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neuroscience of the free-will problem. Discuss the current state of our understanding of the neuroscience of cognition and volition. Identify common obstacles and impediments to volition. Explore strategies to use the will to achieve wellness.
Must Weigh Will against Wavering Power against Weakness Resolve against Indecision Discipline against Waffling Action against Idleness We must do this in a clear effort to touch upon healing, wholeness and wellness.
seldom sat as a result of the pain of his wound. – Parzival turned to Anfortas and asked the long awaited question in defiance of the sensible customs of proper knights, “Uncle, what ails you?” “Uncle, what ails you?” – Whereupon He that bade Lazarus arise gave help. – Greater marvel has seldom come to pass: you have forced God by defiance to make His Trinity grant your will your will. Wolfran von Eschenbach: Parzival Book XVI
with colleagues, I have found that we tend to reflexively blame people we tend to reflexively blame people for their illnesses and lack of wellness. for their illnesses and lack of wellness.
will-power,” what they usually mean is, “I have trouble saying no when my mouth, stomach, heart wants to say yes.” Will-power is about harnessing the three powers harnessing the three powers of I will I will, I won’t I won’t, and I want I want to help you achieve your goals. McGonigal Ph.D., Kelly. The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It (Kindle Locations 182-183). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
prefer to moralize instead of looking deeply into the lives of others for fear of deeply into the lives of others for fear of confronting our own shortcomings. confronting our own shortcomings.
decides decides on and initiates initiates action. – Synonyms we use to mean Will: determination, will power, strength of character, resolution, resolve, resoluteness, single-mindedness, purposefulness, drive, commitment, dedication, doggedness, tenacity, tenaciousness, staying power Control deliberately exerted to do something or to restrain one's own impulses restrain one's own impulses.
study how action is planned, controlled, and modulated in the service of the agent's needs, motives, desires, or goals. (Prinz, Dennett, and Sebanz. Disorders of Volition. Bradford Books/MIT Press. 2006.) – Volition is viewed as an inside-out process of how actions are formed and informed by internal conditions. – Volitional processes can be applied consciously applied consciously or they can be automatized as habits automatized as habits over time. Is wellness a volitional act?
in good health. The process of learning about and engaging in behaviors that are likely to result in optimal health. – “ “A concept and practice poorly defined, A concept and practice poorly defined, misunderstood, misinterpreted and misapplied.” misunderstood, misinterpreted and misapplied.” Wellness is a state of being well; a state of well- being.
wish, to want, to will to will" Being (n): – A condition, state, circumstances; presence, fact of existing Well-being (n): – Existing in a state of willingness/volition
(1896-1975) (1896-1975) Dunn was the first to advance the concept of wellness in the American consciousness back in the 1950s. – He wrote that wellness is “an integrated method of functioning which is oriented toward maximizing the oriented toward maximizing the potential potential of which the individual is capable, within the environment where he is functioning.” High Level Wellness, R. W. Beatty, Ltd., 1961
of High Level Wellness Willingness to – face inconsistencies in our thinking – hear and examine the other fellow's viewpoints with an open mind. – encourage freedom of expression of those around us. – adjust our own views. – make time for unhurried contacts with others when such relationships are essential. – give credit and recognition to others when it is due them. – serve others as opportunities arise. – give freedom to those we love. High Level Wellness, R. W. Beatty, Ltd., 1961
to diverse and interconnected dimensions of physical, mental, and social well- being that extend beyond the traditional definition of health. JAMA. 2015 Jul 14;314(2):121-2. – It includes choices and activities aimed at achieving physical vitality, mental alacrity, social satisfaction, physical vitality, mental alacrity, social satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment, and personal a sense of accomplishment, and personal fulfillment. fulfillment. – Disease is incompatible with health, but not with Disease is incompatible with health, but not with wellness. wellness. For example, a dying patient who has led a rewarding life and is surrounded by a loving family and friends may still enjoy high level wellness.
conception of free-will seems to rest on two assumptions: 1.that each of us could have behaved differently behaved differently than we did in the past, and 2.that we are the conscious source conscious source of most of our thoughts and actions in the present. Harris, Sam. Free Will (p. 6). Free Press. Kindle Edition.
is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “ “Do you want to be made well?” Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.” John 5:2-7
no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society. profoundly sick society. Jiddu Krishnamurti Jiddu Krishnamurti
a pioneering scientist in the field of human consciousness and a researcher in the physiology department of the University of California, San Francisco. – In the early 1980's, Libet's most famous work built on the pre-volitional brain potentials pre-volitional brain potentials known as the Readiness Potential. These experiments came to be known as the Free-Will Experiments.
also known as the pre-motor potential is a measure of activity in the motor cortex and supplementary motor area (SMA SMA) that is the lead up to voluntary muscle movement. – It is a manifestation of the cortical contribution to the pre-motor planning of volitional movement. – It was first described Hans Helmut Kornhuber and Lüder Deecke at the University of Freiburg in Germany in 1964.
Libet asked, Libet asked, “ “Where does the intention Where does the intention to move fall in the to move fall in the Readiness Potential Curve?” Readiness Potential Curve?”
We found that the outcome of a decision can be encoded in brain activity of prefrontal and parietal cortex up to 10 seconds before it enters up to 10 seconds before it enters awareness awareness. – This delay presumably reflects the operation of a network of high-level control areas that begin to prepare an upcoming decision long before it enters awareness. Nat Neurosci. 2008 May;11(5):543-5.
Using fMRI scans cortical brain regions contained information about which button subjects would press a full 7 to 10 seconds before the decision was consciously made. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2011 Apr;1224:9-21. The outcome of a free decision can already be decoded from neural activity in medial prefrontal medial prefrontal and parietal cortex 4 seconds before and parietal cortex 4 seconds before they are consciously making their choice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Apr 9;110(15):6217- 22
Our results suggest that unconscious preparation of free choices is not restricted to motor not restricted to motor preparation. preparation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Apr 9;110(15):6217-22. – Instead, decisions at multiple scales of abstraction multiple scales of abstraction evolve from the dynamics of preceding brain activity.
is an illusion. Our wills are simply not of our own making. Harris, Sam. Free Will (p. 5-6). Free Press. Kindle Edition. – Thoughts and intentions emerge emerge from background causes of which we are unaware and over which we exert no conscious control no conscious control. – Seeming acts of volition merely arise spontaneously and cannot be traced to a point of origin in our conscious minds.
interpret his experiment as evidence for the lack of conscious free will. – He points out that although the tendency to press a button may be building up for 500 milliseconds, the conscious mind retains the right to veto any action at the last moment. J Consciousness Studies. 10 (12): 24–8. – This conscious, volitional act to veto unconscious impulses to perform a physical action is often referred to as Free-Won't.
call “free will” or volition appears to be localized to the frontal lobes frontal lobes, the medial most portions in particular. Joseph, R. . Free Will and the Frontal Lobes: Loss of Will, Against the Will, Catatonia and the “Alien Hand” (Kindle Location 32). University Press. Kindle Edition. Libet's original experiment in 1983 explicitly identified the frontal motor circuits frontal motor circuits of the brain as the cause of conscious intention. Disorders of Volition (Bradford Books) (Kindle Location 1128). Kindle Edition.
Striatum Striatum mPFC mPFC Motor Execution Motor Execution SMA SMA * Neural Model for Volition Neural Model for Volition Nat Rev Neurosci. 2008 Dec;9(12):934-46.
a significant role in voluntary motor control, procedural learning procedural learning relating to habits, emotional and motivational functioning, and transforming affective states into movement. Joseph, R.. Basal Ganglia, Striatum, Thalamus: Caudate, Putamen, Globus Pallidus, Limbic Striatum, Brainstem, Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, Psychosis, ... & Disorders of Movement (Kindle Locations 63-64). University Press. Kindle Edition. – Neurons in the striatum begin firing prior to movement, 20 ms 20 ms on average. – The immobility seen in Parkingson's disease is often described as a paralysis of the will paralysis of the will.
all events transpire in virtue of some necessity and are therefore inevitable. – Predestination is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Libertarianism is an incompatibilist position that argues that free will is logically incompatible with a deterministic universe and that agents have free will.
Bondage of the Will 1525 1525 Luther reasoned that sin incapacitates sin incapacitates human beings from working out their own salvation, and that they are completely incapable completely incapable of bringing themselves to God. – As such, there is no free will there is no free will for humanity because any will they might have is overwhelmed by the influence of sin. – Central to this doctrine are Luther's beliefs concerning the power and complete sovereignty power and complete sovereignty of God.
Agent-Causality is the idea that agents can start can start new causal chains new causal chains that are not pre-determined by the events of the immediate or distant past or the physical laws of nature. – Agents possess volition and, therefore, free-will. – The first agent-causal libertarian was Aristotle.
