Cool Brain Facts

Your brain is programmed for survival. It really is just concerned with this. There is a huge link between what you perceive and how you feel about what you percieve. So information that you learn in school has to mean something to you in order for you to effectively learn it. That means that you need to actively make connections about new material and think about how it relates to your life or some other cool information you already know.

The brain experiences pleasure: Not like your body when it's a hundred degrees and humid outside and you jump into a nice cool pool or when you get a massage. It's more like a happy feeling. In fact, your brain produces a huge amount of dopamine, the feel good neurotransmitter, when you are happy.

Your brain is programmed to look for and make connections: Scientists have watched people make connections while they were in an FMRI and they can see that the entire brain lights up! This means that it isn't just the parts of the brain that are involved in the thinking that light up, but the whole brain! It feels really great and makes you want to make more connections to get more of that feeling. It is what makes school interesting and fun.

Emotional States: We all have many emotional states. The brain naturally falls within each one at various times during the day. The brain tends to like to remain in or return to states in which it is most comfortable. In other words, the states that are most familiar to the brain are the states that it likes to be in. So that means that if you, or someone you know, happens to be depressed or sad too often, you should tell someone and get some help. The reason is that even if there is no real reason to be sad, your brain might want you to return to that sad state. It's important that the brain does not stay in any one state for too long. 

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