the neuroscience of making healthy choices
TRANSCRIPT
www.drbonci.com 1/159
The NeuroscienceThe Neuroscienceof Making Healthy of Making Healthy ChoicesChoices
Andrew S. Bonci, BA, DC Andrew S. Bonci, BA, DC Private PracticePrivate Practice
www.drbonci.com 2/159
Carpe Lucem!Carpe Lucem!
www.drbonci.com 3/159
Disclosures
I stand before you with I stand before you with NO conflicts of interest. conflicts of interest.
I make my living I make my living the way you dothe way you do, by lifting the burden , by lifting the burden of human suffering with the aid of of human suffering with the aid of chiropracticchiropractic..
I have I have nothing to sellnothing to sell to you, so relax and to you, so relax and enjoy enjoy yourselfyourself and your time with your peers. and your time with your peers.
www.drbonci.com 4/159
DisclaimerThis is not a This is not a PHILOSOPHYPHILOSOPHY seminar. seminar.
Any references to the great Western thinkers and Any references to the great Western thinkers and their contributions to the their contributions to the PHILOSOPHY OF PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE, the SCIENTIFIC METHOD, or SCIENCE, the SCIENTIFIC METHOD, or NEUROSCIENCENEUROSCIENCE is intended only to add to the is intended only to add to the scholarship, historical context, and academic rigor of scholarship, historical context, and academic rigor of this presentation.this presentation.
AstonishmentAstonishment is the root of philosophy. ~Paul Tillich~ is the root of philosophy. ~Paul Tillich~
www.drbonci.com 5/159
Special ThanksSpecial Thanks
Dr. Russ Matthias
Dr. Rob Riley
Dr. Doran Nicholson
“The real problem of humanity is the following: we have paleolithic emotions; medieval institutions; and god-like technology.”
~E. O. Wilson~
www.drbonci.com 6/159
Get the Get the NotesNotesObtenga las Obtenga las NotasNotas
Akiru la Akiru la NotojnNotojn
www.drbonci.comwww.drbonci.comor or
www.slideshare.net/drbonciwww.slideshare.net/drbonci
www.drbonci.com 7/159
Lecture ObjectivesLecture Objectives
Review the neuroscience of volition and the bicameral brain.
Discuss the neurological determinants of healthy versus unhealthy choice in wellness.
Examine the role of the mirror neuron system and priming in tacit and implicit choice.
Identify common obstacles and impediments to making healthy choices.
Explore strategies to use volition to achieve high-level-wellness.
www.drbonci.com 8/159
““Many men go fishing all of their lives without Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.”knowing that it is not fish they are after.”
~Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)~~Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)~
“People are rarely aware of the real reasons which motivate their actions.” ~Edward L. Bernays, Propaganda (1928)~
www.drbonci.com 9/159
In Life We Must WeighIn Life We Must Weigh
Will against Wavering
Power against Weakness
Resolve against Indecision
Discipline against Waffling
Action against Idleness
We must do this as we navigate the neurological determinants of healing, wholeness and wellness.
www.drbonci.com 10/159
Are We In Charge of Are We In Charge of
Our Choices?Our Choices?
www.drbonci.com 11/159
To answer this question we must To answer this question we must closely examine what we mean by closely examine what we mean by
Choice, Health, and Wellness.Choice, Health, and Wellness.
www.drbonci.com 12/159
ChoiceChoiceChoice involves volition and decisiondecision making.
In the film The Matrix, Neo is offered the option of consuming either the red pillred pill or the blue pillblue pill.
Picking the red pillred pill would result in the truth of Neo's world being revealed to him, while picking the blue pillblue pill
would allow him to continue in ignorance.
Choice is a basic philosophicbasic philosophic issue.
www.drbonci.com 13/159
Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there 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
www.drbonci.com 14/159
What is Choice?What is Choice?
Choice is an act of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities.
“A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers.” ~Plato~
www.drbonci.com 15/159
Speaking with colleagues, I have found that Speaking with colleagues, I have found that we tend to reflexively blame peoplewe tend to reflexively blame people
for their illnesses, lack of wellness, and for their illnesses, lack of wellness, and bad choices.bad choices.
www.drbonci.com 16/159
Is ill-health a question of not having:– Self-Respect?– Responsibility?
