The Power of Thought
The Power of Thought
Each area of the human brain is highly specialized. The amygdala and hippocampus provide the circuitry that transmits the emotion of ‘fear.’ The left prefrontal cortex is the area of the brain designed to facilitate logic. The striatum is the processing center that mediates between the logic and the fear. As powerful as all this specialized 
brain machinery is, scientists have long wondered whether it is the machinery itself, or the ‘thoughts’ that move through it that ultimately dictate?
Emory University neurologist Helen Mayberg, studied the brain scans of patients at high risk for depression who had previously either suffered a stroke, or been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, or Huntington’s while at Johns Hopkins University in the mid 80’s.
First, Mayberg compared the brain scans between subjects who were placed on anti-depressants versus those given placebo. She discovered both to be equally effective. Mayberg further noted that both appeared to subdue the subgenual cingulate (Area 25) deep within the cortex, the area of the brain that borders the limbic and is wired for emotion.
Next, the researcher measured comparative brain responses between anti-depressant drugs and Cognitive Behavioral therapy (CBT), or positive thought re-formatting. Mayberg and her associates once again found equal effectiveness. As with the first experiment, the researchers expected to discover the very same areas of the brain activated. Much to their surprise, they found profoundly contradicting results.
The brain response to the anti-depressant medication remained unchanged. The drugs had once again subdued the brains emotional center (Area 25). Stunningly, the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy seemed not to affect the emotional ‘Area 25,’ but instead appeared to subdue the brain’s ‘logical’ frontal cortex.
Mayberg believes that that the brain circuits had to re-wire themselves in order to adapt to new thought patterns. The brain, in essence re-wires new ‘happy’ circuits in areas previously wired for ‘sadness,’ in order to facilitate channels opened up by new thought programming.
Neuroplasticity research has recently learned that every thought produces a matching chemistry, and that each thought carries with it the capability to alter the ‘mind’ within the brain. Thought dominance patterns program the subconscious mind to invoke its power over certain levels of brain specialization, chemistry and ultimately reality. Imagine, the subtle energy of mere thought altering material reality. Einstein was far ahead of this curve when more than 90 years ago he pronounced: ‘Energy and matter are inter-convertible and transferable.’
