TR 1070 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Aphorism, Neuroscience, Eugen Fink

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The Mind is an OPEN SYSTEM (relational)
In addition to harmonious internal coherence, the mind's health is also a
function of its ability to respond and adapt
Since the mind is an open system (having a relational component), it must deal
with external input that it cannot control or predict with certainty
Having to respond to unpredictable input, open systems are particularly
susceptible to chaos and rigidity
FACES
In order to avoid dysfunction (chaos and rigidty), the mind, like all complex and
open systems, must be flexible, able to adapt to change and outside challenges
yet remain coherent. A healthy mind is also energized and stable as it processes
and regulates energu and information
Recipe for well being
The self-regulating mind ( a governor on a motor)
Like some very complex systems, the mind is also self-regulating
Not only does it have the capacity to monitor itself,
It can regulate and modify how it responds and adapts
In contrast to the determinism of a previous, gloomy age, one of the most
important discoveries of the sciences of happiness is that humans have the
capacity to control (to choose) how they respond, not only to external
challenges, but to the what going on inside them
"Wheel of awareness" Monitor and Modify
Siegel suggests the image to illustrate how to achieve well being
First being aware, able to effectively monitor what is happening inside and
outside
Well being also depends on the ability to respond, being able to modify
impulsive counterproductive reactions
Neuroplasticity
Not only are humans able to choose how they respond to immediate stimuli,
they are able to modify how they are likely to respond in the immediate future
Arguably, neuroplasticity along with self regulation, are among main reasons for
calling the new findings of neurobiology "positive" and for identifying a
"neurobiology of happiness"
Siegel defines neuroplasticity as "the capacity for creating new neural
connections and growing new neurons in response to experience."
He expands his definition of mind to include this discovery: Mind is an
emerging, relational, and embodied process that regulates the flow of energy
and information.
The "mind can change the brain"
Claiming that the "mind can change the brain," Siegel explains that by focusing
awareness we are able to regulate the mind's flow of energy and information
As we focus on the things we are experiencing, consciously managing our
response, remaining level-headed, neural pathways are activated--our brains
are alive with energy and information. Just as the muscles of the body are
strengthened by exercise, neural pathways are strengthened with use and by
experience
SNAG the brain
Siegel offers another acronym, SNAG, for this phenomena: attention "stimulates
neuronal activation and growth" among interconnected neurons
"neurons that fire together, wire together" is a widely used aphorism for this
process
In addition to the creation of new cells (neurogenesis) and the building of new
"neural pathways" (synaptogenesis), neural plasticity also involves
myelinogeneis (the formation of insulating sheaths along neural circuits that
greatly improve their function) and epigenesis, a "process by which experiences
impact the regulation of gene expression."
Epigenesis
With some notable exceptions, all the cells in a human being have the same
DNA sequences. Why bone cells and brain cells are different is due to
epigenesis. Differentiating, cells "turn on" or "off" various genes by using
chemical markers such as histones along the chromosomes
Siegel suggests that experience and the focus of attention can alter the very
molecules controlling how cells are expressed in the brain
From the Bottom up
Since "experiences alter the way genes are expressed" (mindsight 101) they
have "the potential to integrate all the various components of the
mind/physical brain…"
Applying Positive Neuroscience
Play: "Liberation from Top-Down Processing"
Understanding physics is child's play when compared to understanding child's
play
Play is a fundamental human experience, an experience-atom
Neurobiologist have arrived at similar conclusions--play is fundamental
For Jaak Panksepp, play is a "core, genetically established system that…has to
be engaged, not something built from experience."
It is "a primal social engagement process…fundamental for the emergence of
social cooperation and friendships."
Siegel writes: "play is an innate, primary emotional drive…it is a fundamental
part of life for us as mammals."
The subcortical origin of play is key to Neurobiologists' definiton and understanding
Siegel describe a kind of liberation through play: "Play can be seen to liberate us
from top-down processing."
Siegel and Panksepp define play as "an innate, primary emotional drive, one of
nine 'primal emotional systems'": seeking, rage, fear, lust, care, panic, and play.
Moreover, play is "an experience expectant process," overlapping with and
reinforced by seeking, the most primitive of drives common to most life forms.
The Color of Joy
Play is also exceptional because of its uniquely "joyous" affect
Kestly observes that play is one of the "major brain sources of joy."
Siegel describes the "exuberance" of play
Philosophers have long understood play as the epitome of human felicity. For
Eugen Fink, play is the "color of joy"
4/24 Lecture
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
1:56 PM
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Document Summary

In addition to harmonious internal coherence, the mind"s health is also a function of its ability to respond and adapt. Since the mind is an open system (having a relational component), it must deal with external input that it cannot control or predict with certainty. Having to respond to unpredictable input, open systems are particularly susceptible to chaos and rigidity. In order to avoid dysfunction (chaos and rigidty), the mind, like all complex and open systems, must be flexible, able to adapt to change and outside challenges yet remain coherent. A healthy mind is also energized and stable as it processes and regulates energu and information. The self-regulating mind ( a governor on a motor) Like some very complex systems, the mind is also self-regulating. Not only does it have the capacity to monitor itself, It can regulate and modify how it responds and adapts. Siegel suggests the image to illustrate how to achieve well being.

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