Brains On Purpose™

From scaredy cat to serene lion: The alchemy of cognitive reappraisal

Have you ever seen fear during a conflict? In many mediations and negotiations, I certainly have spotted fright, alarm, and even terror. The mediators I admire most are talented at using, modeling, and teaching a technique that can turn fear upside down into calm. This technique was described today by Jason Zweig in The Wall Street Journal, as well as in this article from the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

The technique is called cognitive reappraisal or cognitive reframing, and learning how to do it is easy. Zweig writes of his visit to the lab of Kevin Ochsner to learn how to change how he responded to things scary or disturbing.

I sat at a computer and viewed a series of photographs, each preceded by one of two words: look or reappraise. look was my cue to respond naturally without trying to change my feelings. reappraise told me I should "actively reinterpret" the photo, using my imagination to spin another, less emotional scenario that could have resulted in the same image.

Dr. Ochsner had warned me to eat an early, light lunch, and I immediately realized why: I gasped at the sight of a man's hand from which most of the fingers had been freshly hacked off. But my instruction had been to reappraise, so I forced myself to ask whether this image might actually be a still from a horror movie. Magically, the moment I imagined it was a film prop, the raw flesh seemed to look a bit like plastic, and I felt myself exhale.

When he reappraises, he calms his amygdala, and goes from reactive brain to reflective mind. From the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience article linked to above:

Neural correlates of reappraisal were increased activation of the lateral and medial prefrontal regions and decreased activation of the amygdala and medial orbito-frontal cortex. These findings support the hypothesis that prefrontal cortex is involved in constructing reappraisal strategies that can modulate activity in multiple emotion processing systems.

Change your appraisal and you shift your brain. Zweig gives some additional tips on calming fears. [This paragraph is not supposed to be indented but the glitchy, maddening, annoying changes TypePad has made to its posting editor will not allow me to move it. Sorry.]   [Note added September 9, 2008: TypePad has ironed out many of its glitches.]

• Step outside yourself. (For those of you who have taken my classes, this is the same as the awareness techniques "Seeing your life as a story" and "Double journaling.") Describe the troubling situation or challenge as if it is happening to someone else.
• Control your cues. Be careful whom you are around or upon what you are focusing because "glancing into another person's frightened eyes can fire up your amygdala." Emotional contagion tells us that we can catch the feelings of those in our environment.
• Track your feelings. That's what we call making mental notes:

We label the feeling, saying in our mind or, if appropriate, aloud, statements such as "I am angry" or "I am nervous."  When we make statements like this, that part of the brain feeling the distracting emotion is calmed.  We can then return to clarity and purpose.  The neuroscience literature calls this "labeling the affect."

I am going to quit now before I completely lose patience with TypePad. I wish I could add a photo to this  post but last time I tried to do so, the whole post exploded into scattered letters and spaces. I must go label my affect about TypePad in order to calm down. "I am exasperated." "I feel helpless." "I am angry." Yep, I feel a little better. [Added September 9, 2008: As noted above, TypePad has fixed many of the bugs.]

Note (added July 25, 2008, 7:15 PM Mountain): A blog post by Ochsner The Science of Managing Fears (The Big Idea Blog)

Related posts (added November 24, 2008, 9:15 AM Mountain):

• Kevin Ochsner podcast: "Stay Cool Under Pressure"
• Regulating in-the-way emotions in conflict resolution: Is the difference between a roar and a purr found in the eye of the beholder (or ear of the listener)?
• Emotions can save the day or torpedo the agreement in conflict resolution: More about regulating them

Listen to Jeffrey Schwartz and me on Tuesday evening: "Leading Your Brain Instead of It Leading You"

From the Brain-Based Coaching Web site . . .

Don't miss the Brain Based Coaching Special Interest Group call Tuesday, 9/18/07 at 7:00 EDT.

We will have the opportunity to hear from and talk with two very important people in the world of emerging neuroscience.

Bridge no: 1-212-457-9879 PIN 700827#

The talk will be: "Leading Your Brain Instead of It Leading You."by Jeffrey M. Schwartz, MD and Stephanie West Allen, JD.

This is going to be so good you'll want to invite everyone you know!

Dr. Schwartz is author of the seminal books on neuroplasticity: "The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity" and "the Power of Mental Force"co-authored with Sharon Begley, and the bestseller "Brain Lock: Free Yourself from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder".

He is a psychiatrist and research professor at UCLA.

