How does the concept of mindfulness relate to our physical health? The word “mindfulness” conjures the thoughts in many of us of gurus in the practice of meditation, therapeutic breathing, and yoga poses. Many may have given it some thought, tried these practices, and did not find them sustainable for the average human.

Neuroscience has advanced exponentially in the last few decades. Techniques such as functional MRI (fMRI) detect increased blood flow in the brain and, therefore, increased neurotransmitter activity.  Certain neurotransmitters appear more commonly in specific areas of the brain. Thus, fMRI has a predictive utility.

What happens in the brain with mindfulness? Answering this question is the subject of the article. The body and brain benefit from mindfulness. In many ways, it is a growth state.

Mindfulness and The Heart-Brain Axis

Let us start with biology and explain how intimately connected the neurologic and cardiovascular systems are. Although they develop from different tissues in the embryo (the ectoderm, as does the skin and dentition, the nervous system, the mesoderm for the cardiovascular system), they developed alongside one another. Both systems connect via the autonomic nervous system, which includes the parasympathetic and sympathetic outflow tracts. This concept has been described as the heart-brain axis.

Extreme examples of the heart-brain axis illustrate the association.  Conditions that occur in the brain may affect the heart and vice versa. Those who have a heart problem known as atrial fibrillation may develop emboli, or blood clots, that get lodged in the cerebrovascular system, resulting in the brain tissue injury of a stroke.  

When there is a profound stress state, such as mediated by the heart, emotional, or structural brain trauma (e.g., traumatic brain injury or brain hemorrhage), heart conditions referred to as neurogenic stress cardiomyopathy and Takotsubo cardiomyopathy may occur.  Takotsubo is sometimes referred to as “broken heart syndrome” because it can be seen with grieving.  Stroke patients can also develop cardiac injury or arrhythmias (rhythm problems), even without prior heart disease. Heart dysfunction may even be a cause of death in stroke sufferers.  Finally, both brain or heart injuries can cause depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (Chen, 2017).

In utero, the autonomic nervous system (ANS) begins to be shaped, influenced by factors in the development of the embryo, such as maternal health, stress, and nutrition. These may even be determinants of how this system develops through childhood and the foundation of neuropsychiatric disorders (Mulkey, 2018).

• The ANS associates with the limbic system in the brain, the center of rewards, emotions, and behaviors. The two divisions of the ANS innervate various organs and evoke a physiological response:  the sympathetic is responsible for “fight or flight,” and the parasympathetic is responsible for “rest and digest.”

The limbic system consists of the amygdala, thalamus, fornix, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and cingulate gyrus.  The amygdala is primarily a processor of memory associations, learning, mood, and rewards systems. It is telling to think that the amygdala, a center where prediction of a future reward influences behavior (i.e., the dopaminergic pathway), is also the place that links the brain with physiological responses and emotional circuitry.

Fear triggers a physiologic response of fight or flight, including dilated pupils, bronchodilation (opening of airways), and increases in blood pressure and heart rate.

The neuronal system in the brain is activated through neurotransmitters, which lead to intracellular mechanisms that complete a signal.  Each neurotransmitter type activates a specific pathway to achieve a response.  The sympathetic pathway is regulated by neurotransmitters epinephrine and norepinephrine and the hormone cortisol. The brain calculates an experience or expectation of a stressor through memory heuristics or short-cuts and triggers this pathway. It may be a real threat or a perceived threat, but perceptions are not always accurate.

The vagus nerve primarily mediates the parasympathetic branch of the ANS; the limbic centers are the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV) and the nucleus ambiguous (NA).

The brain is largely a fluid structure, and as with many other responses, the two systems work in concert, regulating the extent of the response of one or the other.  The activation of one pathway can lead to changes in both sympathetic and parasympathetic tone. In this way, the brain acts like a muscle that can increase its neuronal units and connectivity with the ongoing use of one pathway. This is the basis of the concept of Hebbs’s theory, or neuroplasticity.  “If it fires, it wires.” (Fox, 2016). It also supports the concept, sometimes referring to muscles,  “use it or lose it.”

