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YOUR BRAIN IS WIRED TO NOT LIE · Your Daily Dose

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  Speaker 1: Morning everyone and welcome to September 8th. We're already walking
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  Speaker 1: through the month of September. Today we're going to talk
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  Speaker 1: about honesty and how important it is not to lie. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: you think this is just going to be a sermon? No,
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  Speaker 1: this is going to go to science and some new
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  Speaker 1: science when an investigative piece looking at migraines found a
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  Speaker 1: surprising remedy for them. Stay tuned. Hi, and welcome to
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  Speaker 1: Health Talk with Dr. Len, your daily dose. The information
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  Speaker 1: you hear on this show is information that is not
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  Speaker 1: meant to diagnose or treat any disease. Any kind of
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  Speaker 1: complete health conditions must be checked out and discussed with
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  Speaker 1: your primary care physician. Get ready for the good news
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  Speaker 1: of the day. God bless you folks, and here is Dr. Len.
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  Speaker 1: Our daily devotional today comes from the book of Psalms,
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  Speaker 1: chapter 42. Accept each day exactly as it comes to you.
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  Speaker 1: By that I mean not only the circumstances of your day,
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  Speaker 1: but also the condition of your body. Your assignment is
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  Speaker 1: to trust me absolutely, resting in my sovereignty and faithfulness.
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  Speaker 1: On some days your circumstances and your physical condition feel
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  Speaker 1: out of balance. The demands on you seem far greater
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  Speaker 1: than your strength. Days like that present a choice between
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  Speaker 1: two alternatives, giving up or relying on me. Even if
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  Speaker 1: you wrongly choose the first alternative, I will not reject you.
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  Speaker 1: You can turn to me at any point, and I
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  Speaker 1: will help you crawl out of the mire of discouragement.
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  Speaker 1: I will infuse my strength into your movement and moment,
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  Speaker 1: giving you all that you need for this day. Trust
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  Speaker 1: me by relying on my empowering presence. Stay tuned.... 727-916-4215,
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  Speaker 1: the number to reach me off air. Dr. Jonathan Corson
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  Speaker 1: was not only known for his medical expertise... but also
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  Speaker 1: for what somewhat unconventional advice he provided alongside his prescriptions. Recently,
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  Speaker 1: he began sharing with his patients how cultivating virtues such
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  Speaker 1: as gratitude could significantly ease their health problems. This blend
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  Speaker 1: of philosophical guidance with medical practice has earned him both
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  Speaker 1: admiration and skepticism. As he left his office one day,
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  Speaker 1: Corson felt exhausted after a week of nonstop work and
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  Speaker 1: little rest. Grappling with one of his unyielding migraines that
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  Speaker 1: medication seemed unable to touch, he found himself pondering his
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  Speaker 1: own advice. The throbbing pain reminded him of his human frailty,
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  Speaker 1: and that even as a doctor, he was not immune
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  Speaker 1: to illness. This acute discomfort prompted a profound self-reflection unlike
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  Speaker 1: anything he had previously experienced. Corson took great pride in
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  Speaker 1: his ability to listen and offer advice for what went
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  Speaker 1: beyond physical symptoms. daring to delve into moral and ethical
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  Speaker 1: aspects of a patient's lives. But as he reflected, a
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  Speaker 1: nagging question surfaced. Am I practicing what I preach? The
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  Speaker 1: realization hit him hard. Perhaps his migraine was more than
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  Speaker 1: just a physical ailment. Could there be a connection between
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  Speaker 1: his current state and virtues, or lack thereof, he discussed
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  Speaker 1: so often at work. Confronted with continual request and responsibility,
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  Speaker 1: Corson often overlooked the minor details with patients and made
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  Speaker 1: unrealistic promises to the family, or simply told people what
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  Speaker 1: they wanted to hear. Little by little, owing to pressure
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  Speaker 1: to perform, he found that pride, self-interest, and even superiority
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  Speaker 1: toward others prompted him to take shortcuts. Could it be
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  Speaker 1: that honesty is lacking in my life, he wondered. Corson
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  Speaker 1: decided it was time to embark on a personal journey
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  Speaker 1: toward greater honesty, both with himself and others. He began
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  Speaker 1: documenting each time he was dishonest or misleading and would
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  Speaker 1: later reflect on how he could improve. He also dove
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  Speaker 1: into scientific literature on the health benefits of honesty. As
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  Speaker 1: he opened his heart to the transformative work of truth,
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  Speaker 1: Corson discovered a deep sense of well-being and renewed purpose
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  Speaker 1: in his work. He felt a direct association between health
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  Speaker 1: and virtue. After a week or so, he was on
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  Speaker 1: his way home when he realized, I haven't been having
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  Speaker 1: those annoying headaches anymore. Those pain storms, as he called them,
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  Speaker 1: were something he accepted as a typical part of life.
