TV Metaphor

Studies have shown that single cells (at least those with a nucleus known as eukarotes) are capable of learning through environmental experiences. They are able to create cellular memories, which they pass on to their offspring. They are also capable of influencing your genes, which means that genes are not set in concrete at birth. Environmental influences (e.g., stress, nutrition, emotions) can modify the genes without changing their basic blueprint. Those modifications can be passed on to future generations. Dr. Lipton in his book The Biology of Belief, offered a metaphor to help people understand this process more clearly. In the last century, when TV programming stopped at midnight, a ‘test pattern’ would appear on the screen after the normal programming signed off. He pointed out that most test patterns looked like a dart board with a bull’s eye in the middle. Imagine that this pattern is encoded in a gene. A pattern for blue eyes, for example, since my eyes are blue. But there is not just one shade of blue eyes on the planet. More tomorrow.

Good News!

Next to male-female brain differences, an area of interest seems to revolve around the science of Epigenetics. You may want to read work by Bruce Lipton PhD, arguable the foremost authority today on research in that area. What is Epigenetics? It is the study of the molecular mechanisms by which environment controls activities of the genes and is one of the most active areas of scientific research. People sometimes say, “I’ve got the genes I’ve got and there is nothing I can do about it.” Oh yes there is. You are not a victim of your genes. In some sense you are master or mistress of your life. The science of Epigenetics has shown that you are able to create a life overflowing with peace, happiness, and love. Genes contribute about 30% to who you are. In their book YOU: The Owner’s Manual, Michael A. Roisen MD, and Mehmet C. Oz MD, pointed out that 70 percent of how long and how well you live is in your hands. It's high time to get busy managing the 70 percent—if you are not already doing that!

Sayings- #2

1.   Never tell your problems to anyone, because 20 percent don't care and the other 80 percent are glad you have them.

2.   Doesn't expecting the unexpected mean that the unexpected is actually expected?

3.   Take my advice — I'm not using it.

4.   I hate it when people use big words just to make themselves sound perspicacious.

5.   Hospitality is the art of making guests feel like they're at home when you wish they were.

6.   Television may insult your intelligence, but nothing rubs it in like a computer.

7.   I bought a vacuum cleaner six months ago and so far all it's been doing is gathering dust.

Short-term Memory

Short-term memory most likely is involved primarily in the short-term storage of information lasting from thirty seconds to several days, but does not entail the manipulation or organization of material held in memory as does working memory. Different parts of the brain are involved in different types of memory. For example, short-term memory primarily takes place in the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex. If the information is designed to be stored long term, it passes through the hippocampus and is then transferred to the areas of the cerebral cortex involved in language and perception for permanent storage. No surprise, the hippocampus (think ‘search engine’) is also involved in attempting to retrieve the stored information. Because short-term memories typically need to be recalled for a much shorter amount of time (where did you park your car?) than long-term memories, the brain’s ability to store short-term items is more limited. Paying mindful awareness can assist in maintaining short term memory (finding your car after a store-shopping spree). Short-term memory loss may be observed when a person can recall something that happened 15 years ago but cannot recall what happened 15 minutes ago. Insufficient supplies of oxygen to the brain can negatively impact short-term memory along with alcohol and drug abuse, concussions and other trauma to the head, medical conditions such as seizures, epilepsy, and depression. 

The Brain’s Working Memory

Is working memory synonymous with short-term memory? Although there is some debate, they appear to differ. Working memory and short-term memory appear to engage different neural subsystems within the prefrontal cortex and parietal areas. Working memory also seems to develop later and at a slower pace than short-term memory. Multiple definitions have been proposed for working memory:  a system for both temporary storage and manipulation of information, which is necessary for a wide range of cognitive tasks; a passive store component plus attentional control; a core executive function utilizing the prefrontal cortex and some parietal areas and responsible for processes involved with reasoning, manipulation of stored information, decision making, and behaviors. One example suggests that repeating digits in the same order they were presented would be a short-term memory task, while repeating the digits backwards would be a working memory task.Working memory can be impaired by alcohol abuse and by acute and chronic psychological stress. Exposure to chronic stress can lead to profound working memory deficits along with dendritic atrophy. The bad news: the more stress in one's life the lower the efficiency of working memory in performing simple cognitive tasks. The good news: study participants who performed exercises that reduced the intrusion of negative thoughts showed an increase in their working memory capacity. 

Be the Change…

I have always liked what I believed was a quote by Gandhi. Turns out, according to a New York Times article by Brian Morton entitled “Falser Words Were Never Spoken,” there is no evidence that Gandhi ever said that. According to Morton the closest verifiable remark from Gandhi is: “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him ... We need not wait to see what others do." I’ll take that. Anecdotal experiences have shown that when a person creates the vision of positive change and puts in the personal work to hone that vision in his or her life, the brain changes—and the response of other brains to that individual also changes. Whining and grousing and complaining just reinforce a negative perspective. So wherever that quote originated (Be the change you wish to see in the world), it challenged me to be the best that I can be—for my own brain as well as for the brains of others.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/30/opinion/falser-words-were-never-spoken.html

It’s Here!

Page two in the new book of your life. What did you write yesterday? What will you write today and the next 363 days or so? You write every waking minute of every day—not only etching your choices and behaviors into your own brain, heart, and immune system, but also engraving yourself and your behaviors into the brains, hearts, and immune systems of others. By now, I trust you know that everything starts in your brain; that it can only do what it thinks it can do; and that you are the one who must tell it what it can do. It’s the old Henry Ford aphorism: If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right. Rather than outlining a plethora of New Year’s resolutions that you think you ‘should’ make but that you have little intention of actually ‘doing’ for the rest of the year, pick one thing. Your style of self-talk, for example. Strangely enough, your brain believes whatever you tell it so if your mindset is, another year older and deeper in debt, your brain will follow through on that and help move even deeper in debt. On the other hand, if your mindset is, Goody, goody! Another year in which to make a positive difference in someone’s life! (and that someone may be you because genuine improvement needs to begin at home), your brain will help you discover a path to follow that can work for you. Happy 2017!