Tied to a “Self” The self can be considered that being which is the source of consciousness, the agent responsible responsible for an individual's thoughts and actions for an individual's thoughts and actions, or the substantial nature of a person which endures and unifies consciousness over time. – According to John Locke (1632 - 1704) , the self is a product of episodic memory Psychol Rev. 2000 Apr;107(2):261-88. – Locke posits an "empty" mind, a tabula rasa tabula rasa, which is shaped by experience; sensations and reflections being the two sources of all our ideas. – Gazzaniga refers to this as the Interpreter.
have the feeling that we feeling that we decide decide what we want and what we do. Our behaviors seem to originate seem to originate in our conscious decisions to pursue desired outcomes, or goals. Science 329, 47 (2010)
attention and behavior, even in the absence of conscious awareness absence of conscious awareness of the goal. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 61, 467 (2010). Psychol. Bull. 126, 925 (2000). – The operation of higher cognitive processes supporting goal pursuit does not care does not care much about the conscious state of the individual. Science 329, 47 (2010)
his office deciding deciding what stocks to buy. He imagines, no doubt, that he is planning his purchases according to his own judgment own judgment. In actual fact his judgment is a mélange of impressions stamped on his mind by outside influences which unconsciously control unconsciously control his thought. Bernays, Edward. (1928) Propaganda (p. 25). Ig Publishing. Kindle Edition.
mass psychology revealed to students the potentialities of invisible government of society by manipulation of the manipulation of the motives motives which actuate man in the group. – If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, is it not possible to control and control and regiment regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing about it? Bernays, Edward. (1928) Propaganda (p. 24). Ig Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Our Concept Libet's experiment does not tell us that we do not choose to initiate an action: it just tells us that we have to widen our concept of who ‘we’ are widen our concept of who ‘we’ are to include our unconscious selves. – Why should ‘we’ not be our unconscious be our unconscious, as well as our conscious, selves? McGilchrist, Iain. The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World (p. 188). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.
pursuit has discovered that goal representation and goal pursuit also operate operate without conscious awareness without conscious awareness, and hence, human behavior may originate in a kind of unconscious unconscious will will. Science 329, 47 (2010) – Understanding this mechanism is especially important because unconscious goal pursuit is proposed to play a key role play a key role in many aspects of social life, such as consumer and health behavior, ealth behavior, moral behavior, and social discrimination. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. 36, 147 (2006).
is it the Can the mind ever be totally free, or is it the very nature of the mind to be conditioned? very nature of the mind to be conditioned? Jiddu Krishnamurti Jiddu Krishnamurti We live between free choice and We live between free choice and conditioned habits. conditioned habits. Bruce Dickson Bruce Dickson
in which there is knowledge of one’s own existence and of the knowledge of one’s own existence and of the existence of surroundings existence of surroundings. Damasio, Antonio. Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain (Kindle Location 2439). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. – Damasio (1999) in The Feeling of What Happens argues that our conscious awareness is based on sophisticated brain maps of body states and memories. – We only become aware or conscious of bodily emotional states once the brain stem and higher centers map and then, remap these states.
The qualities of conscious thought qualities of conscious thought are: – Intentionality – Controllability – Linearity in nature Linearity in nature – Accessibility to awareness, i.e. Accessibility to awareness, i.e. verbally reportable verbally reportable Science. 2008;3(1):73-79.
of the processes in the mind which occur automatically automatically and are not available to verbal introspection and are not available to verbal introspection, and include thought processes, memories, interests, and motivations. J Am Psychoanal Assoc. 1999 Fall;47(4):1061-106. – Conscious processes are expensive: They require not only a lot of time, but also a lot of memory. Unconscious processes, on the other hand, are fast and rule-driven. Gazzaniga, Michael S.. Who's in Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain (p. 79). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
the brain’s incessant and dynamic mapping incessant and dynamic mapping is the mind. The mind is a subtle, flowing flowing combination of actual images images and recalled images. Damasio, Antonio (2010-11-09). Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain (Kindle Location 1182). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition – It appears to me that there is a tiering or stratification of mind and its dispositional space: • Conscious Mind • Subconscious Mind • Autonomic Mind
Autonomic Mind • First order maps of body states associated with feelings of emotion, autonomic regulation and a protoself. There is body awareness, but no self-awareness. Subconscious Mind Subconscious Mind • Second order maps of neurohormonal states associated with a nonverbal, present moment narrative and a Core Self. There is both awareness and self-awareness. Conscious Mind • Third order maps of neurohormonal states associated with a verbal narrative capable of “time-travel” and an Autobiographical Self. There is both awareness and self- awareness.
