The Science Behind the Law of Attraction Magazine August, 2015 | Page 5

brains of others will fire in a similar way. Our actions cause
similar action-representations in the brains of others.
Think for a moment about how great you feel while
watching a high-speed car chase or tremendous acrobatics.
Your own brain sets up a simulation as though you are
actually doing these things. You start to feel as though you

are the pole-vaulter or the ice-skater since your brain
mirrors the actions of those you are watching.
While this field is still developing, a more established set
of findings goes on to further support the "Law of
Attraction." Early research using brain imaging has shown
that fear activates an almond-shaped collection of nerve
cells in the brain called the amygdala. When you show
people fearful faces, the amygdala activates as if those
people were experiencing fear themselves.
What is perhaps more intriguing, is that there are ways to
change the experiment so that people are entirely
unaware that they are seeing those fearful faces. However,
when you look at their brains during this period when they
are unaware of seeing the faces, the amygdala also
activates. Even people whose brains have been damaged
so

Even peopl e whose brai ns have been
damaged so t hat t hey are "bl i nd" t o what
t hey see wi l l have t hei r amygdal ae l i ght
up when exposed t o fear f ul f aces.
that they are "blind" to what they see will have their
amygdalae light up when exposed to fearful faces. Thus,
fear in others will register in our brains as fear. Another
person's lit up amygdala will light up our own. We "attract"
the fear to ourselves because we are connected to other
people and their brains instantly. That is why anxious
people make other people anxious, and fearful people
make other people afraid. Similar principles apply to
happiness and expected reward, when our brains will light
up those centers that correspond with these emotional
states in others.
While at first astounding, it starts to seem believable

when we think of how often we have a "gut feeling" of fear
when someone else is afraid, or a "gut feeling" of
well-being when someone's smile is authentic. This "gut
feeling" is actually also a "brain feeling" as we set up brain
responses in the brains of others with our own emotions.
That is, aside from our brains mirroring the actions of
others, they can also mirror emotions.

A third line of evidence that supports the "Law of
Attraction relates to "Ask and It Is Given" and "The Power of
Intention." The brain regions involved in "intention" are
very connected to those regions involved in action. As a
result, firing up those brain regions involved in intention
will start to fire up your action centers. Intention needs to
be strong enough for action to occur. Also, when you place
your attention on a certain feeling (e.g. pain), it can worsen
that feeling. By inference, when we place our attention
away from that pain, the pain is decreased. Thus, it is not so
much that we are "attracting" what we put out, but that we
make it possible to feel and do things when we attend to
them or intend to do them.
Thus, "contagious actions", "contagious feelings",
"intention-action" connections and "attention-action"
connections all support the "law of attraction". Underlying
all of these ideas is the notion of connection - we are
connected within and without. What we t hink and f eel
af f ect s how we wil l act and how ot hers wil l act as wel l .
The dept h of our f eel ings and act ions is a crit ical variabl e
in "at t ract ing" what we want
t o our l ives.

Dr. Srini Pillay is CEO of
NeuroBusiness Group (NBG),
voted one of the "Top 20
Movers and Shakers" in
Leadership development in
the world by Training
Industry in 2013. Srini is also
Assistant Clinical Professor
of Psychiatry at Harvard
Medical School.
www.srinipillay.com
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