Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Arden, John B., date.
Rewire your brain / John B. Arden.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 
978-0-470-48729-7(pbk.)
1. 
Memory. 2. 
Neurosciences. 3. 
Brain. I. 
Title. 
BF371.A595 
2010
153—dc22 
2009028771
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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v
Contents
Preface vii
1
Firing the Right Cells Together 
1
2
Taming 
Your 
Amygdala 
25
3
Shifting 
Left 
45
4
Cultivating 
Memory 
69
5
Fueling 
Your 
Brain 
89
6
Healthy Habits: Exercise and Sleep 
117
7
Social 
Medicine 
141
8
Resiliency and Wisdom 
165
9
The 
Mindful 
Attitude 
187
References
207
Index
231
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vii
In the last few years, both
Time
and
Newsweek
magazines have 
published feature articles on the new advances in neuroscience. 
The concepts of neuroplasticity, mirror cells, neurogenesis, and the 
social brain have all been discussed on radio shows and in news-
paper articles. The advances in neuroscience have dramatically 
affected our understanding of what occurs in psychotherapy. If 
you ’ re like most people, you ’ ll want to learn more about how these 
developments can be applied to your practical life. 
This book is based on recent developments in neuroscience and 
evidence - based treatment (the types of treatment that have been 
found to work best). It is a less technical companion to my professional 
books
Brain - Based Therapy with Adults
and 
Brain - Based Therapy 
with Children and Adolescents
. Those two books, written with my 
friend and colleague Lloyd Linford, address how the developments 
in neuroscience and evidence - based treatment can be applied to 
therapy.
Rewire Your Brain
is meant to be a practical resource book 
that describes how to actually change your brain based on well -
researched principles that work. The book will guide you through 
the process of rewiring your brain so that you can change your 
Preface
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viii Pr e fa c e
life. You cannot change how you think and feel without changing 
your brain. 
We all feel a little anxious or down in the dumps at times. You ’ ll 
learn how to deal with normal levels of these feelings, how to mini-
mize such periods, and how to get the most out of life. You ’ ll also 
learn healthy habits to enhance your brain ’ s longevity and to maxi-
mize a vibrant life free of self - imposed limitations. 
Each chapter in this book addresses key components of the new 
developments in neuroscience and describes how to apply them to 
specifi c areas of your life in order to help you thrive. 
In chapter 1 , you ’ ll learn about the major changes that have occurred 
in the fi eld of neuroscience, including the discovery of neuroplasticity, 
which has been described by the saying “ Cells that fi re together, wire 
together. ” You ’ ll learn how habits are formed and how to increase good 
habits and end bad ones. Since your brain is always developing new 
connections between neurons and killing off old connections that are 
not being used, you ’ ll learn how to develop connections that promote 
good habits and shut off those that support bad habits. You ’ ll learn 
the acronym FEED to help you remember the steps to rewire your 
brain: Focus, Effort, Effortlessness, and Determination. Through the 
practice of these steps, you can
feed
your brain to make the rewiring 
changes described in the rest of the book. 
In chapter 2 , you ’ ll learn that the part of your brain called the amyg-
dala can needlessly create fear. Since the amygdala can trigger a false 
alarm, it needs to be put in check by the frontal lobes. You ’ ll also learn 
about the balance between the sympathetic and the parasympathetic 
nervous systems, which help you to become active when you need to 
be and to calm down afterward. I ’ ll explain the concept of exposure 
from evidence - based treatment and the idea of a slow track versus a 
fast track and then make practical suggestions of how you can turn off 
a false alarm. You ’ ll learn how to calm down your amygdala so that you 
can approach life courageously and with a sense of vitality. 
In chapter 3 , you ’ ll learn that underactivation of the left frontal 
lobe has been associated with depression and that activation of 
this lobe is associated with the alleviation of depression and the 
promotion of positive feelings. I will explain how the techniques of 
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Pr e fa c e
ix