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  Speaker 1: He realized that, though he had only just begun to
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  Speaker 1: focus on practicing honesty, it already reduced his baseline stress levels.
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  Speaker 1: A 2010 study from Columbia University of Graduate School of
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  Speaker 1: Business demonstrated that brief periods of dishonesty can spike cortisol levels,
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  Speaker 1: the body's primary stress hormone. Cortisol prepares the body for
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  Speaker 1: fight or flight from perceived threats, meaning that when a
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  Speaker 1: person lies, their body reacts as though it's embracing for
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  Speaker 1: confrontation or escape. The research highlights how lying triggers a
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  Speaker 1: measurable physiological stress response, underscoring the body's innate sensitivity to dishonesty.
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  Speaker 1: In times of danger, the high-octane energy release of cortisol
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  Speaker 1: can help the body to do extraordinary things. However, humans
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  Speaker 1: are not meant to live in such a state day
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  Speaker 1: in and day out. Over time, stress hormone can tax
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  Speaker 1: the cardiovascular system, increase inflammation, potentially cause migraines such as
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  Speaker 1: those Corson experienced. The human body is an extraordinarily fine-tuned
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  Speaker 1: biological system. Yet, just as excessive strain on machinery can
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  Speaker 1: cause wear and tear, pushing the body beyond its limits
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  Speaker 1: can lead to breakdown. Before Corson often bent to truth,
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  Speaker 1: he often told his wife he'd be home by a
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  Speaker 1: certain time, but would arrive later than promised. At work,
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  Speaker 1: he occasionally told patients he had personally reviewed their lab
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  Speaker 1: results first thing this morning, when he had only skimmed
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  Speaker 1: them minutes before the appointment. He once told his daughter
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  Speaker 1: he could not attend her soccer game because he was
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  Speaker 1: working overtime. Knowing full well he could have attended if
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  Speaker 1: he wanted to. In reality, he was exhausted from a
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  Speaker 1: long week and wanted a quiet evening to himself, reasoning
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  Speaker 1: that missing one game wouldn't hurt and he'd make it
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  Speaker 1: up to her later. He began pausing for a moment
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  Speaker 1: before speaking, checking whether his words were representative of his
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  Speaker 1: actions and feelings. Korsen's authenticity with others grew. He began
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  Speaker 1: to speak more freely, a task without challenges. He found
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  Speaker 1: his self-respect and connection with others were more than compensation. Moreover,
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  Speaker 1: he felt that he was living a more authentic life.
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  Speaker 1: In a landmark study published in the Journal of Neuroimaging,
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  Speaker 1: scientists measured subjects' brain activity when asked them to lie
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  Speaker 1: or tell the truth. Participants were first shown a specific
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  Speaker 1: playing card, a two of hearts, for example. Later, when
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  Speaker 1: presented with another card, they had to respond whether the
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  Speaker 1: card was the same, saying yes, or different, saying no.
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  Speaker 1: When the subjects lied, they showed the same brainwave activity
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  Speaker 1: as when telling the truth, owing to the brain's activation
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  Speaker 1: of recalling the truth. However, they also displayed activity in
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  Speaker 1: two regions involved in self-control. People think of the truth first,
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  Speaker 1: but in lying that truth is inhibited. This suggests it's
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  Speaker 1: being truthful is the baseline cognitive state. Lying requires additional
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  Speaker 1: cognitive resources leading to increased mental strain and potential health implications.