P. Van William P. Van Wagenen Wagenen, performed commissurotomies on twenty-six patients with severe uncontrollable epilepsy in order to limit epileptic seizure activity to one half of their brains. – The neurologist Andrew Akelaitis had found that cutting through the corpus callosum in human subjects produced no behavioral or cognitive effects. Gazzaniga, Michael S.. Tales from Both Sides of the Brain (Enhanced Edition): A Life in Neuroscience (p. 15-20). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
after the original commissurotomy surgeries, Roger Sperry, PhD and Michael Gazzaniga, PhD reexamined a number of these split brain patients. There are two main findings of these studies. – The first is the discovery that two autonomous minds reside in each split-brain patient. – The second is that the left brain can speak; the right brain is mute. Schiffer, Fredric. Of Two Minds: The Revolutionary Science of Dual-Brain Psychology (Kindle Locations 457-458). Free Press (now out of print), rights with Fredric Schiffer. Kindle Edition.
of Us are of Two Minds Two separate realms of subjective awareness exists in each of us. Schiffer, Fredric. Of Two Minds: The Revolutionary Science of Dual-Brain Psychology (Kindle Locations 1059-1061). – … one in each hemisphere and each in itself seems to be remarkably whole, unified, and capable of supporting independent behavior and a separate world view. Why do we have two hemispheres? Two brains? Two minds?
hemisphere underwrites sustained sustained attention and vigilance attention and vigilance for whatever is without preconception. The left hemisphere provides precisely focused, precisely focused, attention attention which enables us to get and grasp as it controls the right hand. McGilchrist, Iain. The Divided Brain and the Search for Meaning (Kindle Locations 143-145). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.
Prior to linguistic expression children generally think in terms of visual images, songs, feelings, desires, emotions, rhymes and may frequently engage in day dreaming as they do not yet think in connected words and sentences. R. Joseph. The Right Brain and the Limbic Unconscious: Emotion, Forgotten Memories, Self-Deception, Bad Relationships (Kindle Locations 1265-1267). University Press Science Publishers. Kindle Edition.
around age 2-3 as a child monologues about his actions only after a behavior has been completed. – As the child ages, the egocentric monologue begins to occur at an earlier point in the action. – By age 6-7 he will announce what he will do before doing it. R. Joseph. The Right Brain and the Limbic Unconscious: Emotion, Forgotten Memories, Self-Deception, Bad Relationships (Kindle Locations 1277-1279). University Press Science Publishers. Kindle Edition.
hemisphere has more neural connections both within itself and throughout the brain. – It has strong connections to emotional centers like the amygdala and to subcortical regions throughout the lower parts of the brain. The left side has far fewer connections within itself and beyond to the rest of the brain. – The left hemisphere is made of neatly stacked vertical columns, which allows the clear differentiation of separate mental functions, but less integration of those functions. Goleman, Daniel. The Brain and Emotional Intelligence: New Insights (Kindle Locations 185-188). More Than Sound LLC. Kindle Edition.
almost exclusively considered the tool of consciousness. – We usually think in words and use language to label, describe, and communicate our experiences. – It is through linguistic thought that we are able to manipulate the world, describe our selves, make predictions about the future, and symbolize aspects of the past in verbal memory and in written form. R. Joseph. The Right Brain and the Limbic Unconscious: Emotion, Forgotten Memories, Self-Deception, Bad Relationships (Kindle Locations 278-281). University Press Science Publishers. Kindle Edition.
confusing language with consciousness? Are you confusing language with consciousness? Are you confusing volition with language? Are you confusing volition with language?
the left brain which controls the ability to talk and think in words. – The ability to process and express information in a temporal-sequential, grammatical, and rhythmical fashion, are associated with the functional integrity of the left half of the brain in most of the population. R. Joseph. The Right Brain and the Limbic Unconscious: Emotion, Forgotten Memories, Self-Deception, Bad Relationships (Kindle Locations 285-286). University Press Science Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Verbal thinking often serves the function of explaining things. Yet the need to communicate and explain things to oneself seems paradoxical. – This implies that some forms of verbal thought are often based on information and knowledge that is already in existence but in a tacit, non-linguistic, imaginal, emotional, sensory or in a non-organized form. R. Joseph. The Right Brain and the Limbic Unconscious: Emotion, Forgotten Memories, Self-Deception, Bad Relationships (Kindle Locations 1243-1244). University Press Science Publishers. Kindle Edition.
hemisphere is associated with non- linguistic environmental awareness, visual-spatial perceptual functioning, the analysis of depth, figure-ground and stereopsis. – It is dominant for maintaining the body image and the expression of bodily emotions. – It participates in language processing by evoking or sensing feeling, context, and emotion. Joseph, R.. Right Hemisphere, Left Hemisphere, Consciousness & the Unconscious, Brain and Mind (Kindle Locations 87-88). University Press. Kindle Edition.
