What you'll learn

Understand the fundamentals of Neuroscience (basic physiology, emotions and cognition)
Understand key Psychology concepts to better understand yourself
Improve your mindset and understand yours and others thought patterns
Understand and manage your behavioural responses (particularly to stress and emotions)

Course content

2 sections • 9 lectures • 57m total length

Meet Dr Beckie1:53
A brief self introduction and welcome to the course. Looking forward to sharing this journey with you!
How can you begin to understand your brain?3:52
We can think of the brain in 3 functional layers;
The Reptilian Brain
The Limbic Brain
The Neocortex

These 3 layers refer to different parts of the brain thought to be associated with different levels of ‘functioning’.

This course is loosely structured around ‘Our 3 Brains’ to provide a framework for understanding.
Neuroanatomy 101 - A quick overview3:03
An introduction to the basics of brain anatomy, diving up the cerebral cortex into the 4 lobes, cerebellum and brainstem and locating key brain structures such as the limbic system. More on these later in the course!
Neuroanatomy 101

The role of your reptilian brain3:31
An introduction to our "Reptilian Brain", the anatomy that it refers to and their primary role in keeping us alive, by controlling our biology to enable our survival instincts.
Find out your stress response!
Your stressed brain & behaviour13:00
The Reptilian Brain, in combination with the Amygdala are responsible for keeping us alive, as they control our biology to enable self-protective responses
However, in response to stress, these brain structures are also trigger our stress response cascade (HPA axis), which usually results in one of 3 classic behavioural stress response strategies:

? Flight stress response
? Fight stress response
? Freeze stress response
The Stress Response Cascade & Behaviours
Paradox of stress: acute vs chronic stress8:32
We will learn why timescales of the stress response is key to the paradox of stress.
Acute stress (short term) can be good for you, helping you to adapt and grow, sharpening cognitive performance etc
But, adaptive stress can become maladaptive overtime - pressure vs performance bell curve.

Chronic stress (long term) ie when stress is consistently impacting your sleep is not good for our health.
It involves a complex chain of events that have a distributed negative impact on health making many diseases and disorders, 2% or 5% worse/more likely.
Find out if you have a type A personality type?
Paradox of stress: the power of your perception8:34
We will learn why our perception or framing is key to understanding the stress paradox.
The brain activation profile is similar in response to something terrifying and something wonderful, hence our stress response is neither good or bad.

Perception determines the valance of the stress response. I.e A racing heart at a fun fair is excitement and a racing heart before a test result is anxiety. Stress is framed according to your perception.
Stress reduction: The lost art of breathing5:11
Stress reduction: The power of the Vagus Nerve9:56

Requirements

An interest in human behaviour
Want to understand your brain better
Open to self insight

Description

Unlock the secrets of your brain and discover how it shapes your stress response.

Dive into the fascinating world of your reptilian brain, understand its role in stress and behavior. Appreciate the mind and body connection and learn practical techniques to manage and reduce stress effectively in daily life. We all know that using logic or deciding not to feel something often fails us, so learn how to harness your own physiology and use it in your favour. By understanding the mind, we can learn to trust the body, read its signals and use them in ways that serve us rather than oppose us. This course combines insightful lectures with interactive assignments and recommendations to help you gain a deeper understanding of your brain and improve your well-being and resilience. No prior science knowledge is needed, the course is accessible and open to all, curiosity and an interest in self improvement are all you need to start with.

Topics covered include; your reptilian brain and the neuroscience of stress, why perception matters, acute vs. chronic stress and harnessing your own physiology to work with you instead of against you.

Join us and take the first step towards mastering your mind!

Who this course is for:

Anyone, no science knowledge is needed

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction3 lectures • 9min

Your Reptilian Brain6 lectures • 49min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: