Postmodern Stress Disorder: On Dopamine and the Hazards of Left-Brain Dominance

Postmodern Stress Disorder: Presenter Andrew S. Bonci, BA, DC Brochure Description: We consider the cognitive neuroscience of life in an information-dense and fast-paced society. Life in such a “postmodern hyperculture” has profound effects on hemispheric dominance, dopaminergic brain systems, psychosocial wellness, and human behavior. We explore the ramifications of postmodern stress on the brain, psyche, interpersonal, and p

Transcript

1. Postmodern Postmodern Stress Stress Disorder: Disorder: On Dopamine and the On Dopamine and the Hazard of Left-Brain Hazard of Left-Brain Dominance Dominance Andronicus Andronicus Discipulus Aeternus Discipulus Aeternus
2. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 2 of 107 1994 “ “If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear!” If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear!” Mary Shelley (1818) Mary Shelley (1818) Chapter 17 Chapter 17 Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus
3. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 3 of 107 Disclosures/Conflicts of Interest Disclosures/Conflicts of Interest I have no conflicts of interests. I do not represent any special interests. The ideas represented in this lecture are taken from important thinkers whose works are referenced and recognized. I am humbled to be a part of the intellectual conversation taking place across time and space with each of you. Cover Art Credit: Picaso 1923 Portrait of woman in d`hermine pass (Olga) https://www.wikiart.org/en/pablo-picasso/untitled-1937-8
4. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 4 of 107 Lecture Objectives Lecture Objectives The effects of food and environmental stress on dopamine brain systems. The cognitive burdens of technology and information processing on dopaminergic pathways in contemporary society. Physiologic responses to taxed executive functions such as hypomania, ego depletion, and addictive behaviors as seen during clinical encounters. The Main Subject is Life under left-brain dominance.
5. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 5 of 107 The left hemisphere is competitive, and its concern, its prime motivation, is power. Iain McGilchrist (2019) The Master and His Emissary
6. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 6 of 107 My Post-Fact Qualifications My Post-Fact Qualifications Graduate Studies @ Twitter University Advanced Studies @ Praeger University Postdoctoral Fellowship @ Facebook University Dunning-Kruger Distinguished Chair of Self- Ordained Expertise @ University of Google Excellence in Teaching Award @ Podcast University Certified in Advanced Pharmacology @ www.drugs.com
7. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 7 of 107 Pseudo Expertise Kills Pseudo Expertise Kills On the morning of January 20, 2015, fifty-five year-old Steven Pasceri quietly demanded to see cardiovascular surgeon, Dr. Michael Davidson. The Murder in Exam Room 15. (2015, June 30). Boston Magazine. https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2015/06/30/brigham-and-womens-hospital-shooting/ – Pasceri was disgruntled over the death of his mother while under the care of Dr. Davidson for a heart and lung condition. – Pasceri “was sure” that the improperly prescribed drug amiodarone, had killed his mother from what he read on www.drugs.com. – Davidson was 44 years-old when Pasceri took his life with a .40 caliber pistol.
8. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 8 of 107 https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/telegram/obituary.aspx?n=stephen-pasceri&pid=173928265 Ersatz Expert: Ersatz Expert: made or used as a substitute, made or used as a substitute, typically an inferior one, typically an inferior one, an affectation; an affectation; not real or genuine. not real or genuine.
9. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 9 of 107 Postmodern Stress Disorder Postmodern Stress Disorder (PMSD) (PMSD) Responding to the murder of Davidson, Eiser (2015) recommends PMSD as a new diagnostic disorder. Eiser, A. R. (2015). Postmodern Stress Disorder (PMSD): A Possible New Disorder. The American Journal of Medicine, 128(11), 1178–1181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2015.04.039 – “This disorder appears to [relate to the] excessive stimulation of the amygdala and loss of the normal inhibitory inputs from the” prefrontal cortex. – The postmodern condition includes “ascendancy of digital communication, computerized entertainment, Internet usage, violent video games, cyberbullying, large-scale bureaucracy, multiculturalism, and growing anomie.”
10. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 10 of 107 The Misinformation Age The Misinformation Age What Eiser (2015) failed to identify as an important etiological factor in fostering postmodern stress, O'Conner (2019) discusses in her book, “The Misinformation Age.” O’Conner, C. (2019). The Misinformation Age. Yale University Press. – Increasingly, we are basing our decisions on lies, falsehoods, and partial information which are whitewashed of necessary context. – Online social media platforms are providing voluminous information and data-sets so fast that we mistake ubiquity and repetition for the truth. (See Reuters, AP Wire, echo chambers and “news feeds”) – My opinion is equally as valid and on the same footing as the facts.
11. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 11 of 107 We Have Become Inflated Fictions We Have Become Inflated Fictions In “Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man,” Marshall McLuhan (1964) warned us that the coming media would have a distorting impact on us more so than the content itself. McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Ginko Press. – “For the 'message' of any medium or technology is the change of scale change of scale or pace or pattern that it introduces into human affairs.” (p. 8) – Pasceri, and by extension each of us, live a distorted sense of self-aggrandizement as we assume the scale, pace, and pattern of powerful search engines on the internet, i.e. media.
12. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 12 of 107 There is a veering between two apparently opposite positions which are in reality aspects of the same position: omnipotence and impotence. Iain McGilchrist (2019) The Master and His Emissary
13. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 13 of 107 We Live on the Hypomanic Edge We Live on the Hypomanic Edge According to John Gartner, PhD (2005) Gartner, J. D. (2005). The Hypomanic Edge. Simon & Schuster. – Hypomanics are brimming with infectious energy, irrational confidence, and really big ideas. – They think, talk, move, and make decisions quickly. – Hypomanics are not crazy, but “normal” is not the first word that comes to mind when describing them. – Hypomanics live on the edge, between normal and abnormal.
14. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 14 of 107 Founding Member Founding Member Hypomanics Anonymous Hypomanics Anonymous® ® Hello, my name is Andrew. I am a hypomanic. I am the product of a hyperculture. I am a citizen of a post-fact world. I am addicted to dopamine. I am a legend in my own mind. My Life Motto: “Second place is the first loser.”
15. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 15 of 107 Dopamine Fuels this Fire Dopamine Fuels this Fire  Dopamine Left-Brain Empowered Hypomania
16. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 16 of 107 Venus of Willendorf 30,000 BCE A Left Brain Struggle for Dominance A Left Brain Struggle for Dominance Evidence of Climate Change Evidence of Climate Change
17. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 17 of 107 We Went From ... We Went From ... Song to Speech Poetry to Prose “I and Thou” to “I and It” Authentic to Inauthentic Real to Hyper-real Right-Brain to Left-Brain Dominance
18. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 18 of 107 We Are of Two Minds We Are of Two Minds In “Tales from Both Sides of the Brain,” Gazzaniga (2015) describes the research that led to the discovery of two minds in one brain. Gazzaniga, Michael. 2015. Tales from Both Sides of the Brain. New York: HarperCollins Publishing. – “There was no getting around it; the new work on split-brain humans was haunting.” (p. 114) – “To suddenly think [the brain/mind] can be divided, that two minds are coexisting in one cranium, is almost not comprehensible.” (p. 114)
19. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 19 of 107 We must inhibit one in order to inhabit the other. Iain McGilchrist (2019) The Master and His Emissary
20. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 20 of 107 The Perennial Battle The Perennial Battle Kinsbourne (2003) illuminates how the corpus callosum mediates interhemispheric oscillation and determines hemispheric dominance Kinsbourne, M. (2003). Chapter 10: The Corpus Callosum Equilibrates the Cerebral Hemispheres. In The Parallel Brain: The Cognitive Neuroscience of the Corpus Callosum. MIT Press. – “To ensure 'singleness of action,' the self-organizing nervous system selects one action system, suppressing other candidate systems” (p. 271).
21. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 21 of 107 “ “Dopamine-Urgent” Dopamine-Urgent” In their book, “The Molecule of More,” Lieberman & Long (2018) state, “[T]his single molecule is the ultimate multipurpose device, urging us, through thousands of neurochemical processes, to move beyond the pleasure of just being, into exploring the universe of possibilities that comes when we imagine.” Lieberman, D., & Long, M. (2018). The Molecule of More. BenBella Books. – Dopamine underwrites important left hemispheric differences which will be highlighted here.
22. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 22 of 107 Dopamine Dopamine Barron, A. B., Søvik, E., & Cornish, J. L. (2010). The Roles of Dopamine and Related Compounds in Reward-Seeking Behavior Across Animal Phyla. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2010.00163
23. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 23 of 107 Hemisphere of Abstraction Hemisphere of Abstraction In “The Master and His Emissary,” McGilchrist (2019) lists key histological and hemispheric differences. McGilchrist, I. (2019). The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World (2nd, New Expanded Edition edition ed.). Yale University Press. – There is less dendritic overlap in cortical columns and less INTRAhemispheric interconnectivity in the left compared with the right hemisphere. – The left hemisphere is capable of magnificent feats of abstraction that results in a fragmented, disjointed, re-presentation of the world. – The left brain must confabulate a narrative that connects the various islands of abstraction.
24. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 24 of 107 The Postmodern Condition The Postmodern Condition In “Who's Afraid of Postmodernism,” James K. A. Smith (2006) discusses the critical theories of three markedly postmodern, French philosophers. As we will see, the bridge carrying us over the postmodern divide comes on the back of an over reliance on left-brain processes. Smith, J. K. A. (2006). Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism: The Church and Culture. Baker Academic. – “There is nothing outside the text.” Jacques Derrida • Life is decontextualized from history and culture. – “Incredulity toward meta-narratives.” Jean Francois Lyotard – “Power is Knowledge.” Michel Foucault
25. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 25 of 107 Postmodernism is Hyperculture Postmodernism is Hyperculture In “Hyperculture,” Bertman (1998) identifies the high- modern pathology as a function of speed and an insatiable consumer culture. Bertman, S. (1998). Hyperculture: The Human Cost of Speed. Praeger Publishers. – [E]xcessive speed and the cumulative effects of multiple systems operating simultaneously overwhelm, rather than aid, the individual. (p. 35) – A fast-paced “hyperculture” thrives not on reflection but on stimulation. (p. 129) – Preferring short-term stimulus to long-term reflection, we take delight in this titillation of the senses and revel in trivia that masquerades as meaning. (p. 131)
26. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 26 of 107 Modern/ Modern/ Identity is unitary. Life is here and now. Experience is whole and connected to place. The world is natural and animated. Identity is a duality. Life is both here and there. Experience is fractured and distributed. The world is mechanical and lifeless. Identity is a multiplicity. Life is neither here nor there. Experience is atomized and disconnected from place. The world is abstract and virtual. In “The Homeless Mind,” Berger, et. al. (1974) characterize life across the neurocultural landscape: Berger, P., Berger, B., & Kellner, H. (1974). The Homeless Mind: Modernization and Consciousness. Vintage Books. Premodern/ Premodern/ Postmodern Postmodern
27. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 27 of 107 Unfallen vs Fallen Motif Unfallen vs Fallen Motif In “The Fall: The Insanity of the Ego in Human History and the Dawning of a New Era,” Steve Taylor (2010) demonstrates how climate change and subsequent resource scarcity over 200,000 years gave rise to the dominant, left-brain sense self. Taylor, S. (2010). The Fall: The Insanity of the Ego in Human History and the Dawning of a New Era. John Hunt Publishing. – Ultimately, around 6,000 BCE an “ego explosion” takes place which allowed for survival in a hot, crowded, and resource depleted world.
28. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 28 of 107 Neurocultural Timeline Neurocultural Timeline Modern Modern Postmodern Postmodern Unfallen Unfallen Fallen Fallen 6000 BCE 6000 BCE 1950 CE 1950 CE Premodern Premodern 1650 CE 1650 CE Premodern, Modern, Postmodern are more socio-historical terms. Premodern, Modern, Postmodern are more socio-historical terms. Prefallen and Fallen are more neuropsychological terms. Prefallen and Fallen are more neuropsychological terms. This timeline demonstrates This timeline demonstrates the confluence of the confluence of cultural dynamics cultural dynamics (postmodernism) (postmodernism) with environmental dynamics with environmental dynamics
29. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 29 of 107 Life before the Bite Life before the Bite Photo Credit ID 12625647 © Deborahr | Dreamstime.com Right-Brain Dominance Right-Brain Dominance
30. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 30 of 107 Where is God when you pray? Where is God when you pray?
31. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 31 of 107 Right-Brain Existence Right-Brain Existence Look Down: Peripersonal Space “What you see when you look down are things within your reach, things you can control right now, things you can move and manipulate with no planning, effort, or thought.” Lieberman, D., & Long, M. (2018). The Molecule of More. BenBella Books. – The neurochemicals predominantly responsible for the “Here & Now” (H&N) experience are concentrated in the right brain. – They enable you to savor and enjoy, or perhaps to fight or run away, right now. – Serotonin and norepinephrine.
32. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 32 of 107 Me, Myself Me, Myself In “The Face in the Mirror: The Search for the Origins of Consciousness,” Keenan, et. al. (2003) conclude that our basic sense of physical or objective self resides distributed across right-brain structures with special emphasis in somatomotor areas. Keenan, J., Gallup, G. G., & Falk, D. (2003). The Face in the Mirror: The Search for the Origins of Consciousness (1 edition). Ecco. – “Since much evidence shows that the right hemisphere sustains a sense of self without language, we can assume that the sense of self, consciousness, is independent from language.” (p.251)
33. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 33 of 107 Right Hemispheric Goldmine Right Hemispheric Goldmine McGilchrist (2019) states, “If a neuropsychologist had to choose three things to characterize most clearly the functional contribution of the right hemisphere, they would most probably be McGilchrist, I. (2019). The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World (2nd, New Expanded edition ed.). Yale University Press. – “the capacity to read the human face” – “the capacity to sustain vigilant attention as opposed to left-brain selectivity” – “the capacity to empathize”
34. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 34 of 107 System 1 Thinking System 1 Thinking According to Kahneman (2013) , System 1 Thinking is dedicated to fast thinking. Kahneman, D. (2013). Thinking, Fast and Slow (1st edition). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. – It almost solely relies on intuition and almost entirely disregards information. – System 1 is in control every time we do an activity that requires quick thinking and reactions. – System 1 Thinking may be related to right-brained processes that is more dependent on H&N neurochemistry which is fast and indefatigable.
35. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 35 of 107 Unfallen/PreModern Man Unfallen/PreModern Man In his book “Saharasia,” climatologist James DeMeo (2011) characterizes the peoples living across the plains of northern Africa, the Levant, and Asian Steppes prior to 6,000 BCE. DeMeo, J. (2011). Saharasia: The 4000 BCE Origins of Child Abuse, Sex-Repression, Warfare, and Social Violence in the Deserts of the Old World. Natural Energy Works. – The peoples who lived in Saharasia when it was still fertile were peaceful, non-patriarchal, and egalitarian, with a healthy, open attitude toward sex and the body. – These peoples tended toward System 1 Thinking
36. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 36 of 107 Photo Credit: ID 173489715 © Mastaka | Dreamstime.com How did the Shift How did the Shift to the Left Happen? to the Left Happen?
37. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 37 of 107 Epigenetic Punctuations Epigenetic Punctuations PMSD can best be understood as the culmination of epigenetic changes occurring to the brain over the past two-hundred thousand plus years. – Hominins left the trees 4.3 million years ago. – Major “Larmarckian” punctuations have occurred 200,000 years ago, 8,000 years ago, 500 years ago and 50 years ago. – These punctuations align with brain hemisphere changes and two, crucial dopaminergic pathways.
38. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 38 of 107 Neuroanatomical Punctuations Neuroanatomical Punctuations You might think that as brains evolve to become larger, the interhemispheric connections would increase in tandem. They actually decrease relative to brain size. McGilchrist, I. (2019). The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World (2nd, New Expanded Edition edition ed.). Yale University Press. – “The bigger the brain, the less interconnected it is, and the smaller the corpus callosum.” – “Rather than taking the opportunity to increase connectedness, evolution appears to be moving in the opposite direction.” – “[In the] modern human brain, its twin hemispheres have been characterized as two autonomous systems” in a struggle for dominance.
39. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 39 of 107 Andrews, P., and R. J. Johnson. 2020. “Evolutionary Basis for the Human Diet: Consequences for Human Health.” Journal of Internal Medicine 287(3):226–37. doi: 10.1111/joim.13011. 4.3 Million YA 4.3 Million YA
40. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 40 of 107 Early Hominin Diet Early Hominin Diet Dennis McKenna (2014) wrote in the Preface to “Return to the Brain of Eden”: Wright, T., & Gynn, G. (2014). Return to the Brain of Eden: Restoring the Connection between Neurochemistry and Consciousness. Inner Traditions. – “[The] rainforest environment favored a frugivorous diet rich in flavonoids, monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors, and neurotransmitter precursors that was relatively low in steroid- containing or steroid-inducing elements.” – “This dietary regime potentiated pineal functions, neocortical expansion, and hemispheric integration.”
41. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 41 of 107 Unfallen Hominin/Man Unfallen Hominin/Man In “Return to the Brain of Eden,” Wright and Gynn (2014) discuss how climatic changes by 200,000 BCE shrank the ancestral forests forcing hominins onto the Savannah reducing the concentration of fruit in their diet. Wright, T., & Gynn, G. (2014). Return to the Brain of Eden: Restoring the Connection between Neurochemistry and Consciousness. Inner Traditions. – Dietary polyphenols found in fruit resulted in lower levels of androgens and higher levels of serotonin and norepinephrine. – Loss of rich sources of dietary polyphenols resulted in increased levels of androgens and lower levels of serotonin and norepinephrine thus favoring the advent of left-hemisphere dominance.
42. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 42 of 107 A Major Dietary Punctuation A Major Dietary Punctuation Previc (2009) in his book, “The Dopaminergic Mind in Human Evolution and History,” examines the role of diet and the advent of left-brain dominance that had its origins some 200,000 years ago. Previc, F. H. (2009). Dopaminergic Mind in Human Evolution and History. Cambridge University Press. – Iodine-rich, dietary shellfish supported thyroid gland expansion which catalyzes tyrosine hydroxylase to increase brain DOPA. – The essential fatty acid content of fish is also known to increase both dopamine levels and it's receptor binding characteristics.
43. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 43 of 107 The Shifting Sense of Agency The Shifting Sense of Agency In their article “Dopamine and Sense of Agency,” Render, et. al. (2019) describe the necessary role that dopamine plays in our capacity to create actions, influence our surroundings, act independently, and to make free choices. Render, A., & Jansen, P. (2019). Dopamine and sense of agency: Determinants in personality and substance use. PLoS ONE, 14(3). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214069 – The brain readies itself and initiate movement well before we become consciously aware of it (see Libet) – Under normal dopaminergic conditions, the left brain identifies agency from within. – See Jaynes (1976) for more.
44. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 44 of 107 Life after the Bite Life after the Bite Photo Credit ID 173396015 © Laurentiu Iordache | Dreamstime.com Left-Brain Dominance Left-Brain Dominance
45. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 45 of 107 Fallen/PreModern Man Fallen/PreModern Man In his book “The Fall,” Taylor (2010) makes a critical review of the pressures that led to radical changes in human behavior around 6,000 BCE. Taylor, S. (2010). The Fall: The Insanity of the Ego in Human History and the Dawning of a New Era. John Hunt Publishing. – Between 8,000 BCE and 4,000 BCE equatorial Saharasia became desertified. – This environmental change had a devastating effect on their psyche flipping their right-brain way of life to a left-brain approach in order to survive.
46. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 46 of 107 Saharasian Desertification Saharasian Desertification According to climatologist James DeMeo (2011) glacial retreat and desertification of Saharasia and the Levant by 6,000 BCE to 4,000 BCE resulted in significant crop failure, water scarcity, and loss of hunting fauna. DeMeo, J. (2011). Saharasia: The 4000 BCE Origins of Child Abuse, Sex-Repression, Warfare, and Social Violence in the Deserts of the Old World. Natural Energy Works. – Said resource scarcity is linked to the cultural practices of child abuse, sexual-repression, warfare, and social violence. – It is noted that many origin myths of this region consist of man being cast from a lush and fertile garden. – An improved survival strategy was necessary.
47. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 47 of 107 (Desire) (Desire) Survival Dopamine Survival Dopamine Lieberman & Long (2018) characterize (desire) survival dopamine as follows. Lieberman, D., & Long, M. (2018). The Molecule of More. BenBella Books. – “Desire dopamine makes us want things. It is the source of raw desire: give me more.” – “Desire dopamine overpowers the more rational parts of the brain.”
48. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 48 of 107 I want to tell you my I want to tell you my secret now ... secret now ... I see widespread threats to I see widespread threats to my resources and ... my resources and ... you can't reason with me. you can't reason with me.
49. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 49 of 107 Mesolimbic Survival Dopamine Mesolimbic Survival Dopamine The mesolimbic system takes its origin in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the mid-brain and interacts with important medial cortical and subcortical elements including the nucleus accumbens (basal ganglia) , amygdala, hippocampus, anterior cingulate cortex, olfactory cortex, and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Previc, F. H. (2009). Dopaminergic Mind in Human Evolution and History. Cambridge University Press. – This pathway is connected to reward, addiction, mania, compulsive behaviors, and psychotic breaks including schizophrenia. – It is an important survival pathway that modulates fear responses.
50. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 50 of 107 Mesolimbic Desire Dopamine Mesolimbic Desire Dopamine Arnsten, A. F. T. (2009). Stress signaling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and function. Nature Reviews. Neuroscience, 10(6), 410–422. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2648
51. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 51 of 107 Mesolimbic Salience Mesolimbic Salience Gazzaniga, et. al. (2014) outline the role of dopamine in the salience network which connects bottom-up processes through the mesolimbic pathways to connect the anterior cingulate and the insular cortex. Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R. B., & Mangun, G. R. (2014). Chapter 12: Cognitive Control. In Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of the Mind (4th ed.). W. W. Norton & Company. – “Dopamine activity indicates that something is worth paying attention to, and when things are associated with reward dopamine our activity reflects how desirable the object is.” (p. 531)
52. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 52 of 107 The Terror of History The Terror of History In “The Terror of History,” Teofilo Ruiz (2011) discusses the manner in which fear gave shape to our lives across the swath of time from prehistory to the present day. Ruiz, T. (2011). The Terror of History: On the Uncertainties of Life in Western Civilization. Princeton University Press. – [T]he unpredictability of history—the weight of endless cycles of war, oppression, and cruelty beyond description—shapes our individual and collective lives. (p. 6) – Fear is more a feature of right-brain processes whereas anger is more a feature of left-brain processes. McGilchrist, Iain. 2019. The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World. 2nd, New Expanded edition ed. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
53. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 53 of 107 Anger is the left-brain coping mechanism for the right-brain fear reaction.
54. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 54 of 107 Left-Brain Existence Left-Brain Existence Look Up: Extrapersonal Space/Saccadic Eye Movements “What do you see? To reach them, you have to plan, think, calculate. Even if it’s only a little, it still requires some coordinated effort. Unlike what we see when we look down, the realm of up shows us things that we have to think about and work for in order to get.” Lieberman, D., & Long, M. (2018). The Molecule of More. BenBella Books. – Dopamine marks abstraction in thinking.
55. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 55 of 107 On Hemispheric Domination On Hemispheric Domination In “Ways of Attending,” McGilchrist (2018) gives us clues as to the “why” and “how” of lateralization. McGilchrist, Iain. 2018. Ways of Attending: How Our Divided Brain Constructs the World. 1 edition. Routledge. – The overall increase in function in the left hemisphere in humans is due to a deliberate deliberate handicapping of the right hemisphere handicapping of the right hemisphere. (p. 8) – Lateralization occurs to allow us to “sing” denotatively about things removed by time and space. (See Mithen, 2006, The Singing Neanderthals)
56. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 56 of 107 Yakovlevian Torque Yakovlevian Torque Oliveira, E. P., Feitosa, E., SANTOS, G., SILVA, E., PINCERATO, R., & PORTELA, L. (2016, March 2). Left Brain, Right Brain: Cerebral Asymmetry Beyond the Handedness. An Anatomic Review on Brain Laterality [Text]. ECR 2016 EPOS; European Congress of Radiology - ECR 2016. https://epos.myesr.org/poster/esr/ecr2016/C-1559 Asymmetry and lateralization of the hemispheres conveys a dual sense of ourselves in the world. “For the right hemisphere, we live the body; for the left, we live in it, rather as we drive a car.” (p. 21) McGilchrist, I. (2018). Ways of Attending: How our Divided Brain Constructs the World (1 edition). Routledge.
57. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 57 of 107 Ego Explosion Ego Explosion It was this point in history (6,000 BCE) when peoples developed a strong and sharp sense of ego. The ego explosion refers to the intensification of the human sense of “I” or individuality. Taylor, S. (2010). The Fall: The Insanity of the Ego in Human History and the Dawning of a New Era. John Hunt Publishing. – Firstly, a new kind of intelligence that fostered a practical and inventive problem-solving capacity was needed as their environment changed. – Secondly, some 6,000 years ago when their crops began to fail, when the animals they hunted began to die, when their water supplies began to fail, it may have encouraged a new spirit of selfishness.
58. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 58 of 107 Mesocortical System Mesocortical System The mesocortical pathway arises from the dopaminergic cells of the VTA (ventral tegmental area) and connect to the dlPFC and the dmPFC. Previc, F. H. (2009). Dopaminergic Mind in Human Evolution and History. Cambridge University Press. – This interconnected system is known to subserve cognitive control, motivation, and emotional response.
59. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 59 of 107 Mesocortical Control Dopamine Mesocortical Control Dopamine Arnsten, A. F. T. (2009). Stress signaling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and function. Nature Reviews. Neuroscience, 10(6), 410–422. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2648
60. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 60 of 107 Control/Thrive Dopamine Control/Thrive Dopamine Lieberman & Long (2018) characterize “control” dopamine as follows. Lieberman, D., & Long, M. (2018). The Molecule of More. BenBella Books. – Control dopamine is the building block of imagination and creative thought: ideas, plans, theories, abstract concepts such as mathematics and beauty, and worlds yet to be. – It gives us tools to comprehend, analyze, and model the world around us, so we can extrapolate possibilities, compare and contrast them, then craft ways to achieve our goals.
61. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 61 of 107 Medieval Punctuation Medieval Punctuation (Mid 1300s) (Mid 1300s) Norman Cantor's (2001) “In The Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World it Made,” describes the events that laid the groundwork for the modern mind. Cantor, N. (2001). In The Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World it Made. The Free Press. – Medieval warm period (900 to 1300 CE) altered farming practices and increased cattle herding. – Around 1280 the warming trend began to run down with crop failures close behind. – The plague created religious, social, and economic upheavals, with profound effects on the course of European history. Black Death. (2020). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php? title=Black_Death&oldid=964284010
62. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 62 of 107 Modern Man Modern Man In “A Primer on Postmodernism,” Grenz (1996) characterizes modern man as follows: Grenz, S. J. (1996). A Primer on Postmodernism (3rd ed.). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. – “The modern human can be characterized as Descartes’s autonomous, rational substance living in Newton’s mechanistic world.” Cantor (2001) suggests that modernity may have been a byproduct of the Black Death as an attempt to understand the pestilence. Cantor, N. (2001). In The Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World it Made. The Free Press.
63. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 63 of 107 Phenomenology of Duality Phenomenology of Duality Taylor (2010) in “The Fall,” hypothesizes that much of what ails us psychologically has to do with a profound sense of separation from the world and ourselves as we advance further into the abstractions of life. Taylor, S. (2010). The Fall: The Insanity of the Ego in Human History and the Dawning of a New Era. John Hunt Publishing. – Our profound separation from Nature/Eden/God is mirrored in the profound separation of our hemispheres. – We have been cast out of our right hemisphere to live in the divided and abstract rePresentations of the left hemisphere.
64. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 64 of 107 The right hemisphere, the one that believes, but does not know, has to depend on the other, the left hemisphere, that knows, but doesn’t believe. Iain McGilchrist (2019) The Master and His Emissary
65. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 65 of 107 System 2 Thinking System 2 Thinking According to Kahneman (2013) , System 2 Thinking is dedicated to slow thinking. Kahneman, D. (2013). Thinking, Fast and Slow (1st edition). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. – It always relies on information and almost never on intuition. – System 2 requires energy, because it operates voluntarily. – System 2 Thinking is related to majority left-brained processes/systems that are more dependent on dopamine neurochemistry which is slow and easily fatigued.
66. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 66 of 107 Change Accelerates Change Accelerates In “Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of the Mind,” Gazzaniga, et. al. (2014) describe how the brain works by building predictive models of the body and the world that facilitate decision making and movements. Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R. B., & Mangun, G. R. (2014). Chapter 12: Cognitive Control. In Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of the Mind (4th ed.). W. W. Norton & Company. – Predictive models of psychosocial interaction breakdown in a “hyperculture.” – There is “FutureShock”
67. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 67 of 107 Prelude to Postmodernity Prelude to Postmodernity Alvin Toffler (1970) describes the component stressors that are coming together to radically change the fabric of society in his classic book “FutureShock.” Toffler, A. (1970). FutureShock. Bantam. – Life Accelerates its pace exponentially – Transience, Novelty, and Diversity – Limits of Adaptability (Ego Depletion) lead to the disorder that Toffler referred to as “FutureShock.”
68. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 68 of 107 Postmodern Self Postmodern Self In “The Saturated Self,” Gergen (1991) describes the fragmentation, multiplicity, and frenetic dimensions of our mental life as we cross over the postmodern divide. Gergen, K. (1991). The Saturated Self: Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life. Basic Books. – Our attention spans have all but disappeared. – Reality has been breached and has given way to hyperreality. – Our lives are no longer guided by either fact or fiction, but by “faction.” (p. 116)
69. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 69 of 107 A Fragmented World A Fragmented World McGilchrist (2019) warns us that the left brain underwrites a fragmented world view. McGilchrist, I. (2019). The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World (2nd, New Expanded edition ed.). Yale University Press. – The left brain is “literally more limited in what it can see and less capable of understanding what it does see than the right brain. – The left brain “is less aware of its own limitations” and should give us pause and “good reason to reappraise the left hemisphere’s world view.”
70. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 70 of 107 Entering the Shallows Entering the Shallows In his book “The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains,” Nicholas Carr (2011) catalogs how we are getting lost in the distracting cacophony of stimuli. Carr, N. (2011). The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains. W. W. Norton & Company. – The way we access information no longer follows a linear path from start to finish. – Our eyes and minds dart around chasing after flashing adds, pop-ups, hyperlinks, and closing windows that results in a fragmented experience of the world. – We are losing mesocortical control to mesolimbic (desire) survival.
71. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 71 of 107
72. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 72 of 107 Startle-Effects Startle-Effects In the “Heart-Mind Matrix,” Pearce (2012) describes how television programs overcame the catatonia of its young viewers thus “startling” them back to active viewing. Pearce, J. C. (2012). The Heart-Mind Matrix: How the Heart Can Teach the Mind New Ways to Think. Park Street Press. – “Media-induced startle-effects are created by a variety of arbitrary, abrupt, incoherent, and nonlogical extremities of contrasts in light, sound, and general imagery in televised content.” – “These startle-effects result in unstable, shifting visual-auditory tapestries not found heretofore in nature or ordinary daily situations.”
73. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 73 of 107 Stimmung Stimmung In “Madness and Modernity,” Sass (1992) describes the “stimmung” or “mood” of schizophrenia while pointing out commonalities with late modernity. Sass, L. (1992). Madness and Modernity: Insanity in the Light of Modern Art, Literature, and Thought. Harvard University Press. – “[T]he world is stripped of its usual meanings and sense coherence and defies standard description.” – “Everything bristles with a new and overwhelming quality of definiteness and significance.” – Stimmung usually includes a disturbing sense of unreality, a sense of awe at mere existence, a disturbing sense of fragmentation, followed by apophany or sudden manifestation of meaning.
74. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 74 of 107 Enter Conspiracy Theories Enter Conspiracy Theories DeYoung (2013) offers us clues into how the dopaminergic systems drive exploration, mental model building from often unrelated or contradictory facts. DeYoung, C. G. (2013). The neuromodulator of exploration: A unifying theory of the role of dopamine in personality. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00762 – Apophenia is the identification of meaningful patterns in noisy or random visual stimuli. – Hyper left-brained individuals such as schizophrenics often see elaborate narratives in simple inkblots. – See also Pareidolia. – See also “Joker” with Joaquin Phoenix
75. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 75 of 107
76. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 76 of 107 With post-modernism, With post-modernism, meaning drains away. meaning drains away. Iain McGilchrist (2019) The Master and His Emissary Photo Credit ID 686327 © Wikus Otto | Dreamstime.com
77. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 77 of 107 We're Being Pulled Apart We're Being Pulled Apart In “The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High- Tech World,” Gazzaley & Rosen (2016) conclude that technology is reducing us to superficial automatons with an addiction to flashing lights, electronic tones, and haptic vibrations. Gazzaley, A., & Rosen, L. (2016). The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World. MIT Press. – Interference comes in two forms; distraction which is involuntary and interruption which is voluntary. – “We are all cruising along on a superhighway of interference.” (p. 28)
78. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 78 of 107 Loss of Impulse Control Loss of Impulse Control In “Behave,” Robert Sapolsky (2017) assures us that (dis)stress can take our prefrontal cortices off- line resulting the loss of impulse control. Sapolsky, R. (2017). Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst. Penguin Books. – “Stress can disrupt cognition, impulse control, emotional regulation, decision making, empathy, and prosociality.” (p. 134) – Aside: [A]lcohol only evokes aggression in individuals prone to aggression via the mesolimbic pathway. (p. 134) – It's like waking a toddler from a nap.
79. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 79 of 107 Ego Depletion Ego Depletion Baumeister (2002) advanced the hypothesis of ego depletion as an energy-well with limitations Baumeister, R. F. (2002). Ego Depletion and Self-Control Failure: An Energy Model of the Self’s Executive Function. Self and Identity, 129–136. – If self-control operates like energy, then the first act of self-control will consume some quantity of this resource, and so the person will face the second task with a diminished capacity to engage in self- control. • Burnout may arise when one has exhausted their resources in futile efforts to help people. • Trauma victims may become passive and unable to function because the need to cope with the aftermath of trauma (including affect regulation) exhausts their resources.
80. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 80 of 107 Limits of Adaptability Limits of Adaptability In “FutureShock,” Toffler (1970) describes both the physiological and psychological when novel events challenge “one's preconceived world view” where he quotes the sociologist Lawrence Suhm: Toffler, A. (1970). FutureShock. Bantam. – “We are going through a period as traumatic as the evolution of man's predecessors from sea creatures to land creatures … Those who can adapt will; those who can't will either go on surviving somehow at a lower level of development or will perish – washed up on the shores.”
81. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 81 of 107 Coddling of the American Mind Coddling of the American Mind Lukianoff and Haidt (2018) identify three “untruths” affecting the thinking and behavior of young “Gen Z” students on college campuses. Lukianoff, G., & Haidt, J. (2018). The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation for Failure. Penguin Books. 1. "What doesn’t kill you makes you weaker" 2. "Always trust your feelings" 3. "Life is a battle between good people and evil people" • These “untruths” may be nothing more than a reaction to transience, novelty, and diversity happening faster than cognitive, predictive models can be built, torn-down, and rebuilt. They may be signs of the limits of adaptability.
82. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 82 of 107 The Coming Dark Age The Coming Dark Age In “Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age,” Maggie Jackson (2008) details our future imperilment Jackson, M. (2008). Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age. Prometheus Books. – [W]e are corroding the three pillars of our attention: focus (orienting), judgment (executive function), and awareness (alerting). – The costs are steep: we begin to lose trust, depth, and connection in our relations and our thought. – Without a flourishing array of attentional skills, our world flattens and thins. – And most alarmingly, we begin to lose our ability to collectively face the challenges of our time.
83. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 83 of 107 Lie Machines Lie Machines In “Lie Machines,” Philip Howard (2020) discuses how we consume decontextualized, digital propaganda promoted by troll armies, bots, and political operatives across network platforms with increasing gullibility. Howard, Philip. 2020. Lie Machines: How to Save Democracy from Troll Armies, Decietful Robots, Junk News Operations, and Political Operatives. New Haven: Yale University Press. – “We tend to trust our instincts for evaluating the truth, and we tend to trust friends and family as sources of good media information; as sources of news, many of us prefer social media to professional print media.”
84. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 84 of 107 Vēritās sentīrī ā virīs miserīs nōn potest. Vēritās sentīrī ā virīs miserīs nōn potest. Truth cannot be perceived by troubled men. Truth cannot be perceived by troubled men.
85. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 85 of 107 Solipsism Solipsism Bertman (1998) eloquently posits the present day mind tends toward solipsism. It is self-absorbed, only knowing its own modifications and states. Bertman, S. (1998). Hyperculture: The Human Cost of Speed. Praeger Publishers. – “In spite of being subconsciously connected to other minds, it perceives itself as autonomous and free acting on its own decisions.” – We have become addicted to ourselves and our self-righteousness.
86. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 86 of 107 Blocking the Exits Blocking the Exits McGilchrist (2019) suggests “that it is as if the left hemisphere, which creates a sort of self-reflexive virtual world, has blocked off the available exits, the ways out of the hall of mirrors, into a reality which the right hemisphere could enable us to understand.” McGilchrist, Iain. 2019. The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World. 2nd, New Expanded edition ed. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
87. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 87 of 107 Technopoly Technopoly In “Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology,” Neil Postman (1992) frames how technocracies (modernity) develop tools (such as computers and bureaucracies) to empower society while technopolies (postmodernity) find themselves imprisoned by the very tools that they once used to liberate themselves. Postman, N. (1992). Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology. Vintage Books. – A technopoly is a society in which technology is deified. – “Men have become the tools of their tools.” Henry David Thoreau (Walden, Chapter 1, “Economy.”)
88. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 88 of 107 If you're not paying for the product, then If you're not paying for the product, then You are the product. You are the product.
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90. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 90 of 107 We Have Become Hungry Ghosts We Have Become Hungry Ghosts “In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts,” Mate (2010) radically alters our notion of what addiction is. He redirects our focus from a biophysical cause to a cause based in human tragedy and trauma. Mate, G. (2010). In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts; Close Encounters with Addiction. North Atlantic Books. – “The reason I do drugs is so I don’t feel the f**king feelings I feel when I don’t do drugs,” Nick, a forty-year-old heroin and crystal meth addict once told me, weeping as he spoke. (Chapter 1)
91. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 91 of 107 Psychache and Suicide Psychache and Suicide In “The Suicidal Mind,” Shneidman (1996) after making an extensive review of over 700 suicide notes coins the term “psychache” (sīk-āk) to explain the reason for the taking of one's own life. Shneidman, Edwin. 1996. The Suicidal Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press. – Psychache is the hurt, anguish, or ache that takes hold in the fragmented mind. – It largely stems from excessively felt shame, guilt, fear, anxiety, loneliness, angst, dread, dread of growing old or of dying badly and the associated internal dialog of these strongly felt states. – When there's no escape from the hall of mirrors or the echo chamber, there's suicide.
92. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 92 of 107 We Need to ... We Need to ... Find a release from the tyranny of the left-brain ego. Find a pathway that can lead us back to our right- brain selves.
93. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 93 of 107 We Need to Take the Trip Home We Need to Take the Trip Home Anon. 2019. “No Link between Adolescent Marijuana Use and Adult Brain Structure, Finds Study.” Huffs n Puffs. Retrieved July 25, 2020 (https://www.huffsnpuffs.com/adolescent-marijuana- use/).
94. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 94 of 107 Sleep: Glimpsing the Right Brain Sleep: Glimpsing the Right Brain Casagrande & Bertini (2008) describe the shifting of hemispheric dominance with the onset of sleep. Casagrande, Maria, and Mario Bertini. 2008. “Night-Time Right Hemisphere Superiority and Daytime Left Hemisphere Superiority: A Repatterning of Laterality across Wake–Sleep–Wake States.” Biological Psychology 77(3):337–42. – “We found a right hemisphere superiority when the brain is sleepy and when the vigilance system has to monitor for potential warning stimuli.” – “A decrease of left hemisphere vigilance, with respect to the right, could enable a hierarchical reorganization of cognitive mechanisms, functional to a mental activity that is different from the one typical of the wakeful condition.”
95. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 95 of 107 Religion/RHA Religion/RHA (Right Hemispheric Activation) (Right Hemispheric Activation) According to McVeigh (2020) in “The Psychology of the Bible: Explaining Divine Voices and Visions,” “the god-side (right hemisphere) usually, if not always, spoke in poetic verse” (p. 50) . McVeigh, Brian. 2020. The Psychology of the Bible: Explaining Divine Voices and Visions. Exeter, UK: Imprint Academic. – “Given that we hear and appreciate music using our right hemisphere, it should not be surprising that music, poetry, and song were used in induction procedures to activate linguistic regions of the right hemisphere” (p. 51). – [It has been] suggested that music may have been invented as a technique for neural excitement, triggering hallucinations of gods needed for decision-making (p. 51).
96. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 96 of 107 A Silent Left Brain A Silent Left Brain In “My Stroke of Insight,” Jill Bolte-Taylor (2009) describes the first-person experience of having had a stroke in her left temporal parietal junction (TPJ). Taylor, J. B. (2009). My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey (Reprint edition). Penguin Books. – “I felt a powerful and unusual sense of dissociation roll over me. I felt so peculiar that I questioned my well-being. Even though my thoughts seemed lucid, my body felt irregular.” (p. 38) – “I felt strangely detached from my normal cognitive functions.” (p. 38)
97. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 97 of 107 Right-Brain Consciousness Right-Brain Consciousness In “Entheogens and the Development of Culture: The Anthropology and Neurobiology of Ecstatic Experience,” John Rush, et. al. (2013) connect the use of tryptamines and right-brain consciousness. Rush, John. 2013. Entheogens and the Development of Culture: The Anthropology and Neurobiology of Ecstatic Experience. Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books. – The right hemisphere and its serotonergic and noradrenergic systems inhibit the left hemisphere and dopamine. (Found in Chapter 2: Altered Consciousness and Drugs in Human Evolution) – Hallucinogens appear to strengthen the right hemisphere's ability to inhibit the left.
98. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 98 of 107 The Reducing Valve The Reducing Valve In “The Doors of Perception,” Aldous Huxley (1954) describes a personal, psychedelic experience with mescalin where the left-brain “reducing valve” is. Huxley, Aldous. 2009. The Doors of Perception: Heaven and Hell. Digital Edition. New York: HarperCollins Publishing. – In the final stage of egolessness there is an “obscure knowledge” that All is in all—that All is actually each. This is as near, I take it, as a finite mind can ever come to “perceiving everything that is happening everywhere in the universe.” (p. 10) – Mescalin appears to expose right-brain consciousness.
99. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 99 of 107 The Dragons of Eden The Dragons of Eden In “The Dragons of Eden,” Carl Sagan (1977) considers the work of Sperry and Gazzaniga in light of the influences of marijuana. Sagan, C. (1977). The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence. Ballantine Books, Inc. – “Marijuana is often described as improving our appreciation of and abilities in music, dance, art, pattern and sign recognition and our sensitivity to nonverbal communication.” (p. 177) – “It is never reported as improving our ability to read and comprehend Ludwig Wittgenstein or Immanuel Kant; to calculate the stresses on bridges; or to compute Laplace transformations.” (p. 177) – Cannabinols might suppress the left hemisphere.
100. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 100 of 107 Perhaps the point of the smoking the blunt is to blunt the left hemisphere.
101. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 101 of 107 Ego Relief Ego Relief By Lebedev, et.al. (2015) showed that psilocybin reduced medial temporal lobe, salience network, and interhemispheric connectivity which relieved/reduced subjects of their sense of ego- identity. Lebedev, A. V., Lövdén, M., Rosenthal, G., Feilding, A., Nutt, D. J., & Carhart Harris, R. L. (2015). Finding the self by losing the self: ‐ Neural correlates of ego dissolution under psilocybin. Human Brain Mapping, 36(8), 3137–3153. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.22833 ‐ – Tryptamine psychedelics such as psilocybin, LSD, DMT, 5-MO-DMT and phenethylamine psychedelics such as mescaline leads to psychedelia and varying degrees of ego dissolution. – The effect appears to be produced by stimulatory- binding to the 5-HT2A and 5-HT2c serotonin receptors receptor
102. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 102 of 107 Non-Duality Non-Duality Religious scholar and psychonaut Martin Ball (2012) describes the egoless, nondual experience of 5- MeO-DMT in his book, “All is One: Understanding Entheogens and Nonduality.” Ball, Martin. 2012. All Is One: Understanding Entheogens and Nonduality. Kyandara Publishing. – The overwhelming sensation of the experience of 5- MeO-DMT is one of immediate and potentially infinite energetic expansion and identification. – Practically speaking, the experience of 5-MeO- DMT, from the ego’s perspective, is akin to dying.
103. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 103 of 107 Drug-induced Ego Dissolution Drug-induced Ego Dissolution Millière (2017) reports on the phenomenology, neurophysiology, and philosophical significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution of DIED. Millière, Raphaël. 2017. “Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-Induced Ego Dissolution.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 11. – DIED consists of the disruption of subpersonal processes underlying the “minimal” or “embodied” self, i.e., the basic experience of being a self rooted in multimodal integration of self-related stimuli. – “Functional connectivity analyses also revealed that psilocybin (2mg/IV) decreases coupling between the PCC and the mPFC, and increases coupling between the mPFC and task-positive areas such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC).”
104. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 104 of 107 In “Food of the Gods,” McKenna (1992) discusses the origins of the cultural, ritualized uses of psychedelic plant medicine from premodern to modern times. Here we have a replica of a cave drawing in Tassili, Algeria. Some sort of bee- faced shaman (5,000 BCE) is depicted, with mushroom- looking objects sprouting out of his shoulders and legs. McKenna, Terrance. 1992. Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge. New York: Bantam.
105. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 105 of 107 The Microdose The Microdose In her book “A Really Good Day,” Waldman (2017) discusses the science and legal ramifications of microdosing with LSD to control her mood disorder. Waldman, Ayelet. 2017. A Really Good Day. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. – “What I took is known as a 'microdose,' a subtherapeutic dose of a drug administered at a quantity low enough to elicit no adverse side effects yet high enough for a measurable cellular response. – A microdose of a psychedelic drug is approximately one-tenth of a typical dose.” – “There’s nothing hypomanic about this mood. My mind is not racing. I feel calm and content.”
106. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 106 of 107 The Existential Problem Remains The Existential Problem Remains McGilchrist (2019) concludes that an “increasingly mechanistic, fragmented, decontextualized world, marked by unwarranted optimism mixed with paranoia and a feeling of emptiness, has come about, reflecting, ... the unopposed action of a dysfunctional left hemisphere. McGilchrist, Iain. 2019. The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World. 2nd, New Expanded edition ed. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
107. www.neuroanthropologist.com www.neuroanthropologist.com 107 of 107 Thank You MCPA DII Thank You MCPA DII Dr. Russ Matthias Dr. Rob Riley Dr. Ragan Fairchild-Bonci Mark Jankelow, MSN All of You!! The Hypomanic Delivery