Scientists have discovered part of the brain that helps us inhibit unwanted thoughts

                   

The brain is most complex organ in the entire cosmos. It has been researched by renowned scientists for ages little is known about the brain, even at present more findings is still ongoing to unravel the mystery of its infinite functions and power.

The irony is we are using the brain to research about the brain. Also, the brain is the wear house of all process and unprocessed thoughts were forgotten memories are buried to be retrieved by the conscious mind.

The Inhibited Thoughts In Our Memories

We are sometimes confronted with reminders of unwanted thoughts -- thoughts about unpleasant memories, images or worries. When this happens, the thought may be retrieved, making us think about it again even though we prefer not to.

While being reminded in this way may not be a problem when our thoughts are positive, if the topic was unpleasant or traumatic, our thoughts may be very negative, worrying or ruminating about what happened, taking us back to the event.

We are sometimes confronted with reminders of unwanted thoughts -- thoughts about unpleasant memories, images or worries. When this happens, the thought may be retrieved, making us think about it again even though we prefer not to.

While being reminded in this way may not be a problem when our thoughts are positive, if the topic was unpleasant or traumatic, our thoughts may be very negative, worrying or ruminating about what happened, taking us back to the event.

"Our ability to control our thoughts is fundamental to our wellbeing," explains Professor Michael Anderson from the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge.

"When this capacity breaks down, it causes some of the most debilitating symptoms of psychiatric diseases: intrusive memories, images, hallucinations, ruminations, and pathological and persistent worries.

These are all key symptoms of mental illnesses such as PTSD, schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety."

Professor Anderson likens our ability to intervene and stop ourselves retrieving particular memories and thoughts to stopping a physical action. "We wouldn't be able to survive without controlling our actions," he says. "We have lots of quick reflexes that are often useful, but we sometimes need to control these actions and stop them from happening.

There must be a similar mechanism for helping us stop unwanted thoughts from occurring."

A region at the front of the brain known as the prefrontal cortex is known to play a key role in controlling our actions and has more recently been shown to play a similarly important role in stopping our thoughts.

The prefrontal cortex acts as a master regulator, controlling other brain regions -- the motor cortex for actions and the hippocampus for memories.