Interview of Rick Hanson on such topics as the negativity bias and neuroplasticity

Members of Colorado Contemplative Lawyers Society read Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom. At our meeting last Tuesday, the book's author Dr. Rick Hanson called us to discuss the book. He was supposed to talk with us for 30 minutes, but the call lasted over an hour. He was fun, knowledgeable, and creative. Lawyers were enthralled. The discussion, in short, was memorable.

Here's an interview of Rick by Dr. Elisha Goldstein at PsychCentral. From The Neuroscience of Happiness: An Interview with Rick Hanson, Ph.D.:

Elisha: You quote a popular phrase that came from Canadian psychologist Donald Hebb, saying that “neurons that fire together, wire together.” Can you let us in on the significance of this quote?

Rick: Hebb and others were trying to understand how we learn things, from remembering what we had for breakfast to the emotional learning that is the residue of happiness – at one end of the spectrum – and trauma, at the other end. In other words, how does mental activity change neural structure? A pretty important question! Hebb developed the theory, since borne out in its 

essence by subsequent research, that it is the simultaneity of firing (within a few thousandths of a second) of neurons that are connected with each other that leads to strengthening existing synapses – which are the junctions between neurons – and to building new ones.

For example, if you routinely dwell on your resentments and regrets, the neurons involved in that particular mental activity will fire busily together, and automatically start wiring together as well. Which will add one more bit of neural structure to feeling discontented, mistreated, angry, or sorrowful. On the other hand, if you regularly focus on the good facts around you and inside you – like your own good qualities, such as patience, determination, or kindness – then the neurons involved will wire together, stitching more resilience, hopefulness, confidence, and happiness into the fabric of your brain and your self.

Click to read the rest.