Sunday, August 18, 2013

Scientific Proof: Smiling And Feeling Great Improves Your Health!


The smile, which is the world's most famous nonverbal facial expression, usually is a sign that a person is feeling good or happy.  It is very valuable in interpersonal communications. It can show that you are approaching your immediate interaction peacefully with other people.

Dr. Guillaume Duchenne, a French neurologist who lived in the 1800s, found that the extreme enjoyment smile, which uses more of the face than just a simple smile, is really a happiness reflex. There is a distinct neural pathway (pyramidal) that carries those impulses to the brain. So joyful smiling, which is linked to happiness, can produce positive physiological effects.

If two people both smile at each other, there is a double positive effect for each person. The person smiling directly experiences the release of pleasure-related neurotransmitters that are made by the body. Also when a person receives a smile from another, especially with eye contact, there are additional signals sent to the brain that end up cascading more pleasure-related neurotransmitters.

The neurotransmitters involved may include members of the endorphin group (including enkephlins), acetylcholine, norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, and glutamate. These neurotransmitters may be released in varying amounts by the neurons associated with the duty of initiating joyful psychoactivation in the cerebrum. Also, different areas of the cortical and subcortical parts of the brain are involved, not just one fixed area. Use Bing or Google to learn more about the brain’s pleasure centers.

The raphe nucleus and the nucleus accumbens are two regions of the brain that have been implicated as being associated with causing the brain to undergo mood changes.

So, it seems that if a person learns how to develop a disposition to being happy, with the addition of the qualities of optimism, hopefulness, cheerfulness and feelings of blessedness, then, one can turn heavy burdens of stress into enjoyable eustress.

The organ systems of our bodies function better when we are not under debilitating emotional distress, and can function more optimally when we approach our daily lives with a great mindset. Having a positive point of view, mental peaking, self-actualizing, engaging in rewarding activities, like helping your fellow man, and being happy for no reason at all, will benefit us in the long and short runs. And the Duchenne smile we show across our faces is just a sign that we’ve arrived!

May you have many…high powered, neurotransmitter saturated, sweetness delivered to you… smiles!

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