T’is the season for your brain to activate its holiday network. You think it’s the stores’ fault for blurring any semblance of respectful time between sitting down to eat turkey and racing off to Black Friday and temporarily collapsing after Cyber Monday.
Come Tuesday, until the silver ball drops at midnight New Year’s Eve, your brain’s holiday network is alive. It makes no difference if you can’t stand the sound of another cheery jingle, fear a UPS delivery of another fruit cake, or are appalled at the trending fashion of ugly Christmas sweaters, your brain is primed.
According to Dr. Bryan Haddock, a medical physicist and his team at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, they have identified a holiday network in the brain. Unexpectedly, while conducting migraine research, healthy subjects when shown “… warm and fuzzy Christmas-themed photos ” had corresponding brain activity recorded by fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imagery).
The Holiday Network
Basically, your holiday network is composed of the
“… the occipital lobe, which is associated with vision;
the primary and premotor cortex, associated with movement; and
the bilateral primary somatosensory cortex, associated with the sense of touch.”
Of course, who’s brain can resist Santa Claus in his red suit, prancing reindeer and, and a white fluffy beard to tug at?
The Larger Holiday Network
But, there are other things turning on the brain’s holiday network. Author, Jacqueline Howard reports other brain studies where there’s activity related to:
- Charitable giving and receiving: the mesolimbic reward system
- Gratitude: the anterior cingulate cortex and the medial prefrontal cortex
- Stress: the hippocampus activated by an enzymatic trigger
- Sugar: the cerebral cortex and its reward mechanism
- SAD (seasonal affect disorder), the effects of the serotonin transporter protein
Why There’s a Holiday Network
While science may know what parts of your brain are being turned on this holiday season, they don’t know the how or the why.
Your brain has a holiday network that's been waiting all year for this. Click To TweetI’d like to suggest it’s because your brain has been patiently waiting all year long.
It’s faithfully performed its duties, it’s been asked to function with little sleep, and it’s bored.
It’s ready for —
excitement, joy, hope, magic, celebration,
sharing and caring, holiday music, festivities with family and friends,
good food and fine wine, a time for old memories and the time to create new ones,
candlelight, first snowfall, bows, ribbons and ornaments, trees that are pretty regardless if they are real or fake,
fresh baked cookies, beautifully decorated gifts, and reverent worship.
Yes, there’s stress, feelings of loss, and sadness, but there is also wonderment that each new season brings.
Let your brain’s holiday network experience every wonderful moment.
Resource: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/holiday-season-brain_us_5672f4e9e4b0dfd4bcc0e9ec
Image: Pixabay 2910468
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Time to put some jingle into those jangled nerves!
In spite of loss I’ve experienced around the holidays, I still like the December Holidays. Maybe the neural network for the holidays is laid down during the primary formation of the personality which I think happens before age four.
Nancy, that’s a good point about early personality development. I think it starts with birthday celebrations and continues with all the other holidays. As they continue from an early age, they act to anchor events in our mind as memories and mark the passage of time. Other tragic events, especially those around a major holiday, get linked with their own emotions and memories. There’s also the psychological effect of having a reason to celebrate during the long, cold winters and the idea of a new year and a new beginning.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Joyce. The idea that our brain has been waiting all year for its holiday network makes such sense. And as soon as the festivities are over, we humans go right into goal setting, decluttering, and organizing. Seems like the holiday network does its job of allowing our brains to reset and then reboot in the new year.
Yes, a reboot definitely sets us on a new course after the holidays. Interestingly, your comment triggered another thought. It’s almost a 90 day part of the year devoted to the idea of gratitude, renewal, and love. It starts with Thanksgiving, continues through the December holidays, the celebration of New Year’s, and right up to Valentine’s Day. No wonder emotions run high and low during this time.
This holiday network sounds exciting. Too bad that holidays is only felt everyday in the North Pole! Anyway, for now, what we can look forward is once a year holiday celebration.
I think it’s a good thing that its a once a year celebration. We need a break from all those jingle bells. But, we can make the spirit of the holiday part of our everyday lives.
This is absolutely the time to understand how our brain responds to stimuli around us. The barometer must be our feelings. Leading us into understanding how our brain/body responds is helpful. Being a HSP (Highly Sensitive Person) I need to be take it all in stride and a little at a time. Setting boundaries around how much we can engage in during the holidays is critical. Funny how I am giving clients permission to step away and breath as well and drink, dance, eat and be merry!
I’m not sure why, but it seems that every year the activities of the holidays become a little more intense. Thanks Candess for raising awareness about those who are highly sensitive and how challenging it is to encounter all the stimulation. I remember one year, going to the NYC Macy’s store where I had shopped for years, and abruptly leaving because the crowds and the noise became too much. It’s good advice we all should be following to set holiday boundaries.
Yes I am going to be giving my brain a break- read some epic novels and spend time away from home and computer at my brothers xxx
Sounds like a wonderful time to take the time to replenish your mind and soul.
The Holiday season is a time I tend to anticipate all year long. I guess it is built into my brain from all the past years..especially as a child. It was always touted as special, magical and full of surprises. For me the magic has never died. Yes it does invoke some stress as well but mostly this is a joyful time of year
Oh! the magical times of childhood memories of Christmas. I still can remember the toy catalogs that came in the mail. I would spend hours figuring out what Santa should bring me. Funny, I never got the items I picked out, but Santa always came through. No matter how old you are, it’s wonderful to relive those memories of wonderment.
There is a certain magic about the November – December holidays. However, I had no clue that our brains were wired into that magic! There’s so much science can’t explain, and I like your reasons why. 😉 I struggle with grey days and cold weather, so I welcome the holidays as a distraction. We don’t exchange gifts anymore, so that relieves some of the stress once associated with the holidays. What I did notice is a major letdown after the holidays. (I wonder if that’s been studied?) Fascinating stuff, thank you!
The holidays have seemed to get busier and a bigger to-do every year. I think it’s nice to step back and decrease the stress but still be able to enjoy yourselves. Yes, after the holidays it can be quite a letdown. I think it’s one reason the stores start to push Valentine’s Day so shortly after New Year’s!
Yes, we are primed and ready for the holidays – especially if that means “excitement, joy, hope, magic, celebration.” It is so needed, especially in the darkest part of the year. May your holiday be full of those beautiful things, Joyce!
Thank you, Reba. It’s been a real adjustment from moving from NY with all that snow to Arizona where the holiday season can be 78 degrees. But everyone brings the holiday spirit with them. Even the cactus are decorated with lights to celebrate.