I love how you translated something so neurobiological into language caregivers can actually use without shame. The idea that fading motivation might be a protective prediction—not a personal flaw—feels incredibly relieving. Your emphasis on iteration over perfection is especially powerful in caregiving, where outcomes are so rarely linear. Curiosity really does soften the habenula’s grip more than pressure ever could.
You're welcome, I found out about this last year, Cali. The habenula was identified as an anatomical structure in 1872 by Theodor Hermann Meynert, but its core functions—specifically its role in processing "anti-reward," aversion, and negative reward prediction—were not discovered until 2007, 135 years later, through the work of Matsumoto and Hikosaka.
We keep having to iterate ways to keep ourselves motivated!
I think you read my mind, Victoria! Or at least my habenula whuch has been very busy of late trying to protect me from my past feelings of overwhelm when I burned out professionally in the midst of my husband’s tricky cancer journey. I have had to remind myself, a number of times, not to make value judgements of myself in the face of small setbacks and the moral distress of outpatient delays and corridor care. You’ve inspired me to write my next article on my burnout journey and road to recovery.
Yours is a lovely, insightful and well-researched piece. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Rachel. I appreciate your feedback and resonance.
It's taken numerous versions to try to make this come from my head, heart and gut without overcomplicating it.
I've been noodling on the habenula's role in long-term caregiving and burnout. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts in your article if you're considering including the habenula. I want to create another anthology around this, articles and anecdotes could enable us to spark ideas and learnings.
I'm trying to finish the next article - so it may go out early this week or Jan 24th.
You're welcome, Vicki. I'm interested in hearing/read what you make of the science and recent studies on the habenula. I've read a fraction of the data, and it makes a lot of sense instinctively. My curiosity been piqued, so I'm doing more research.
Who knew about the tiny but powerful habenula?--I certainly did not! As someone who has struggled with Depression and Anxiety most of my adult life, I'm so glad to learn about the habenula's ability to keep track of mood and influence reactions and results... and not in a particularly good/constructive way. I've tried using positive self-talk for many years, but I think adding a little curiosity and thoughts about positive outcomes to the reframing might really help. Thanks so much for this fascinating article, and I so look forward to your next article about our relationships with our own habenulas!
From what I've learnt, imaging and studies have only recently uncovered the habenula's interconnected role with the 'reward system' of our brains. Instinctively, the findings make a lot of sense in terms of how this could contribute to caregiver burnout and stress.
Thank you for your research and article 🙏 I read about the brain and nervous system often and hadn't been aware of the habenula. This is fascinating and actually encouraging 👏 It's so easy for me to get discouraged, to feel 'here we go again. I'm stuck in this loop forever'.
Now I will return to refocusing my thoughts on what did go right and finding something good in it. Not as fake optimism or spiritual bypassing, but as a way to tell my habenula that some things are worth the effort and positive things are happening.
Thanks so much, Nance. Yup quite a bit of work and numerous versions of this article - so I really appreciate the appreciation!
Several articles focus on the obvious, straightforward 'It's not our fault' and 'performance tools don't work' - I think it's important to note the habenula seems to learn through repetition. Extrinsic fail/succeed definitions can easily dominate if we can't assert our intrinsic small wins repeatedly.
I know you'll like Carol Dweck's work too.
My original training/studies were in science so I appreciate your 'curious' perspective aka I'm a nerdy researcher at heart!
'Worth the effort and pain' is an essential point to counter the 'avoid pain' view, in my view!
I had never heard of the habenula—but my goodness this came at a good moment for me! I’m feeling shot down over a recent (as in last night) disappointment, and was thinking, “I give up.” Now, I’m asking myself, “What have I learned?” Thank you, Victoria!!
I've been noodling on this for a while, and what it means for us caregivers. I won't tell you how many versions of these articles there have been!
I had to get this out in January so that we have it going into this calendar year. The next article shares some practical ideas - one article would've been far too long and intense!
Please share and discuss this with friends and family - I hope this releases us from performative measures and promotes a growth mindset, of continuous improvement and self-compassion!
I love how you translated something so neurobiological into language caregivers can actually use without shame. The idea that fading motivation might be a protective prediction—not a personal flaw—feels incredibly relieving. Your emphasis on iteration over perfection is especially powerful in caregiving, where outcomes are so rarely linear. Curiosity really does soften the habenula’s grip more than pressure ever could.