– Will-Power?
www.drbonci.com 17/159
Will-PowerWill-Power
When people say, “I have no 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 powersharnessing the three powers of I willI will, I won’tI won’t, and I wantI 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.
www.drbonci.com 18/159
Is ill-health a question of not having:– Self-Respect?– Responsibility?
– Will-Power?
www.drbonci.com 19/159
We prefer to moralize instead of looking We 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.
www.drbonci.com 20/159
Will-Power?Will-Power?Will-Power is the Power to ActWill-Power is the Power to Act
Outside of Outside of ConditionedConditioned Responses. Responses.
www.drbonci.com 21/159
WillWill
The faculty by which a person decidesdecides on and initiatesinitiates 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 impulsesrestrain one's own impulses.
www.drbonci.com 22/159
VolitionVolition
In the context of volition, researchers 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 consciouslyapplied consciously or they can be automatized as habitsautomatized as habits over time.
Is wellness a volitional act?
www.drbonci.com 23/159
How Should We Understand Wellness?How Should We Understand Wellness?
www.drbonci.com 24/159
WellnessWellness
The quality or state of being 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.
www.drbonci.com 25/159
Well-BeingWell-Being
Well (adv):– Velle (Latin) "to wish, to want, to willto will"
Being (n):– A condition, state, circumstances; presence, fact of
existing
Well-being (n):– Existing in a state of willingness/volition
www.drbonci.com 26/159
Wellness as Well-BeingWellness as Well-BeingWellness refers to diverse and interconnected dimensions of physical, mental, and social well-well-beingbeing 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.
www.drbonci.com 27/159
Halbert Dunn, MD, PhDHalbert Dunn, MD, PhD (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 potentialpotential of which the individual is capable, within the environment where he is functioning.”
High Level Wellness, R. W. Beatty, Ltd., 1961
www.drbonci.com 28/159
8 Points of High Level Wellness8 Points of High Level WellnessWillingness 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
www.drbonci.com 29/159
Well-Being is WellnessWell-Being is WellnessWellness is WillingnessWellness is Willingness
Wellness, therefore, Implies Free-WillWellness, therefore, Implies Free-Will
www.drbonci.com 30/159
What is Free-Will?What is Free-Will?
The popular conception of free-will seems to rest on two assumptions:
1.that each of us could have behaved differentlybehaved differently than we did in the past, and
2.that we are the conscious sourceconscious source of most of our thoughts and actions in the present.
Harris, Sam. Free Will (p. 6). Free Press. Kindle Edition.
www.drbonci.com 31/159
Are We Free to Choose Wellness?Are We Free to Choose Wellness?
www.drbonci.com 32/159
Benjamin Libet Benjamin Libet (1916-2007) (1916-2007)
Libet was 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 potentialspre-volitional brain potentials known as the Readiness Potential. These experiments came to be known as the Free-Will Experiments.
www.drbonci.com 33/159
Readiness PotentialReadiness Potential
The Readiness Potential (Bereitschaftspotential) also known as the pre-motor potential is a measure of activity in the motor cortex and supplementary motor area (SMASMA) 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.
www.drbonci.com 34/159
www.drbonci.com 35/159
Readiness PotentialReadiness PotentialE
EG
Act
ivit
yE
EG
Act
ivit
y
Libet asked, Libet asked, ““Where does the intentionWhere does the intention
to move fall in theto move fall in theReadiness Potential Curve?”Readiness Potential Curve?”
www.drbonci.com 36/159
www.drbonci.com 37/159
When Does Intention Appear?When Does Intention Appear?
www.drbonci.com 38/159
Libet ExperimentLibet Experiment
www.drbonci.com 39/159
Libet is Not AloneLibet is Not Alone
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 awarenessawareness.
– 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.
www.drbonci.com 40/159
fMRI Support for LibetfMRI Support for Libet
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 beforeand 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
www.drbonci.com 41/159
Does this Extend to Thought?Does this Extend to Thought?
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 abstractionmultiple scales of abstraction evolve from the dynamics of preceding brain activity.
www.drbonci.com 42/159
Could the Libet ExperimentCould the Libet Experimentbe Evidence for the Lack of Free-Will?be Evidence for the Lack of Free-Will?
www.drbonci.com 43/159
The Free-Will IllusionThe Free-Will Illusion
Free will 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 emergeemerge from background causes of which we are unaware and over which we exert no conscious controlno conscious control.
