the healing role of neural coupling in storytelling

  

 

The motivating principle behind the study and practice of narrative medicine is the conviction that storytelling has the power to heal, not just psychologically and emotionally but physically, as well.

“Dancing, singing, storytelling and silence

are the four universal healing salves.”

~Gabriella Roth~

It is easy enough to understand how an uplifting story can raise one’s spirits. Let’s say you have been diagnosed with cancer. Hearing the stories told by people who have faced the same thing and have healed can offer hope, optimism, and strength for the journey you are about to embark upon. Ok, so you feel better emotionally and psychologically. The question is, does this shift in the psyche translate into physical healing?

Consider the vast literature concerning the mind-body connection. One simple but compelling case in point: the disappearance of warts with self-hypnosis. Pretty straightforward. We are also aware of the accumulating research on neuroplasticity and the effect of meditation and practice on the course of illness. We have learned about the neural connections that modulate the release and function of stress and growth hormones, and how those processes influence our physiology.

“The purpose of storytelling

is not to tell you how to think,

but to give you

questions to think upon.”

~Brandon Sanderson~

And then, there’s this: the demonstration of neural coupling on functional MRIs during storytelling. Researchers scanned the brains of storytellers and their listeners before and during storytelling. While different areas of the brain were active before the story began (maybe the listener had skipped breakfast and was focused on where he would go to pick up lunch, while the storyteller was worried he might leave something out), as the listener became engaged in the story, the scans changed. They came to mirror one another. The same areas of the brain started to light up in both the storyteller and the listener…proof that the person sitting across from you has the power to affect you physically by how he engages with you mentally.

This is no great secret. We have all experienced a racing heart while watching a thriller on TV, or shed a few tears during a sad interlude at the movies. And, who hasn’t lost track of time while reading a good book? Something happened to our bodies while we were engaged with the story.

In the medical setting, the storyteller is the patient. The listener is the physician or provider. Their brains come into synch by virtue of their mutual engagement in the process of obtaining the medical history. Their physiology changes. They become connected.

“There isn’t a stronger

connection between two people

than storytelling.”

~Jimmy Neil Smith~

If a story can bring us to tears…or to laughter…it doesn’t take much to imagine that it can affect our health and wellbeing…whether through a mindful change in our attitude or a beneficial surge in certain hormones.

This is why narrative has a role in the practice of medicine. The patient who is telling his story and the physician who is listening to it are affected not only cognitively, but physically, as well. They are connected.

“Storytelling is the essential

human activity.

The harder the situation,

the more essential it is.”

~Tim O’Brien~

jan

how to wring a little humor out of troubling times

 

~bamboo~

"The human capacity for burden is like bamboo,

far more flexible than you'd believe

at first glance."

~Jodi Picoult~

It shouldn't surprise any of us that people are responding with worry, fear, sorrow, resentment, and anger to the state of our nation, to the daily news, and to the everyday stresses that are mounting in ways we never imagined. People living in fear. Having trouble making ends meet. Losing their jobs, and with them, their income. Their health insurance. Their businesses. Their homes. We are subject to arrogance, dishonesty, cruelty, misogyny, and rampant racism. Not to mention the pervasive problem of sexual abuse. Most of us have had enough.

"There is nothing worse

than thinking you are well enough.

Don't turn your head.

Keep looking at the bandaged place.

That's where the light enters you.

And don't believe for a moment that

you are healing yourself."

~Jelaluddin Rumi~

What might come as a surprise is the fact that some people have found ways to wring humor out of these troubling times. It may seem inappropriate to trivialize the tragedy unfolding around us by making jokes about it, but this is another example of the duality that keeps our heads on straight. Some of us are well, some are ill. Some are scared, others are safe. Some look on the bright side while others are stuck in the dark. 

I had to smile at a few of the posts that have appeared amid all this.

If you're not ready to entertain humor yet, maybe you can appreciate something of beauty or sweetness. 

If it's still too soon for that, you could simply go to the window and watch the clouds scoot across the insanely clear blue sky, or you could toss some corn and apples out to feed the deer, or you could listen to the birds singing their little hearts out. 

