run

Running is like a drug. I have always thought that running clears out all the trash that accumulates in your brain; inviting you to stay in a house of nirvana. I was wrong. The brain makes use of neurofeedback to channel its attention towards the most immediate and acute source of pain (the discomfort of running). So what running actually does is to dump a bigger load of trash (pain) into your backyard, deceiving your brain and making you forget momentarily the smaller pile.

So is there a better way to manage pain?

Yes, at least I got the impression after reading My Pain, My Brain on NY Times. Now I know there is actually a pain modulation circuit. I will not summarize the whole text here. But I will include some of the author's revelations.

1. The basis: The pain-modulatory system is triggered by belief. The brain will shut down pain if it believes it has been given pain relief, even when it hasn't (the placebo effect), and it will augment pain if it believes you are being hurt, even if you aren't (the nocebo effect).

2. The methodology. During my next Decrease Pain interval, instead of trying to picture a vacation, I imagined myself as a martyr, lucidly reciting Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death while being burned at the stake. The pain remained quiet. Feel that sensation, but tell yourself that it is just a completely harmless, short-term tactile sensation. Pilgrims and devotees all around the world choose to inflict pain upon themselves during sacred rites — from being nailed to crosses to dangling from hooks. For them, pain is an occasion for euphoria, not dysphoria.

3. The rationale: This points shows that with training, pain can be controlled and regulated. "I believe the technique may make lasting changes because the brain is a machine designed to learn," deCharms says. The brain is soft-wired (plastic) rather than hard-wired: whenever you learn something new, new neural connections are believed to form and old, unused ones to wither away. (Researchers refer to this as activity-dependent neuroplasticity.) In other words, if you actively engage a certain brain region, you can alter it.

4. The Result: The results of the scan, Mackey showed me, revealed significant brain control. A week later, I was scanned again, this time in the offices of Omneuron. I could feel that it was easier to control my rACC with less reliance on elaborate fantasy; I was interacting more directly with my brain.

I could not agree less. I was feeling angry lately, but no longer because I have learned to believe in people.