tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/lab-rat-62359/articleslab rat – The Conversation2019-05-12T16:45:39Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1131522019-05-12T16:45:39Z2019-05-12T16:45:39ZThe sounds of orgasms: A study on the sex life of rats informs human sexual behaviour<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273872/original/file-20190510-183089-1qzy2lb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=355%2C0%2C3290%2C1885&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rats have similar physiological reactions to humans when it comes to orgasms.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Rats have similar physiological reactions to humans when it comes to sex, and perhaps also to orgasm. In fact, a good deal of what we know about what happens in our brains during orgasm comes from the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15287157">laboratory rat</a>. </p>
<p>While much of what happens in the brain during <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11930-008-0025-6">human orgasm remains a mystery</a>, decades of research by scientists has helped <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5087696/">unravel some of the secrets</a>.</p>
<p>One of the main reason why some aspects of research have advanced so much so far is the use of animals in research. In our lab, lead by James Pfaus at the Centro De Investigaciones Cerebrales and Concordia University, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5087696/">animals are helping us</a> understand what orgasms are all about. </p>
<p>By conducting this research we hope to better understand human sexual interactions and the reason we might be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-012-9935-5">attracted to certain people, scents and places</a>. How do we get aroused? And how can this happen without us noticing it? Do the sounds we make during sex mean anything?</p>
<h2>What is an orgasm?</h2>
<p>The biggest difficulty in studying orgasms in animals is the subjective nature of the experience. Clearly, we can’t ask animals if they had an orgasm after a certain amount or type of sexual stimulation. </p>
<p>When it comes to orgasms, it’s simple: you know it when you have one.</p>
<p>But how might we scientifically define an orgasm? Most definitions refer to the physiological sensations and emotional attributes that converge to a period of relaxation and ecstasy. More specifically, an orgasm can be defined as the release of the “sexual tension” from the build-up of stimulation before orgasm. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263173/original/file-20190311-86682-1axtvel.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263173/original/file-20190311-86682-1axtvel.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263173/original/file-20190311-86682-1axtvel.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=192&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263173/original/file-20190311-86682-1axtvel.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=192&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263173/original/file-20190311-86682-1axtvel.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=192&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263173/original/file-20190311-86682-1axtvel.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=241&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263173/original/file-20190311-86682-1axtvel.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=241&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263173/original/file-20190311-86682-1axtvel.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=241&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A representation of ultrasonic vocalizations of a female in response to clitoral stimulation. The different patterns shown are associated with positive affects.</span>
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<p>It’s a frequent mistake to assume that orgasms coincide with ejaculation. The two coincide rather consistently in men (although some men do not ejaculate during orgasm). <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jsm.12799">This is not typically the case with women</a>, though some women “ejaculate” during orgasm.</p>
<p>To date, however, there is only one way to know if someone is having an orgasm: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-006-9112-9">pelvic muscle contractions</a>. </p>
<p>But subjectivity matters. One person’s best orgasm might be just average to another person. Also, the stimulation required to induce an orgasm can vary hugely across people. </p>
<p>This makes controlled experiments difficult to conduct in humans. Genetic and environmental differences likely cause a lot of variation in perceiving and reporting sexual stimulation, and the tipping point at which this “sexual tension” is released. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00224490209552129">Standardized questionnaires</a> aiming to assess the intensity and frequency of orgasm carry the same issues that plague all self-reporting studies, such as lying or the lack of proper understanding of your own subjective states.</p>
<p>Currently, with only one orgasm marker, no imaging technique to reliably uncover the biochemical mechanisms and the ever-changing territory of the subjective experiences on the orgasm research in humans, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14681994.2011.647904">we neuroscientists hit a roadblock</a>.</p>
<h2>Animal models</h2>
<p>In males of different species, ejaculation is synonymous for sexual climax. Likewise, their female counterparts can experience rhythmic uterine and muscle contractions or tension. While we cannot assume animals experience orgasms, perhaps we could triangulate whether the animal physiologically had an one. </p>
<p>What if we could find analogues of behaviours that occur in both humans and animals as a method to infer orgasms in animals?</p>
<p>Researchers who are trying to bridge this gap between humans and animals have suggested three broad characteristics of human orgasm that we could <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5087696/">assess in animals and compare to humans:</a></p>
<p>»<strong>Physiological changes</strong> </p>
<p>»<strong>Short-term behaviours</strong></p>
<p>»<strong>Long-term behaviours</strong> </p>
<p>So, how can these criteria be applied to rats?</p>
<h2>Rats and humans are alike in some ways</h2>
<p><strong><em>Physiological changes: fight, flight or fornicate</em></strong></p>
