional and spiritual health, we might expect to find a similar "region" associated with spiritual experiences. In fact, this is not the case.

When people were experiencing what they called a "spiritual connection with God", many different areas of the brain lit-up at the same time. The conclusion drawn was that there is no single "God-spot", but that the entire nervous system is involved in these experiences.

Next blog: Long-term memory building and "Limbic Memories"