2.7 Understand the science of brain to help children improve their adaptability

Hello parents!

Welcome to the "Good Parents of China" series of courses.

The topic we are studying in this issue is "Adaptability", and today we start to learn The 7th Lecture, which is: Understand the science of brain and help children improve their resilience."

In the previous lessons, we talked about many ways to cultivate children's resilience, in which we spent a lot of time discussing promoting children's inner change and growth, and only internal changes will be more powerful in the face of the external world. So, ah, we have been telling parents, look inward, develop inward, look inward. So today, we talk about moving from the "inside" at the spiritual level to the "inside" at the brain level.

However, because brain science is a very complex discipline, considering the difficulty and practicality, I will focus on selecting the parts that are meaningful for parent-child education, so that parents and friends can understand the important brain areas and neurotransmitters in our brains, as well as the mechanism behind the children's emotional behavior, avoid detours in educating children, and thus make more scientific educational behaviors.

I'll break you down into two points, the first being the prefrontal cortex, commonly known as the brain's great steward, and the second being three neurotransmitters— dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin.

First, we're going to talk about the big steward of the brain: the prefrontal cortex.

This part is very important, how important is it? In order to make everyone feel it more intuitively, you can now touch the position of your forehead with your hand, and the brain area wrapped inside the forehead is the prefrontal cortex. The big housekeeper is like a sane social person, it helps children learn to plan, think, and control impulsive behavior. But the big housekeeper is not a child who can be hired by the brain at birth, it is as the child grows older and the experience increases, and he becomes more and more conscientious and capable in his post.

I guess some parents and friends will wonder, is it that the more capable the big housekeeper in the brains of those children, the more these children have the ability to control themselves, plan for the future, and have a stronger ability to think? The answer is, yes! The more developed the prefrontal cortex is, the stronger these abilities will be. The good news is that big stewards can be trained and trained, and the most effective method we know of that can be practiced deliberately is mindfulness, which we have repeatedly mentioned in previous lessons. If parents have some things that are not very clear, it is highly recommended to review our sixth lesson, perhaps from the perspective of brain science, there is a deeper understanding and interest in mindfulness, which seems to be a simple treasure.

Then, in addition, if you want to train the big housekeeper, you have to let the child "sleep enough". When some people diagnosed with depression or anxiety come to counseling, I will be the first to evaluate their sleep status, because depression leads to a decrease in sleep, which in turn increases the level of depression, thus falling into a vicious circle. So, if you or your child has more than two weeks of insomnia, don't hesitate to see a doctor. We must know that the side effects of long-term insomnia are far greater than the side effects of drugs. Long-term insomnia can lead to low mood, irritability, memory loss, lower thinking ability, and most importantly, long-term insomnia will make our big housekeeper, the prefrontal cortex function, decline!

But in fact, there are not many children's insomnia, but more than compress sleep time in order to learn. I now have a visitor in my senior year of high school, and that's it. When I learned more about his condition, I found that he was not very efficient in learning, and he had serious emotional problems, always crying inexplicably. As a counselor, the first thing I did was force her to sleep enough 7 hours a day. Only after sleeping well and sleeping more deeply can his brain be repaired at night, dealing with subconscious emotions and conflicts in his dreams. After a few weeks, the child's condition became better and better.

Now, after we have finished talking about the big butler, the prefrontal cortex, I believe that everyone is beginning to have a little idea of our magical brain. Next, in order to introduce you to the more interesting and useful neurotransmitters in our brains.

So, what are neurotransmitters? It is like a railway system in our brain, transmitting signals in our brains in a complex and orderly manner, giving us different feelings and reactions. Next, I will introduce the three neurotransmitters to you and discuss how you can use them to better help children achieve mental health.

The first neurotransmitter is called dopamine. When it comes to dopamine, the first thing we think of is happiness, it seems that more dopamine is more pleasurable, less is unhappy. In fact, the main role of dopamine is to "get a sense of reward". Well, for children, the biggest inspiration in daily life is to set small goals for each step. It's so important, "set small goals for each step", and the child's behavior will cause the release of dopamine every time a goal is achieved, which can make our prefrontal cortex work more efficiently, you see! The positive cycle is happening again!

The second neurotransmitter is called oxytocin. This neurotransmitter helps children gain a sense of trust, security, and connection, and of course, it can also make children less anxious and more emotionally stable. So, how do you get your child to get oxytocin?