– Seeming acts of volition merely arise spontaneously and cannot be traced to a point of origin in our conscious minds.
www.drbonci.com 44/159
Free-Won't (?)Free-Won't (?)
Libet did not interpretdid not 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.
www.drbonci.com 45/159
Veto PowerVeto Power
www.drbonci.com 46/159
Neuroscience of VolitionNeuroscience of Volition
What we call “free will” or volition appears to be localized to the frontal lobesfrontal 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 circuitsfrontal motor circuits of the brain as the cause of conscious intention. Disorders of Volition (Bradford Books) (Kindle Location
1128). Kindle Edition.
www.drbonci.com 47/159
BasalBasalGangliaGanglia
mPFCmPFC
SupplementalSupplementalMotor Motor AreaArea
MotorMotorStripStrip
Neural Neural DeterminantsDeterminantsof Volitionof Volition
www.drbonci.com 48/159
Basal GangliaBasal GangliaSubstantia NigraSubstantia Nigra
StriatumStriatum
mPFCmPFC
Motor ExecutionMotor ExecutionSMASMA
*
Neural Model for VolitionNeural Model for Volition
Nat Rev Neurosci. 2008 Dec;9(12):934-46.
www.drbonci.com 49/159
Deep VolitionDeep Volition
The basal ganglia plays a significant role in voluntary motor control, procedural learningprocedural 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 willparalysis of the will.
www.drbonci.com 50/159
Our Belief in Free-Will Rests inOur Belief in Free-Will Rests inOur Ability to Consciously Set GoalsOur Ability to Consciously Set Goals
and Achieve Them.and Achieve Them.
www.drbonci.com 51/159
Conscious GoalsConscious Goals
As humans, we generally have the feeling that we feeling that we decidedecide what we want and what we do.
Our behaviors seem to originateseem to originate in our conscious decisions to pursue desired outcomes, or goals.
Science 329, 47 (2010)
www.drbonci.com 52/159
Conscious or UnconsciousConscious or Unconscious
Goals direct 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 caredoes not care much about the conscious state of the individual. Science 329, 47 (2010)
www.drbonci.com 53/159
Does the Libet Experiment Does the Libet Experiment Expose Unconscious Agency or Expose Unconscious Agency or
Unconscious Will?Unconscious Will?
www.drbonci.com 54/159
Unconscious AgencyUnconscious Agency
UnconsciousUnconsciousAgencyAgency
www.drbonci.com 55/159
Unconscious InfluencesUnconscious Influences
A man sits in his office decidingdeciding what stocks to buy.
He imagines, no doubt, that he is planning his purchases according to his own judgmentown judgment.
In actual fact his judgment is a mélange of impressions stamped on his mind by outside influences which unconsciously controlunconsciously control his thought.
Bernays, Edward. (1928) Propaganda (p. 25). Ig Publishing. Kindle Edition.
www.drbonci.com 56/159
Edward BernaysEdward Bernays
The systematic study of mass psychology revealed to students the potentialities of invisible government of society by manipulation of the manipulation of the motivesmotives 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 regimentregiment the masses according to our will without their knowing about it?
Bernays, Edward. (1928) Propaganda (p. 24). Ig Publishing. Kindle Edition.
www.drbonci.com 57/159
We Must Widen Our ConceptWe Must Widen 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’ arewiden our concept of who ‘we’ are to include our unconscious selves.
– Why should ‘we’ not be our unconsciousbe 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.
www.drbonci.com 58/159
Unconscious WillUnconscious Will
Scientific study of goal pursuit has discovered that goal representation and goal pursuit also operate operate without conscious awarenesswithout conscious awareness, and hence, human behavior may originate in a kind of unconscious unconscious willwill. Science 329, 47 (2010)
– Understanding this mechanism is especially important because unconscious goal pursuit is proposed to play a key roleplay 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).
www.drbonci.com 59/159
Can the mind ever be totally free, or 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 KrishnamurtiJiddu Krishnamurti
We live between free choice and We live between free choice and conditioned habits.conditioned habits.
Bruce DicksonBruce Dickson
www.drbonci.com 60/159
What is Meant by the What is Meant by the Conscious and Subconscious Minds?Conscious and Subconscious Minds?
www.drbonci.com 61/159
ConsciousnessConsciousness
Consciousness is a state of mind in which there is knowledge of one’s own existence and of the knowledge of one’s own existence and of the existence of surroundingsexistence 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.
www.drbonci.com 62/159
Consciousness and a “Self”Consciousness and 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 actionsfor 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 rasatabula rasa, which is shaped by experience; sensations and reflections being the two sources of all our ideas.
