Leading Neuroscientist: Stress Leaks Through Skin, Is Contagious, Gives You Belly Fat! Dr Tara Swart

Dr. Tara Swart, a neuroscientist and executive advisor, explores the brain's untapped potential, emphasizing neuroplasticity, mental resilience, and the brain-body connection. She discusses how visualization can enhance physical performance, the impact of stress on health, and the importance of sleep for cognitive function. Swart highlights the significance of emotional and social connections, explaining how stress and bonding hormones affect us. She also delves into generational trauma, neurodiversity, and the power of mindset in aging and personal growth. Swart encourages leveraging ancient wisdom and creativity to enhance well-being and personal development.

• Visualization techniques can significantly impact physical outcomes, as demonstrated by a study on weightlifters.
• Mental imagery alone, without physical exercise, resulted in measurable muscle mass increase.

"They lifted no weights for two weeks; they just sat there and visualized themselves lifting weights. They had a 13% increase in muscle mass."

• This quote highlights the substantial impact of mental visualization on physical muscle growth, emphasizing the untapped potential of the human mind in physical development.

• Stress is not only personal but can also be contagious, affecting those around us through physiological means.
• Cortisol, the main stress hormone, can leak out of our sweat and impact others, leading to shared stress experiences.
• Stress can lead to physical symptoms such as belly fat, which is difficult to shift due to cortisol's role in fat storage.

"Cortisol is the main stress hormone, and it will leak out of our sweat about this far around us, go into the skin of everybody else, and it's going to impact them."

• This quote explains how stress can be physiologically contagious, affecting others in close proximity through the hormone cortisol.

"Stress causes belly fat, belly fat that's really hard to shift."

• This highlights the physiological impact of stress, specifically how cortisol contributes to abdominal fat that is resistant to diet and exercise.

• The brain continues to grow and change until around age 25, but intensive activities can enhance brain functions even later in life.
• Engaging in challenging activities can improve emotional regulation, problem-solving, and flexibility in thinking.

"From 25 to 65, if you do things that are intense enough to force your brain to change, you will actually improve the highest functions of the brain."

• This quote emphasizes the potential for continued brain development and improvement through challenging activities, even beyond early adulthood.

• There is a critical connection between brain health and physical health, often overlooked by high-performing executives.
• Basic health practices such as sleep, diet, and stress management are essential for optimal brain function.

"These high-performing executives were kind of acting like their body was just the vehicle that was moving their brain around from meeting to meeting."

• This highlights the disconnect some executives have between physical health and brain function, underscoring the importance of holistic health management.

• Eye contact, particularly right-eye to left-eye, can create emotional resonance and bonding between individuals.
• Physical touch and shared experiences also enhance the release of oxytocin, the bonding hormone.

"That right eye to left eye eye contact has the most bonding eye contact that you can have with someone."

• This explains the physiological basis of bonding through specific types of eye contact, which can be used to strengthen relationships.

• Sleep is crucial for memory consolidation, emotional processing, and physical regeneration.
• The glymphatic system cleanses the brain of toxins during sleep, a process essential for preventing neurodegenerative diseases.

"The glymphatic system is a very active kind of Waterway Channel cleansing system of the brain."

• This underscores the importance of sleep in maintaining brain health by removing harmful toxins, which can prevent conditions like Alzheimer's.

• Leaders' stress levels can significantly impact their teams, highlighting the importance of stress management in leadership roles.
• Suppressed stress in leaders can have a cascading negative effect on organizational health.

"Your stress levels as a leader as a CEO are going to have more impact on everybody else than the rest of the people put together."

• This emphasizes the responsibility of leaders to manage their stress to maintain a healthy work environment.

• Co-sleeping, or sharing a sleeping space, is fundamental for emotional and psychological bonding due to the release of oxytocin.
• Sleep separation, such as "sleep divorce," may erode these bonds over time.

"Co-sleeping is it's fundamental to our survival. It was physically when we were in the cave, but now I would say emotionally, spiritually it's fundamental to our survival."

• This highlights the importance of shared sleeping arrangements for maintaining strong emotional and psychological connections in relationships.

• Physical warmth and skin-to-skin contact are essential for emotional bonding, love, trust, and resilience.
• Sleeping together and cuddling can be neuroprotective and enhance resilience.
• Human beings are inherently social and thrive in communities or tribes, especially post-pandemic.

"The power of sleeping together and cuddling all night is so neuroprotective that I would encourage everybody to do it if they can."

• Emphasizes the neuroprotective benefits of sleeping together, suggesting it enhances emotional and physical well-being.

• Resilience can be measured physiologically through heart rate variability (HRV).
• HRV monitors can distinguish between physical and psychological resilience.
• Simple acts of affection, like a morning kiss, can enhance physiological resilience.

"I saw the highest spike of turquoise at that exact time."

• Indicates a significant increase in physiological resilience as measured by HRV following a gesture of affection.

• Intuition is often more accepted and recognized by women than men.
• Intuition is stored in the nervous system and is a product of unconscious wisdom and experience.
• Men often require scientific validation to accept intuitive insights.

"Intuition is the lessons that you've picked up along the way that you're not conscious of but they're still stored in your nervous system."

• Defines intuition as subconscious wisdom accumulated over time, highlighting its deep-rooted nature in the nervous system.

• The pandemic has led to a mental health crisis and potential for a spiritual revolution.
• There's a need to reconnect with nature and find a purpose beyond self-interest.
• Indigenous wisdom emphasizes considering the long-term impact of decisions on future generations.

"We have not paid any attention to the consequences of what happened to us... we certainly haven't made any plan for the future."

• Highlights the lack of acknowledgment and planning for the long-term effects of the pandemic on mental health and societal well-being.

• Time spent in nature positively impacts physical health, mental health, and longevity.
• Creative activities are crucial for mental and physical well-being.
• Aesthetic experiences, like nature and art, signal safety and well-being to the brain.

"Studies are showing that time spent in nature actually has a really positive impact on your physical health, your mental health, and your longevity."

• Underlines the significant health benefits derived from regular exposure to nature.

• Technology and social media can lead to loneliness and a disconnect from real human interaction.
• Limiting screen time and fostering face-to-face interactions are essential for mental health.
• The pandemic has accelerated the reliance on technology, impacting social skills and empathy.

"The internet connection has reduced real connection."

• Critiques the role of technology in diminishing authentic social interactions and relationships.

• Neuroplasticity allows the brain to change and grow throughout life, not just during childhood.
• Engaging in new activities, such as learning languages or musical instruments, enhances brain function.
• Neuroplasticity supports emotional regulation, problem-solving, and creative thinking.

"If you do things that are intense enough to force your brain to change, then you can basically, you know, learn lots of new things."

• Emphasizes the continuous potential for brain development through challenging and novel experiences.

• Neuroplasticity involves the brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life.
• People often seek neuroplasticity to change habits, such as overthinking, negativity, or procrastination.
• Changing habits involves a process underpinned by neuroplasticity, which includes raised awareness, focused attention, and deliberate practice.

"When people hear about neuroplasticity... they want new habits, they want new ways of thinking."

• People desire neuroplasticity to adopt new habits and ways of thinking, aiming to improve their mental processes.

"Step One is spot the pattern and step one is 50% of the battle."

• Recognizing patterns in behavior is crucial and constitutes half of the effort needed to change.

• The process of behavioral change involves three steps: awareness of patterns, understanding the consequences, and deliberate practice.
• Accountability is a crucial factor, as individuals often struggle to maintain change without external support.

"The first step is becoming aware of the pattern in our lives."

• Recognizing habitual patterns is the first step in initiating behavioral change.

"The fourth factor is accountability because most people left to their own devices will give up."

• Accountability is essential to sustain the process of change, often requiring external support.

• Trauma can create deeply entrenched neural pathways, but neuroplasticity suggests these are not unchangeable.
• Generational and epigenetic trauma can affect gene expression and behavior across generations.

"We've moved away from using this term hardwired... we talk about soft wiring now because of neuroplasticity."

• The concept of "soft wiring" implies that even deeply ingrained behaviors and responses can be altered through neuroplasticity.

"Intergenerational epigenetic trauma is about how some external event actually changes the expression of your genes."

• Trauma experienced by ancestors can influence gene expression and behavior in subsequent generations.

• Grief requires emotional processing, and avoidance can lead to unresolved emotions resurfacing later.
• Support and gentle nudging are important for those dealing with grief to ensure they process emotions thoroughly.

"I strongly believe that to ever heal from grief you have to go to the bottom of the hole."

• Fully processing emotions is necessary for healing from grief, rather than avoiding or suppressing them.

"If you try to gloss over that it will come back and bite you later."

• Avoiding emotional processing can lead to unresolved issues reemerging in the future.

• Neuroplasticity occurs through myelination, synaptic connections, and neurogenesis.
• Myelination enhances speed and efficiency of neural pathways, while synaptic connections require effort to form new pathways.

"Myelination... is a fatty substance that coats some neural pathways and those pathways become fast pathways."

• Myelination increases the efficiency of neural pathways, enhancing skills and responses.

"Neurogenesis... is little embryonic nerve cells that float around in the brain actually becoming fully formed nerve cells."

• Neurogenesis involves the formation of new neurons, contributing to the brain's ability to adapt and learn.

• Aerobic exercise and a diet rich in dark-skinned foods enhance neurogenesis and brain health.
• Exercise increases the rate at which embryonic cells develop into mature neurons.

