Blog 23: Brain and body processes for calm or stress states

Even though I am not a doctor or a medical professional, anything related to the brain and mindset fascinates me. After practicing EFT personally for years and also becoming a certified professional, I know tapping positively influences our brain, the body and ultimately, our lives. And that’s not just my personal experience - there is a growing body of research that suggests EFT can help reduce stress and anxiety symptoms. 

But sometimes, many terms are mentioned, and it may not be easy to make a clear connection between them or truly understand how everything relates. So I decided to write this blog to share more about how our brain functions. 

Important note: The brain, along with our neurological and physical processes, is extremely complex, and therefore this is a (over)simplified perspective. My goal here is for you understand what’s happening inside and how EFT helps support these processes. I am to highlight the most practical and relevant aspects related to this topic. I am not a medical professional, so further reading and research is recommended. 

In this blog, I will explore more about the brain and body functions. How EFT tapping positive influences will be explored in more depth in the next blog. 

Let’s imagine…

That the whole system is a complex of buildings. 

Just on the perimeter, there are sensory organs - these are the watchers. They are always observing what is happening outside the complex. 

Each is responsible for one specific area. The eyes are focused on the visual information, the tongue is directed towards taste, and the ears towards sound. The skin notices any physical sensations, such as touch or temperature, while the nose perceives smells. 

They all send individual reports to a building called the Limbic System - this is a group of brain structures involved in memory, threat detection, motivation and emotional processing.

In this building, the first ones to receive the reports are the External Stimuli Distribution Directors - there are two. 

One is called Olfactory Bulb, which receives the reports related to smell, and the Thalamus, which receives the reports from all other sensory organs. 

Their responsibility is to pass all the information received (which is usually raw and low resolution) to the different functions. 

Within the same Limbic System building, the reports go to: 

The Survival Assessment Director - called the Amygdala - holds an extremely important function. It receives reports from a wide range of departments - so can easily be overwhelmed. The Thalamus has a direct short and quick access route called Low Road. The Olfactory Bulb sends its reports through its own dedicated channel. 

The Library Director, called Hippocampus. When this Director receives the report from both, Thalamus and Olfactory Bulb, it looks through its index cards of archived memories to check whether that information matches any of them. Without much delay or analysis, it sends whatever it finds to the Survival Assessment Director and to the Sensation Packaging Director, called the Entorhinal Cortex (which sits in another building). 

The Hypothalamus is also in the same building, and it’s the Physical Survival Director. It has the control over two nervous systems which allows us to either enter fight-flight or rest-digest mode. 

The External Stimuli Distribution Directors also send the raw information to another building, called Cerebral Cortex, via the High Road. 

This building is very complex, filled with departments and interconnected functions. But the ones to consider here are: 

Each of the Sensation Directors has its own role. For example, the Visual Sensation Director, called Occipital Cortex, is responsible for receiving the report from the Eyes. Once the report is received, it will improve its resolution and send it to the Survival Assessment Director and to its fellow department the Sensation Packaging Director (who will send it to the Library Director). It also stores it in its vast library of visual memories. 

The same process happens for the Auditive Sensation Director, the Temporal Cortex; the Physical Sensation Director, the Parietal Cortex; the Gustatory Sensation Manager, the Gustatory Cortex, which sits under the Insula, Taste Sensation and Body Sensations Director.

The Piriform Cortex, the Smell Sensation Director, receives the information from the Olfactory Bulb and acts just as the other departments. 

Another department that also receives the reports from both External Stimuli Distribution Directors is the Prefrontal Cortex, this is the Logic, Analysis and Conclusions Director. This one has direct access to the Survival Assessment Director, the Library Director and the Physical Survival Director. 

Another important department to mention is the Taste Sensation and Body Sensations Director, the Insula. This department is responsible for noticing our inner sensations - the butterflies in the stomach, the tightness in the chest. It also reports directly to the Survival Director, the Library Director and the Physical Survival Director.

This is a simplified view of what first happens when an external stimulus is received. 

Let’s now quickly jump to internal stimuli - when nothing around us is unfamiliar or dangerous. 

Scientists have found that our brain activity never stops. Even when we are relaxing or idle, the brain continues to function. One of the functioning processes is called the Default Mode Network- acting as the Daydreaming, Memory, and Inner Narrative team. This is composed by a few members, but the two main departments are: 

• Inner Thought Director, the Medial Prefrontal Cortex, which is responsible for being the inner narrator of memories and facts. 

• Film Editor Director, the Posterior Cingulate Cortex, which is responsible for creating the mental scene. 

It’s said that when you are simply sitting on the sofa for example, even without any other stimulation, the Default Mode Network is active, supporting self-reflection, memory and internally focused thinking.

These three departments therefore can bring up memories, facts, ideas from ‘inside’ - without any external cue. These reports are then shared with the same directors as the reports from the External Stimuli Distribution Directors - causing the same chain of processes. 

What are the processes then, after each Director receives the reports? 

The Survival Assessment Director (Amygdala) is a key one here. Besides receiving information from each of the directors above, it also receives information from the Basic Body Survival Director, the Brainstem. Therefore, it’s always working. 