<p>Both humans and rats experience many physiological changes before, during and after sex. In response, our bodies prepare to fight, flight or fornicate. </p>
<p>Rats have similar physiological reactions to humans when it comes to orgasms. When the stimulation is sexual, physiologically speaking, humans react pretty much the same way as rats, with increased physiological arousal and blood-flow to the genitalia and muscle contraction. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273870/original/file-20190510-183086-d81az3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273870/original/file-20190510-183086-d81az3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273870/original/file-20190510-183086-d81az3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273870/original/file-20190510-183086-d81az3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273870/original/file-20190510-183086-d81az3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273870/original/file-20190510-183086-d81az3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273870/original/file-20190510-183086-d81az3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A rat in the lab at Concordia University.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christine Gerson</span></span>
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</figure>
<p><strong><em>Short-term behaviours: Females take the lead</em></strong></p>
<p>In the rat’s sexual world, females proactively solicit males. The female chooses which male to attract and when. She actively encourages the male to chase her by running towards the male and then abruptly turning and running away. She arches her back when the male touches her flanks to invite consummation. </p>
<p>This cycle repeats until the male ejaculates. Sometimes males fall asleep afterwards. To reignite the game, the female hops around the male showing her interest to resume. </p>
<p>Throughout this sex marathon, both male and female rats emit sounds or “calls” in a sound range we cannot hear. Using special recording equipment, we can record and analyze these calls in their frequency range. </p>
<p>Male calls are long and distinctive when they ejaculate; this connects the male calls to ejaculation, and possibly orgasms. Female calls are different: they are more varied and come at different times. Nothing in the calls indicate a connection to orgasms.</p>
<p><strong><em>Long-term changes</em>: Sexual patterns</strong></p>
<p>Male and female rats possess learning mechanisms. For instance, after repetitive sexual experiences with partners bearing an almond odor, both male and female rats tend to prefer almond-smelling rats over other potential sexual partners.</p>
<p>Rats and other animals are aware of sexual stimuli directed at them and behave in ways to maximize reward. </p>
<p>But once we jump into the world of subjective experiences, scientists navigate through somewhat dodgy waters. </p>
<h2>Lessons for humans from animals</h2>
<p>During an orgasm, a highly rewarding state, humans are likely to associate the environment as positive; we take cues from our environment and surrounding features and are susceptible to having our orgasms associated with those feelings. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-012-9935-5">We quickly ingest the information around us that are present when we have sex and an orgasm: the places, people and other contextual cues</a>.</p>
<p>For example, when you smell someone’s perfume that is familiar or sexually reminiscent, it will quickly trigger your memories and get you to “rev up,” sometimes without you even noticing.</p>
<p>These learning mechanisms can shape our <a href="https://theconversation.com/whos-your-ideal-mate-your-first-love-may-have-something-to-do-with-it-91068">sexual preferences for partners</a>, places and <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-you-a-pervert-challenging-the-boundaries-of-sex-82564">objects</a>, influencing with whom and where we choose to have sex. </p>
<p>An animal model of orgasm may allow scientists to explore the reasons why some people have difficulties achieving orgasm, and identify potentially behavioural and pharmacological interventions that may alleviate these difficulties. At a more fundamental level, understanding animal orgasms can shine some light on what happens in the human brain during an orgasm.</p>
<p>With our current research techniques we will never truly be able to objectively assess a subjective state in a rat. But by combining the study of physiological responses, short-term changes in sexual motivation and states indicative of sexual reward, as well as stable long-term sexual preferences, we are able to find some clues related to orgasms, and we are starting to note these sexual patterns in rats.</p>
<p>And that is a good start!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113152/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>How do we get get aroused? And how can this happen without noticing it? Do the sounds we make during sex mean anything? Could rats help us figure these questions out?Gonzalo R. Quintana Zunino, Dr. Behavioral Neuroscience and Public Scholar, Concordia UniversityConall Eoghan Mac Cionnaith, Ph.D Candidate, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1069772018-12-28T13:14:45Z2018-12-28T13:14:45ZA neuroscientist’s tips for a new year tuneup for your brain<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251892/original/file-20181221-103634-10slobm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=689%2C168%2C4918%2C3564&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pop metaphorical 'brain bubbles' by grounding your brain in the here and now.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/flutes-champagne-holiday-settingcloseup-88987024">Sofiaworld/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Unlike the effervescent bubbles that stream to the top of champagne flutes on New Year’s Eve, what I call brain bubbles are far from celebratory. These bubbles are metaphorical rather than physical, and they distort the stream of reality processed by our brains. Like a real estate bubble that reflects an inflated perception of home values, a brain bubble twists your perception of the world around you. And when either of these bubbles bursts, the results can be devastating.</p>
