do not be naive. Addiction is a consequence of a structural weakness in the gray matter. Equally, salvation can be found in a structural strengthening in that same gray matter. Here's what you need to know: the prefrontal cortex is perched right at the brain's front lines. It is your mental Command Center. It orchestrates the highest level of cognitive functions, making it more than a series of just reactions internally. Whether calculating your next big move, weighing up a tough decision, or untangling a delicate problem, it all falls under the jurisdiction of your prefrontal cortex. It is the master behind all your higher executive functions, sifting through conflicting thoughts, choosing wisely between the moral right and immoral wrong, predicting future outcomes based on your current systems of navigating life's waters. Follows logic that the antithesis of this then is the limbic system, often dubbed as the emotional or the lizard brain. It is one of the brain's oldest and most primal areas, responsible for the raw and unfiltered aspects of our human experience. The ancient network includes

Heavy Hitters like the hippocampus, the amygdala, the hypothalamus, and the master regulator of emotions, behaviors, motivations, and long-term memory. Suffice it to say, it is brain autopilot managing those gut-level instincts like the fight, flight, or freeze response that have kept us alive for millennia. Unlike the prefrontal cortex, which deliberately calculates, the limbic system runs on a kind of instinct, hanging on our moods, our innate urges, with swift automatic precision, making it essential processing for regulating both emotions and our memory. In many ways, you can refer to this as our human survival reflex center, which in many ways is outdated. It holds far too much power amongst the majority of us. You see the simple power struggle, therefore, in the delineation and the elucidation of these particular facets. These are physical structures in the brain that can likewise be weakened or strengthened, predicated on their innovation or lack of innovation. It is not too difficult to discern through the corpus of scientific literature, the anecdotes, the personal

experience that the limbic system in the majority of the demographic reigns supreme comparatively to the prefrontal. Should the itch to eat or engage in sexual activity arise, it is usually through the innovation of the limbic system, not the former prefrontal. Which is to say that often we find ourselves in a state of reactivity and not control. Man's disillusionment with himself, should he fall victim to addiction to adult material, lies in the simple strengthening of the muscles that allow him to keep what is described as top-down control of the human system. Here is how we retain that control in moments where the limbic system threatens to overwhelm and encumber us. The first must be increased time spent in presence. All of these are important, none so much as exercising the present moment consciousness. Meditation practitioners, particularly, have been found to demonstrate that their thickness in the cortical part of the prefrontal cortex is higher than the average man or woman, which suggests that regular meditation

practice can actually lead to structural changes, literal structural changes in the brain, enhancing areas which are attributed to attention and sensory processing. Do not mistake what I'm saying or undervaluing it. Your brain can literally go through hypertrophy like a muscle can, though perhaps not as visually rewarding as 3 months of consistent training your biceps. I can promise emotional and spiritual satisfaction when you begin to accrue more quality from your life because you don't behave like an impulsive prepubescent child addicted to sweets and chocolate. Secondly, presence training has been known to enhance the resting state function connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and other regions of the brain, more particularly the posterior cingulate cortex. And this has improved connectivity related to things like cognition and emotional regulation. You know, this is a skill that you develop specifically through periods of meditation where you begin to note emotional states and link them with interoceptive bodily activities. For example, I feel a vasodilation effect.

in my aorta when I experience fear, but the antithesis is when I experience love. I find my venne Cava is subject to that same Vaso dilation. Colloquially, you might begin to describe this as becoming more Adept in recognizing moments of emotional reactivity. You begin to quell them. You begin to keep your composure. You resolve your stoic temperament. Meditation equally gives your brain a breath of fresh air, quite literally. It boosts what is known as cerebral oxygenation and fires up the prefrontal cortex, the brain's Executive Suite, leading to sharper focus and better cognitive control. Additionally, I think there's a lot of Merit here to mention breath work practices like PR pranama Nish shoda kumaka or breath retention. This will train your body's ability to become more efficient with both oxygen and CO2, allowing you to become a paragon of discipline and control. The second point that will elucidate your prefrontal cortex development is extended exercise.

duration regular physical exercise, particularly when you're performing them for longer periods, such as 1 hour plus, has been associated with increased cortical thickness in the prefrontal cortex area. A study found that exercise, especially when combined with higher levels of education, was linked to greater levels of cortical thickness in the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex, which is involved with executive functions, working memory, problem-solving, and planning. The final point I would make is more a subtraction than it is an addition; it is reducing task switching. So, studies indicate that switching between tasks relies on the prefrontal cortex and can be affected by fatigue, especially when the task requires significant cognitive flexibility and executive control functions, which are associated with some of the features that the prefrontal cortex has dominion over. This was something that I was destroying and absolutely obliterating in my 20s to my detriment, alongside things like multitasking. There is a famous saying, actually, to do two

things at once is to do neither. You know, watching TV, scrolling on your phone, or walking or working consequentially with the former points are going to demand a high level of cognitive RAM, and you will find that a big impairment in your ability to see off temptation from your limbic system should the moment arise. As I preface at the start of this video, do not be naive in thinking that any addiction doesn't involve some kind of measurable weakness, some kind of quantifiable weakness. And equally, don't keep that same naivety that defeating it doesn't require some kind of measurable and quantifiable development of strength. You have the keys; use them. Facts, no theories. Speak soon.

Don't quit p***. Strengthen your prefrontal cortex.

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