"If you are regularly doing aerobic exercise, the turnover of those cells in your brain is about 13-14%."

• Regular aerobic exercise significantly boosts the development of new neurons in the brain.

"Dark-skinned foods... have higher levels of antioxidants called anthocyanins and they also contribute to neurogenesis."

• Consuming dark-skinned foods supports neurogenesis due to their high antioxidant content.

• Key elements for enhancing neuroplasticity include recognizing patterns, understanding consequences, and consistent practice.
• Additional factors include adequate sleep, stress management, and potentially intermittent fasting.

"Repetition is key to establishing new pathways."

• Consistent practice and repetition are essential for forming new neural connections and changing behavior.

"If you are doing all of those things and you want to play at level two of the game, you could start doing time-restricted eating."

• Advanced strategies like intermittent fasting can further enhance brain health if foundational habits are in place.

• Learning new skills, such as DJing, can establish new cognitive pathways in the brain, showcasing the brain's adaptability and capacity for growth.
• Building self-esteem and confidence involves understanding negative thoughts and using positive affirmations to counteract them, thus creating new mental pathways.

"If you can identify what that is and create a positive affirmation that's like the opposite of it or something that counteracts it then that can be a great way to get started."

• Identifying and counteracting negative thoughts with positive affirmations can help in building self-esteem and confidence.

• Language plays a crucial role in shaping our self-perception and beliefs, with repeated affirmations influencing brain pathways through neuroplasticity.
• Metacognition involves understanding and altering one's thinking patterns, which can help change the narrative of self-talk.

"How we speak about ourselves, how do we know that matters? I mean, it's neuroplasticity if you're repeating something in your mind or out loud."

• Repeated affirmations can influence the brain's belief systems due to neuroplasticity, highlighting the importance of positive self-talk.

• Manifestation involves not just thinking or saying affirmations but taking actions aligned with those beliefs to achieve desired outcomes.
• Vision boards, or action boards, serve as representations of goals but require proactive efforts to realize them.

"I believe in manifestation based on your brain, so your thoughts, your beliefs, your actions."

• Manifestation is grounded in neuroscience, where thoughts and beliefs influence actions, leading to desired outcomes.

• Manifesting a great relationship involves listing desired attributes in a partner and ensuring one embodies those qualities themselves.
• Self-improvement is crucial for attracting the right partner, as individuals meet others at their level of psychological evolution and wounds.

"You hear a lot of people saying this is what I really want in someone, but you never really hear people saying I've really worked on myself."

• Self-improvement is essential for attracting the right partner, as individuals meet others at their level of psychological evolution.

• Neurodiversity includes conditions like ADHD, autism, and dyslexia, with better diagnosis contributing to the perceived rise in these conditions.
• The changing world and increased awareness have contributed to both natural increases and better recognition of neurodiverse conditions.

"Neurodiversity is basically anything that doesn't fall into the category of a typical brain."

• Neurodiversity encompasses various conditions, with better diagnosis and societal changes contributing to increased awareness.

• Indigenous practices like humming and chanting are beneficial for creativity and calming the nervous system.
• These practices have been historically used for health and well-being, reflecting their enduring relevance.

"Doing things like humming and chanting are actually like really beneficial."

• Indigenous practices such as humming and chanting promote creativity and calmness, benefiting overall well-being.

• Psychological priming affects aging, with studies showing that mindset and behavior can influence physical abilities and perceptions of youthfulness.
• Changing behavior to align with a younger mindset can improve physiological conditions and perceptions.

"In before and after photos that were shown to people that didn't know them, they were rated as younger."

• Mindset and behavior changes can influence perceptions of youthfulness and improve physiological conditions.

• The language used in daily life influences perceptions and behaviors, with empowering language promoting personal responsibility.
• Changing disempowering language to reflect conscious choices can lead to more empowering life perspectives.

"There's something about this casual use of the word need throughout our lives that is disempowering me."

• Language shapes perceptions and behaviors, with empowering language promoting personal responsibility and conscious choices.

• Recognizing the brain's potential and capacity for change is crucial for personal growth and achieving an amazing life.
• Visualization and gratitude practices can shift the brain from a fear state to a trust state, facilitating change.

"People should realize how much potential they have in their brains, like how capable they are of having an even more amazing life."

• Recognizing the brain's potential and using visualization and gratitude can facilitate personal growth and change.

• The conversation emphasizes the untapped potential within individuals and the role of neuroscience in understanding manifestation.
• Personal anecdotes highlight the importance of pursuing passions and recognizing the influence of cultural and familial expectations.

"I could finally realize my dream of feeling like I am truly a creative person."

• Pursuing passions and recognizing personal potential are crucial for fulfillment, despite cultural and familial expectations.