The relationship between the hippocampus and self-esteem is very interesting, this brain structure has a direct connection with the sense of identity, with our memories and with the internal narrative that we create based on how we look and talk. it’s low and we have traumatic memories, the hippocampus will be even smaller.
It is safe to say that in terms of neurology, size matters, especially if we refer to a very specific structure: the hippocampus. Giulio Cesare Aranzio, an anatomist of the sixteenth century, called this small region because he perceives a certain similarity to the hippocampus.
- However.
- For nearly four centuries.
- No one has been able to guess the relevance of such a structure in our lives.
- At first.
- They linked it to the sense of smell.
- And it was not until the early twentieth century that Vladimir Bezhterev discovered his intimate relationship with memory and.
- Above all.
- With our emotional world.
On the other hand, throughout the 21st century, researchers such as Tim Keller of the Carnegie Mellon University of Psychology in Pittsburgh have discovered that some people have a much larger hippocampus than others, such as taxi drivers, specialists in spatial memory.
Another group of people with this neurological characteristic are people who play sports and who also use an optimistic approach, in addition to having a strong self-esteem. Interesting fact that we will go deeper later.
“Low self-esteem is like driving a car with both hands broken. “Maxwell Maltz.
The relationship between the hippocampus and self-esteem is explained above all by its link to a second structure: the amygdala, this small region of the limbic system is best known for awakening feelings of fear, alarm and threat. Amygdala is not permanently activated and works properly, the hippocampus performs its tasks normally.
Often, when we try to define happiness simply, we always resort to the same phrase: “Happiness is the absence of fear. “We cannot ignore how devastating this emotion can be for our lives and also for the brain. Anxiety, a constant sense of threat and the experience of feeling powerless create a very harmful neurochemistry that most affects the hippocampus itself.
At the end of 2018, Renming University in China conducted an interesting study to understand the relationship between the hippocampus and self-esteem, although more data has already been worked on, researchers wanted more data, for this they performed an MRI tests on a large sample of the population:
The relationship between the hippocampus and self-esteem is therefore obvious, there is a neural circuit that exhibits greater connectivity each time and when the person exercises certain basic dimensions in daily life:
But what happens when we have low self-esteem ?, well, it must be said that this dimension usually varies a lot over time, there are times when we feel safer, more confident, days when we appreciate each other much more. depending on the factors around us, this positive vision may be weakened.
All this will not affect our seahorse. In fact, this structure is only damaged when a person suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and has low chronic self-esteem, this is very common, for example, in people who have been abused in childhood.
In such situations, these evoked memories integrated into the hippocampus always have a negative and painful appearance, that feeling of insecurity and negative self-image activates our amygdala, fear reappears. There is a sense of vigilance, of constant danger, cortisol gradually appears in the blood, which can eventually damage the hippocampus, reducing its size.
This is undoubtedly a very striking fact that should make us think
At this point, we can ask ourselves the same question: how to strengthen the relationship between the hippocampus and self-esteem ?, how to take care of this neurological area and this psychological construction?
There is a fact that we must take into account, it is not enough to take care of our identity, our own image or our own image, self-esteem also refers to our internal narrative, which is how we speak. this with compassion, affection and respect will allow us to further strengthen this muscle of our personality.
On the other hand, there are certain aspects that need to be taken into account. The good health of the hippocampus, as well as memory and emotions, also depend on our health, so trying to keep stress under control will help us directly.
Establishing moments of physical and especially mental rest are sensational strategies for daily practice, let’s start generating changes to improve well-being.