The brain may change from chronic stress and fear: the amygdala volume increases, while the other limbic structures such as the hippocampus (responsible for memory and positional sense) and prefrontal cortex decrease in volume. Impaired vagal tone is associated with increased anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Imagine that the amygdala, a center that processes signals promoting fight or flight responses, receives stress inputs, leading to more sensitivity.

Greater amygdala volume has been found in people with long-term clinical depression. Essentially, the brain grows or adjusts based on the states we are in; someone who is chronically depressed becomes better at being depressed. This can make it especially challenging to change behavioral pathways.

Mindfulness vs. Mindlessness 

The terms mindfulness and mindlessness relate to the state of the brain when it is experiencing the present world around it. The mind can either respond vegetatively, i.e., pro-growth, connectivity, and creativity, or quiescently, i.e., pro-survival, with protection and reaction. The brain uses heuristics to forecast the world around it, essentially projecting a reality.  These short-cuts are wired from prior experiences.

Unfortunately, they can mistakenly interpret direct significance, harm, or threat and cloud the experience of reality. The mindless response is born from the “fight or flight” reaction governed by the amygdala and sympathetic nervous system. The mindfulness response results from slowing down the processing and becoming aware of them. It is governed by the pre-frontal cortex and activation of the parasympathetic nervous system. What we consider to be positive or negative qualities is the result of neurotransmitter signals. Have a look at the words in the following and think about examples of both groups in your life. Remember a time in your life where you acted out reflexively when you felt threatened or unsafe.

Mindfulness vs. Mindlessness

Atrophy, Quiescence, and Growth States of the Brain

There are three phases of the brain: atrophy, quiescence, and growth. Visualize a plant when it receives all the right ingredients, including sunlight, soil ph, nutrients, and water; it will take the step to grow outwardly, resources permitting. It will reach a more quiescent period, when the demand for water, etc., is not being met. During this phase, cellular metabolism decreases to a bare minimum, enough to preserve the cells but not enough to grow further.  After a period of a less ideal environment, such as during colder weather, less sunlight, or a dry season, life cannot persist; parts of the plant are allowed to atrophy to preserve global function.

Likewise, the same occurs within our brains. In many ways, the quiescent phase (static or dormant) is how the brain reacts in a stressed environment.  It maintains its usual pathways and does not step outside this comfort zone to learn a new skill or take a chance.  It follows the pathway of least resistance.

When the brain is nourished (and body), providing it rest, exercise, healthy air for oxygen, and healthy food, a chance for growth, learning, creativity exists. It takes positioning yourself toward an area of interest, a hobby, or a new social or physical opportunity. Growth forges new circuits in the brain; the prior behavioral cycles dampen down as new circuits are formed.

Are Character, Resilience, and Growth possible after Trauma?

Neurotransmitters, neurohormones, peptide ligands, and hormones provoke changes that occur in our brains and bodies. Is it possible that attributes considered positive, such as courage, patience, compassion, come from an interaction of neurotransmitters?

It might be premature or a slippery slope to reduce “character” or personality to neurotransmitter signals. It might be easier to consider personality predictive behaviors or adaptive syndromes to approach this question. Neuroscience researchers have not yet arrived to analyze personality strengths and deficits and apply stimulative therapies to adjust the brain.  Nevertheless, scientists are researching therapeutic modalities like Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and conditions like trauma and addiction (and it looks promising). Currently, TMS is being used regularly in depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).   

A pivotal study in the 1990s showed how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), like abuse, neglect, or poverty, could predict mental health disorders, substance abuse, and physical disorders like obesity. Studies have supported that trauma can affect how genes respond through epigenetics. Chemicals can modify how the genes are expressed. Here is more information on ACES.