A few tips for parents and friends: First, hug and touch the child. Natural physical contact from the heart will make the child and your body produce oxytocin at the same time, this so-called "love" hormone, will promote us to feel happy and secure; secondly, be friends with the child. Friends here are not just playing partners together, but more like children's "girlfriends" or "buddies", sharing secrets with each other, but also sharing happiness and troubles. Because of the empathy of being understood by peers, it will make the child's brain secrete oxytocin; finally, if conditions permit, under the premise of ensuring safety, you can have a pet. When you are with your pet, you also feel intimate. So, if your child, you feel that he lacks intimate interpersonal relationships, has a sense of loneliness, and at the same time he wants to like small animals, it is also a good idea to have a pet.

Okay, now let's talk about the third neurotransmitter, serotonin.

For the understanding of this part, let me tell you a story first. One experimenter put a marshmallow in front of each four-year-old's table, and then she told the children that she was leaving for a while, and whoever wanted to eat the marshmallow could eat it now. But if anyone can wait for her to come back, then she will reward the child with two marshmallows. Imagine what choice your child would make? Do you just eat one marshmallow or wait and then eat two? This famous experiment, done 40 years ago, turned out to be children who chose to wait and get two marshmallows, and generally grew up to be more successful than those who chose to eat marshmallows in the first place. They have better test scores, are more willing to go to college, and have fewer crimes.

But do you know what this marshmallow experiment really tested? That's right, willpower. Serotonin can enhance a child's willpower and self-control. Well, if your child is the one who chooses to eat marshmallows first, you still have the opportunity to help your child increase serotonin activity in his brain. How? It is very simple to take the child to bask in the sun more, rather than using indoor lights; in addition, the study also found that massaging the child can also promote the work of this part of the neurotransmitter; and it is necessary to let the child have a good exercise habit, which not only helps the secretion of serotonin, but also promotes dopamine and enhances the function of the prefrontal lobe.

Well, the above is today's content, a brief summary: let the child's brain better serve the ta, improve adaptability, as a parent, we have to understand a little brain science knowledge. We introduced the brain's big housekeeper - prefrontal cortex, which helps children learn to plan, think, and control impulsive behavior, we can exercise the child's prefrontal cortex through mindfulness therapy and adequate sleep; and three neurotransmitters, the first neurotransmitter is called dopamine, its main role is to get a sense of reward, we can give children "small goals for each step", causing the release of dopamine, so that children's prefrontal cortex can work more efficiently; the second neurotransmitter is oxytocin, It can make children less anxious, emotionally more stable, we can hug the child, be friends with the child and pets, let the child get oxytocin; the last neurotransmitter is serotonin, parents can take the child to the sun and develop good exercise habits, to help children enhance the activity of serotonin in the brain.

In the next lecture, I will share the content of "before teaching children, we must first embark on the road to growth", thank you for listening, we will see you next!

Growth Mind Map

Do you know what the big steward of a child's brain is?

Is there any way to train the brain from a scientific point of view?

Knowing which three neurotransmitters will make you understand your child better?

Knowledge chart card

Prefrontal cortex: Located at the very front end of the brain, it is almost 1/3 of the surface organ of the entire brain. It is like the CEO of the brain, which is at the center of the planning and decision-making loop, while also being responsible for controlling impulsive behaviors and motivations.

Dopamine: Increasing fun and rewarding is necessary to break bad habits.

Oxytocin: Promotes trust, love and connection, reduces anxiety

Serotonin: Enhances willpower and motivation, motivation, and mood

Practice deliberately

The Table of Healthy Habits is in the appendix

Resource recommendations

Book: Reshaping Brain Circuits: How to Get Out of Depression with Neuroscience

appendix

Healthy Lifestyle Table

date:

month

day

week

Self-Evaluators:

Assist evaluators:

□ Eat the right amount of protein for breakfast

□ Do not eat caffeinated foods (strong tea/coffee)

□ Eat at least 1 vegetable and 1 fruit a day

□ Eat the right amount of carbohydrates (rice, noodles, porridge...) for dinner. etc.)

□ Do 30 minutes of exercise regularly every day (mainly your favorite exercise)

□ Regular and quantitative sleep every day (not touching bed when you can't sleep)

□ Interact with at least one person with more positive emotions every day

□ Share your feelings with others every day

□ take 15 minutes a day to do something you love

□ give some verbal positive affirmations to one thing you accomplish every day

□ Recite every day, "Do your best, obey the destiny of heaven, and be at peace with the circumstances!"