– Gazzaniga refers to this as the Interpreter.
www.drbonci.com 63/159
Conscious ThoughtConscious Thought
The qualities of conscious thoughtqualities of conscious thought are: – Intentionality
– Controllability
– Linearity in natureLinearity in nature
– Accessibility to awareness, i.e. Accessibility to awareness, i.e. verbally reportableverbally reportable
Science. 2008;3(1):73-79.
www.drbonci.com 64/159
Sub/Unconscious MindSub/Unconscious Mind
The sub/unconscious mind consists of the processes in the mind which occur automatically automatically and are not available to verbal introspectionand 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.
www.drbonci.com 65/159
Defining “Mind”Defining “Mind”
A spectacular consequence of the brain’s incessant and dynamic mappingincessant and dynamic mapping is the mind.
The mind is a subtle, flowingflowing combination of actual imagesimages 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
www.drbonci.com 66/159
Stratifications of “Mind”Stratifications of “Mind”Autonomic MindAutonomic 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 MindSubconscious 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.
www.drbonci.com 67/159
Where are the ConsciousWhere are the Consciousand Sub/Unconscious Minds Located?and Sub/Unconscious Minds Located?
www.drbonci.com 68/159
CommissurotomyCommissurotomy
In the early 1940s, neurosurgeon William P. Van William P. Van WagenenWagenen, 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.
www.drbonci.com 69/159
Split Brain StudiesSplit Brain Studies
Twenty years 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.
www.drbonci.com 70/159
Split Brain Research VideoSplit Brain Research Video
www.drbonci.com 71/159
www.drbonci.com 72/159
All of Us are of Two MindsAll 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?
www.drbonci.com 73/159
Why Two Brains?Why Two Brains?
The right hemisphere underwrites sustained sustained attention and vigilanceattention and vigilance for whatever is without preconception.
The left hemisphere provides precisely focused, precisely focused, attentionattention 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.
www.drbonci.com 74/159
Have You Ever EncounteredHave You Ever Encountereda Split-Brain Patient?a Split-Brain Patient?
www.drbonci.com 75/159
Before We Can SpeakBefore We Can Speak
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.
www.drbonci.com 76/159
Egocentric SpeechEgocentric Speech
Egocentric speech first appears 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.
www.drbonci.com 77/159
What are the Hemispheric Differences andWhat are the Hemispheric Differences andHow do They Play a Role in Consciousness?How do They Play a Role in Consciousness?
www.drbonci.com 78/159
Hemispheric Design DifferencesHemispheric Design DifferencesThe right 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.
www.drbonci.com 79/159
Language and ConsciousnessLanguage and Consciousness
Language is 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.
www.drbonci.com 80/159
Consciousness Conflation Warning:Consciousness Conflation Warning:
Are you confusing language with consciousness?Are you confusing language with consciousness?Are you confusing volition with language?Are you confusing volition with language?
www.drbonci.com 81/159
Left Brain ConsciousnessLeft Brain Consciousness
It is 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.
www.drbonci.com 82/159
Left Language AxisLeft Language Axis
www.drbonci.com 83/159
Yakovlevian TorqueYakovlevian Torque
Elongated Language Axis:Elongated Language Axis: Broca's AreaBroca's Area
Wernike's AreaWernike's AreaAngular Gyrus.Angular Gyrus.
www.drbonci.com 84/159
Verbal Thinking: A ParadoxVerbal Thinking: A Paradox
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.
www.drbonci.com 85/159
Right Brain ConsciousnessRight Brain Consciousness
The right 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.
www.drbonci.com 86/159
A Right Language AxisA Right Language Axis
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.
www.drbonci.com 87/159
Right Language AxisRight Language Axis
www.drbonci.com 88/159
Verbalizing Tacit KnowledgeVerbalizing Tacit Knowledge
For the 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.
www.drbonci.com 89/159
The Stranger WithinThe Stranger Within
Rhawn Joseph, 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.
www.drbonci.com 90/159
Subconscious Mind GeneralizationsSubconscious Mind Generalizations
Resides largely 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.
www.drbonci.com 91/159
Linguistic, Dialogical,Linguistic, Dialogical,Conscious MindConscious Mind
Non-Linguistic, Non-Linguistic, Non-Dialogical, Non-Dialogical, Sub/Unconscious MindSub/Unconscious Mind
www.drbonci.com 92/159
Who's in Charge?Who's in Charge?The Conscious or Unconscious Mind?The Conscious or Unconscious Mind?
www.drbonci.com 93/159
Which Mind is in Charge?Which Mind is in Charge?
