Six tips for staying optimistic in spite of it all

Plus: Meet the brain system we didn’t know we had [View this email online]( [NPR Health]( April 23, 2023 by Andrea Muraskin This week: new research reveals [a brain system that links movement to planning and emotion](. Plus, people working on the world’s biggest challenges [share what helps them keep their spirits up](. And, an endorsement from pediatricians [opens up access to bariatric surgery for more teens with obesity.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [An overlooked brain system helps you grab a coffee — and plan your next cup]( [The seemingly simple act of reaching for a cup of coffee actually activates parts of the brain involved in motion, planning and emotions.]( Melinda Podor / Getty Images As I write this, I’m thinking about the bag of tasty trail mix poking out of my purse. Contradictory messages are flooding my brain: Chow down, it tastes good. Eat more, it will provide energy. Don’t eat more, you’ve already had enough and you don’t want to gain weight. And so on. Eventually, I reach over and push the trail mix deeper into the purse, out of sight. According to conventional wisdom, the part of my brain that controls my arm and hand is not connected to the part that’s fretting about my waistline. Medical textbooks show a model of the brain in which the motor cortex alone controls movement. But new research suggests that model may be wrong. Previously overlooked areas of the motor cortex appear to link control of specific muscles with information about the entire body and brain. This discovery helps explain how the brain synchronizes complex systems required to perform even simple movements. "You have to control heart rate. You have to control blood pressure. You have to control so-called fight and flight responses,” says neurobiologist Peter Strick. So it makes sense that the same ribbon of brain tissue involved in a movement like standing up would be connected to the brain areas involved in planning, goals and emotion. A system that weaves together movement and mental states also could explain why our posture changes with our mood, or why exercise tends to make us feel better. [Learn more about how it’s all connected.]( [Plus: Spinal stimulation can improve arm and hand movement years after a stroke]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- [How do you stay optimistic in spite of it all? 6 hopeful souls share their secrets]( Micha Pawlitzki/Getty Images We live in a worrisome world. Yet many of us know at least one person who moves through life with a smile and a sense of equanimity in spite of the news and even personal setbacks. Where do they get that inner buoyancy from, and can we have some? NPR’s Ari Daniel just returned from the [Skoll World Forum]( an event that brings together entrepreneurs and innovators tackling problems like pandemic prevention and racial injustice. And he brought back lessons in optimism from some inspiring attendees. Filmmaker Ava Duvernay talked about the challenges faced by people in the civil rights movement and activists in today’s racial reckoning. “Something challenging and horrible had to happen to activate people and make them want to embrace dignity in a new way,” she notes. “So when we look at how much we’ve survived and the shoulders that we stand on, what’s not to be joyous about?” Rodrigo Paris Rojas, CEO of a non-profit that works with rural women in the Global South, says working in rural communities has helped him “understand that the future is possible.” He says he’s seen a resilience among rural people based on a connection with nature that goes back millenia. Their ways of thinking can be incredibly useful, he says, to imagine a better future. [Let these cheerful souls inspire you, too.]( We want to hear your strategy for staying positive in the face of pessimism. Email [goatsandsoda@npr.org](mailto:goatsandsoda@npr.org?subject=) with the subject line "Optimism" and your advice may be featured on [npr.org]( and/or in this newsletter. [Also: Five ways to transform the way you deal with dread]( [13 years after bariatric surgery, a 27-year-old says it changed her life]( [Maria Caprigno and her son, Harry, at Disney World.]( Maria Caprigno When Maria Caprigno was 14, obesity was a matter of life or death. Diet and exercise weren’t working, and navigating middle school at 440 pounds was brutal. "I had been told at that point by my pediatrician that the way I was gaining weight every year, I wouldn't see my 18th birthday," Caprigno says. In 2010, she became one of the first teenagers in the US to receive bariatric surgery. Now 27, she says the weight she lost made it possible for her to pursue her dreams. She now works as a teacher, and is raising her two children on her own. Today, about 2,000 American adolescents undergo bariatric surgery each year. And new guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics endorsing the procedures are expected to expand insurance coverage to more families seeking surgery. But the practice still draws controversy, including from surgeons who caution parents against making such life-altering decisions for their kids. [Learn the pros and cons of bariatric surgery for teens.]( [Plus: How doctors can stop stigmatizing — and start helping — kids with obesity]( Before you go: [Students at the University of Minnesota celebrate their induction into medical school. The U.S. has disproportionately few Black and Hispanic doctors. Some of the barriers to entering the profession start before even getting into medical school, recent research finds, including financial pressures and racism.]( Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune via Getty Images - Listen: 'Therapy speak' is everywhere, but it may [make us less empathetic]( - Diversity in medicine can save lives. Here's [why there aren't more doctors of color]( - Is gray hair reversible? A new study digs into the [root cause of aging scalps]( - Fake drinks that don't taste fake: [The rise of the mocktail]( - Does NYC’s new ‘rat czar’ [stand a chance?]( We hope you enjoyed these stories. Find more of [NPR's health journalism]( on Shots and follow us on Twitter at [@NPRHealth](. All our best, Andrea Muraskin and your Shots editors --------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. [Listen Live]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( What do you think of today's email? 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