Just as there are areas in the left frontal and temporal-parietal lobes which mediate the expression and comprehension of the denotative, temporal-sequential, grammatical and syntactical aspects of language, there are similar regions within the right hemisphere that mediate emotional speech and comprehension. Joseph, R.. Right Hemisphere, Left Hemisphere, Consciousness & the Unconscious, Brain and Mind (Kindle Locations 225-227). University Press. Kindle Edition.
left brain to gain an understanding of implicit, tacit or unconscious knowledge requires that it be presented in a linear temporal sequence of language-related ideas and images. – Linguistic thought often serves to explain and communicate something that we are already aware of non-linguistically and unconsciously. R. Joseph. The Right Brain and the Limbic Unconscious: Emotion, Forgotten Memories, Self-Deception, Bad Relationships (Kindle Location 1248). University Press Science Publishers. Kindle Edition.
PhD in his book, The Right Brain and the Unconscious, equates the right, non-linguistic or non- dialogical brain with the Unconscious. – The right brain embodies an emotional, visual- spatial, geometric and tactual consciousness that assumes a nonverbal and nonlinear narrative. – The left brain embodies a temporal- sequential, analytical and linguistic consciousness that assumes a verbal narration style. – The two brains do not share a common language and they do not code memories in the same manner.
in the Right Brain. This Consciousness is fully Aware and Awake. It is Devoid of Dialogical Language. This Consciousness Can and Will Set its Own Goals. The Desires, Will and Goals of the Sub/Unconscious Mind are Frequently Determined Outside of Your Conscious, Linguistic Awareness.
The mind is designed for action, and continuously and largely unconsciously processes behavioral- relevant information to readily “tell” its owner what she wants and should do to deal with the opportunities and challenges presented by the environment. – Thus, setting, pursuing, and realizing goals can occur without conscious interventions. The unconscious will: how the pursuit of goals operates outside of conscious awareness. Science 329, 47 (2010)
to explain our actions, they are all post hoc explanations using post hoc observations with no access to nonconscious processing. – The left brain takes all the input that it receives and builds the narrative. Gazzaniga, Michael S.. Who's in Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain (p. 77). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
Goals and their pursuit can be influenced by unconscious sources and these goals do not need to be consciously set and adopted before their influence begins to operate. Science 329, 47 (2010) – People may often become conscious of the actions they prepare and execute, but their conscious knowledge of what exactly they do to reach a goal is surprisingly limited. Neuropsychologia 36, 1133 (1998).
a pattern-recognition system that involves high-level processing in the right hemisphere. – The right brain is good at apprehending complex patterns and gets automatic about it. – The right brain is a present moment, embodied, whole picture experience. Gazzaniga, Michael S.. Who's in Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain (p. 94). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
The two minds can cooperate with each other in a deep, synergistic relationship fostering creativity and maturity or they can sabotage each other leading to a plethora of psychological and psychosomatic problems. Schiffer, Fredric. Of Two Minds: The Revolutionary Science of Dual-Brain Psychology (Kindle Locations 626-628).
a tendency to experience and communicate psychological distress in the form of somatic symptoms and to seek medical help for them. Conversion disorder is sometimes applied to patients who present with neurological symptoms, such as numbness, blindness, paralysis, or fits, which are not consistent with a well-established organic cause, and which cause significant distress.
lots whether with sticks, stones, bones, beans, coins, animal entrails or some other item. – Modern playing cards and board games developed from this type of divination. – This depends on the geometric-spacial pattern recognition inherent in the right brain. Jaynes, J. The origin of consciousness in the breakdown of the bicameral mind. Houghton Mifflin. 1977.
It is the left hand that is controlled by the right hemisphere and which is most in contact with the subconscious mind (vide supra R. Joseph) . – Latin sinister "left, on the left side" (opposite of dexter) is from the Proto-Indo-European root in Sanskrit सननययनन (sanīyān) meaning “more useful or more advantageous.”
psychological phenomenon wherein a subject makes motions unconsciously. – A phenomenon whereby a thought or mental image brings about a seemingly "reflexive" or automatic muscular reaction, often of minuscule degree, and potentially outside of the awareness of the subject. – As in reflexive responses to pain, the body sometimes reacts reflexively with an ideomotor effect to ideas alone without the person consciously deciding to take action.
a way to access the content of the implicit memories and the tacit knowledge of the subconscious mind. These applications may include: – Muscle Testing Procedures as found in Applied Kinesiology, PSYCH-K® and the work of both Dr. John Diamond and Dr. David Hawkins. – Subconscious communication with a pendulum.
