Benefiting at work from Brain Based Insights

You hear them fume at meetings, read any newspaper and see them rage, or just turn your computer on to stumble upon their seethe daily.

I’m referring to the common rant.

Full of emotion, people rage bitterly about human resourse leaders, or attack accountants who shrug off any accountability. We all seethe at one time or another, and often for good reason. My question is ... With what result?

Spurred on by angry outbursts, we tend to join the fray at lively blogs where a rant can be fueled further into rousing political discussions,  where abuse or violence is sometimes expressed in more extreme cases, or where thoughtful tone gives ways to shouts that defend one position and demean the other. Have you ever considered the rant, though, from the brain’s perspective.

While you’re like not surprised at the inflammatory emotions, negativity or attacks of the rant, you may be surprised that from the brain’s perspective, a serious rant ….

1. Wires dendrite brain cells in the human brain for further rants, and against finding alternatives or seeking solutions. Through one rant the brain records more patterns to rant ... as the way to engage others in social settings.

2. Decreases serotonin a chemical hormone in the brain, which opens opportunities, prevents Hebbian learning freeze, increases well being and raises or sustains healthy a immune system.

3. Increases cortisol, a hormone which shuts down learning, adds stress and can lead to serious anxiety or even depression. Simply put, rants can corral the mind into negatives and redirect brainpower from energy needed to emphasize possibilities into a hopelessness for a better way.

4. Creates new neuron pathways for more and more outbursts …  and focuses the brain’s energy for more synapses and adrenalines that surge through the brain with dangerous results.

5. Leads you and others to narrow responses and can actually reshape the physical formation of the prefrontal cortex where your conscious reasoning center is rendered inactive and can begin to atrophy.

Some argue that we need to rant, and certainly history shows famous tirades from the Speakers Corner in Hyde Park to  Op-Ed complaints in the New York Times.  Perhaps some people who enjoy a rant have yet to experience how our brains can create a state of flow or peak performance that avoid traffic jams that rants can cause in the brain to keep people overwhelmed and precludes the high performance mind from its own mental cache – when you need it most.

Any options? Check out the brain's response to venting, because we've been told in error it's better to vent to get things out. Research may show us the dangers but many people still see venting as the only alternative to rage. What do you say?

How about a surefire shot at increasing your IQ for constructive alternatives?  Did you know you can  rewire your brain to sprint past common rants sometimes associated with reptilian brain behavior - by becoming part of a creative solution – one that’s typically missed during a rant?

What do you think?