How gratitude changes your brain

It's that time of year. 30 days of thankfulness and a whole month focused on gratitude. Does it ever feel like life isn't so great as everyone else's? Well, stay tuned, friends. I'm going to show you the way to a grateful heart and how it changes your brain.
I don't know about you, but I always check my Facebook memories. It's a repository of the seasons of my life, both good and bad. And I remember one November, I accepted the challenge to post 30 days of thankfulness. And about this time of the month, I posted, "Today, I am thankful that I resisted the urge to run over someone in the grocery store with my cart."
Nothing like a little honesty. Let's be real. Sometimes, the holidays can make you feel down and anxious. There's cooking and shopping and parties to go to. Or, maybe not, and that's equally depressing. This has everything to do with your health. Not only is social connectedness super important but gratitude can literally change your brain.
So, instead of fantasizing about ramming that person who irritated you in the grocery store, how about a changed heart? Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. So, that's a pretty good diagnostic tool about where you are right now. And listen, if you're struggling, you're in the right place.
I've been there and I can help you see the bright side. But first, let's go to mini medical school and learn some brain anatomy and physiology. And by the way, if you want to meet some cutthroat people, hmm, med school is the place. But, we won't dwell on that.
I've had the privilege of working with so many wonderful doctors and nurses during my career, and I'm grateful for it. Let's start in the middle of the brain. Now move down below the thalamus, but above the brain stem, and you'll find an area of the brain called the ventral tegmental area. Now why are we here in this deep place in the brain?
Well, you see, This area of our brain is our built in reward center. It's involved in not only reward and pleasure, but also motivation, emotional regulation, learning and cognition, which is a fancy word for thinking. Hopefully, if you've been listening to this podcast for very long, some of this is going to sound familiar.
The ventral tegmental area contains dopaminergic neurons. That just means nerve cells that make and release dopamine. Yes, good old dopamine. That fuels our sensation of pleasure, motivates us to seek more and feel that good reward.
If you've missed some of the recent episodes of Mood, you might want to go back and listen to them. And, by the way, don't miss another episode. Sign up for the email list, and I'll send them straight to your inbox, so all you have to do is push play. You know where the ventral tegmental area is, what it does.
Now, what does that have to do with gratitude? Think of it as buried treasure. Deep in the brain, this connection of pathways is a treasure trove of pleasure. Dopamine gets released when you practice gratitude, and it just feels good to be grateful.
A friend of mine always told her children, put that in your treasure chest of memories. I think that's good advice. In other words, make deposits so you'll have something special to pull out. This reward circuitry is like buried treasure with connections to other structures in the brain called the mesolimbic pathway.
This network includes the nucleus accumbens, the prefrontal cortex, the amygdala, and the hippocampus. Okay, before we get lost, Suffice it to say, gratitude activates the ventral tegmental area to release dopamine to the nucleus accumbens. And listen, you're gonna like it. In fact, your brain will like it so much, it'll make you want to do it over and over again.
And just think, being grateful is what activates it. Gratitude can lead to better mental health, including less depression and anxiety. Overall, emotional well being tends to be higher in people who practice gratitude. Let's face it, when we focus on being thankful, it changes our perspective and helps us be happier, or at least have more positive emotions than negative ones.
Gratitude can also improve sleep quality, which of course affects mood. I mean, who isn't grouchy when they don't get enough shut eye? Sleep is so important, but it can be complicated. And if you struggle to get a good night's sleep, I have some resources for you. Check it out in the show notes. When you have an attitude of gratitude, it also affects your relationships.
People who are focused on what's right, instead of what's wrong, tend to have stronger bonds with friends and spouses and any romantic relationship. There's more of a sense of trust, connection, and commitment. And social connectedness is one of the pillars of lifestyle medicine because it's crucial for good health, both physical and emotional.
In fact, the effects on physical health are so significant.
People who are full of gratitude tend to have a stronger immune system, as well as lo...