hey there welcome to life noggin have
you ever been so angry that you start to
relate to those cartoon characters who
have steam coming out of their ears or
maybe you feel like your blood is
boiling beneath your skin even though
you may know what the external cause of
your anger is what's actually going on
inside your body when you're angry
that's what we're gonna find out imagine
that you are driving on a freeway and
somebody suddenly cuts you off you will
most likely get angry in either honk
your horn or possibly give them a
not-so-nice hand gesture admit it we've
all done it before inside your brain the
amygdala which responds to outside
stimuli processes the car cutting you
off and coordinates the release of
neurotransmitters called catecholamines
these cause you to feel a burst of
energy preparing you for physical action
the hormones epinephrine and
norepinephrine are also released
increasing your blood pressure your
heart rate increases and your face may
flush as the blood rushes to your
extremities if you have ever seen
someone so angry that they turn red as a
lobster this is why if you want to keep
this anger at bay you'll have to use
your prefrontal cortex you can think of
this as the area that controls your
judgment and if you don't use your
prefrontal cortex you may act
aggressively towards others take Phineas
Gage as an example in 1848 while at work
a temping iron was shot through his left
cheek and exited through the top of his
head somehow he survived but his frontal
lobe was severely damaged after his
injury he is said to have been fitful
irreverent and had the animal passions
of a strong man perhaps the damage to
his frontal lobe destroyed his ability
to control his behavior he was not only
a new man but also one incapable of self
constraint it's also important to note
that constant chronic anger can greatly
increase a person's chance of getting a
heart disease like high blood pressure
or heart attacks anger and the heart are
very connected this is because
epinephrine and norepinephrine constrict
blood vessels making your heart pump
harder these two hormones also increase
the amount of glucose and fatty acids in
the blood the increased levels can lead
to damage in artery walls and speed up
the process of atherosclerosis when the
fatty plaque builds up in the arteries
it narrows them and decreases the flow
of oxygen-rich blood to the body this
can lead to a heart attack stroke or
death but fear not there are healthy
ways to control your anger such as
meditation anger management there
exercise or even just relaxing and doing
something fun like watching a few life
noggin videos so tell us what is one
thing that makes you angry and what do
you do to get over that feeling make
sure you come back every Monday and
Thursday for a brand new video and if
you want even more life noggin check out
these videos we did on the science of
happiness and the signs of depression
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Twitter I'm blocko this has been life
noggin stay calm and don't forget to
keep on thinking