Your Prefrontal Cortex | The Still Small Voice Within

Accounts for only 30% of your brain’s volume, but takes on major responsibility for your life's experience...

Your personal prefrontal cortex is an amazing thing. Evolutionarily speaking - it was the most recent portion or your brain to develop; meaning it’s the newest addition!

I like to refer to the prefrontal cortex as the “Still Small Voice” of the mind and thinking patterns. Here’s what it’s responsible for -

• Focus

• Forethought

• Impulse control

• Organization

• Planning

• Judgement

• Empathy

• Insight & learning from mistakes

• Referred to as the executive part of the brain (the boss)

This means that when your prefrontal cortex is operating at its’ fullest capacity, your experience would reflect a calm, collected pattern of reasoning through issues and problem solving, an integrated ease in your ability to manage cravings and impulses, a deep although sometimes unspoken sense of connectedness with those around you, among other perks ;)

Potential behavioral problems associated with a prefrontal cortex that is not operating at its fullest potential include -

• Short attention span

• Impulsivity

• Procrastination

• Disorganization

• Poor judgement

• Lack of empathy/insight

• Brutal honesty (often manifests as a 'no filter' type of attitude)

• Conflict seeking behavior

• Negative health habits (i.e. smoking & obesity)

Low frontal lobe activity, meaning low blood flow to this area of the brain can psychologically manifest as conditions such as -

• Forms of depression

• ADD/HD

• Schizophrenia

• Antisocial Personality Disorder (have 10% less volume in the front of the brain)

• Frontal Temporal Dementia

But wait, there's more! How to treat the Prefrontal Cortex -

First of all, there's goal setting. Write down what you want - your ideal life in the areas of physical health, romance/family, and success as defined by your personal purpose in life. Then, exercise to boost blood flow to the effected area which is also known to boost #serotonin. Incorporate more dark leafy greens into your diet whose proteins target this area of the brain. Try brain rehab games & strategies that initiate #neurogenesis, but switch it up so that your brain never becomes complacent in its flexibility. If you don't already take it, consider adding EPA Fish Oil (60% or higher volume as compared to DHA)

Interestingly, in clients with ADD or ADHD we tend to see deactivation of the prefrontal cortex during concentration. In this event, stimulating supplements will increase blood flow in those important moments. Examples include -

• Green tea

  • Rhodiola

  • Ginseng

  • Ashwaghanda

  • L-Tyrosine (amino acid building block for #dopamine)

  • Phenylalanine (amino acid building block for #norepinephrine)

  • Iron & Zinc (both are required to make #dopamine)

For more information, please don't hesitate to reach out!