Why do we all need silence

In this article I will tell you about one thing, which is nowadays more and more rare and inaccessible. Each person experiences in her great need, but it gets less and less. We are talking about the silence.

Most modern people have completely adapted to the fact that we are constantly surrounded by a variety of sounds and noises. Music, crowd noise, car horns, the roar of airplanes flying perceived so natural that in rare moments of silence seems as if something is lacking.

In fact, the constant presence in the zone of action of various noises may have a negative impact on our health. The World Health Organization in 2011 even published report, Which refers to noise pollution plague of our century.

Let's spend a little experiment. Now try to remember how much time you spend each day in silence. I am sure that you hardly naskrebote least half an hour without music, talk, Podcasts, TV, and other nonsense, which we usually hammered his brain. This means that you are depriving yourself of your own hands all the benefits that silence gives the human brain.

Silence relieves stress and tension

Even in the XIX century, some doctors, for example, Florence Nightingale (Florence Nightingale), noticed that the constant noise has a very negative impact on patients' healing process. It turns out that noise pollution can increase blood pressure and cause heart attacks and worsen the overall health. according to the above Exploration, Loud noise increases the level of stress by activating the amygdala of the brain and the body release cortisol. other study It showed that silence has the opposite effect, promoting the normalization of pressure and improve blood circulation in the brain cortex.

Silence fills our mental resources

As a rule, we are constantly surrounded by some sound stimuli to which our brains are forced to react. A steady stream of nerve impulses creates a significant burden to the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for decision-making. As a result, our resources are being depleted and it becomes difficult to concentrate, solve problems and come up with new ideas. In this case, we can help out the silence. according to the theory recovery of attention, The brain is able to restore its original cognitive resources. It's enough to stay in an environment with a low level of external stimuli, that is, just sit in silence with eyes closed.

Silence puts the brain into "dive mode"

In a recent studyDedicated to "dive mode" brain revealed that it is inextricably linked with meditation, fantasy, imagination and creativity of the person. This mode of operation of the brain is focused on the internal flow of thoughts, emotions, memories and ideas. It was he who helps us to benefit from previous experience, to empathize with others, to be more creative and try different mental and emotional states. To move you want to stop the impact of external distractions in this mode. Silence is one of the prerequisites for this.

Silence can regenerate brain cells

Silence can actually promote the growth efficiency of the brain. In 2013 it was published studyIn which it examined the effects on the brain of mice of various kinds of noise and silence. Scientists have found that only two hours a day of silence give rise to new cells in the hippocampus - a key area of ​​the brain associated with learning, memory and emotions. As a conclusion, the researchers hypothesized that silence can be used for the treatment of depression and Alzheimer's disease, are associated with a reduction in the rate of regeneration of neurons in the hippocampus.

And you spend time in silence, at least occasionally?