Stephanie West Allen is a lawyer, speaker, trainer, author and personal strategist. She writes what has been called the most comprehensive blog on understandable neuroscience, www.brainsonpurpose.com.

One of her specialties is neuroscience and conflict resolution. Together Jeff and Stephanie have authored several widely-quoted articles which make neuroscience accessible to the layperson (find links on the www.brainsonpurpose.com blog site.

Make sure you are there for this incredible call

Click for instructions on how to listen to the call.

Conflict: Is it all in your head?

Since neuroscience is one eye through which we look on this blog, and the brain is in the head, I am glad to be reminded of how important the rest of the body is to conflict resolution. The mind and the brain are important but so are the foot and the ankle and the shin . . .

The latest reminder was in an article from The New Mexican: "Mapping the mind." The reporter Jennifer Strand tells us the story behind the soon-to-be-published book The Body Has a Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps in Your Brain Help You Do (Almost) Everything Better written by science writers Sandra Blakeslee and her son Matthew Blakeslee, and gives an overview of the book . . .

The book explores the concept of “body maps” in the brain that trace their routes throughout the body and beyond. According to the book, your body is actually mapped onto your brain (homunculus). All these maps together create your sense of your body (body schema) and you create your own map with your attitude toward your body (body image).

“Research now shows that your brain is teeming with body maps — maps of your body’s surface, its musculature, its intentions, its potential for action, even a map that automatically tracks and emulates the actions and intentions of other people around you,” the Blakeslees write. “These body-centered maps are profoundly plastic — capable of significant reorganization in response to damage, experience, or practice.”

Practice. There's self-directed neuroplasticity again. Be sure to take a look at the article then don't miss the exercise near the end of that page.

An excerpt from the book was published in Scientific American in an article entitled  "Where Mind and Body Meet." In the article, the

"What are you feeling?" "What am I feeling?" These questions are tools for brain taming

A flurry of articles appeared this week about the neuroscience research showing that labeling your feelings can quiet your brain and increase impulse control, including

• Scientific American: "Name that feeling: You'll feel better"
• Daily Telegraph: "Happy chatting"
• Reuters: "Name that feeling: You'll feel better"
• Science Daily: "Putting Feelings Into Words Produces Therapeutic Effects In The Brain"
• Live Science: "Brain Scans Reveal Why Meditation Works"

Of course, a quiet and controlled brain is often an asset in the resolution of conflict, whether that brain belongs to the neutral, advocate, or party. However, when a discussion is hot and contentious, labeling your feelings may be difficult or nearly impossible. We have recommended a way to make it easier, a way to strengthen your labeling skills and labeling synapses.

In our recent article "Lead Your Brain Instead Of Letting It Lead You," we talk about the practice of making mental notes (first described by Jeff in his book Dear Patrick: Life is Tough - Here's Some Good Advice). Developing your skill in making mental notes can bring relief when high conflict occurs. We wrote . . .

Sometimes we become distracted from the direction in which we want to be going.  Our purpose may become clouded by anger, annoyance, confusion, jealousy, fear, or other feelings that knock us off balance and take us off the path.  Brain research has provided a handy way to deal with the distraction.

We label the feeling, saying in our mind or, if appropriate, aloud, statements such as "I am angry" or "I am nervous."  When we make statements like this, that part of the brain feeling the distracting emotion is calmed.  We can then return to clarity and purpose.  The neuroscience literature calls this "labeling the affect."

Sometimes in the heat of the moment this labeling is not easy to do. One way to make it easier is to practice it throughout the day when you are not feeling distracted.  You can practice by labeling behaviors as well as feelings.  Here's how.

During the day make mental notes such as "I am eating," or "I am pleased," or "I am thinking about the deposition."  If you practice daily, your skill in mental note taking will grow and you will be able to engage in it, no matter what is happening.  By labeling the affect, by taking mental notes, a self-leader can become calm in the middle of a storm.

Making mental notes are not just advantageous in times of conflict. The more skilled you get at labeling, the more quickly — no matter the situation — you can return to equanimity and composure. Let us know how it works.

Note: Here's a PDF of the research article "Putting Feelings Into Words: Affect Labeling Disrupts Amygdala Activity in Response to Affective Stimuli."

Note (added June 29, 2007, 8:30 AM Mountain): Here's Medical News Today article "Verbalizing Feelings Makes Sadness, Anger And Pain Less Intense."