Stress and Lawyering: Use Neural Self-Hacking to Develop a Plan for
Cognitive Wellness
Debra Austin, J.D., Ph.D.
Lawyering Process Professor
University of Denver Sturm College of Law
daustin@law.du.edu
www.debraaustin.info (Research Page)
Download Article:
Killing Them Softly: Neuroscience Reveals How Brain Cells Die from Law School Stress and
How Neural Self-Hacking can Optimize Cognitive Performance, 59 LOY. L. REV. (forthcoming
Winter 2014) at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2227155.
Table of Contents
The Brain …………………………………………………………………………….
The Neurobiology of Cognition (Learning, Thinking & Decision-Making) …….
Your Brain on Emotion and Brain-Body Equilibrium …………………………….
Neural Self-Hacking: The Recommendations ……………………………………
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The Brain
Brain Facts
 3 lbs
 Size of a coconut
 Walnut shaped
 Consistency of Jell-O, chilled butter or tofu
 Evolved from the top of the spine up
 Requires
o 25% of calories consumed
o 20% of oxygen breathed
o 25% of body’s total blood flow
Primitive Brain
 Brain Stem, Hindbrain, or Reptilian Brain
 Governs basic motor functions: Breathing, digestion, heartbeat, sleeping, balance
 Key Parts: brain stem, midbrain, cerebellum
 Engaged when struggling for survival
Emotional Brain
 Inner Brain or Limbic System
 Manages circadian rhythm, hunger, sex hormones, addiction, and emotions
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Key Parts (in pairs, one in each hemisphere): amygdala (panic button), hippocampus
(memory processor), hypothalamus, thalamus, nucleus accumbens, and ventral
tegmental
Engaged when experiencing an emotional response or creating new memories
Thinking Brain
 Cerebral Cortex
o If flattened, the size of a baby blanket
 Key Parts
o Two hemispheres linked by the corpus callosum
o Four major lobes
 Frontal lobe (language, reasoning, movement)
 Occipital lobe (vision)
 Temporal lobe (hearing)
 Parietal Lobe(taste, temperature, touch)
o Outer layer is gray matter - densely-packed neurons
o Inner layer is white matter
 Engaged when using reasoning and logic to conduct higher-order thinking
Brain Cells
 Neurons
 Communication nerve cells
 Shaped like trees
 Information travels from the branches (dendrites) down the trunk (axon) and across a
tiny gap (synapse)to the next group of dendrites
 Chemicals (neurotransmitters) carry the information over the synaptic gap
 Electrical-Chemical-Electrical
Over 100 Neurotransmitters
 Dopamine (motivation, pleasure, meaning);
 Endorphins (reduce pain, increase pleasure);
 Serotonin (mood, anxiety, sleep);
 Oxytocin (bonding);
 Acetylcholine (attentiveness, memory);
 Glutamate (learning, memory);
 Gamma-aminobutyric acid or GABA (slows & balances system; induces calm)
 Norepinephrine (mood, arousal, attention, perception, motivation).
Your Connectome
 You are your synapses
 Your brain is a work in progress
 Neurons that fire together wire together
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The Neurobiology of Cognition (Learning, Thinking & Decision-Making)
Cognition
 Latin for the faculty of knowing
 Three Stages
o Perceive Stimuli
o Extract key information to hold in memory
o Generate thoughts and actions to achieve goals
Nondeclarative Memories
 Cannot be experienced in conscious awareness
 Procedural Memories
o Stored in cerebellum (Primitive Brain)
o Skiing, dancing, driving
 Fear Memories
o Stored in amygdala (Emotional Brain)
o Flashbacks and phobias
Declarative Memories
 Require conscious thought to be recalled
 Stored in both Emotional and Thinking Brain
 Episodic Memories - Autobiographical personal experiences
 Semantic Memories - Learned Knowledge: facts, concepts & words
Parts of the Brain Involved in Learning
 Thinking Brain
o Frontal Lobe
 language, reasoning, movement
o Occipital Lobe
 vision
o Temporal Lobe
 hearing
o Parietal Lobe
 taste, temperature, touch
 Emotional Brain
o Thalamus
o Amygdala
o Hippocampus
Laying Down a Memory
 Encoding: processing sensory information
o Thinking Brain
 Information enters via the senses as memory traces
o Emotional Brain
 Thalamus focuses attention, screens information, and sends it to the
Hippocampus
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 Analytical Route
