High Stress long hours, bad diet, and substance abuse are facts of life in the workplace and all decrease brain integration.
Recent brain research documents how the business environment can take a terrible toll on the brain of both the executive and employee and what can be done to reverse this damage and develop the total potential of the brain.
Stressful experiences lead to dysfunctions of the pre-frontal cortex, critical areas regulating judgment, planning, decision making, moral reasoning, and sense of self.
During stress the frontal executive functioning areas of the brain are disengaged, and subcortical fight or flight areas are engaged as shown in the diagram.
Over time, this response can lead to impulsive, short-sighted, even violent behavior; increased anxiety, depression, alcohol and drug abuse, learning disorders, and increased stress-related diseases.
Now see what happens to the brain during the practice of meditation. For example, the frontal executive functioning areas are engaged, and the subcortical fight or flight areas are disengaged. Herbert Benson, researcher.