<p>Problems arise when distorted information results in flawed decisions that negatively affect our lives. <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=elVzfF0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">As a neuroscientist</a> who’s <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/306554/the-lab-rat-chronicles-by-kelly-lambert/9780399536632">worked closely with laboratory rats</a> for over three decades, I’ve gleaned from them a few good strategies people can use to burst brain bubbles and enhance well-being in the year ahead. Rat brains are small but have the same general areas and neurochemicals we have, so these rodents are valuable laboratory models for human behavior.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251826/original/file-20181220-103670-88djd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251826/original/file-20181220-103670-88djd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251826/original/file-20181220-103670-88djd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251826/original/file-20181220-103670-88djd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251826/original/file-20181220-103670-88djd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251826/original/file-20181220-103670-88djd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251826/original/file-20181220-103670-88djd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251826/original/file-20181220-103670-88djd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Plugging in can mean you’re untethered from reality.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/2Cp3pbnUAKQ">Christian Fregnan/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<h2>Getting back down to Earth</h2>
<p>Psychoactive drug use, aspects of privilege and poverty, psychiatric illness and, in some cases, religious and political beliefs can all create brain bubbles. Even daily excursions to the virtual world of apps, social media and cybergames sever our connections to concrete aspects of the real world and let distorting brain bubbles develop.</p>
<p>This is especially problematic for children’s brains that are still developing. An ongoing National Institutes of Health study suggests that two hours of screen time each day <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/groundbreaking-study-examines-effects-of-screen-time-on-kids-60-minutes/">distorts language and thinking abilities</a> in these junior digital users.</p>
<p>As our attention is hijacked by the closest screen while a Roomba cleans the floor and Alexa orders pizza to be delivered to the front door, what’s left for our brains to do? Sure, we likely face cognitive challenges at work each day, but human brains are built for sophisticated and complex activity – even though we’re often lulled into mindlessly scrolling through a virtual feed. In fact, a brain area often associated with reward and pleasure, the nucleus accumbens, is smaller in people who spend more time <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2017.04.035">checking Facebook posts on their smartphones</a>.</p>
<p>Obviously, some of these distortion-generating circumstances are out of our control. But a heightened awareness of our authentic world can move us toward a more reality-based, <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300207309/well-grounded">well-grounded brain</a> – free of those brain bubbles.</p>
<p>The rats that my students and I train in our studies to physically work for coveted treats (Froot Loops cereal is a favorite) develop healthier emotional responses than the animals we call “trust-fund rats” because they’re merely given their sweet rewards. The <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00124">harder-working rats</a> have healthier stress hormone levels and engage in more sophisticated search strategies when they encounter a surprise challenge – such as when we move their expected Froot Loop rewards. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3109/10253890.2011.623739">They’re more persistent</a> as they spend time trying to solve the problem, rather than quickly giving up and walking away.</p>
<p>So whereas one popular New Year’s resolution involves saving up to build financial capital, we can keep our brains in peak condition for the year ahead by building up experiential capital. Real-world experiences represent the best currency for our brain circuits, providing neural security for our future decisions in the coming year. Spending time <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613499592">engaged in hobbies</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03354620">such as knitting</a> or gardening, for example, with complex movements and rich sensory experiences, provides a valuable yield for our brains.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251827/original/file-20181220-103643-1nrudy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251827/original/file-20181220-103643-1nrudy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251827/original/file-20181220-103643-1nrudy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251827/original/file-20181220-103643-1nrudy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251827/original/file-20181220-103643-1nrudy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251827/original/file-20181220-103643-1nrudy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251827/original/file-20181220-103643-1nrudy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251827/original/file-20181220-103643-1nrudy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Looking forward to it can be just as good as the experience.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/BRBjShcA8D4">Brooke Lark/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<h2>Savor the anticipation</h2>
<p>When the calendar flips to a new year, it’s common to reflect on the past and look to the future. According to the neuroscience literature, this anticipation could be one of the most pleasurable – and healthy – tasks our brains engage in all year long.</p>
<p>Dopamine is the poster neurotransmitter for the cognitive endeavor of anticipating. Traditionally known for its role in pleasure, this neurochemical system can be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4652-15.2016">hijacked by psychoactive drugs such as cocaine</a> that serve as potent creators of reality-distorting brain bubbles.</p>
<p>Rodent research provides fascinating insights here, however. Researchers use sophisticated techniques to measure dopamine activity as rats press laboratory levers that reward them with drugs. Surprisingly, this neurochemical system surges when the animal merely <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01476">anticipates taking the drug</a> as it approaches the drug lever, as well as when the drug is actually infused into the brain.</p>
