Rainy Brain, Sunny Brain, Elaine Fox
Rainy Brain, Sunny Brain, Elaine Fox
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Rainy Brain, Sunny Brain
How to Retrain Your Brain to Overcome Pessimism and Achieve a More Positive Outlook

Author: Elaine Fox

Narrator: Karen Saltus

Unabridged: 7 hr 25 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ascent Audio

Published: 06/05/2012


Synopsis

Are you optimistic or pessimistic? Glass half-full or half-empty? Do you look on the bright side or turn towards the dark? These are easy questions for most of us to answer, because our personality types are hard-wired into our brains. As pioneering psychologist and neuroscientist Elaine Fox has discovered, our outlook on life reflects our primal inclination to seek pleasure or avoid danger—inclinations that, in many people, are healthily balanced. But when our “fear brain” or “pleasure brain” is too strong, the results can be disastrous, as those of us suffering from debilitating shyness, addiction, depression, or anxiety know all too well.

Luckily, anyone suffering from these afflictions has reason to hope. Stunning breakthroughs in neuroscience show that our brains are more malleable than we ever imagined. In Rainy Brain, Sunny Brain, Fox describes a range of techniques—from traditional cognitive behavioral therapy to innovative cognitive-retraining exercises—that can actually alter our brains’ circuitry, strengthening specific thought processes by exercising the neural systems that control them. The implications are enormous: lifelong pessimists can train themselves to think positively and find happiness, while pleasure-seekers inclined toward risky or destructive behavior can take control of their lives.

Drawing on her own cutting-edge research, Fox shows how we can retrain our brains to brighten our lives and learn to flourish. With keen insights into how genes, life experiences and cognitive processes interleave together to make us who we are, Rainy Brain, Sunny Brain revolutionizes our basic concept of individuality. We learn that we can influence our own personalities, and that our lives are only as “sunny” or as “rainy” as we allow them to be.

About Elaine Fox

Elaine Fox, PhD is a psychologist, author, and the Head of the School of Psychology at the University of Adelaide, Australia. Prior to her move to Australia, Dr. Fox founded and directed the Oxford Centre for Emotions & Affective Neuroscience (OCEAN) at the University of Oxford, a renowned research center exploring the nature of resilience and mental wellbeing. A cognitive psychologist by training, she is a leading mental health researcher combining genetics, psychology, and neuroscience in her work. Dr. Fox also runs Oxford Elite Performance, a consulting group bringing cutting-edge science and psychology to those at the top levels of sport, business, and the military. Her 2012 book Rainy Brain, Sunny Brain is an international bestseller.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kinga

Reading this book made me realise I find myself in a strange position of being an optimistic depressive. I believe things will turn out ok; I just often don’t seem to care that they will. My anxiety also doesn’t seem to be of the pessimistic variety – I’m equally afraid of things going my way and no......more

Goodreads review by Mark

This is another of the new surge of psychology and brain science books being cranked out by the scientists themselves. In this case, Elaine Fox, an Oxford University researcher, travels some well-worn ground on earlier experiments showing how our emotional center, the amygdala, and our control areas......more

Goodreads review by Patrick

This book has basically reassured what I’ve thought about maintaining a positive mindset. The first half was more theory and practical application - the second half was a little too sciency for me. In short, keeping a positive mindset generally allows your outcomes to be positive while if you mainta......more