There is evidence that sympathetic nervous control is under greater influence by the right hemisphere Ann Neurol. 2001 May;49(5):575-84. while parasympathetic control is more under left-hemisphere control. Neuropsychologia. 1998 May;36(5):461-8. – Of the two, the sympathetic is more important for modulating heart rate and blood pressure in response to emotion. McGilchrist, Iain. The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World (p. 69). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.
HRV is related to emotional arousal. Decreased PSNS activity or increased SNS activity will result in reduced HRV. Electrodermal Activity – Sweating is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system and skin conductance is an indication of psychological or physiological arousal. Voice Stress Analysis – This is based on the non-verbal content of the voice which carries information about the physiological and psychological state of the speaker.
learning of complex information in an incidental manner without awareness of what has been learned. Psychological Bulletin, Vol 115(2), Mar 1994, 163-196. – e.g. language, bicycle riding, swimming A major evolutionary and neurological mechanism that drives implicit learning is the mirror neuron system. Ramachandran, V. S.. The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human (Kindle Locations 2128-2129). W. W. Norton & Company. Kindle Edition.
neuron system is a group of specialized neurons that “mirrors” the actions and behavior of others. – In humans, brain activity consistent with that of mirror neurons has been found in the premotor cortex, the supplementary motor area, the primary somatosensory cortex, the inferior parietal cortex, the temporal, occipital and parietal visual areas. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2009 Jul;33(7):975-80. Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 2007;49(1):66-69
Mirror neurons allow us to first mimic and then imitate the actions that we see. – Mirror neurons are concerned with the intended goals of an action. Iacoboni, Marco. Mirroring People: The New Science of How We Connect with Others (p. 41). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition. – Mirror Neurons allow you to “as-if” your way through life.
Mirror Neurons Mirror Neurons – These neurons fire at the sight of [grasping] actions. Canonical Neurons – These neurons fire at the sight of certain [graspable] objects. Iacoboni, Marco. Mirroring People: The New Science of How We Connect with Others (p. 24). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition.
Mirror neurons transform observed behaviors through visual and auditory perceptual pathways into knowledge by forming mapped representations in the corresponding cortical regions. Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 2007;49(1):66-69. Iacoboni, Marco. Mirroring People: The New Science of How We Connect with Others (p. 14). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition.
a perfect matching of the performed action onto the observed one. – Mirror neurons are able to recognize the actions of others and the intention associated with them. – So they can code for likely future actions of others, thereby observers are able to anticipate the actions of others. Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 2007;49(1):66-69. Iacoboni, Marco. Mirroring People: The New Science of How We Connect with Others (p. 14). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition.
The presence of mirror neurons in Broca's area of humans suggests that human language may have evolved from a gesture performance strategy. – Tasks like spontaneous speech and reading activate the hand motor area on the left side. – Language mirror neurons seem to be lateralized to the left side involving the dominant hand motor cortex and the left language axis. Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 2007;49(1):66-69. Iacoboni, Marco. Mirroring People: The New Science of How We Connect with Others (p. 14). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition.
of Mind Theory of mind (ToM) is the ability to recognize that someone else has a mind separate from one's own. – It involves the ability to infer someone else's mind- states by facial expression, tone of voice and non- verbal communication. – It involves the area concerned with action imitation, face imitation and intention understanding. Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 2007;49(1):66-69. Iacoboni, Marco. Mirroring People: The New Science of How We Connect with Others (p. 14). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition.
a process which involves the affective sharing between self and others, adopting the perspective of others and the ability for self- agency and self-regulation. – The more people tend to imitate each other, the more they are able to develop an empathic relationship. – Social mirroring involves the interaction of the core mirror neuron system with the limbic system. Rajmohan V, Mohandas E. Mirror neuron system. Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 2007;49(1):66-69. doi:10.4103/0019-5545.31522. Iacoboni, Marco. Mirroring People: The New Science of How We Connect with Others (p. 14). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition.
are the ultimate as-if body device. Damasio, Antonio. Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain (Kindle Locations 1671-1676). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. – If a complex brain can simulate someone else’s body state, than it would be able to simulate its own body states. – A state that has already occurred in the organism should be easier to simulate since it has already been mapped by precisely the same somatosensing structures that are now responsible for simulating it.
incidental stimuli influence behavioral outcomes without the individual’s awareness of this influence. Frontiers in Psychology. 2014;5:96. – Priming is an implicit memory effect in which exposure to one stimulus influences the response to another stimulus. – The effects of priming can be more powerful than simple recognition memory. J Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition. 1982; 8 (4). – It spreads along neural and semantic networks via spreading activation.
of long-term memory, is acquired and used unconsciously, and can affect thoughts and behaviors. J Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. 13: 501–518. – One of its most common forms is procedural memory, which helps people performing certain tasks without conscious awareness of these previous experiences. Explicit memory or declarative memory refers to the conscious, intentional recollection of factual information, previous experiences and concepts. Cognition. 2004 May-Jun;92(1-2):231-70.