<p>Anticipating a new start and a new year may be a scaled-down version of approaching the experimental lever for a hit of cocaine – a legal and healthy dopamine dose in this case. You can try to keep this emotional high going through the year by amping up the anticipation in your daily life: Focus more on delayed than immediate gratification. Buying and planning for experiences is more <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/10/buy-experiences/381132/">satisfying than material purchases</a>. Mapping out a menu, shopping for ingredients and cooking a meal provides more dopamine time – and brain-engaging behaviors – than nuking a frozen meal and eating it three minutes later.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251843/original/file-20181220-103670-1gklqyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251843/original/file-20181220-103670-1gklqyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251843/original/file-20181220-103670-1gklqyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251843/original/file-20181220-103670-1gklqyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251843/original/file-20181220-103670-1gklqyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251843/original/file-20181220-103670-1gklqyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251843/original/file-20181220-103670-1gklqyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251843/original/file-20181220-103670-1gklqyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rats in the lab suggest active minds are better able to overcome stress and surprise adversity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kelly Lambert</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<h2>Seize the reins of your stress</h2>
<p>Another way to enhance our well-being through the year is to gain some sense of control over the stress in our lives. Real-time and authentic interactions with the environment can help us gain a sense of control over the inevitable uncertainty and unpredictability we face each day.</p>
<p>I see evidence of this in the lab. When I furnish my rats’ housing with natural elements such as dirt, hollowed-out logs and rocks, they’re busier and less likely to sit around the edge of the cage than animals in boring empty cages. After building their experiential capital, these enriched rats have healthier stress and resilience hormone profiles and engage in bolder behaviors, such as diving to the bottom of swim tanks instead of staying on the top doing their best impression of a dog paddle. As I watch these animals in various tasks, they appear to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jne.12383">gaining control over the challenges</a> they encounter.</p>
<p>Perhaps this is why retired U.S. four-star admiral William McRaven emphasized simple life strategies in his 2014 University of Texas <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6OoCaGsz94">commencement speech</a>, declaring that “if you want to change your life and maybe the world, start off by making your bed.” Then, even if you have a terrible day, you will come home to a made bed, evidence that you had a positive impact in at least one area of your life that day.</p>
<p>And, considering that <a href="https://www.livescience.com/48122-cerebellum-makes-humans-special.html">over 70 percent of the brain’s nerve cells</a> are in the cerebellum, which is involved in movement coordination, any activity that gets us up and moving – whether household chores or hitting the gym – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/8305287">engages the brain in healthy ways</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251830/original/file-20181220-103657-oat7rl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251830/original/file-20181220-103657-oat7rl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251830/original/file-20181220-103657-oat7rl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251830/original/file-20181220-103657-oat7rl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251830/original/file-20181220-103657-oat7rl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251830/original/file-20181220-103657-oat7rl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251830/original/file-20181220-103657-oat7rl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251830/original/file-20181220-103657-oat7rl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Taking time to connect in the kitchen is one good way to ground your brain.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/lZwLB8OLs1Y">Amber Maxwell Boydell/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Starting your brain’s year off right</h2>
<p>Lessons from the laboratory rats also provide potential explanations for some of my own personal favorite New Year’s Day traditions – including the mundane tasks of cooking a familiar southern meal, cleaning my closet and watching HGTV’s Dream House giveaway with my family while we all declare what we would do if we won the beautiful house. Move in? Sell it? Make it an Airbnb rental?</p>
<p>Thinking like a neuroscientist, I know that cooking and cleaning are active endeavors with clear outcomes that allow me to gain a small sense of control, decreasing stress hormones. Playfully anticipating winning a new home taps into that feel-good dopamine system as we contemplate more serious options for the new year. And, perhaps the best neurochemical hit of all is the spike in oxytocin, the neurochemical involved in positive social connections, as I spend time with loved ones.</p>
<p>Although it’s common to turn to pharmaceuticals to lift our emotions and improve our mental health, the emotional benefits of many New Year’s traditions remind me that basic responses can serve as what I call “behaviorceuticals” that enhance well-being. New Year’s resolutions may take the form of New Year’s Rx’s as we consider healthy lifestyle choices for the coming year: Shrink those distorting brain bubbles and build realistic connections to enrich life’s simple pleasures.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106977/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kelly Lambert does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Decades of work with lab rats lead to suggestions on how to stay grounded in the here and now, with benefits for brain health.Kelly Lambert, Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience, University of RichmondLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.