Take for instance someone’s response to dopamine secretion when one nears a usual craving, leading to intensification of craving and movement toward the stimulus. Maternal nurturing appears to improve brain circuitry to reduce anxiety as adults. If there is less adaptive circuitry for self-soothing, a person may have greater sensitivity to increased dopamine output and satisfy the craving. This may look like “anxiety” or “impatience.” One step further, maternal deprivation or trauma can affect brain development, leading to dysfunctional dopamine regulation. At least two-thirds of injection drug use was attributed to abusive and traumatic childhood events in one study.

Some people may have a negative experience, yet overcome it and be stronger after it.  Others may experience negative pressure and resort to harmful, maladaptive behaviors. People can develop resilience even after having exposure to trauma. Social connection and bonding provide some benefit in this process, maybe because of oxytocin’s effects. A response toward growth and maintenance characterizes resilience even after a potentially traumatic event.

Strategies and Summaries

Mindfulness Strategies 

1. Any movement of the body or practice with the senses

   in a directed, positive way can be used to restore the body into a more relaxed state. Examples include massage (touch), aromatherapy (smell), music (auditory), art (visual-auditory-kinesthetic), other hobbies, and movement exercises (Tai chi, yoga, exercise, walking/jogging).

2. Daily brain conditioning employs meditation, adequate sleep, and breathing techniques to de-stress and tone down sympathetic signaling.

3. In the heat of the moment, practice breathing exercises and pauses.

 After sensing “high alert” in interpreting words or actions, consider pausing the initial response.  Understand that you receive an action or statement from another person who had experiences that influenced their communication or actions. Techniques that slow the sudden response, such as breathing, asking questions, or staying calm, can help you break free of narrative tangles and escalation that shut off reasoning.  Consider these “mindfulness instances.”

Summary of The Heart-Brain Axis

1. The brain interacts with what is taken in by our senses and influences our reality experience.  The reality gets projected out.  All people have different realities based on memory affecting interpretation.
2. Like a visual illusion, our brains can misinterpret sounds, tastes, smells, touches, and even words. Sensitivity of this possibility opens dialogue.
3. The two controlling mechanisms of the internal organisms are the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. They are triggered by the brain and are actuated by hormones that induce a response to the internal organism, amounting to “high alert” vs. “relax.”
4. The driving force of our thoughts and decisions relates to moving toward more pleasure or less pain and moving away from the opposite. Occasionally, these lines can get crossed – and we move toward pain and away from pleasure.

Mindfulness Key Elements

1. Neurons that “fire together, wire together.”

    

The more you get into the practice of forming new behaviors, the more likely they will become the routine thoughts. Even simply developing a concept in your mind of an intended behavior change can get you on the start of making it happen. After the behavior has been executed several times, it becomes the preferred pathway for the brain.

2. Life is experienced from the inside-out. (Perception is our reality)

We feel and then we think.  Be aware of the motivations that affect your decisions and slow down the stage of acting on the thought processes to ensure that the response is not just a reflex of an emotional heuristic.

3. Reflex thoughts or “gut instincts” narrow our brain’s “eye” to conserve or protect but limit our understanding of reality. (Pattern thinking)

We have biases that can limit our objective interpretability and trap us into cyclical reactive behavior. It is often a very simple concept, such as a desire for love or a fear of being abandoned. Included in this are the conclusions and misconceptions that guide you toward or away from certain stimuli (decisions, people, etc.). Your brain started to become more efficient even before you were able to speak.  Learn what your biases might be.

4. Small changes can enable large results.

Begin with an understanding that how conscious and subconscious biases affect judgment. . The brain has a method to preserve its efficiency.  Growth can be a painful experience. The brain may hold you back from this, favoring the prior patterns even if they are not as healthy. Creative generativity develops after breaking away from instinctual behavioral cycles and leads to freedom in the moment.

Mindfulness does not need to be a cerebral concept: It can be physical too. Photo by meo on Pexels.com

Here is a Conference on Mindfulness

Bibliography

Fox K, Stryker M.  Integrating Hebbian and homeostatic plasticity: introduction.  Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2017 Mar 5; 372.

Mulkey S, du Plessis AJ. Autonomic nervous system development and its impact on neuropsychiatric outcome. Pediatric Research. 85, 120-126(2019).

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