 Amygdala checks information for emotional content
 Quick and Dirty Route
Consolidation: a Memory Trace is converted to Long-Term Memory and becomes
stable in the brain
Thinking & Emotional Brain Memory Consolidation Loop
 Consolidation
o Information travels a neural loop
 from Thinking Brain (sensory lobe of origin) to Emotional Brain Hippocampus & repeats
o During Sleep
o Takes 2-10 years
o Once memory is fully consolidated, the Hippocampus lets go of its relationship
with the Thinking Brain
 Consolidated memories are distributed throughout the Thinking Brain in your
Connectome
Your Brain on Emotion and Brain-Body Equilibrium
Emotion
 An unconscious and automatic response to an emotional stimulus that results in
physical changes
o increased heart rate & blood pressure
o Sweaty palms
o Blushing
 Six Primary Emotions: Fear, anger, sadness, disgust, surprise & joy
Feelings
 Emotions are experienced as feelings
 Feelings are the conscious perceptions of physical emotional responses
Stress
 4 of the 6 primary emotions
o fear, anger, sadness and/or disgust
 Acute Stress
o Short-lived
o Focus on novel intellectual challenge or resources for a significant physical
challenge
 Chronic Stress
o Long-lasting
o Troubled intimate relationship, financial struggles, job loss, or treatment for a lifethreatening illness
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Autonomic Nervous System
 Sympathetic Nervous System – Fight-or-Flight
o SNS: arousal, defense, escape
 Parasympathetic Nervous System – Rest-and-Digest
o PNS: nourishment, procreation, brain-body equilibrium
 ANS Signals Endocrine System
o Secretion & regulation of hormones in bloodstream
Endocrine System
 Main Stress Hormones: Adrenalin & Glucocorticoids
 Major Glucocorticoid is Cortisol
Lighting Up the SNS Fight-or-Flight System
 Glucocorticoids tell the Autonomic System to
o Elevate heart rate & blood pressure
o Mobilize energy
o Slow digestion
o Suppress immune system
 Evolutionary Purpose
o quick response to ensure survival
SNS Fight-or-Flight Overdrive
 Physical
o Impaired Immune Response
o Increased Appetite & Food Cravings
o Increased Body Fat
o Increased PMS & Menopause Symptoms
o Decreased Muscle Mass, Bone Density & Libido
 Emotional
o Increased Mood Swings, Irritability & Anger
o Increased Anxiety & Depression
Your Brain on Glucocorticoids
 Suppression of Neurogenesis (birth of new brain cells) in Hippocampus
 Damage to Hippocampus can create cycle where greater amounts of Glucocorticoids
are released, producing additional Hippocampal atrophy
 Hippocampal Neurodegeneration & Cell Death
Impact of Stress on Cogntion
 Deterioration in memory, concentration, problem-solving, math performance, language
processing, curiosity, creativity, and motivation
 Hippocampi shrink in size
o Depression
o Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
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o Repeated exposure to jet lag
Chilling Out the PNS Rest-and-Digest System
 Conserves energy
 Promotes digestion and nutrient absorption
 Slows heart rate
 Lowers blood pressure
 Curbs the release of adrenaline and glucocorticoids
 Produces feelings of calm & contentment
Neural Self-Hacking
 Neuroplasticity
o allows every human brain to become what is demanded of it
 David Shenk - The Genius in All of Us: Why Everything You’ve Been Told
about Genetics, Talent, and IQ is Wrong
 Boost and Heal your Brain
o Reverse Hippocampal Damage
o Strengthen the Hippocampus
o Increase Neurogenesis
 Promote Memory Consolidation
 Activate your PNS
Neural Self-Hacking: The Recommendations
Exercise
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Enhances blood and oxygen flow
o Improves blood flow deeper into body tissues
o Increases blood volume in Hippocampus which maintains its health and function
o Enhances distribution of food and elimination of waste
o The Brain Requires
 25% of calories consumed
 20% of oxygen breathed
 25% of body’s total blood flow
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Increases and balances neurotransmitters: serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine &
GABA
o Dopamine (motivation, pleasure, meaning);
o Serotonin (mood, anxiety, sleep);
o Norepinephrine (mood, arousal, attention, perception, motivation).
