It is not the brains that matter most, but that which guides them.
For my mother, Nona, my father, Fred, and my sister, Cindy: whose guidance, love, and unwavering faith led me to where I am. Thank you.
To Brooke and Brett Aved, who challenged my brain in a multitude of ways and whose very existence has brought me more happiness than words can ever express.
INTRODUCTION
You just want to be happy, right? Of course; its what everyone wants. Yet only some of us manage to live a happy lifeand its not who you might think it is. Its not the rich or the beautiful or the smart or even those lucky people who were seemingly born happy.
The happiest people are those who have trained their brains to make them happy. And thats something we can all dono matter what our age or IQ or income or circumstance. In this book, well show you how you can harness the power of your brain to get happyand lead the joyful, adventurous, fulfilled life youve always dreamed of.
The study of the brainneurosciencehas been evolving for many years, and the amount of new information and discoveries about the brain has been rapidly increasing since the inception of the field. Many studies had been focused on detailing the complex anatomy of the brain, tracing its inputs and outputs via nerves and neurons, understanding learning and memory, and studying how things go awry in injury and mental illness. Then, in the last couple of decades, a game-changing idea emerged from research done by several prominent members of the neuroscience community: The brain is not a rigid organ that remains unchanged throughout the course of your life, like your heart or liver or lungs. Your brain is moldable, bendableplasticand the situations that you experience throughout your life sculpt your brain into a unique structure built for you, the individual. Studies based on this idea have caused an explosion of neuroscience: In total, more neuroscientific research studies have been performed in the past decade than in the prior fifty years combined.
Many researchers are now starting to realize the value of studying how to make things go right in your braingiving birth to the science of happy, joyful, well-functioning brains and how to make and keep them this way, called affective neuroscience. This field is all about improving and expanding your brain functioning to quiet or counteract emotional and behavioral problems, using your mind to improve your brain, and giving any individual the tools to create a more fulfilling, happy life.
This book is meant to explain and summarize some of these groundbreaking studies in the field of neuroscience, and to help you use the amazing ideas within them, so you can change the way you think about your brain, your mind, and your life. It will show you how to use studies and ideas developed by neuroscientists, doctors, and psychologists in order to help you achieve the goals of happiness, joyfulness, and peace by taking control of your own brain and making it work for you.
So come on, what are you waiting for? Get happy!
Teresa M. Aubele, PhD, Neuroscience
CHAPTER 1
HAPPINESS IS ALL IN YOUR BRAIN
From the brain and the brain alone arise our pleasures, joys, laughter and jests, as well as our sorrows, pains and griefs.
Hippocrates
Getting happy is not rocket scienceits brain science. Brain science tells us that there are many factors that can contribute to your overall sense of happiness. Before we get going, lets take stock of where you stand now.
The Happy Brain Quiz
1. Each night, you sleep an average of:
A. Seven and a half hours or more
B. Six to seven hours
C. Four to six hours
D. Sleep? Who needs sleep?
2. When youre stressed out, you:
A. Go to yoga class
B. Walk on the treadmill
C. Have a martini
D. Pick a fight with your spouse
3. Your idea of a good meal is:
A. Red beans and brown rice
B. Sushi
C. Big Mac
D. Martini
4. You weigh:
A. What you weighed in high school
B. Fifteen pounds more than you should
C. Thirty pounds more than you should
D. Fifty or more pounds more than you should
5. You think of yourself as:
A. An athlete
B. More physically active than most
C. Not as physically active as you should be
D. A couch potato and proud of it
6. You fall in love:
A. Again with your spouse every day
B. As often as you can
C. Only when you cant avoid it
D. Under no circumstanceslove stinks
7. Youre having sex: