Neurochemistry of the spoken word

Hello my friends!

Thank you for that magnificent response to my blog last week – some posted on the blog, but most in the form of personal e-mails. By far, the greatest response I got was to the statement I made, “Ah, the biochemistry of human emotions!” This week, I bow to public request, and write on something close to my heart. I may actually include something like this from time to time – a wider perspective on life and healing.

Please be aware that this article comprises mostly scientific fact, and some personal opinion. I am aware that you may possibly opine differently, and I invite you to share your thoughts

The power of thought. The power of emotion. The power of the spoken word. The healing that results when we are able to tap into the magnificent realms that lie within us. Let’s look at it logically. A thought arises in our mind. What actually happens? Let’s say the thought is a memory. The memory is a code stored in our brain in the form of certain natural nerve chemicals called neurotransmitters. To express it simply, let’s say a memory is a certain combination, a certain specific chain of neurotransmitters. They activate themselves, either out of the blue (not that the brain cells are blue), or in response to a stimulus that comes into the brain via our five senses.

Let’s say it’s a funny memory. It releases neurotransmitters, which in turn release another cascade of neurotransmitters, there are all these neurotransmitters firing all over the body, our mouth opens into a smile, our eyes twinkle, then our belly and chest and rib-cage get involved, there is expulsion of air through our mouth and we laugh. When we laugh, more neurotransmitters are released, we release “happy” neurotransmitters called endorphins, which are the body’s natural opiates – which create a sense of well-being and get rid of pain in the body. The body’s immune system manifests itself in peak performance, and you’re fighting fit to ward of illness.

Endorphins and other “beneficial” neurotransmitters are also released when we engage in other activities. Have you heard of falling in love to ward off a cold? Totally makes sense scientifically. When you have the “in love” feeling, your endorphins are dancing in glee, and your immune system is flexing its muscle. Also, aerobic exercise of any kind, creating the “runner’s high”, engaging in charitable and healing activity, creating the “helper’s high” (did you ever wonder why Mother Teresa never fell ill as she spent her life healing fellow humans with the worst illnesses?) – all these activities activate beneficial neurotransmitters and induce well-being and immunity.

The power of the spoken word. This is spoken of in cultures all around the world. In India, where I grew up, there was a statement I grew up with, that translates to “Speak only the auspicious.” Why is that important? In the discussion above, we saw the power of thought and emotion. One could argue that although it is our goal to hold every thought captive, most of us might find it difficult to control our thoughts. Not impossible, just difficult. Alright. However …. the next step in the sequence can be achieved by any one of us. Speaking the thought. When we speak, we concretize what might have been merely an abstract, nebulous thought. We give our thoughts form. May I go so far as to say ….. our words become flesh! Oooohhhh …. am I getting spiritual on you? I call it getting scientific on you. Permit me…..

When we speak words, the sound generated fall on others’ ears. Specifically, on their tympanic membrane, the ear-drum. The vibrations caused by the sound get transmitted through the auditory nerves in the form of ….. you got it …. neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are solid matter. They are part of your “flesh” – so, did your words become flesh? (I heard Dr. Deepak Chopra teach this a few years ago). The thoughts provoked by the words go and get stored in the brain of the listener. The words “you loser!” establish themselves in the brain of the listener as a negative thought. On the other hand, the words “you awesome winner!” establish themselves in the brain of the listener as a positive thought. The more the intensity behind those words, the more powerful the effect on the listener. If the listener is in a vulnerable state, especially if you are an authority figure or a loved one, those words become prophetic.

And what happens to you, the speaker? Those same words fall on your ears too – they create vibrations in your tympanic membrane too. And since you are speaking them, you are the creator of those words. Negative words spoken by you come back to haunt you. You start believing in those negative words about others. Let’s not get into deep philosophy here, but everything always comes around full circle.

Suppose someone is ill. The doctors might even have said they are terminally ill. What happens typically? Friends and relatives, even close relatives start acting as if the patient were already dead. The person might even be in a coma. They stand at their bedside and speak inauspicious words. Please do remember that when someone is in a coma, their brain can still register your words – even if they may not remember anything consciously when they wake up.

Listen up! Statistics are certainly a useful tool of science. That’s all – a tool. Never let a tool be the master of your belief. Anecdotally, there are myriad cases of recovery from the jaws of death. Do you agree? I have personally known individuals with advanced stages of cancer, and other disease, who the medical establishment had all but washed their hands off of. They laughed in the face of “the beast”, kicked it in its teeth, and proceeded to recover. They continue to live good lives, set goals in life, achieve those goals, and live on purpose. Of course, if the patient has goals in life to reach, or even better, has a major purpose in life that they are driven toward, that increases the chances of recovery.

What if a situation that faces you is one more case of miraculous recovery? Hmmm? Can you categorically say it will not be. Call me naïve …. as a person of science, I choose to focus on the positive, on the spirit of overcoming all odds, because I believe what I focus on expands.

Let’s say, you buy a Toyota Camry one day. Do you see a lot more Camrys on the road than you did before? Yes, you do. Why? There are so many stimuli that hit the brain constantly. If you became aware of everything at the same time, you wouldn’t be able to handle it. So, our brain, in its intuitive wisdom uses an apparatus called the Ascending Reticular Activating System (ARAS) which is situated at the core of the brain stem between the medulla oblongata and the midbrain. It filters out what you don’t consider important or just routine, and gets you to pay attention to the important. When you bought the Camry, that was foremost in your mind, therefore you noticed all the Camrys around you. Make sense?

If you include in your belief structure that being positive is crucially important, you will train your brain to focus on the positive. And that attracts positive events into your life because that’s where your attention is. Using cancer as an example, every single individual’s body has normal, healthy, good cells and abnormal, malignant, cancerous cells. Shocked? It’s true.

In a case of diagnosed cancer, it is a fact that cancer cells tend to grow uncontrollably. I know. But didn’t we just agree that perfectly healthy people also have cancerous cells in their body? Why do those cancer cells not grow exponentially? Some factor stops them, right? My belief says, if I speak to the good cells to increase their strength, to express that factor that gets rid of the cancer cells, it will happen. Will it be immediate? Maybe yes, maybe not. If not, why not? Well, we may have years and years of negative thoughts and beliefs stored away in our brain. With some individuals, it can take time to dilute away all that junk, and develop new belief structures. With other individuals, it might be instantaneous. How? Maybe an intensely emotional positive belief takes over and washes away all the negative belief. Could that be how “miraculous” healings took place?

So ……. when you hear of someone who is ill, remember, your words have power – the power to heal, or the power to destroy. Let your words be of strength, healing, life. Be very aware of the words you speak or the words you write on paper or e-mail or SMS. Go forth and use your powers wisely. Speak only auspicious words. When you pray for a person, don’t jump to “may their soul rest in peace”. Pray for their healing. Not wimpy, unbelieving, desperate prayers, but confident, bold prayers of belief. There are several books and articles by well-respected members of the medical and scientific establishment on the effect of individual prayer and group prayer. Dr. Herbert Benson is a name that comes to mind – he has some well-researched books and articles. More than a decade ago, my niece did a scientific study on prayer when she was in high school – a well-designed placebo-controlled double blind study on the effect of prayer on the growth of plants and another study on the lowering of crime in a town. She got positive results in both.

Quoting from U.S. Government National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine: “Evidence from randomized controlled trials and, in many cases, systematic reviews of the literature, suggests that —- Mechanisms may exist by which the brain and central nervous system influence immune, endocrine, and autonomic functioning, which is known to have an impact on health. —– Neurochemical and anatomical bases may exist for some of the effects of mind-body approaches.” Now, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are very, very careful before they make a statement. They make sure they have plenty of resources to back them. Please visit their website www.nccam.nih.gov to research those resources.

We all have unresourceful or negative thoughts and we have resourceful or positive thoughts. The key is to replace the former with the latter. Long-term, it’s doable. For immediate purposes though, it’s better to start with replacing unresourceful words that we speak with resourceful words.

If the above discussion makes sense to you, would you like to begin? It’s a journey. I’m on the journey – been on it for years. The beginning is a decision away. Then, only a matter of managing that decision daily. Good decisions and daily discipline – that’s the journey. Like leadership guru Dr. John Maxwell defines success in his book Today Matters, “If you make a few key decisions and manage them well in your daily agenda, you will succeed”.

My friends, I wish you success! Here’s to your good health! See you next week …

Dr. Ajit Damodaran