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I prepared a summary to introduce you to this topic:
Models of consciousness aim to inspire new experimental protocols and aid interpretation of empirical evidence to reveal the structure of conscious experience. Nevertheless, no current model is univocally accepted on either theoretical or empirical grounds.
The four current and major neuroscientific theories of conscious experience are: global neuronal workspace (GNW) theory, re-entrant processing theory, predictive coding, and integrated information theory (IIT).
A fantasy is an idea with no basis in reality and is basically your imagination unrestricted by reality. Reality is the state of things as they exist. It’s what you see, hear, and experience.
Imagery and perception are the same? A large body of evidence has shown that imagery and perception can behave in strikingly similar ways. For most of us, both can produce the subjective feeling (or qualia) of ‘seeing’; however, imagery is often a weaker and fuzzier version of visual perception.
The Perky Effect describes the relationship between real visual information (perception) and mental imagery. Discovered by C. W. Perky in 1910, her experiments were able to show that visualization of images can depress the sensitivity of perception of real visual targets.
What did Perky find about projecting a faint image of a banana while participants created a mental image of a banana? Their descriptions of the mental image matched the real image.
Quanta Magazine’s coverage of biology in 2023, including important research progress into the nature of consciousness, the origins of our microbiomes and the timekeeping mechanisms that govern our lives and development. Read about more breakthroughs from 2023 at Quanta Magazine: https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-bi…
00:05 The Research of Consciousness: Our minds are constantly taking in new external information while also creating their own internal imagery and narratives. How do we distinguish reality from fantasy? This year, researchers discovered that the brain has a “reality threshold” against which it constantly evaluates processed signals. – Original story with links to research papers can be found here: https://www.quantamagazine.org/is-it-…
04:30 Microbiomes Evolve With Us: This year, scientists provided clear evidence that the organisms in our microbiome —the collection of bacteria and other cells that live in our guts and elsewhere on our body — spread between people, especially those with whom we spend the most time. This raises the intriguing possibility that some illnesses that aren’t usually considered communicable might be. — Original story with links to research papers can be found here: https://www.quantamagazine.org/global…
08:43 How Life Keeps Time: The rate at which an embryo develops and the timing of when its tissues mature vary dramatically between species. What controls the ticking of this developmental clock that determines an animal’s final form? This year, a series of careful experiments suggest that mitochondria may very well serve dual roles as both the timekeeper and power source for complex cells. – Original story with links to research papers can be found here: https://www.quantamagazine.org/what-m…
Much of our past programming is hardwired into our physical system. This keeps us rooted in our perceptions and behaviours, and we attract like results.
This 5 minute exercise for your mind will help you develop new neural pathways that can change your life. Every thought and feeling we have strengthens the neural pathways that we have developed, which, in turn, dictates what we believe.
As a result, we radiate a specific vibration that is in alignment with our beliefs and attract the things that match those beliefs into our lives.
Try this 5 minute mind exercise to create and manifest more of what you want. After watching this, and doing the exercise for 30 days, your brain will not be the same.
This exercise is a modification of Dr. Henry Grayson’s technique to create new neural pathways.
The Law of Attraction does not bring positive results without positive beliefs and positive patterns. These principles are the secret formula to follow if you wish to align with your desires the way countless others have. You are a limitless creator.
Learn how to break free from self-imposed limitations and live the life you desire!
Imagine, for a second, a duck teaching a French class. A ping-pong match in orbit around a black hole. A dolphin balancing a pineapple. You probably haven’t actually seen any of these things. But you could imagine them instantly. How does your brain produce an image of something you’ve never seen? Andrey Vyshedskiy details the neuroscience of imagination.
Task 1. Comprehension. Watch the video and answer these questions:
1-The Hebbian principle is based on the principle that: “Neurons that fire together, _____.”
a-Wire together
b-Encode memory
c-Create conscious
d-Spend more energy than neurons that fire separately
2-Which of the following statements about a neuronal ensemble is untrue?
a-All neurons of a neuronal ensemble have enhanced connections to each other
b-All neurons of a neuronal ensemble tend to fire together in resonance
c-Neuronal ensemble encode memories of an object or an event
d-All neurons of a neuronal ensemble are located in the close physical proximity in the brain
3- In what tasks would you expect to see a deficit in a lobotomy patient?
