Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can change your brain.
That’s right.
According to Andrew Newberg, M.D. and Mark Robert Waldman, words can literally change your brain. In their book, “Words Can Change Your Brain,” they write: “a single word has the power to influence the expression of genes that regulate physical and emotional stress.” Positive words, like “peace” and “love” can alter the expression of genes, strengthening areas in our front lobes and promoting the cognitive functioning of the brain. They propel the motivational centers of the brain into action, explain the authors, and build resiliency.
Conversely, hostile language can disrupt specific genes that play a key part in the production of neurochemicals that protect us from stress. Humans are hardwired to worry—part of our primalbrains protecting us from threats to our survival—so our thoughts naturally go here first. However, a single negative word can increase the activity in our amygdala (fear center of the brain) and release dozens of stress-producing hormones and neurotransmitters, which in turn interrupt the functioning of our brains, especially with regard to logic, reason, and language. “Angry words send alarm messages through the brain, and they partially shut down the logic-and-reasoning centers located in the frontal lobes,” write Newberg and Waldman.
According to the authors, using the right words can transform our reality:
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