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The Best Brain Possible With Debbie Hampton

Information and Inspiration For Anyone With a Brain

Your Brain’s Natural High

brain_on_joy_150x2251We’ve all heard of the the experiments showing rats will do anything for a pleasure fix. Typically, caged rats are given access to a lever which they can press freely to give themselves drugs that activate their pleasure centers while also being able to manipulate identical levers to acquire food and water.  Becoming addicted, the rats will hit the drug lever repeatedly, while the food and water levers often go untouched, until they drop dead from exhaustion or starvation. It has largely been assumed humans would do pretty much the same if given the chance.

In his book, This Is Your Brain on Joy: A Revolutionary Program for Balancing Mood, Restoring Brain Health, and Nurturing Spiritual Growth, Dr. Earl Henslin tells of one researcher, Bruce Alexander, who noticed a flaw in the experiments.  The rat participants in the studies were isolated in their cages with nothing else to do but press the lever.  “If I was strapped down alone in a cage, I’d probably want to get high too,” he thought.

Alexander conducted his own similar experiments.  However, one group of rats were placed in a specially designed “rat park,” which was spacious and brightly colored with running wheels, toys, mazes, abundant, good food and water and even other rats with which to socialize and mate. He put the control group of rats alone in bare cages as in the past experiments.

Both groups of rats were given equal access to morphine laced water.  Well, what do ya  know?  The rats in the cages got addicted, while the park rats may have tried the happy water once or twice, but ended up rejecting it.

Even more amazing, when the caged rats, who had been addicted to morphine for fifty-seven days, were put in the park, they avoided the drugs too. They were even observed trembling and shaking as they detoxed, but opted to stay off of the drug.

While humans, their environments, and other influencing factors, such as relationships, are certainly more complicated than rats in a rat park, the study does point to some interesting conclusions.  Henslin writes that “Life itself was meant to be our natural high.”  His book, which incorporates neuroscience and biblical insight (interesting combination, indeed!), likens an enriched environment to life in the Garden of Eden.

Henslin suggests taking a three pronged approach to create a brain prone to reside in joy.  The three categories are:

The goal is to proactively create a rich, nourishing environment in your life, like the rat park, conducive to natural highs for your brain.
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  • Val

    LOVE this! Thank you so much for sharing. The three suggestions at the end: not easy! (#2 in particular for me personally) but in the big picture, it really is simple and uncomplicated ins’t it? Thankfully I have a park too! literally… that I go to often. Nature grounds me and really puts things in perspective.

    • Debbie Hampton

      Val, thanks for sharing your thoughts. It is really pretty simple, but so challenging in the daily grind, as you indicate. A “Val Park!” I like it and am glad you have it to nurture your brain.

  • Judy M. Hampton

    Wonderful…breaks it down to three simple and easy steps. Maybe each one is not always easy, but it seems two out of three are always attainable at any given time. Good information on the rats. Love, Mom

  • Angela

    Wonderful insight! Thank you..

    • Debbie Hampton

      No, no, no thank YOU! :)