Anxiety can be quelled by using prescription drugs, taking calming herbs, applying cognitive psychological techniques, or learning to meditate. But it can also be controlled instantaneously, on the spot, by using your consciousness to control your own brain activity.
The key to this feat is a small structure in your brain called the amygdala. Fortunately for us, the amygdala is intimately connected with the massive tissue above and in front of it, the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex performs the executive function of the brain: it is the compassionate, objective, thinking self. This is the newest brain area, the area that makes us distinctly human. And also fortunately for us, this brain area can override the oppressive directions of fear that the amygdala sometimes sends to the limbic system. It can tell you to calm down, that what you perceive is just an elevator, just a screeching tire.
Which would you rather have controlling your level of anxiety, the amygdala/ limbic system, or the prefrontal cortex? Compassion and objectivity or the reactive, unthinking, primitive? Surprisingly, you can choose between the two. Though its synaptic connections, electrical stimulation of the anterior (frontal) amygdala can excite activity in the prefrontal cortex. And, you have the power to hand command over to the frontal lobes yourself.
The Amygdala Click
Since you are not in a lab with a tiny electrical wire stuck in your brain, you may wonder how can you stimulate the amygdala in just the right manner, so that that prefrontal cortex will take over your anxiety.
The answer is simply… by using your active imagination. Several studies have shown that visualization can change the rate of neuronal firing in different brain areas. That means you can image stimulating a brain part, and you may actually be able to stimulate it. You can use several visualization methods outlined below to move the dominant brain activity from the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex.
Here’s how: imagine a feather, or a ghostly finger tickling the front of your amygdale. (Remember, you have two amygdalae, about half-way between the corner of your eyes and the center of your ear, and 1 to 1.5 inches inside, on the side of your head.) It’s important to tickle the front, not the back; and when you do, imagine energy pouring into your prefrontal cortex, the area roughly behind your forehead.
(Drawing copyright Neil Slade.) Each inner arrow represents one of the three major gateways to the prefrontal cortex: from top to bottom, the anterior cingulated gyrus, the anterior amygdala, and the nucleus accumbens. Each gateway has specific uses, depending on what PFC circuits are stimulated, and can be used independently or in concert. Each gateway can also be parsed r-l hemispheres.
You’ll feel something -- a tickling, or an odd itching, sensation of awakening, a funny feeling of freedom from whatever fear was driving you, perhaps even a feeling of release and happiness. That’s the neurons in your frontal lobes firing massively, with blood and glucose being pumped into them. You should do the visualization until you feel free from fear and negative cognition. You’ll need to do the process over and over again until your brain “catches on” and learns how to do it automatically. If you train yourself thoroughly, then you’ll automatically jump-start to your frontal lobes whenever you notice yourself feeling anxiety.
So, instead of fear => anxiety, you’ll have fear => freedom, clarity, and objectivity.
Some people find locating and exciting brain parts a bit daunting. To assist you, your external body provides several cues that help lower anxiety and empower your higher cognitive functioning. All of the following activities work best while performing the amygdala visualizations just mentioned.
This article describes an unconventional experimental method of treating anxiety and depression. Please read our DISCLAIMER.
