
How does the brain work exactly? What is known about brains? For example, some medication taken for depression was discovered by accident. Today we know that it works to heal depression. However, it is unknown how the medication exactly works. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is another treatment for depression. With ECT a short stream of electricity is given through the brain and this gives very good results for treating severe depression for 75 years already. Only since 2019 do we know more about why it works due to research from UMC Utrecht and UMC Groningen published in the magazine Molecular Psychiatry on March 19th 2019. ECT evokes an elliptic stroke which makes the gyrus dentatus, placed in the hippocampus, grow and stimulates growing new nerve cells. It is striking to me that various therapies that are successful in making our brains function better and as optimally as possible have a link with increased brain activity and putting our brains in motion.
Brain activity
A feature of therapies such as mindfulness and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is they influence brain activity. It is scientifically proven that during a depression, you have less brain activity. It seems vital to get the brain moving again. The first thing that happens to people with depression when they begin taking medication (SSRI) is they sleep better. (One of the signs of depression is no sleep or very poor sleep.) You don't reach deep REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement). During REM sleep, you dream and process what you have experienced. If you don't reach this deep sleep for longer than two weeks, it is time to take action to make sure you get some proper sleep, Relaxation, mindfulness, yoga, walks outside, sports, running, and meditation can be helpful. If none of this helps, ask your doctor for advice.
French researchers recently discovered when you think intensely for a few hours, your brain gets tired because your brain produces waste materials. During your sleep, your brain gets cleaned up, and to be able to think properly again, sleep is vital.
For people who start worrying in bed, it's good to know in the late evening your brain gets into relax-modus. You produce melatonin, and your system is preparing to turn down for a good night of sleep. Trying to solve problems or worry when you lie in your bed is a waste of important sleeping time because your brain is not capable to solve them in this relax-modus. The next day you have much better options to solve them with a clear head after a good sleep.
During REM sleep, your brain is in full motion and very active. What causes this? When you sleep well, you feel recharged, and you can handle everything again. Are our brains during REM sleep in contact with energy, from which we charge ourselves? If so, where does this energy that activates our brains come from? From the cosmos? Is the source of this energy the core of the earth? Or does increased brain activity arise differently? Or Is it completely controlled by hormones?

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Meditation
When monks meditate, high brain activity is measured. Research shows that the brains of monks who meditate daily are better developed and therefore function optimally. When we sleep or meditate, our body is relaxed and at rest, and our brain is more active than when we are moving. High brain activity seems to make our brains function better afterwards. The brain recharges during REM sleep and during meditation, as it were. Is this comparable to our mobile phones that we upload with new power to function again? Or is that too simplistic a view?
Mindfulness
Increased brain activity clearly appears beneficial for brains. This may also explain the positive effect of mindfulness therapy, which is mainly aimed at relaxation, meditation and living in the moment. Mindfulness is valuable in recovery from depression, but you can also feel better and happier with mindfulness when you are in good health. Does electroconvulsive therapy and medication also result in increased brain activity or activation of the brain and therefore contribute to healing from depression?
EMDR
A therapy that is successfully used in cases of trauma is EMDR therapy. EMDR was discovered and developed by psychologist Francine Shapiro in 1989. She discovered during a walk outside that the fast-moving leaves of the trees that she followed with her eyes caused her to experience her problems as less severe. This experience has led her to develop EMDR therapy that works as follows: with your eyes, you follow a light, sound or finger that moves quickly. This makes your eyes move quickly, and at the same time, you think about the trauma. EMDR removes blockages so that the body is able to heal, and new connections are made in the brain. Sometimes a single treatment can have such an effect that the sharp edges of the trauma are removed and the brain recovers. The effect of EMDR lasts longer than the treatment on-site. After treatment with EMDR, people go through varying emotions that are experienced quite intensely. You can experience sadness one hour, anger the next, and intense tiredness the next. The result of EMDR therapy, the 'reprogramming' of the brain and the establishment of new connections in the brain, is achieved through the activation of the brain through the eyes.
REM sleep, meditation, mindfulness and EMDR therapy all have in common that they increase brain activity. Is the effect of increased brain activity that new connections are made in the brain or that damaged connections are repaired? Could we find a way to induce REM sleep for people with sleep problems and depression? Investigating whether and how our brains recharge during our sleep and meditation. Are we in contact with an energy source outside our body, or are we increasing brain activity by resting and relaxing? Or is it an interplay of 'substances' and hormones in our brain that determine and control activity? Or do all these different elements play a role together?
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