Internet Resources
- Hardwired for HappinessHappiness, which is good for both mind and body, is at least in part biological, rooted in the evolution of the brain and nervous system.
- How to Be HappyBehavioral scientists have spent a lot of time studying what makes us happy (and what doesn’t). We know happiness can predict health and longevity, and happiness scales can be used to measure social progress and the success of public policies. But happiness isn’t something that just happens to you. Everyone has the power to make small changes in our behavior, our surroundings and our relationships that can help set us on course for a happier life.
- The Neuroscience of Happiness and PleasureResearch article exploring the neuroscience of happiness and pleasure.
- Where Does Happiness Reside in the Brain?Neuroscience research points toward the role our brains play in our happiness, even if we don’t understand all the brain’s mysteries yet.
Happy Brains are Smart Brains
Conclude with some helpful tips for living a happy, fulfilled life. From exercising in green, natural surroundings to putting more value on your time, happiness is most definitely achievable - and it can even become a habit. All it takes is a little work to outsmart yourself.
Source: Kanopy
How Your Brain Creates Happiness
We all want to be happy, but achieving this state of being is the million-dollar question. In this first look at happiness, find out precisely why money truly doesn't buy happiness. You'll investigate the effects on your brain of earning a higher salary or winning the lottery, and then reflect on the way time is ultimately more valuable for happiness.
Source: Kanopy
These daily habits will make your brain happier — according to neuroscience
These are some tips to help you foster a happier brain, according to Alex Korb, a postdoctoral researcher in neuroscience at UCLA.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK23jxZOZAM
Perspectives
Happiness
In a world obsessed by happiness, this is the first book to look thoroughly at what happiness is and how it works. Bringing together the latest insights from psychiatry, psychology, and philosophy, Daniel Nettle sheds brilliant light on this most basic of human desires. Nettle examines whether people are basically happy or unhappy, whether success can make us happy, what sort of remedies to unhappiness work, why some people are happier than others, and much more. The book is packed with fascinating observations. We discover the evolutionary reason why negative thoughts are more powerful than positive ones. We read that happiness varies from country to country--the Swiss are much more happy than Bulgarians. And we learn that, in a poll among people aged 42 years old (peak mid-life crisis time) more than half rated their happiness an 8, 9, or 10 out of 10, and 90% rated it above 5. (Like the children of Lake Wobegon, Nettle quips, pretty much everyone is above average in happiness.) Nettle, a psychologist, is particularly insightful in discussing the brain systems underlying emotions and moods, ranging from serotonin, "the happiness chemical"; to mood enhancing drugs such as D-fenfluramine, which reduces negative thinking in less than an hour; to the part of the brain that, when electrically stimulated, provides feeling of benevolent calm and even euphoria. In the end, Nettle suggests that we would all probably be happier by trading income or material goods for time with people or hobbies. But most people do not do so. Happiness offers a remarkable portrait of the feeling that poets, politicians, and philosophers all agree truly makes the world go round.
Switch on Your Brain
According to researchers, the vast majority--a whopping 75-98 percent--of the illnesses that plague us today are a direct result of our thought life. What we think about truly affects us both physically and emotionally. In fact, fear alone triggers more than 1,400 known physical and chemical responses in our bodies, activating more than thirty different hormones Today our culture is undergoing an epidemic of toxic thoughts that, left unchecked, create ideal conditions for illnesses. Supported by current scientific and medical research, Dr. Caroline Leaf gives readers a prescription for better health and wholeness through correct thinking patterns, declaring that we are not victims of our biology. She shares with readers the "switch" in our brains that enables us to live happier, healthier, more enjoyable lives where we achieve our goals, maintain our weight, and even become more intelligent. She shows us how to choose life, get our minds under control, and reap the benefits of a detoxed thought life.
The Owner's Manual for the Brain (4th Edition)
Cutting-edge, user-friendly, and comprehensive: the revolutionary guide to the brain, now fully revised and updated. At birth each of us is given the most powerful and complex tool of all time: the human brain. And yet, as we well know, it doesn't come with an owner's manual--until now. In this unsurpassed resource Dr. Pierce J. Howard and his team distill the very latest research and clearly explain the practical, real-world applications to our daily lives. Drawing from the frontiers of psychology, neurobiology, and cognitive science, yet organized and written for maximum usability, The Owner's Manual for the Brain (4th Edition) is your comprehensive guide to optimum mental performance and wellbeing. It should be on every thinking person's bookshelf.