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  Speaker 1: While speaking with a neuroscientist colleague, Dr. Corson further learned
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  Speaker 1: why concealing the truth is exhausting. He was told that
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  Speaker 1: networks in the brain connected to our dorsal, lateral, and
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  Speaker 1: prefrontal cortex control our behavior and critical thinking. However, those
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  Speaker 1: resources in that part of the brain are limited. That is,
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  Speaker 1: if we expend energy trying to be deceitful, there will
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  Speaker 1: actually be less fuel for problem-solving and creative thinking. This
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  Speaker 1: is why, after a long, hard day, people often become
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  Speaker 1: less self-controlled to the detriment of others. Research shows there
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  Speaker 1: are many different types of lies, as demonstrated in a
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  Speaker 1: 2003 study Some lies can be invented on the spot,
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  Speaker 1: such as lying about what you had for lunch. Other
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  Speaker 1: lies can be crafted and memorized, such as lying about
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  Speaker 1: a trip to the Bahamas you never had. The more
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  Speaker 1: significant the lie, the greater the toll on your minded body.
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  Speaker 1: Lying demands you remember the lie context, implications, end goal,
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  Speaker 1: and to whom you said it and when. Lies that
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  Speaker 1: require spontaneous deception to substantiate a previous lie strongly activate
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  Speaker 1: the anterior cingulate gyrus in the brain. For example, If
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  Speaker 1: asked why you were late and you quickly invent a
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  Speaker 1: traffic jam story despite actually oversleeping, your ACC, that interior...
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  Speaker 1: cingulate gyrus, works hard. This part of the brain inhibits
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  Speaker 1: our natural inclination to tell the truth and requires extra
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  Speaker 1: cognitive energy to maintain the lie, ensuring it sounds believable
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  Speaker 1: and consistent with any follow-up. Made-up scenarios such as the
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  Speaker 1: fabricated Bahama trip significantly activates that part of the brain
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  Speaker 1: and more mentally taxing than telling a simple lie because
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  Speaker 1: you have to cross-check and ensure the fabrication is coherent.
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  Speaker 1: Each day, Corson began to find he had a little
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  Speaker 1: more energy than when he left the office. He once remarked,
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  Speaker 1: Who knew that just sitting and thinking could be so exhausting?
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  Speaker 1: Even though I'm sitting at a desk, I feel like
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  Speaker 1: I put in a hard day of physical labor. Enjoying
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  Speaker 1: a better quality of life, Corson began to share his
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  Speaker 1: story with others. One day he spoke with his medical
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  Speaker 1: billing specialist, Frank said, I bet people who are honest
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  Speaker 1: see the doctor less often. Someone should run a study.
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  Speaker 1: I believe that's true, he said, and referred him to
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  Speaker 1: a 2022 study published in the Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology,
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  Speaker 1: which analyzed insurance claims and found that moral character was
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  Speaker 1: linked to lower rates of depression and more positive mental
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  Speaker 1: health outcomes. At the end of a particularly long day,
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  Speaker 1: Corson leaned back in his office chair. The weight of
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  Speaker 1: his responsibilities lifted, as he recognized the subtle but profound
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  Speaker 1: shift in his life. He said, this, being honest, alleviated
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  Speaker 1: my stress, and by extension, stopped my migraines. As he
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  Speaker 1: prepared to leave for the day, a gentle smile graced
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  Speaker 1: his lips. He turned off his office lights and stepped
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  Speaker 1: into a fresh evening air. As he drove under the twilight,
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  Speaker 1: he was not just heading home. He was heading toward
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  Speaker 1: a life that was more honest, healthier, and ultimately, more whole.
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  Speaker 1: Your brain is wired for honesty, and lying taxes you.
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  Speaker 1: It's a great thought for the day. Have a great day, folks.
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  Speaker 1: God bless. See you soon.