Priming the goal immediately selects the actions themselves. – People automatically select and execute behaviors when a goal is primed and unconsciously adjust their behaviors to reach it. – Priming immediately increases the tendency to realize a target behavior, even when this “idea” is triggered outside of conscious awareness. Science 329, 47 (2010)
all manner of contingency programs stored in your implicit or procedural memory. – Reading words associated with aging will trigger “old age behaviors.” – Car, tire, carburetor, trunk … f _ _ l – Your brain works on predictive contingencies.
coined by Oxford biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene. Brodie, Richard. Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme (p. 4). Hay House. Kindle Edition. – According to Dawkins, the meme is the basic unit of cultural transmission, or imitation. – Philosopher Daniel Dennett says: A wagon with spoked wheels carries not only grain or freight from place to place; it carries the brilliant idea of a wagon with spoked wheels from mind to mind. Memes both program and prime the brain.
insight from the science of memetics: your thoughts are not always your own original ideas. Brodie, Richard. Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme . Hay House. Kindle Edition. – This includes all the words in your vocabulary, the stories you know, the skills and habits you have, the games you play, the songs you sing and the rules you obey. Blackmore, Susan. The Meme Machine (Popular Science) (p. 4). OUP Oxford. Kindle Edition. more, Susan. The Meme Machine (Popular Science) (p. 4). OUP Oxford. Kindle Edition. – You catch thoughts— you get infected with them, both directly from other people and indirectly from viruses of the mind. Brodie, Richard. Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme . Hay House. Kindle Edition.
without our permission. They become part of our mental programming and influence our lives without our even being aware of it. Brodie, Richard. Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme (p. 126). Hay House. Kindle Edition. – Memes include tunes, slogans, catchphrases, fashions, styles, and rituals that seem to spread throughout cultures as if they had a mind and intention all their own. Van Praet, Douglas. Unconscious Branding: How Neuroscience Can Empower (and Inspire) Marketing (Kindle Locations 1207-1208). St. Martin's Press. Kindle Edition.
Memes are the building blocks of your mind, the programming of your mental “computer.” – The first way we get infected is through conditioning, or repetition. – The second way is through a mechanism known as cognitive dissonance. – The third way new memes enter our minds is by taking advantage of our genetic buttons in the manner of the Trojan horse. Brodie, Richard. Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme . Hay House. Kindle Edition.
of Memetics The memes in our culture reflect our deepest, unconscious biological drives, or the Six S’s: survival, safety, security, sustenance, sex, and status. – Sometimes these are called the three F's: fear, food and fornication. Van Praet, Douglas. Unconscious Branding: How Neuroscience Can Empower (and Inspire) Marketing (Kindle Locations 1208-1209). St. Martin's Press. Kindle Edition.
triggers (memes) for both conscious negative self-talk and unconscious, unhealthy contingency programs via mirror neuron cues. 2.Engender new learning (memes) for contingency programs that automatically foster wellness, well-being and health. 3.Exploit new priming triggers (memes) for both positive self-talk and new health engendering, contingency programs via mirror neuron cues.
place oneself in a condition of mental passiveness, silence the voice of conscious analysis, and then deposit in the ever-awake subconscious the idea or suggestion which one desires to be realized. – “Everyday, in every way, I'm getting better and better.” (Repeat 20 times at bedtime.) Emile Coué (1922) Coue, Emile. SELF MASTERY THROUGH CONSCIOUS AUTOSUGGESTION 1922.
that we possess at birth, and with which we play unconsciously all our life, as a baby plays with its rattle. It is however a dangerous instrument; it can wound or even kill you if you handle it imprudently and unconsciously. It can on the contrary save your life when you know how to employ it consciously. Emile Coué (1922) Coue, Emile. SELF MASTERY THROUGH CONSCIOUS AUTOSUGGESTION 1922.
brain simply believes what you tell it most. And what you tell it about tell it most. And what you tell it about you, it will create. It has no choice.” you, it will create. It has no choice.” Shad Helmstetter, What To Say When You Talk To Your Self, 1988. Shad Helmstetter, What To Say When You Talk To Your Self, 1988.
