Keynote

The Biology of Good Relationships: How to Build Vibrant Relationships, Reduce Stress and Live a Longer, Healthier Life, Using Neuroscience

Saturday, December 17, 2022

11:15 AM – 12:15 PM ET

Location: Osceola CD

Presenter(s)

Helen Fisher, PhD

Senior Research Fellow
The Kinsey Institute
New York , New York, United States

Moderator(s)

Jeffrey K. Zeig, PhD

Director
The Milton H. Erickson Foundation
Milton H Erickson Foundation
Phoenix, Arizona, United States

In this remote presentation Dr. Fisher discusses how good relationships produce superior mental and physical health, reduce stress, boost happiness and can increase your life span by more than five years. Using her ground-breaking brain scanning studies of personality (using fMRI) and biopsychological data on 100,000 men and women of all adult ages, Dr. Helen Fisher discusses the neuroscience of personality to explain how to understand yourself more accurately, build effective relationships with colleagues, friends, and kin, and live a longer, happier, healthier life.

Learning Objectives:

Learn the benefits of a happy partnership: Among them, a happy partnership lowers blood pressure, cholesterol and cortisol; it enhanses memory, mood and mental agility. Hugs from a partner trigger oxytocin, producing calm and feelings of attachment. Laughter with a partner triggers dopamine to give energy, optimism, focus and motivation. A good partnership boosts the immune system, circulation, muscle tone and digestion. And play with a partner triggers growth in brain regions associated with emotion processing, decision-making, planning and attention. Last, a good partnership increases general health, happiness and even the life span—by 5-7 years.
Learn about the three primary brain systems that orchestrate human mating and reproduction: Lust, Romantic Love; and Attachment.
Learn about the three major brain regions that become active in long term happy marriages: brain regions associated with a) empathy; b) controlling your own stress and your own emotions; and c) positive illusions—the act of overlooking the negative and focusing on the positive.
Learn about the neural foundations of mate choice, specifically four foundational thinking styles associated with dopamine, serotonin, testosterone and estrogen and why people become naturally attracted to some people, rather than others.