Its mission is exactly as the title describes: survival. It has its own high-intensity emotional archive, and every time it receives a report, it runs it through a pattern-matching process to detect possible danger or safety.

This Director has can't distinguish whether the report received is coming from a memory, a physical effect or an imaginary source and treat them all as if they were happening now, especially when they are strongly emotionally charged.

Whatever the conclusion, it sends a message to the Physical Survival Director, the Hypothalamus, letting it know whether everything is ok or whether there is danger.

The Library Director (Hippocampus) receives the reports and besides sending it to the Survival Assessment Director (Amygdala) itself, it also informs the Cerebral Cortex building - via the Sensation Packaging Director, Entorhinal Cortex and the Logic, Analysis and Conclusions Director, Prefrontal Cortex - about its index information, so they can retrieve the full past memory for analysis. 

This Director is also responsible for holding temporary memory - what’s happening at the moment - and then for pressing the ‘save’ button for the memory to be archived. 

This process of saving the memory is called Memory Consolidation. The memory is stored in the Cerebral Cortex Building, fragmented by sensory fields (for example, the Visual Sensation Director retains the visual information of a scene or memory, while the others store their own sensations).

The Prefrontal Cortex is the Logic, Analysis and Conclusions Director. As the title indicates, it’s responsible for analysing any information received and making conclusions about it. 

The full report is sent to the Library Director (Hippocampus) and also, it is sent to one of two departments, depending on the conclusion of the report:

If the conclusion is ‘there is danger’, it will send it to the Survival Assessment Director (Amygdala) - so this Director can activate the necessary chain for survival. 

If it is ‘everything is ok’, it will send the report directly to the Anterior Secretary of the Hypothalamus, the Physical Survival Director - to indicate no panic procedure needs to be initiated or maintained. 

Hypothalamus, the Physical Survival Director, is receiving reports from different departments and depending on the conclusion between safe or unsafe, it will engage one of its secretaries to help coordinate the body’s stress response through the Autonomic Nervous System and hormonal pathways.

The Autonomic Nervous System includes the Sympathetic Nervous System, often associated with fight-or-flight, and the Parasympathetic System, often associated with rest and recovery.

The Anterior Secretary will receive reports when there is no threat, while the Posterior Secretary will get alerted when danger has been observed.

The Physical Survival Director will engage its Posterior Secretary who will communicate with the Basic Body Survival Director, the Brainstem, to activate the Sympathetic Nervous System. 

The protocol here is fight or flight. 

It will do two things: 

• Send electrical signals via the spinal cord to the internal organs to warn them of the danger.

• Involve the Endocrine System through the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. This means activating the Pituitary Gland, which communicate with the Adrenal Glands, which in turn release the hormones Adrenaline and Cortisol, as chemical messengers to the internal organs. 

What happens now? 

This is panic mode. The body has recognised: We are unsafe. We need to survive. 

Therefore: 

• Our heart rate and blood pressure shoot up, to pump blood to the limbs → we may need to fight or run 
• Our digestion and immune systems shut how → we need to save energy
• All lines of communication from and to the Logic, Analysis and Conclusions Director are cut off → we can’t afford to waste time to think critically about this 

When there is physical or real danger, this survival process is fantastic.

Our ancestors for example faced several physical dangers: a tiger, a snake, a storm. This system worked beautifully to ensure our survival. Once the tiger was gone, we’d returned to the calm, relaxed state of normal body functions. 

Modern lifestyles, however, have changed this dynamic. Although most of us no longer need to face a real tiger, we are exposed to a vast number of triggers that can be initiated physically or internally. 

Example 1: Everyday life events

You receive an email. You see the sender name or read the content. 

The Sensory Organs send the information to the Thalamus which forwards to the other areas. 

The Hippocampus spots a match from the past and sends this info to both, the Amygdala and the Prefrontal Cortex. 

The Amygdala instantly sounds the alarm. 

The Prefrontal Cortex tries to analyse it, but agrees: 'This looks like the social threat from last time!'. 

It fails to veto the alarm, letting the Amygdala message the Hypothalamus.

The Hypothalamus activates the Sympathetic System, releasing Cortisol and preparing you as if this was a life-threatening situation - while you are just sitting at your desk, with no physical danger. 

Now your body is flooded with stress hormones, your organs respond accordingly, by shutting down the immune and digestive systems, and you can no longer ‘think clearly’ because that system is also reduced.

Example 2: Events out of our control

Example 3: Imperceptible environment or physical changes

Your Sensory Organs are scanning for all types of sensation - consciously or unconsciously. 

It’s possible that they notice something you weren’t fully aware of and send it as a report. 

For example, you slouch on the sofa, slightly compressing your chest. It can detect shallow breathing and send the information of ‘something is wrong here’.

Example 4: Events from memory or imagination 

You are making a cup of tea and your mind brings up the discussion you had with your boss two years ago. 

Not a pleasant moment. Maybe at the time you felt stressed and that emotional charge is still attached to the memory.

That will be passed to the Amygdala, which sends the signal as ‘we are in danger, now!’ (because it doesn’t understand timelines) and the chain reaction will get started.