a-Orientation in a new apartment
b-Recognizing their spouse
c-Remembering multiplication tables
d-Playing chess
4- What is the role of myelin in the brain?
a-To speed up the transmission of signals between neurons
b-To reduce metabolic energy consumption by preventing ions from leaking from neuron
c-To increase the conduction velocity in longer fibers compared to shorter fibers in order to establish an uniform conduction time.
d-All of the above
5- Which activity necessarily involves mental synthesis (mental synthesis is conscious purposeful prefrontal cortex-controlled imagination)?
a-Remembering your grandmother
b-Hallucinating with vivid colors
c-Dreaming during sleep about space travel and flying
d-Reading a new fairy tale
e-All of the above
6- What is a neuronal ensemble?
7- Where are the cells of the neuronal ensemble encoding your favorite cup located in your brain? How are these cells connected? What happens when you think of your favorite cup?
8- You want to forget your ex. Is it possible for a doctor (theoretically speaking) to rid your brain from the memory of your ex?
9- How does myelination of axons in the brain regulate the timing of postsynaptic activations?
Task 2. Research, Writing & Speaking.
Additional Resources for you to Explore
Studying imagination used to belong to the realm of philosophy and psychology. Now, neurobiology provides insights into this holy grail of natural philosophy. One of the first insights into the science of imagination was that imagination includes not one, but a variety of processes. The neurobiology of recalling an object from memory is different from dreaming, and is different from purposeful conscious imagining a novel object (example: a pineapple on top of a dolphin). The latter process is referred to as mental synthesis to distinguish it from the simple recall and dreaming. Mental synthesis is controlled by and completely dependent on the intact lateral prefrontal cortex.
You can read the complete Mental Synthesis theory at the publisher’s website. The Mental Synthesis theory makes a number of testable predictions in the realm of linguistics, primatology, and paleoanthropology. The theory also attempts to explain the process of language acquisition in children as well as the critical period for language acquisition. The active use of syntactic language during childhood leads to the development of synchronous neural connections between the prefrontal cortex and the posterior cortex. These synchronous connections seem to be essential for mental synthesis. Children not involved in syntactic communication during the sensitive period of language development often find it challenging to intentionally create and test new scenarios in their mind. They would have great difficulty doing any tasks that require an active imagination. In a sense, these children develop a “mental synthesis disability” that stays with them for the remainder of their lives. This is typical of families with deaf children, which are isolated from a sign language community; instead of learning a formal sign language, they normally spontaneously develop a homesign system. These individuals often fail in the most basic of mental synthesis tests such as being able to follow the directions of “placing the bowl behind/in front of/in/on/under the cup.”
To correctly place a bowl behind or in front of a cup, one first needs to mentally synthesize the novel image of a bowl behind or in front of a cup. Someone who cannot simulate the process mentally would have no mental image of a bowl behind or in front of a cup and would therefore just use trial and error and probably place the cup and bowl into an incorrect arrangement. Research shows that after the end of the critical period, these linguistically deprived individuals are able to learn the meanings of new words, but they are unable to purposefully generate novel mental scenarios or understand complex syntax.
Language delay is a common affliction that affects 70% of children with autism, a majority of children with Down syndrome and thousands of other children. These children are not able to benefit from the training provided naturally by a syntactic communication system at the time when their brains are most receptive to the development of mental synthesis. As a result, many children with language delay end up with life-long mental synthesis disability.
To facilitate acquisition of mental synthesis, my team has developed an early-intervention therapy application – Mental Imagery Therapy for Autism or MITA. MITA consists of interactive puzzles designed to help children learn how to mentally integrate multiple features of an object. The exercises are disguised as fun games for kids. The enrollment is currently open and it is already the biggest autism clinical trial in history.
Task 3. Discussion, Writing & Speaking.
Try to complete the sentence and see what others are thinking: “The human being is the only animal that …”
comment 1: Can envisage its thinking process as described here, and which uses its “minds eye” to construct models of the objects or non-material situations that it had previously encountered. These models are capable of being drawn on a sheet of paper, in sand, on walls etc., so that our attention can simultaneously be directed to more details about how such models work. This is the essence of our ability to create scientific theories and consequently to more closely approach reality.
comment 2: “The human being is the only animal that …” think, reason, talk and try to interact with others to acquire more knowledge. He also has more long-term memory and even tends to return or remember what hurts him. The human being is also the only one who stumbles twice in his life with the same stone and possibly a third time.
comment 3: Bonobos and humans are the only primates to typically engage in face-to-face genital sex, although a pair of western gorillas has been photographed in this position.
comment 4: Can emotionally and mentally destroy you
Magic refers to things that really work, but that don’t have a recognized scientific explanation. What I call “Everyday Magic” consists of seemingly ordinary things that produce magical results, in terms of the normal way of thinking.
