The Neuroscience of the Competitive Brain
Why are some people so competitive and others are so submissive? These behaviors have always been of interest to me. So I took a dive into research on the competitive brain and what I found really surprised me!
The Olympic Games cause stark amazement at the talent, drive, ambition and sheer determination to be the winner. It is a real life demonstration of competition at its highest. Dr. Kristin Hillman and Professor David Bilkey from the Department of Psychology of the University of Otago (New Zealand) found that neurons in the specific region of the frontal cortex, called the Anterior Cingulate Cortex, become active during decisions involving competitive effort. They discovered that the neurons in ACC (Anterior Cingulate Cortex) store information on whether a course of action demands competition, what the intensity of the competition will be, and, whether or not the competition is ‘worth it’ to achieve an end reward (www.otago.ac.nz). Their study was one of the first to examine how competitive behavior is encoded in the neurons in the brain. When you are confronted with competing choices, how does the brain make decisions? How does the brain deal with decision-making in the presence of competition?
The study devised by Hillman and Bilkey had rats foraging for food. The choice for the rats was an uncontested position with a small reward, and a contested position with a large reward. While the rats were making their decisions, the activity in the ACC was recorded. The results showed that activity in the ACC was higher when decision-making involved competition. The results also bore out an interesting outcome. The ACC was not dependent on the OUTCOME of the competition, just the presence of there being a competitor in the cost-benefit equation. This has been called the “encoding competitive effect” – how much effort will it take to get the reward. This study highlights a critical role for the frontal cortex in making choices that require investing competitive effort (Scientific American).
The Neuroscience of the Competitive Edge
Now we need to go further than this study to determine how competition affects the brain. Let’s go to corporate competitiveness. On an individual level, it is essential to have innovators and problem-solvers within companies to keep them competitive in the market. Research indicates that specific elements in our mental attitude stimulate higher-order brain networks to generate the fluid creative and emotional intelligence that predicts success (Goewey,D.J. Huffingtonpost.com). The core-competency of this attitude is to eclipse stress. When you are in a cycle of chronic stress, the stress response system is constantly turned on and at full throttle. Cortisol, the stress hormone topples emotional balance, drowns logic and creative insight in a state of overwhelm. At work, stress dampens performance.
When a company takes on new employees they are hoping to capitalize on their brain performance. But put these people in a high pressure work environments and it is likely that they will actually lose brain capacity. Two brain scans from the Mayo clinic showed the impact of stress on the brain. One scan revealed a dimly lit brain. The other shows a brain functioning at optimum, lit up and full of activity. The first brain could be compared to flying over a rural area where dim lights are scattered about. The optimally functioning brain compares to flying over a dense metropolis where there is a massive network of lights. What do you think the brains of your employees looks like? Are you losing valuable brain power due to stress?
“Neuroscience has identified a solution to stress that goes far beyond conventional stress management. This approach not only repairs the damage stress hormones cause, but also generates the neurological conditions that stimulates the growth of new connections within the higher brain that expand brain capacity, making people smarter, more innovative, and emotionally intelligent.” (Goewey,D.J. Huffingtonpost.com) Change your attitude and you can change your brain structure – the beauty of neuroplasticity. The change in brain function due to neuroplasticity is known as neural integration. And, this is what neural integration is all about:
The networks that generate the brain’s executive functions grow larger and become fully integrated with other neural networks. This means you have increased your skillfulness at planning, decision-making, error correction, and troubleshooting. You build strong cognitive abilities and think abstractly.
Gamma wave activity is far better organized and coordinated, signaling the higher mental activity and heightened awareness found in peak performers.
The right brain and the prefrontal cortex work together to elevate intuition and creative insight into practical innovation.
Activity in the left prefrontal cortex, the seat of positive emotion, swamps activity in the right prefrontal cortex, the seat of negative emotion. This condition enables you to achieve a high level of emotional intelligence.
There is greater activity in the center of the brain, especially the caudate and right insula, generating the social intelligence that sustains interpersonal resonance.
Your physiology functions at optimum, securing a high level of health and energy.
What corporate leader wouldn’t want a work force function at this level of brain capacity? Look at your company culture and determine if you are running at fight-or-flight or at maximum brain capacity and then take a look at your productivity. Neuroplasticity can occur with everyone if the right mental attitude is practiced consistently and repetitively. Neuroplasticity is already being called the “neural competitive advantage”. (Goewey,D.J., Huffingtonpost.com)
References:
Goewey,D.J., The Neuroscience Behind Competitive Edge. Retrieved March 22, 2017 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/don-joseph-goewey-/the-neuroscience-of-succe_b_7967832.html
Scicurious (September 10, 2012). When it comes to competition, the anterior cingulate cortex does it best. Retrieved March 22, 2017 from https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/scicurious-brain/when-it-comes-to-competition-the-anterior-cingulate-does-it-best/
University of Otego, New Zealand. (August 13, 2012). Otago researchers provide exciting first glimpse into the competitive brain. Retrieved June 20, 2017 from http:// www.otago.ac.nz/news/news/releases/otago035840.html
There is so much more to Competition and the Brain. In the next blog article I will talk about – The Winner Effect: How Success Affects Brain Chemistry by Eugene Sheely. And, I will also review an article by Zac Cusac – Does Competition Boost Brain Power? This is just such a cool topic. I hope you are enjoying it.
Pat