NonlinguisticNonlinguisticMindMind
LinguisticLinguisticMindMind
www.drbonci.com 94/159
Life is Largely Non-DialogicalLife is Largely Non-Dialogical
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)
www.drbonci.com 95/159
The Interpreter/ConfabulatorThe Interpreter/Confabulator
When we set out 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.
www.drbonci.com 96/159
Conscious After the FactConscious After the Fact
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).
www.drbonci.com 97/159
Right Brain InterpreterRight Brain Interpreter
There is 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.
www.drbonci.com 98/159
Two Minds Must CooperateTwo Minds Must Cooperate
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).
www.drbonci.com 99/159
Can We Give “Voice” to theCan We Give “Voice” to theSub/Unconscious Mind?Sub/Unconscious Mind?
www.drbonci.com 100/159
Somatization and ConversionSomatization and Conversion
Somatization is 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.
www.drbonci.com 101/159
SortilegeSortilege
This consists of the casting of lotscasting of 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.
www.drbonci.com 102/159
Explore Your Sinister SideExplore Your Sinister Side
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.”
www.drbonci.com 103/159
Ideomotor PhenomenonIdeomotor Phenomenon
Ideomotor phenomenon is a psychological phenomenon wherein a subject makes motions unconsciously. Carpenter WB. (March 12, 1852) "On the influence of Suggestion in Modifying and directing Muscular
Movement, independently of Volition"
– 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.
www.drbonci.com 104/159
Ideomotor ApplicationsIdeomotor Applications
Ideomotor applications may be 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.
www.drbonci.com 105/159
Right Brain is SympatheticRight Brain is Sympathetic
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.
www.drbonci.com 106/159
Psychophysiological TestingPsychophysiological TestingHeart Rate Variability
– 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.
www.drbonci.com11:06:22 AM
Sample HRVSample HRV
www.drbonci.com11:06:22 AM
Sample EDASample EDA
www.drbonci.com11:06:22 AM
Sample VSASample VSA
www.drbonci.com 110/159
How are Unconscious GoalsHow are Unconscious GoalsLearned or Programmed?Learned or Programmed?
www.drbonci.com 111/159
Implicit LearningImplicit Learning
Implicit learning is the 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.
www.drbonci.com 112/159
Mirror Neuron SystemMirror Neuron System
The mirror 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
www.drbonci.com 113/159
Learning with Mirror NeuronsLearning with Mirror Neurons
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.
www.drbonci.com 114/159
Two Types of Mirror NeuronsTwo Types of 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.
www.drbonci.com 115/159
MNS & Action UnderstandingMNS & Action Understanding
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.
www.drbonci.com 116/159
MNS & ImitationMNS & Imitation
Imitation requires 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.
www.drbonci.com 117/159
MNS Speech and LanguageMNS Speech and Language
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.
www.drbonci.com 118/159
MNS & Theory of MindMNS & Theory 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.
www.drbonci.com 119/159
MNS & EmpathyMNS & Empathy
Empathy is 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.
www.drbonci.com 120/159
Mirror Neuron SimulatorsMirror Neuron Simulators
Mirror neurons 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.
www.drbonci.com 121/159
How are the Unconscious WillHow are the Unconscious Willand its Goals Triggered?and its Goals Triggered?
www.drbonci.com 122/159
PrimingPriming
Priming refers to the phenomenon that 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.
www.drbonci.com 123/159
Implicit MemoryImplicit Memory
Implicit memory, a type 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.
www.drbonci.com 124/159
Priming for Goal AchievementPriming for Goal Achievement
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)
www.drbonci.com 125/159
Perceptual PrimingPerceptual Priming
Visual Priming Advances in Cognitive Psychology. 2012;8(1):50-61.
Auditory Priming PLoS ONE. 2015;10(11):e0141791.
Olfactory Priming Frontiers in Psychology. 2014;5:96.
Tactile (Haptic) Priming Front Hum Neurosci. 2014 Dec 15;8:926.
