What Happens to Your Body When Your Brain Is Thinking?

Alison Czinkota / Verywell

What happens to your body when you’re thinking?

For this reason, it’s not something that can be clearly described in a flowchart format.

What Is a Thought?

At first glance, you probably think of a thought as something that you tell yourself.

Let’s take a moment and deconstruct that thought to try and figure out exactly what it is.

Or was it triggered by something?

Phew, that’s a lot to think about.

And, depending on who you ask, you will get different answers.

We know this to be true for a number of reasons.

Scientists would argue first that the thought you had was not spontaneous and random.

Instead, your thought was likely a reaction to something around you.

In other cases, thoughts might be triggered bymemories.

Now, when you land that thought, what happens?

are all involved at the same time.

We know that when the brain is making a decision, different neural networks compete with each other.

Eventually, one of the networks becomes activated and produces the desired behavior.

What about the emotional effects of your thought?

We know that your thoughts can influence the neurotransmitters in your brain.

Optimism is linked to better immunity to illness while depressive thinking may be linked to reduced immunity.

It then activates different patterns through waves in the brain through billions of synapses.

How many times have you experienced a shot of adrenaline after having a fearful thought?

Have you ever gone to a job interview or on a first date and felt the same?

Of course, your thoughts don’t arise out of a vacuum.

Once I get going I’m glad I got up early."

Changing environmental triggers can also be helpful.

In addition to traumatic brain injuries, diseases can also have an effect on thinking.

Examples include Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, and stroke.

All of these issues can then affect how a person thinks.

This is the basis of many forms oftalk therapy, such ascognitive-behavioral therapy.

As you build new neural pathways and develop healthier thinking habits, these changes can be long-lasting.

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Does the brain send it messages?

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