We all are bound to have negative thoughts but thinking or dwelling on them never solves a thing. We have all these negative events from our past, failed experiences, fears, disappointments and traumas which tend to make us feel inferior and make us doubt what we are capable of.
In essence, you will never know how far you can go in life without trying and just taking a step. I would like to introduce you to the topic of today- Reticular Activating System. This topic is particularly interesting because It’s something that happens every single day. You will be amazed at what it entails, how powerful it is and how you can use it to your advantage.
What is the Reticular Activating System?
The reticular activating system (RAS), also called the Ascending Arousal System or the Reticular Cortex is a network of neurons located in the brain stem that projects anteriorly to the hypothalamus to mediate behaviour, as well as both posteriorly to the thalamus and directly to the cortex for activation of awake, desynchronized cortical EEG patterns.
In simple terms, the reticular activating system (RAS) is like the brain’s filter—it regulates wakefulness and attention, and filters sensory information to help you stay alert, focused and conscious.
The Reticular formation is a region present inside the medulla that contains a network of nerve fibres.
While it may be seen as a fairly small part of your brain, it plays a very vital role in the sensory information you perceive daily. This is because the Reticular Activating System, also known as the “gatekeeper”, conveniently selects information that gets into our conscious mind
Oftentimes, it is compared to a filter or a nightclub bouncer that works for your brain. It makes sure your brain doesn’t have to deal with more information than it can handle. Thus, it plays a very important role in one’s process of gathering information.
The reticular formation has two systems which include:
The Ascending Reticular activating system(ARAS): The ARAS is part of the reticular formation, which consists of a network of neurons in the central portion or core of the brainstem from the medulla through the pons and midbrain and into the diencephalon. It is a network of neurons in the brainstem that helps regulate the wakefulness and alertness of an individual and controls the overall activity of the brain. It is also responsible for presenting other information to the brain such as respiration rate, cough response, cardiac rhythm, and mastication (chewing).
Descending Reticular Activating System (DRS): It brings messages to and from the motor neurons of the spinal cord, the reticulospinal tracts. These tracts are the major descending pathways from the reticular formation and act on many levels of the spinal cord to coordinate movements and autonomic functions. The descending reticular formation affects your posture and autonomic nervous system functioning.
It’s funny how a very minute part of our medulla can affect us to the point of affecting our overall performance as individuals. Let’s discover how this works and how we can use it to our advantage.
How does the Reticular Activating System function?
The Reticular Activating System (RAS) is a network of neurons in the brainstem that plays a crucial role in regulating arousal, attention, consciousness and sleep-wake transition. The reticular activating system helps filter and prioritise sensory information, allowing the brain to focus on relevant stimuli while ignoring non-essential ones.
What makes this even more interesting is the fact that the RAS isn’t controlled by anyone else other than you- it works and breathes with what you feed it, helping you see what you want to see. Let’s take a simple illustration of a Computer. A computer only gives results of the instructions which had formerly been imputed into it. So also does the RAS, it only functions according to the instructions you give it and looks tirelessly for reasons to back your claim.
Have you ever wondered why you seem to get even more clumsy, or you can tune out a crowd full of talking people but immediately hear your name when you are being called, well that’s if you are. That’s the RAS in action. This is why it is imperative to be careful of what we prioritise mostly, be it positive or negative. This is because the RAS filters your world through the parameters you give it. Hence, declaring repeatedly pejorative and disparaging statements about yourself will do more harm than good.
5 Effective Ways To Use The Reticular Activating System
To enhance the effectiveness of the RAS, here are five steps:
1. Set Clear Goals: This is most likely the most important of the various steps. When your goals are clearly set and effectively defined, you begin to work in line with them, causing the RAS to keep visualising them, thereby, presenting the opportunities to achieve them.
Think and dream big but also ensure that your goals are SMART and achievable. Setting clear goals also entails prioritising those goals. Constantly thinking about them, ways they can be achieved and what to do when they are achieved, doing this aids in providing a specific target for the RAS.
2. Visualization: A wise man once said, “The mind is everything, what you think you become“. Visualisation is another way to make good use of the RAS. Constant visualisation practice is a powerful tool for the human mind that engages brain regions involved in perception, attention, memory, and motor planning and can effectively reprogram our subconscious mind. Our brain has an in-built negativity bias which is formulated to help us to be more acutely aware of danger. This makes us doubt our abilities which prevents us from achieving our goals and using our potential to the fullest. We must all learn not to place our focus on negative beliefs about ourselves and grow beyond past failures and experiences.
3. Positive Affirmations: Making positive affirmations about ourselves helps in programming and refocusing it. When you repeat positive affirmations consistently, it sends optimistic messages to your subconscious mind. The RAS then filters information that aligns with your affirmation.
In essence, it helps you without knowing the resources, opportunities and situations that align with your affirmations.
4. Learn Everyday: Always ensure you introduce the RAS to new experiences and new information every day. This is to ensure you keep it engaged and responsive.
5. Develop Healthy Habits: Carrying out healthy habits consistently helps to protect our mental health and creates a well-structured environment for the RAS, helping it to work effectively.
Developing healthy habits also ensures doing away with people who aren’t helping you mentally, emotionally, morally, etc. Surround yourself with people who have something positive to offer. Your health is everything, you must prioritise it and find ways to protect your mental health.
Conclusion
The RAS is a mind game and the earlier you figure this out, the better. But it doesn’t just stop there because there is still a lot of work that needs to be done, especially from you. The constant reinforcement and activation of your RAS to ensure it works for you only occurs when you give it the right instructions because your RAS is the filter in which you see the world.
So I ask you, what are the beliefs or instructions you have been feeding your RAS with? This isn’t going to work, I can’t make it – well, you most probably won’t. Do not clog your life with negative or failed experiences. Learn to think positively and believe in yourself, this will help to activate your RAS to work for you.
You have the ability to see everything around you in a good light- if you choose to.
