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Experiment - for what it's worth
sKePTiKal:
OK, so I have the coolest hair stylist. We're at opposite ends of the political spectrum and that's part of the connection & fun... he's a grandpa - part of my generational cohort... and we talk about just about everything under the sun. I suspect he's another self-motivated learner. I like him & his wife & crew a whole bunch. So yesterday, as us oldsters are wont, we started talking about neuroscience again... and he reminded me of a previous conversation we had about one of his new-age-y heroes. This guy, Neil Slade worked with some brain scientist, musician nut from our generation by the name of "Lingo".
They're pushing this practical "experiment" that people can try at home on themselves. It's called "Tickling the Amygdala"... Long story short: one is supposed to be able to retrain the brain to "feel better" with this technique... to be more creative, cooperative, even less negative; less anxious... simply by practicing this easy visualization that effectively re-orients one's neural pathways from always seeking the negative first. This overlaps with the subject of some of the books I've read, and seems to be based on the concept of neural plasticity. So there might actually be something to it - but I'm still skeptical.
My guess is that this will work better for folks that also have a high level of suggestibility, or who think in associations more often than linear, causal logic patterns. Maybe that's a description of creative types... but it's not the complete description. Anyway - here's the link to the full explanation and description for anyone who's curious or doesn't have something better to do. I'm interested in hearing from people about whether they notice any effects, whether you tried it once and walked away from it or started really noticing a difference. I'm going to try it too... because it overlaps with something my T taught me; seems very similar.
http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/viewzone/BrainMagicView.html
This was something she showed me how to do, to deal with my anxiety levels... get them back down to bearable, garden-variety, obsessive worrying that I could talk about. Even that last part left after awhile too. One simply sits comfortably in a chair and does a basic body relaxation technique - tensing and relaxing different parts of the body, working from the toes on up... while one holds your hands together in a loose ball - all fingers/thumbs touching, lightly as if you're holding something round, fluffy and very, very delicate in them... maybe a kitten? A giant seed puff? And breathing in a meditative, comfortable pattern, letting your hands expand and contract with your ribcage...
I don't need to do the above anymore; not unless I'm in a very stressful situation... but it worked very, very quickly for me. And I was able to reduce the initial 2 minute time limit we set on this... down to a few seconds, and still obtain the needed relaxation effect. I guess the theory is, that we disrupt the amygdala's tried & true initiation of the flight/fight/freeze effect... and redirect the attention to the frontal cortex... simply with focus, attention, and concentration - and that it doesn't require a lot of time... just enough repetition (which will vary person to person) to break the old neural pathway habit.
The other part of the theory -- and this is where I'm most skeptical I think -- is that this simple retraining can also change our emotional habits... thereby "improving our lives" by providing more pleasant emotions. (I'm know that's not enough to "improve" people's lives if they're barely making ends meet financially.) Anyone know if there is only one brain area involved in emotions? Or if it's alot more complex than that...?? I'm leaning toward the latter.
I know this sounds rediculously "airy-fairy" and like "magical thinking" almost. Absurd. But I also know that my T's exercise was an absolute life-saver for me at that time. It worked, every time... until I didn't need it. So far as I know, neuroscience hasn't figured out exactly how brain activity & thought disruption create or change emotions. I believe that our physical body has some impact on this also... but these are all parts of the same larger machine or bio-system of ourselves. My thought is that our emotional selves... our "feeling being"... is produced by and dependent on the functioning of the rest of our selves... because I know it works in reverse, via my psychosomatic symptoms.
Anyway, I thought I'd share the link... since we've touched on this a few times... and maybe a few of you will try it and let me know what you think. Hold off deciding if there's anything to it... until you've tried it... let's say 10 times. I don't think once is enough for most of us to notice anything... but I also don't want anyone to waste their time, either.
Thanks!
KayZee:
Hey P.S.,
This experiment looks fascinating. And I'm in desperate need of some post-holiday stress-busting! I'm going to give it a try (plus the body-tensing relaxation exercise).
Let you know how it goes!
lots of love, Kay
sKePTiKal:
Yeah, I'm with you Boat - it does seem too simple. At least until one adds repetition into the mix - that's based on re-grooving neural pathways; neural plasticity and is an accepted premise in the science. Anecdotally - I experienced a success with this and my MIL. She'd had a strong stroke with the usual speech and right-arm weakness. In rehab, her mood started to really deteriorate and she was moving from depression into hope/helplessness. Both hubs and I brainstormed ideas to a.) give her something to distract her and b.) help her regain physical-brain cooperation.
At the time, I had access to physical therapy course materials and consulted those and the professor who taught those courses - specifically neuroscience for PT majors. What I found was very hopeful... and since MIL had been quite the accomplished seamstress and immaculate crochet practicitioner... I got large yarn and the biggest crochet hook I could find. She protested that she'd never be able to crochet again... but we kept telling her to just try. I reasoned that even after the stroke, there would be enough strength and body memory in her hands... that they would connect visually and tactilly with her brain... that she would be slowly be able to regain the ability to follow multiple, complex steps... manage a process in other words. She'd been crocheting all her life - I knew that skill and knowledge couldn't simply evaporate unless she'd experienced more brain injury than we were led to believe. It worked... and within a year she completed a baby afghan for her new great-grandson. Lots of other kinds of things remained difficult or beyond her... but getting back a lifelong skill gave her back some confidence in her ability to recover. That pushed her over the edge... into positive effort, experiment, trying... that motivation that many seem to feel is beyond us, from time to time.
For me - it was one of my wild guesses; a shot in the dark... but the research I started doing, made it seem like I was on the right track. Other experiments like that, didn't work out so well. And later, we discovered there was probably other medical - organic, physical - reasons why.
Meh:
Okay P,
How do you do it though? A person focuses mental energy on a section of the brain and vebally says "click" and imagines the brain changing? Is that how you do it?
sKePTiKal:
Hmm. The link I posted shows a picture of where the amygdalas are in the brain. Sort of on a line between your eyes/ears; midway. Then you're supposed to imagine that you're tickling them with a feather. That's what they mean, I think, by "clicking" attention/function forward.
I don't get much of any result from this; I wondered if anyone else did.
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