Now, more than ever, it is important to us as human beings to be happy and healthy, but the brain’s primary objective is to keep us safe. The main function of our brain is to help us survive the day and keep us alive and well from today to tomorrow, but scientists have tricks up their sleeves to enable you to be happier and enjoy life to the fullest.

Prof Pieter Kruger from the North-West University (NWU), a clinical psychologist and director of the Centre for Health and Human Performance, and his colleague, Dr Greg Lamb, a paediatric neurologist and senior lecturer at the Institute of Psychology and Wellbeing, share interesting facts about how the brain can be coached to generate happiness and well-being.

“The brain will spend a lot of time in basic survival mode. For us to take our next step safely, the brain must be ahead of what we are doing and quickly predict what might happen next. However, predictions require detail, and for this the brain relies on a particular part called the hippocampus, or the primary memory centre. In order to quickly make sense of the world and make accurate predictions, the brain must be able to answer two primary questions, a) Am I safe? and b) What is my purpose? The brain cannot answer these questions rapidly – this creates unease or anxiety and takes us into threat-monitoring mode,” Prof Kruger says.

Am I safe?

Detailed predictions require slow and effortful thought, a process that your brain does not have time (or sometimes the energy) for. Although the brain makes up only more or less 2% of your total body weight, it can consume up to 25% of the calories you use daily. Hence, the more time you have to spend on slow effortful thought, the more energy you might consume.

Prof Kruger says as the brain tries to preserve energy, it will try to avoid spending too much time in this thinking mode. “The predictions the brain tries to make occur in the dorsal region of the hippocampus, where information pertaining to landscapes, cityscapes, topography, people, objects, and artefacts in the environment is processed and assimilated. For this accurate and analytical memory to be consolidated, the individual must be in motion, not only in terms of exploration and navigation in the environment, but also with regard to the progression of interpersonal relationships and progression in life.”

What this means in practice, he says, is that once you actually physically start moving (like walking), this part of the brain gets stimulated and functions better. However, it also suggests progression in terms of how we engage with other people and life, which can also have a stimulating effect on this part of the brain.

“There must be continual mental rotation or movement in the conscious mind, in other words, we need to engage in different activities and experiences as part of keeping us healthy and happy. And once the dorsal hippocampus (the good part of the memory centre) has been switched on, it demands such intense focus and impulse control from the brain’s thinking centre (prefrontal cortex) that the applied effort for the task undertaken is rewarded by a tangible shortening in the associated perception of time. In short, once you are engaged and enjoying what you do, time will pass very quickly. Therefore, when an experience is novel and interesting, the brain enjoys it and it becomes easier to learn.”

What is my purpose?

The predictions in the moment and our ability to deal with threats and challenges depend very much on the sense of self, Prof Kruger says. Who am I and what is my purpose in life? Do I feel as if I am equipped to deal with things, moving forward in life, or am I stagnating with no end in sight? “Thoughts and beliefs about the self play a very important role in our happiness and well-being. We often use past experiences to form views of the self, which can have a large impact on how we perceive ourselves in various situations. Past experiences can give some form of satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment, but will not guarantee well-being and happiness in the future. You will become utterly depressed in the most exquisite, gold-gilded palatial room in the world if you come to realise that you are stuck, and this will be all you will experience for the remainder of your life.” If there is no sense of potential change as you go forward in life, progressing or adding interesting new experiences, he adds, we may lose motivation and become depressed in the short, medium and long term.

Two-tier system

Dr Lamb explains further about the work and functionality of the brain. “The brain operates on a two-tier cognitive (thinking) system – fast and slow thinking. As the brain relies solely on blood sugar for energy, it wants you to use your energy sparingly. Deliberate, effortful, slow thinking can effectively consume significant amounts of energy. The brain therefore only shifts into this mode when it is necessary. Instead, we spend most of our time in fast-thinking mode. This mode thrives on quick and emotional associations that can often be false and misleading. It is in this mode when we are most susceptible to thinking biases as well. It will tend to follow the path of least resistance and not necessarily the path that is best or most functional for you. We may therefore do and say things in the moment, based on emotion, and not based on what is best to do in the situation.”

As the fast-thinking processes work strongly on emotional associations, they play an important role in keeping us safe, but also in enjoying life, because emotions will flavour memories to remind you how you felt in a particular situation. He adds that under normal circumstances, this function is achieved by the circuit of Papez, in which concrete ideas from the dorsal hippocampus are stained and scented with emotional dyes from the ventral hippocampus, which in turn is linked to the amygdala (emotional brain). This can help us to avoid uncomfortable or harmful situations in future or help us to remember enjoyable situations we have been in.

What does this all mean?

If we spend deliberate time thinking about the good situations in which we have been by using the thinking centre of the brain (prefrontal cortex), it can help us to consolidate the positive emotions attached to it. However, even in fast-thinking mode the brain will continue to make positive emotional associations if we provide the brain with a range of experiences, physically moving about and engaging with people and activities.

Unfortunately, due to the pace and demands of modern life, we often find ourselves chained to a desk in the office, living from weekend to weekend, with a lack of energy and time to do anything. We stop moving and we stop experiencing life.

“This can activate the ventral hippocampus (activating the stress pathways), which will have a significant knock-on effect on other parts of the brain – especially the addictions circuitry. In the absence of exploration, movement and engagement with activities or life, this addictions circuitry is activated, leading to hard-wired, visceral urges,” Dr Lamb says.

These urges include a tendency to overeat, crave alcohol, and drink more than you should. It also has a significant impact on our ability to regulate mood and aggression, and on the over/under stimulation of the libido. Time also starts dragging, because your actions are no longer sustained by conviction and enlightenment and life starts to feel heavy and never-ending. This, in turn, can clearly have a significant impact on your happiness, well-being and health (both physically and mentally).

What can we do about it?

As several neuro-psychological factors play a significant role in regulating happiness and well-being, it is very useful to understand the working of the brain. Something as simple as regular movement, like walking, will immediately inform your brain that what you are doing is important, and therefore trigger it to be attentive and engaged.

Dr Lamb says that moving on a regular basis will not only flush cortisol (the stress hormone) out of the system, but it will trigger the release of brain-derived neurotropic growth factor (BDNF), which in layman’s terms is known as brain fertiliser.

“It plays a vital role in learning, memory formation and higher-order thinking, activating the dorsal hippocampus, making positive emotional associations. The neurochemical oxytocin also gets released, allowing you to feel good about what you are accomplishing. Oxytocin is very important in building relationships, fostering collaboration between people, feeling a sense of belonging, and helping us to be creative and innovative. All these aspects will have a positive impact on the sense of self, and on our happiness and well-being,” he says.

Prof Kruger and Dr Lamb conclude by giving valuable advice. “Forget about those self-help books and snake oils. The best thing you can do for yourself is to start moving on a regular basis and start engaging with life and others. Learn a new language, spend time with friends, find out how to prune roses properly or learn how to bake your own bread. Spend time in prayer, be creative, go for walks or bike rides and get outside into nature. Only then will the brain no longer be anxious, and will it allow you to engage with life. Once you engage with life, start building experiences and spend quality time with significant others, your brain will reward you with happiness, well-being and good health.”