Movement Priming Exp Psychol. 2013;60(6):403-9.
www.drbonci.com 126/159
Priming Triggers ContingenciesPriming Triggers Contingencies
Priming triggers 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.
www.drbonci.com 127/159
What is the Biggest Threat toWhat is the Biggest Threat toWellness, Willingness and Well-Being?Wellness, Willingness and Well-Being?
www.drbonci.com 128/159
The MemeThe MemeThe word meme was 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.
www.drbonci.com 129/159
MemeticsMemeticsThe most surprising and most profound 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.
www.drbonci.com 130/159
Implicit IndoctrinationImplicit Indoctrination
Memes enter our minds 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.
www.drbonci.com 131/159
Virus of the MindVirus of the Mind
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.
www.drbonci.com 132/159
The Six S's of MemeticsThe Six S's 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.
www.drbonci.com 133/159
How to Willingly AchieveHow to Willingly AchieveWellness and Well-BeingWellness and Well-Being
On Measures and CountermeasuresOn Measures and Countermeasures
www.drbonci.com 134/159
Eliminate. Engender. Exploit.Eliminate. Engender. Exploit.
1.Eliminate priming 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.
www.drbonci.com 135/159
EliminateEliminate
Eliminate the priming cues from your old life:– Visual (clutter, posters, photos, toys)
– Auditory (harmful music: sad, sappy, self-destructive, abusive, unnatural sounds)
– Olfactory (foods, trash, animals, colognes, incense)
– Tactile (clothing, blankets, lotions, hair care products)
– Movement (stop being sedentary)
www.drbonci.com 136/159
Engender ChangeEngender Change
Active Goal Setting
Positive Autosuggestion
Focused/Targeted Self-Talk
www.drbonci.com 137/159
Emile CouEmile Coué é (1857-1926)(1857-1926)
““Our actions do not spring from our Our actions do not spring from our WILL, but from our imagination.”WILL, but from our imagination.”
www.drbonci.com 138/159
AutosuggestionAutosuggestion
All that is necessary is to 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.
www.drbonci.com 139/159
Unconscious AutosuggestionUnconscious Autosuggestion
Autosuggestion is an instrument 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.
www.drbonci.com 140/159
““The brain simply believes what you The 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.
www.drbonci.com 141/159
Self-TalkSelf-Talk
Self-Talk is a way to override 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.
www.drbonci.com 142/159
Levels of Self-TalkLevels of Self-Talk
1.The Level 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.
www.drbonci.com 143/159
Level 4 Self-Talk ExampleLevel 4 Self-Talk Example
“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.
www.drbonci.com 144/159
Level 5 Self-Talk ExampleLevel 5 Self-Talk Example
“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.
www.drbonci.com 145/159
Use Emotional LanguageUse Emotional Language
A listener 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.
www.drbonci.com 146/159
Metaphor and PoetryMetaphor and Poetry
Metaphoric (meta-across, 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.
www.drbonci.com 147/159
Singing and MusicSinging and Music
There is 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.’
www.drbonci.com 148/159
ExploitExploit
Exploit priming cues for your new life:– Visual (posters, photos, sculptures, art, eye contact)
– Auditory (positive, up-beat, WWB, nature sounds)
– Olfactory (flowers, fruits, perfumes, incense)
– Tactile (clothing, blankets, lotions, hair care products)
– Movement (exercise, dance, )
www.drbonci.com 149/159
NAU Nursing Student Video NAU Nursing Student Video (2010)(2010)
www.drbonci.com 150/159
Targeted Self-Talk AudioTargeted Self-Talk Audio
www.drbonci.com 151/159
Chiropractic MovieChiropractic Movie
www.drbonci.com 152/159
How Do These Tools Change You?How Do These Tools Change You?
www.drbonci.com 153/159
Somatic Marker HypothesisSomatic Marker Hypothesis
The brain 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.
www.drbonci.com 154/159
Somatic MarkersSomatic Markers
Somatic markers are associations 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.
www.drbonci.com 155/159
Somatic Markers Direct ActionSomatic Markers Direct Action
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
www.drbonci.com 156/159
For I do not understand my own actions. 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)
www.drbonci.com 157/159
ConclusionConclusion
We truly live between free choice 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.
www.drbonci.com 158/159
Special ThanksSpecial Thanks
MSCA-DII for the opportunity 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.
www.drbonci.com 159/159
QuestionsQuestionsAndAnd
AnswersAnswers