o GABA (slows & balances system; induces calm)
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Stimulates production of Brain Derived Neurotropic Factor (BDNF)
o Protein that helps
 Create new neurons
 Protect existing neurons
 Encourage synapses formation
o BDNF production enhanced by
 Exercise
 Calorie Reduction
 Intellectual Stimulation
 Curcumin (active ingredient in spice Turmeric)
 Omega-3 Fat DHA
Sleep
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90 Minutes to 2 Hours to Stage 5 REM Sleep
Hippocampus & Amygdala very active during REM
Communication between neurons at rate equal to or higher than when awake
Memory consolidation genes activated during REM, which helps formation of new
neural connections
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Sleep Research
o Subjects awakened during REM lost ability to learn new information
o Loss of 1 night of sleep = 30% cognitive decline
o Loss of 2 nights of sleep = 60% cognitive decline
o Less than 6 hours of sleep for 5 nights in a row = 60% cognitive decline
o Sleep Deprivation
 Diminishes attention, working memory, executive function, quantitative
skills, logical reasoning ability, mood, and fine & gross motor control
 Accelerates Aging Process
 Impairs ability to use fuel/food creating risk of diabetes and obesity
o Naps
 Naps improve cognition
 26-minute nap improved NASA pilot performance by 34%
 45-minute nap improved cognition for at least 6 hours
Mindfulness
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Being fully aware of something and paying attention to the moment, with acceptance
and without judgment or resistance
“Just Drive”
o SNS lights up when driver cuts you off
o Stay calm and keep senses focused on driving
o Feel steering wheel, hear engine, see road ahead, focus on destination
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Taught at Google: Search Inside Yourself
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The Research: Mindfulness
o Improves information processing and decision-making
o Increases grey matter and connections between brain regions
o Improves immune function
o Decreases distraction
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Support for Mindfulness
o Establish deliberate intention to be mindful at the beginning of any activity
o At meals, reflect on where your food came from
o Focus on breath while doing daily activities
o Brain uses 20% of your oxygen and deep breaths increase oxygen saturation in
your blood
o Try to get enough sleep
o Slow down
o Talk less
o Do one thing at a time
o Simplify your life – give up lesser pleasures for greater ones
Meditation
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Tips from Google’s Chade-Meng Tan
Easy Way
o Bring gentle and consistent attention to your breath for 2 minutes, and when your
attention wanders, bring it back
Easier Way
o Sit without an agenda for 2 minutes, shift from doing to being
Like weight training, growth in meditation comes from resistance
When your mind wanders and you bring it back, your attention grows stronger
Lesson: there is no such thing as a bad meditation
The Research: Meditation
o Enhances productivity, learning and health
o Increases grey matter in thinking & emotional brains
o Improves attention, mood, compassion
o Strengthens immune system
o Decreases stress-related cortisol
o Improves disease & disorders
o Cardiovascular, Asthma, Type II Diabetes, PMS, chronic pain, insomnia, anxiety
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Yoga
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Engages both PNS and SNS
o Cycling through positions
 Headstands light up SNS & shoulder stands cool PNS
o Restores balance
Increases GABA
o Neurotransmitter that induces calm & improves mood and anxiety
o Depression linked to low GABA
o Most experienced practitioners and those who practice most have greatest
increase in GABA after yoga practice
The Research
o Reduces metabolic rate (energy spent on bodily housekeeping)
 2006 study – over 100 participants, ave. age 35 years & practiced 6
months
 Average of 13% reduction
 Men: 8%
 Women: 18%
o Along with aerobic exercise,
 trains brain that signs of SNS (increased respiration & heart rate) can be a
beneficial activity
 Thinking brain can co-opt connectome built by activity and use it for
learning
Relaxation Tips
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Activate PNS on demand
o Relax your tongue and jaw
o Touch your lips with your knuckle or finger
o Open your lips slightly
o Several long exhalations
 Inhale 3 beats, exhale 6 beats
o For a minute or so, long & equal inhalations and exhalations
 Inhale 5 beats, exhale 5 beats
Gratitude Practice
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Mindful awareness of positive events
o Notice rewarding aspects of any environment to rewire connectome toward
positive bias
o Focus on reward increases dopamine
Gratitude Journal
o Things you are thankful for
o People who have helped you
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The Research
o Over 100 studies, people who practice gratitude
 Have more positive emotions
 Accomplish more personal goals
 Sleep better & feel more alert, enthusiastic, and energetic
 Have lower blood pressure, and live 7-9 years longer
Protect Your Brain
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Avoid Toxins
o Alcohol works by depriving brain cells of oxygen
Minimize Inflammation
o Your immune system sends out cytokines when dealing with infection or
allergies. Cytokines linger in the brain causing low mood and depression.
o Take steps to minimize colds and flu
o Avoid allergens (gluten, dairy, etc)
Antidepressants
o Increase the rate of neurogenesis
o Includes SSRIs (selective serotonin uptake inhibitors)
o Research shows exercise outperforms antidepressants
Tips for Getting Started
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Start with aerobic exercise to increase fitness level
o How much: the more fit the body, the greater the cognitive benefit
o Will help your sleep
Give yourself permission to make incremental progress
Track your activities
o Journal, Chart, or Table
NIH BMI Calculator - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/BMI/bmicalc.htm
Add contemplative practice
Suggested Reading
General Brain –based Recommendations for Thriving
 John Medina, Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and
School (2008)
Contemplative Practices
 Rick Hanson,
o Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love and
Wisdom (2009)
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o Just One Thing: Developing a Buddha Brain One Simple Practice at a Time
(2011)
Chade-Meg Tan, Search Inside Yourself: Increase Productivity, Creativity & Happiness
(2013)
Don Miguel Ruiz: The Four Agreements (1997)
Nerdy Brain Science on Exercise and Yoga
 John J Ratey, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain (2008)
 William J. Broad, The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards (2012)
Eating Fewer Animal Proteins
 Rip Esselstyn
o The Engine 2 Diet (2009)
o My Beef With Meat (2013)
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