Brain

Hey, is it becoming a fad, or a useful tool in psychotherapy, or both? Perhaps both. That may be the conclusion of the article, Lotus Therapy, linked from the front page of the NYT this morning. Mindfulness Meditation is catching on in a big way all over the planet, so why not shorten it to MindfulMed?

I keep trying it from time to time but that’s probably not enough. Oh, if I only had a brain! But that’s the idea: don’t have one, get rid of that left brain. Easier said than done, and how can I get anything done if I do? Well, again, that’s the idea: stop DOING things. Naw, that’s not it either. Too much analysis and not enough doing IT. OK, ten minutes a day for a start? If I can remember…..

Here’s Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, Harvard-trained neuroanatomist, giving a recent TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talk on her experience with half a brain. Her left brain was erased in a stroke, which she eventually recovered from. (Minds Erased, take note!) What’s amazing is her out-of-body experience of Nirvana when her left brain is shut down and her right brain alone experiences the world. Great and profound talk.

The New York Times has an article on her by Leslie Kaufman, the most popular article today, called A Superhighway to Bliss.

Perhaps I should mention the books I’m in the process of reading or have read recently. I just finished The Meaning of Life by Terry Eagleton, and before that the Irish novel The Gathering by Anne Enright which won the 2007 Man Booker Prize. Now I’m trying to simultaneously read The Private Life of the Brain by Susan Greenfield, The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, and Cosmic Jackpot by Paul Davies. I’ve already read the latter — see here — so this will be a re-read. Also, I’m still dabbling in Roger Penrose’s The Road to Reality, a very heavy physics book for the “general reader”. Plus, there’s a bunch of stuff online on physics, cosmology, philosophy, and religion that I’m trying to keep up with. Incidentally, there’s a great put-down by Terry Eagleton of The God Delusion here.

My objective is to straddle science, philosophy and religion and see what kind of a mixture I might end up with, if any.

How about a Beam of Light That Flips a Switch That Turns on the Brain? How’s that for a new way to get turned on? But what’s it like? Take a look?

See the neuron synapses in red? See the photosensitive protein on the cell membrane in green? For a layman’s discussion of the physics and chemistry and experiments with light check the link above.

But what’s it like? you ask. You mean you want to know what it feels like? Ha Ha Who knows? Ask a zebrafish? Or why not read Thomas Nagel’s article, What Is It Like To Be A Bat?

Oliver Sacks has been writing great stuff for popular consumption on the many peculiarities and mysteries of behavior caused by (coming from?) the brain. The latest New Yorker magazine has a fascinating article by him on musicophilia (a suddenly arising musical passion), and also apparently new mysteries of Near Death Experiences. The article is not online but an audio conversation with Oliver Sacks on musicophilia is available here.

These types of things highlight even more profoundly the dichotomy between the physical state of the brain and consciousness. Are we seeing dualism here?? Naw, we must eschew supernaturalism, say the sensible ones, like the Churchlands and many, née most, others in the scientific communities.