The Melting Pot #4: Neuroscience, Negotiation, Finance, Psychology, and more
Here we are for another entry in the Melting Pot series. Grab your preferred beverage and without further ado let’s go through the new items!
The Anterior Mid-Cingulate Cortex brain region
The anterior Mid-Cingulate Cortex (aMCC) receives inputs and outputs from various brain parts, such as the dopamine and the motor systems, and essentially works like a neural hub.
The key bit is it increases in size when we take on difficult tasks on a consistent basis, like diets and exercise. However, it can also quickly shrink when we stop those behaviours. Neuroscientists call this plasticity, i.e., the ability for a brain region to grow and adapt.
It has been shown in scientific tests that a larger aMCC leads to a higher proclivity to take on challenging tasks and withstand hardships in life — in other words we almost have a physical manifestation in the brain of our will to face challenges.
One last interesting fact is that the aMCC will only grow with activity if you really don’t enjoy doing it — following the previous examples, if you enjoy going to the gym then exercise per se won’t increase your aMCC; but if you don’t like to run and still do then that will contribute to aMCC growth.
References:
David Goggins: How to Build Immense Inner Strength
“When you teach you get to learn twice”
This thesis by Jim Kwik has shaped much of my university years and early career. If you’re looking to further cement a piece of knowledge then go teach it to someone else. The time and effort you need to spend in not just the teaching but also the preparation will physically arrange the knowledge in your head so it sticks.
Kwik Brain: Learn ANYTHING Faster (Episode 1) | Jim Kwik
Glucose & Fructose
Within the chemistry of sugar, or as you might also know it sucrose, it is broken down into glucose and fructose in our digestion.
Glucose is the primary source of energy for most cells in the body. Your body can also make glucose from other sources, such as proteins or fats, if needed. When consumed in excess, the body can mostly autoregulate the glucose levels, namely by converting it to fat or glycogen. In other words, you can think of glucose as essential fuel for the body and it will produce its own glucose when not consumed from food or store it in the body to spend later when consumed in excess.
On the other hand, fructose is metabolised primarily by the liver. That means it will not lead to the same feeling of satiety, at least in lower quantity. Moreover, the liver can only handle a small amount of fructose and when it is overloaded it can lead to negative health consequences, namely fatty liver disease and diabetes.
All in all, it is a good idea to reduce the amount of sugar or sucrose consumed. The body will be able to come up with its required glucose from other sources, and the reduction in sucrose intake will be a direct reduction in fructose that can lead to health problems.
For reference, the upper limit of daily recommended values for sucrose are:
- Adults: around 24 grams (about 6 teaspoons)
- Children: around 4 grams
References:
The Glucose Expert: The Only Proven Way To Lose Weight Fast! Calorie Counting Is A Load of BS
Limbic friction
This is a term coined by Andrew Huberman to represent the mental and physical effort needed to overcome the resistance between our current state and a desired state or action.
This is the energy required to push through feelings of anxiety, procrastination, or fatigue to initiate or maintain a new behavior or habit.
To help overcome it, you can identify situations and/or emotions that increase friction to avoid them, manage stress levels, and break down objectives into small pieces to alleviate resistance.
References:
Neuroscientist: THIS Is How You Stay Motivated FOREVER | Andrew Huberman
The Science of Making & Breaking Habits
Why cofee is called Java
Coffee is called “java” because of the island of Java in Indonesia. In the 17th century, the Dutch colonized Java and established coffee plantations there. The coffee grown on Java was highly sought after and became a major export. As a result, the term “java” became synonymous with coffee in general.
References:
P.S. this topic popped in my mind and I asked Google’s Gemini. The following references were provided in the answer