If you simply can't muster a smile right now, don't worry. It will come. You will get through this. You'll know it the next time--or the first time, if it hasn't already happened for you--someone or something brings a smile to your lips. 

"It is both a blessing and a curse

to feel everything so very deeply."

~David Jo~

jan

living in a state of perpetual awe

One of perks you enjoy as a physician is that you get to live in a state of perpetual awe. It starts with the first pass of the scalpel on the first day in the anatomy lab. It continues as you tease out every organ, blood vessel, and nerve in the body you've been assigned to dissect. A sense of wonder punches you in the gut the first time you hear a beating human heart and realize your own heart has been pumping steadily and predictably without any effort on your part since before the day you were born. In fact, your heart has been beating, on average, 72 times every minute of your life. This adds up to approximately 100,000 times every day, or 3,600,000 times per year, and depending on how long you live, as many as 2.5 billion times...until the moment it stops.

But then, who's counting?

That, in itself, would be amazing enough, but I learned a few more facts this week that astounded me. Did you know that the human eye can detect a single photon? That the inner ear can detect vibrations less than the diameter of an atom, and it can distinguish sounds that are just ten millionths of a second apart? That the human olfactory system can detect a trillion distinct smells? Did you realize we can detect tactile sensations down to one billionth of a meter? 

Yay, human body!

"There is more wisdom in your body

than in your deepest philosophy."

~Friedrich Nietzsche~

This is how reality manifests on the quantum level. It reminds me once again that every process in the human body is carried out with utmost precision, perfect timing, and uncanny coordination...in ways we are just beginning to appreciate. 

But what if you've never heard of the quantum domain? What difference does it make whether you know this about your Self or not? 

The way I see it, if knowing this brings you a sense of wonder, you might be motivated to take better care of this one amazing Self you live with. Feed it well. Give it some exercise. Let it rest. Avoid poisoning it with chemicals. Encourage it. Love it. 

"Self care is a divine responsibility."

~Danielle LaPorte~

Knowing this about your Self might bring you closer to the perpetual state of awe that I enjoy. And it might affect the way you see everyone else...as something of a mystery. A wonder. A miracle. 

 

"We touch heaven when 

we lay our hand on a human body."

~Novalis~

The fact that the body knows what to do to keep itself healthy is extraordinary. The fact that it knows how to heal itself--to heal a broken bone, to close an open wound, to reanimate a lifeless heart-- is beyond the wildest imagination. The way it accomplishes it is incomprehensible.

Biologists, physicians, philosophers, theologians, and quantum theorists are hard at work trying to figure out what it is that makes us tick...while our bodies are mysteriously, silently, and predictably doing what they do best: making us who we are...beings worthy of reverence, loving-kindness, connection, peace, and joy. 

"Be good to yourself.

If you don't take care of your body,

where will you live?"

~Kobi Yamada~

To this I would add: 

Be kind to everybody.

If you don't take care of them,

how will you live with your Self?

jan

something to laugh about

 

True story.

Yesterday I learned, via Facebook, that an old friend of mine had died. Our friendship dated back to the 1970s when her husband and I were in residency together, when she and I were both pregnant at the same time, and we both chose the same name for our first-born sons. Her son, however, died in a car crash in his twenties. I hadn't seen her for years, but she seemed to be in good health at our last visit together.

I called a mutual friend to confirm the news. Yes, she had passed, the cause of her death apparently some variation on the theme of dementia. We were the same age. 

Surprising. Very sad. A little scary. 

Yesterday's phone call lasted over an hour as we reflected on our shared friendship over the years. And then, the storytelling started. Like the time she handed a waitress her library card instead of her credit card and the hilarity that ensued. This drew forth a few chuckles. And then, more stories. And more laughter.

It occurred to me that this may be a worthy goal in life: to leave people laughing when they remember us. 

Respect and admiration are nice.  Affection is lovely. Sorrow is natural. But laughter! 

"Laughter is the best medicine."

~various attributions~

jan