You’ve probably heard about brain chemicals like Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphins – often associated with wellbeing and pleasure. But did you know they also play a crucial role in regulating your mood, motivation, and performance in learning and working? Neuroscientist Tj Power explains ‘DOSE’ and how Mentimeter can help enhance these effects.
Tj Power is an author, neuroscientist, and speaker who co-founded Neurify.io, an education platform that enhances mental health through neuroscience-based training experiences. When we learned that Tj uses Mentimeter for his educational lectures and presentations, we had to sit down with him for a chat.
Hi Tj! First off, could you explain what Neurify does?
Hi Mentimeter! Neurify is a mental health training company that delivers live events and has a software platform that enables people to understand their four prime brain chemicals, which means Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphins, in order to optimize their mental health.
What is ‘DOSE’ and why is it important for companies and schools to know and understand it?
DOSE is an acronym for those four key brain chemicals: Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphins. It provides people with a clear understanding of how modern life can create chemical imbalances in the brain, leading to symptoms like depression, anxiety, stress, and low mood.
By understanding these imbalances, individuals can engage in a gamified process to boost these chemicals, helping them regain motivation, overcome procrastination, improve attention spans, enhance connections, build confidence, and achieve better overall health.
What are the main challenges you see in today’s teaching and leadership?
I believe that teachers themselves are exhausted, with their DOSE chemicals likely being out of balance due to their demanding lifestyles and the immense pressure they face. Personally, I feel that there is an overwhelming amount of information being taught to young people, which places significant stress on both the students and the teachers.
What is your advice to teachers, leaders, and people in general who want to increase DOSE in their work?
The most important factor in optimizing your ‘DOSE’ is how you start your day. When your brain wakes up, it craves these chemicals, but many of us immediately turn to our phones and social media, which can cause these chemicals to crash right at the beginning of the day. This leads to impulsive behavior and poor decision-making.
To start your day well, avoid social media upon waking, brush your teeth, splash cold water on your face, get some sunlight, and make your bed. These simple steps are crucial for kickstarting these chemicals, setting a positive tone for the rest of your day.
In the context of work, it’s essential to experience a 'flow state' once or twice a day. This is when your brain becomes hyper-focused on a task. It takes the average brain about 15 minutes to enter this state. Companies should provide environments where employees are not constantly interrupted by Slack or other communication tools, allowing them to get 'in the zone' and maintain productivity.
What does Mentimeter add to your training? What does it allow you to do that you couldn't do before?
Mentimeter has completely transformed what Neurify has to offer. One of the greatest challenges in the modern world is maintaining attention spans, and Mentimeter has made our training sessions much more engaging and effective at communicating information. It also introduced a competitive element.
During the four sessions on Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphins, we include competitions at the end to assess participants' understanding of these brain chemicals. Winners receive high-value prizes related to each chemical, with the value of these prizes increasing each week. This approach has significantly boosted attention and engagement throughout the sessions, especially in schools.
What are the benefits you see in using Mentimeter in education and work/meetings and how does it correlate to DOSE?
Mentimeter effectively enables me to run a high-dopamine event. By having participants constantly switch between looking at slides, interacting with their phones, and viewing Menti responses, it keeps them highly engaged and stimulated. This variation taps into dopamine, which is closely connected to novelty. Additionally, Mentimeter fosters a strong sense of relatability among participants.
For example, when discussing the causes of low oxytocin, factors such as lack of socializing, excessive phone use, comparison, and self-critique in the mirror are highlighted. These are issues people often don't openly discuss, but through anonymous voting, participants can see that 90% of them share these experiences. This creates a powerful sense of collective understanding and solidarity, as they realize, 'Oh, we are all facing these difficulties’.
What kind of response do you get when using Menti? How does it make people feel?
The response has been absolutely phenomenal, which is why I love Mentimeter so much. It really makes people feel positive and engaged. The kids in school go absolutely nuts during the competitions. The schools are amazed by the accuracy rates in the questions we ask, even the challenging ones like 'What percentage of your serotonin is created in your gut?' (which is not an easy question for an eleven-year-old to remember). Despite the difficulty, we consistently see about 95% accuracy.
Mentimeter energizes and motivates students to learn, which is exactly what we need. It transforms the learning experience, making it both fun and effective.
Last but not least, what is your favorite Menti feature?
I would have to say the quizzes. While I love all aspects of Menti, the competitions are particularly revolutionary for enhancing information retention. They motivate people to stay engaged and attentive throughout the training.
Want to add a competitive quiz to your Menti? Click here to learn more.
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