The Biology of Happiness
The brief presents a model for happiness based on current knowledge in evolutionary biology and neurobiology. Briefly, the primary purpose of nervous systems is to direct an animal toward behaviour relevant for survival and procreation. In primitive animals actions are based on reflexes, while in humans the modules directing behaviour engage positive and negative affect (good and bad feelings), and they are swayed by cognitive processes. The reason why evolution opted for this strategy was the improved flexibility in response - i.e., we learn from previous experiences. The human capacity for happiness is an accidental consequence. An array of brain modules has evolved to care for various pursuits, but recent studies suggest that they converge on shared neural circuits designed to generate positive and negative mood. Happiness can be construed as the net output of the relevant modules. The briefs suggests a strategy for how to avoid having negative feelings (such as anxiety, depression and chronic pain) dominate the mind, and how to exercise positive feelings. In short, the book offers both a deeper understanding of what happiness is about, and a framework for improving well-being. An array of brain modules has evolved to care for various pursuits, but recent studies suggest that they converge on shared neural circuits designed to generate positive and negative mood. Happiness can be construed as the net output of the relevant modules. The book suggests a strategy for how to avoid having negative feelings (such as anxiety, depression and chronic pain) dominate the mind, and how to exercise positive feelings. In short, the book offers both a deeper understanding of what happiness is about, and a framework for improving well-being.
Brain Book: An illustrated guide to its structure, function and disorders
A complete guide to the one organ in the body that makes each of us what we are - unique individuals.
Brain Rules for Aging Well
How come I can never find my keys? Why don't I sleep as well as I used to? Why do my friends keep repeating the same stories? What can I do to keep my brain sharp? Scientists know. Brain Rules for Aging Well, by developmental molecular biologist Dr. John Medina, gives you the facts, and the prescription to age well, in his signature engaging style. With so many discoveries over the years, science is literally changing our minds about the optimal care and feeding of the brain. All of it is captivating. A great deal of it is unexpected. In his New York Times best seller Brain Rules, Medina showed us how our brains really work, and why we ought to redesign our workplaces and schools to match. In Brain Rules for Baby, he gave parents the brain science they need to know to raise happy, smart, moral kids. Now, in Brain Rules for Aging Well, Medina shares how you can make the most of the years you have left. In a book destined to be a classic on aging, Medina's fascinating stories and infectious sense of humor breathe life into the science. Brain Rules for Aging Well is organized into four sections, each laying out familiar problems with surprising solutions. First up, the social brain, in which topics ranging from relationships to happiness and gullibility illustrate how our emotions change with age. The second section focuses on the thinking brain, explaining how working memory and executive function change with time. The third section is all about your body: how certain kinds of exercise, diets, and sleep can slow the decline of aging. Each section is sprinkled with practical advice, for example, the fascinating benefits of dancing, and the brain science behind each intervention. The final section is about the future. Your future. Medina connects all the chapters into a plan for maintaining your brain health. You may already be experiencing the sometimes-unpleasant effects of the aging process. Or you may be deeply concerned about your loved ones who are. Either way, Brain Rules for Aging Well is for you.
Unleash the Power of the Female Brain
From one of the world's leading experts on how the brain works, a step-by-step, practical program for women to achieve greater health, energy, and lasting happiness by harnessing the power of the female brain. For the first time, bestselling author and brain expert Dr. Daniel G. Amen offers insight on the unique characteristics and needs of the female brain and a practical, prescriptive program targeted specifically for women to help them thrive. In this breakthrough guide based on research from his clinical practice, Dr. Amen addresses the issues women ask about the most including fertility, pregnancy, menopause, weight, stress, anxiety, insomnia, and relationships.
Getting Back to Happy
Instant New York Times bestseller Empowering advice for overcoming setbacks from the authors of the popular blog Marc & Angel Hack Life Marc and Angel Chernoff have become go-to voices in the area of personal development, reaching tens of thousands of fans each day with their fresh and relatable insights. Now they're writing the book they wish they'd had when they needed it most. Getting Back to Happy reveals their strategies for changing thought patterns and daily habits to bounce back from tough times. Sharing never-before-published stories and advice, the book shows us how to harness the power of daily rituals, mindfulness, self-care, and more to overcome whatever life throws our way--in order to become our best selves.
Happiness: The Emotional Brain
Drawing a distinction between the lasting state of happiness and the pursuit of instant pleasure, the program explores the evolutionary role of happiness, and asks what happens in the brain, and possibly in the genes, that makes some people happy and others sad.
Source: Academic Video Online (AVON)
Hacking your brain for happiness
Dr. James Doty explains the neurological benefits of Compassion. "Project Compassion" has now turned into a leading research and educational institution and the only institution solely focused on the study of Compassion, Altruism and Empathy.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4TJEA_ZRys