How to enhance the prefrontal cortex? What is involved in this brain region?
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Enhancing the prefrontal cortex involves a few different methods, from substances to behavioral practices. The prefrontal cortex is crucial for executive function, including suppressing actions and managing attention. Activities like talk therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, or journaling can help manage thoughts and re-script beliefs, potentially giving more control to the prefrontal cortex.
Drugs like ADHD medications stimulate circuits in the brain that can strengthen focus, as discussed by and . For example, nicotine can both sharpen focus in the brain and relax the body's muscles, affecting the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which plays a role in limiting attention for sake of learning 1 2.
Another approach is transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which can exogenously restore cognitive functions akin to those achieved through psychotherapy in mild depression. TMS can restore governance of the prefrontal cortex over deeper brain regions correlated with treatment improvement in depression 3.
Furthermore, increasing neurochemicals through substances such as Kanna combined with a gratitude practice can also enhance the amplitude of neuroplasticity, creating more robust brain changes. Future techniques may include noninvasive devices to stimulate the prefrontal cortex in conjunction with such practices 4.
Lastly, hypnosis is presented as a method to rewire neural circuits for pain relief, focus, and faster sleep. By changing the interpretation of events, hypnosis takes advantage of the brain's neurochemistry to alter the perception of events like pain 5.
To learn more about these techniques and how they specifically affect the prefrontal cortex, you could explore the episodes and clips cited where these discussions were held.
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