Thanks so much! After 10+ years caregiving where we need to have the agility like MacGyver, to implement agile solutions - the new science about the habenula feels like sweet validation! This is the next article in the series: https://www.carermentor.com/p/working-with-your-habenula-as-a-caregiver?r=a9y7d&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Not heard of the habenula. I think this has kicked in for me the last couple of days. How fascinating. Thank you
You're welcome, I found out about this last year, Cali. The habenula was identified as an anatomical structure in 1872 by Theodor Hermann Meynert, but its core functions—specifically its role in processing "anti-reward," aversion, and negative reward prediction—were not discovered until 2007, 135 years later, through the work of Matsumoto and Hikosaka.
We keep having to iterate ways to keep ourselves motivated!
I think you read my mind, Victoria! Or at least my habenula whuch has been very busy of late trying to protect me from my past feelings of overwhelm when I burned out professionally in the midst of my husband’s tricky cancer journey. I have had to remind myself, a number of times, not to make value judgements of myself in the face of small setbacks and the moral distress of outpatient delays and corridor care. You’ve inspired me to write my next article on my burnout journey and road to recovery.
Yours is a lovely, insightful and well-researched piece. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Rachel. I appreciate your feedback and resonance.
It's taken numerous versions to try to make this come from my head, heart and gut without overcomplicating it.
I've been noodling on the habenula's role in long-term caregiving and burnout. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts in your article if you're considering including the habenula. I want to create another anthology around this, articles and anecdotes could enable us to spark ideas and learnings.
I'm trying to finish the next article - so it may go out early this week or Jan 24th.
Thanks for the tag Victoria. That is a new term to me, but I'm intrigued 😊
You're welcome, Vicki. I'm interested in hearing/read what you make of the science and recent studies on the habenula. I've read a fraction of the data, and it makes a lot of sense instinctively. My curiosity been piqued, so I'm doing more research.
Who knew about the tiny but powerful habenula?--I certainly did not! As someone who has struggled with Depression and Anxiety most of my adult life, I'm so glad to learn about the habenula's ability to keep track of mood and influence reactions and results... and not in a particularly good/constructive way. I've tried using positive self-talk for many years, but I think adding a little curiosity and thoughts about positive outcomes to the reframing might really help. Thanks so much for this fascinating article, and I so look forward to your next article about our relationships with our own habenulas!
Thanks, Cindy - yes, there's a lot of ahhhhaaa!
From what I've learnt, imaging and studies have only recently uncovered the habenula's interconnected role with the 'reward system' of our brains. Instinctively, the findings make a lot of sense in terms of how this could contribute to caregiver burnout and stress.
Thank you for your research and article 🙏 I read about the brain and nervous system often and hadn't been aware of the habenula. This is fascinating and actually encouraging 👏 It's so easy for me to get discouraged, to feel 'here we go again. I'm stuck in this loop forever'.
Now I will return to refocusing my thoughts on what did go right and finding something good in it. Not as fake optimism or spiritual bypassing, but as a way to tell my habenula that some things are worth the effort and positive things are happening.
Thanks so much, Nance. Yup quite a bit of work and numerous versions of this article - so I really appreciate the appreciation!
Several articles focus on the obvious, straightforward 'It's not our fault' and 'performance tools don't work' - I think it's important to note the habenula seems to learn through repetition. Extrinsic fail/succeed definitions can easily dominate if we can't assert our intrinsic small wins repeatedly.
I know you'll like Carol Dweck's work too.
My original training/studies were in science so I appreciate your 'curious' perspective aka I'm a nerdy researcher at heart!
'Worth the effort and pain' is an essential point to counter the 'avoid pain' view, in my view!
Yes, I did like Carol Dwek's Mindset book. I'm looking forward to more of your articles.
I had never heard of the habenula—but my goodness this came at a good moment for me! I’m feeling shot down over a recent (as in last night) disappointment, and was thinking, “I give up.” Now, I’m asking myself, “What have I learned?” Thank you, Victoria!!
I'm so glad! You're very welcome, Patricia.
I've been noodling on this for a while, and what it means for us caregivers. I won't tell you how many versions of these articles there have been!
I had to get this out in January so that we have it going into this calendar year. The next article shares some practical ideas - one article would've been far too long and intense!
Please share and discuss this with friends and family - I hope this releases us from performative measures and promotes a growth mindset, of continuous improvement and self-compassion!