Where your physical body is concerned these suggestions are not intended to replace any other form of help that you feel is necessary.
I’m going to present these ideas in four categories: physical, telepathic and energetic, imaginative, and mimicry.
Serge Kahili King, author of “Huna: Ancient Secrets for Modern Living,” gives a workshop on Self Esteem and Self Confidence
Physical Magic 1. Everyone has a tendency toward shallow breathing under stress, and everyone is under stress at some point. Problems occur when shallow breathing becomes a habit. Deeper breathing increases alertness, raises your general energy level, contributes to stress relief, and often helps to relieve pain.
2. Most people have heard about the importance of drinking more water for general health purposes. However, drinking a glass of water right after getting up in the morning can get rid of multiple aches and pains in less than a minute. Drinking more water also helps to prevent and remove wrinkles.
3. Maintaining awareness of your navel while walking, climbing, hiking, or lifting will help improve balance and coordination.
4. This one really seems magical. Lightly dragging your fingers back and forth across your skin in areas of pain or tension can often provide immediate relief. It will even work through clothing.
5. Placing five black tea or green tea bags in a clear one gallon container of water and leaving it in the sun for about an hour will greatly reduce the bitterness of the tea.
6. Leaving a liter of water in a green bottle in the sun for an hour and giving it to indoor plants will help them grow better and have greener leaves. Some people say it’s good for the health of people and animals, too.
Telepathic/Energetic Magic 1. Talking silently to your body or body parts with appreciation, kindness and clear direction can often help relieve any kind of symptoms and speed up healing.
2. “Extending” your breathing can help you relax, have more energy, and speed up healing. This would be like inhaling with your attention a foot above your head, and exhaling with your attention a foot below your feet.
3. Holding a crystal in each hand while you walk, stand or sit can help you relax, relieve symptoms and speed up healing, especially when you also inhale with your attention on the crystals and exhale with your attention on your navel.
4. If you talk nicely to a jar lid or a screw-on bottle cap and ask it to open easily, it will almost always open easier, if not easily.
5. You can talk to any object. Give it a compliment, ask it to do something for you, and it will either do it or respond better than if you don’t. This can work with anything from plants to computers to clouds.
Imaginative Magic 1. Imagining a symbol of a problem and changing the symbol until the change feels good can often help resolve the problem. If you can’t think of a symbol, ask yourself what color it is, how much it weighs, and what shape it has. Then change those.
2. Imagining that you are traveling to a sacred place where a wise person answers all your questions about whatever problems you have can often open you up to valuable inspirations and insights.
3. Thoughtform imagination is when you imagine something existing in your outer environment. Imagining flowers, trees, or waterfalls in places that don’t feel good or look good will often help the people and animals there feel better.
4. And here’s one i use a lot: when I’m walking over slippery or steep terrain I imaging spikes growing out of my feet and sticking in the ground and my steps become more firm and secure.
Mimicry Magic Even without thinking about it, everyone learns by mimicking what they see, hear or feel, and we can purposely use this to make what seems to be magic. It can be related to what is happening now or what we can remember.
1. Watching videos or movies or live action of people dancing or engaging in sports AND pretending that you are one of the people doing it as you watch can help your body to mimic the movements, health and skill of whomever you are watching.
2. Your body will mimic animals in the same way for the same purpose, like the grace of a gazelle, the strength of a bear, or the agility of a monkey. Some martial arts use this a lot.
3. Vividly remembering times when you were healthier, stronger or skilled will help to regenerate or reinforce those qualities in the present.
4. If you take a moment to recall something exciting and focus on your navel before lifting heavy objects you will find them much easier to lift.
I hope that you find these idea useful and that you come up with many more on your own.
Carl Bass is president and chief executive officer of Autodesk, Inc. Autodesk is the leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software. Formerly he was Autodesk’s chief operating officer, responsible for worldwide sales, marketing, and product development. Earlier roles included CTO and EVP of product development.
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