our past negative programming by erasing or replacing it with conscious, positive new directions. – Self-Talk is a practical way to live our lives by active intent rather than by passive acceptance. Helmstetter, Dr. Shad. What To Say When You Talk To Your Self (Kindle Locations 874-875). Park Avenue Press. Kindle Edition.
of Negative Acceptance (“I can’t...”) 2.The Level of Recognition and Need To Change (“I need to… I should...”) 3.The Level of Decision to Change (“I never...I no longer…”) 4.The Level of The Better You (“I am”) 5.The Level of Universal Affirmation (“It is…”) Helmstetter, Dr. Shad. What To Say When You Talk To Your Self (Kindle Locations 958-959). Park Avenue Press. Kindle Edition.
“I am a winner! I believe in myself. I respect myself and I like who I am. I have made the decision to win in my life and that’s what I’m doing!” – Level 4 Self-Talk inspires, encourages, urges, and implores. It tugs at our hearts, touches our hopes, and paints in the pictures that color our dreams. It excites, demands, and pushes us forward. It strengthens the armor of our spirit and hardens the steel of our determination. Helmstetter, Dr. Shad. What To Say When You Talk To Your Self (Kindle Locations 954-955). Park Avenue Press. Kindle Edition.
“I am one with the true, healthy, qualities of my life, and they are one with me. Life, to me, is a place of joy…serenity…peace…and healthy well- being.” “Life is uplifting and fulfilling in body, mind and spirit.” – This level of Self-Talk can be beautiful, almost poetic, and it is generally life-affirming. Helmstetter, Dr. Shad. What To Say When You Talk To Your Self (Kindle Locations 954-955). Park Avenue Press. Kindle Edition.
comprehends not only what is said (descriptive language), but how it is said --what a speaker feels (mirror neurons). R. Joseph. The Right Brain and the Limbic Unconscious: Emotion, Forgotten Memories, Self-Deception, Bad Relationships (Kindle Locations 466-467). University Press Science Publishers. Kindle Edition. – Feeling, intent, attitude and related emotional states are perceived, processed, and expressed by the mental system of the right half of the cerebrum. Appeal to metaphor and poetry, singing and music. McGilchrist, Iain. The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World (p. 188). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.
pherein carry) thinking is fundamental to our understanding of the world, because it is the only way in which understanding can reach outside the system of symbols to life itself. – Metaphor embodies thought and places it in a living context. – The gap across which the metaphor carries us is one that language itself creates. McGilchrist, Iain. The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World (pp. 115-116). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.
a stronger affinity between the right hemisphere and the minor key. McGilchrist, Iain. The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World (p. 73). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition. – Neurological research strongly supports that ‘our love of music reflects the ancestral ability of our mammalian brain to transmit and receive basic emotional sounds’, the prosody and rhythmic motion that emerge intuitively from entrainment of the body in emotional expression: ‘music was built upon the prosodic mechanisms of the right hemisphere that allow us affective emotional communications through vocal intonations.’
can simulate, within somatosensing regions, certain body states, as if they were occurring; and because our perception of any body state is rooted in the body maps of the somatosensing regions, we perceive the body state as actually occurring even if it is not. Damasio, Antonio. Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain (Kindle Locations 1651-1653). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
between reinforcing cognitive stimuli that induce an associated physiological affective state. – Within the brain, somatic markers are thought to be processed in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC; a subsection of the orbitomedial PFC, OMPFC). Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1996 Oct 29;351(1346):1413-20.
These somatic marker associations can recur during decision-making and bias one's cognitive processing. – When one has to make complex and uncertain decisions, the somatic markers created by the relevant stimuli are summed to produce a net somatic state. – This overall state directs (or biases) one's decision of how to act. Damasio, Antonio R. (2000). The Feeling of what Happens: Body, Emotion and the Making of Consciousness. Vintage. ISBN 978-0-09-928876-3
For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. but I do the very thing I hate. (Rom 7:15) (Rom 7:15)
and conditioned action. – I can exercise genuine free-won't in the moment. – I can consciously learn new contingency responses today. – I can act on these new contingencies tomorrow.
to provide MSCA-DII for the opportunity to provide a forum for my ideas. a forum for my ideas. Dr. Ragan Fairchild-Bonci for the Dr. Ragan Fairchild-Bonci for the editorial exchange and the wonderful editorial exchange and the wonderful illustrations. illustrations. AJ Bonci for the musical and audio AJ Bonci for the musical and audio guidance in the making of the self-talk guidance in the making of the self-talk programs. programs.
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