Critical periods: Is it really impossible to modify a neocortex?

One of my ardors is adult learning, and I think if the learning process strongly correlates with the degree of neuronal binding, creating a new neuronal path and enhancing the strength of neuronal connections are pivotal to accelerate the efficiency of adult learning. However, I found a new research related to my interest. That is “critical periods” in our brain. Singer (2008) describes this idea in the following: “Once the respective developmental window close, neurons stop forming new connections and existing connections can no longer be removed” (p. 101). According to the author’s explanation, especially, our neocortex which is involved in higher functions such as reasoning, thoughts, and language can’t be modified once critical period is over. I’m looking for the way to modify the neocortex though it is said impossible to modify it after critical periods.
Reference

The Educated Brain: Essays in Neuroeducation

Getting Started with Neurofeedback: Traditional psychotherapy VS Neurotherapy

I've never heard of "neurotherapy" before, so I was intrigued by this new kind of therapy and read a book about this.

Traditional psychotherapy has mainly two intervention tools: talk and medication. Of course, talk therapy has been an effective modality even now, but the result tends to be subjective. Furthermore, medication can’t exclude a possibility of side effects though it changes our brain activity directly. Against this backdrop, neurotherapy has drawn attention as a new type of psychotherapy. Neurotherapy has a unique modality, neurofeedback. In a word, the characteristic of neurofeedback is that it “is similar to a comprehensive exercise program because it strengthens neural pathways while increasing mental endurance and flexibility” (Demos, 2005, p. 5). As mentioned above, the traditional psychotherapy has faced a challenge to reveal the effect explicitly, and, in fact, this is one of the limitations in the traditional psychotherapy. However, I think that neurotherapy will play a key role to connect the subjective assessments with the objective effects by using the neurofeedback system.     

Money Ball

Today, I went to see a movie "money ball." Interestingly, nobody except for me was in a theater...

An effort to analyze the players’ performance mathematically and statistically (UR approach), to trade players appropriately (LR approach), and to strengthen a shared sense of unity and solidarity in the team (LL approach) were key to success? Integral approach...

Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief

Book memo

The author demonstrates the relationship between mystical experience and brain activities. Of course, the result is interesting to me, but I think that the mystical experience which enables us to be part of everything is the ultimate state of mystical experience. From Wilber’s perspectives, that kind of the mystical experience could be categorized into “nondual” state. However, there is a variety of states of consciousness up to the nondual state: gross, subtle, causal, and witnessing state. So, I’m curious about how our brain states changes in accordance with the alteration of the consciousness states.

Furthermore, the author elucidates the relationship between mystical experiences and human brain in terms of neurobiology. Also, the author explains: “Humans, in fact, are natural mystics blessed with an inborn genius for effortless self-transcendence.” However, why do we have such an intrinsic characteristic? Is the process toward self-transcendence a manifestation of human evolution?

Weekly Reading

I read the following books this week. I noticed these books were related to psychoanalysis or neuroscience (brain science).

The Difference between the Autobiographical Self and Middle Unconscious?

The most famous psychosynthesist, Robert Assagioli articulated that our unconscious realm was comprised of three parts: higher, middle, and lower unconscious. I suppose that the function of the middle unconscious is the same as that of the autobiographical self which is proposed by Damasio Antonio. So, what’s the difference is there between both of them? Regarding the middle unconscious, Assagioli (1965) explained: “This is formed of psychological elements similar to those of our waking consciousness and easily accessible to it. In this inner region our various experiences are assimilated” (p. 17). In other words, we can easily access the realm and retrieve our memory stored in it. 

On the other hand, Damasio (1999) explains about the autobiographical self that we can accumulate new knowledge or experiences as a “something-to-be-known” in this consciousness, and he defines such memory in the following way: “Sets of memories which describe identity and person can be reactivated as a neural pattern and made explicit as images whenever needed” (p. 174). For me, the function of both the autobiographical self and middle unconscious seems the same.

Reference
1The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness
2Psychosynthesis: A Collection of Basic Writings

The Residue of Music in Our Brain

When I read T.S. Eliot’s words “you are the music while the music lasts.”, I recalled mysterious phenomenon happened in my brain. The peculiar phenomenon is here; why can we recall the sound of music perfectly? For example, please imagine the voice of Celine Dion or a certain track of her. What can you hear? I believe that you can recall and hear exactly the same sound of voice or music of her in your mind. But how do we do that? What’s happening in our brain while we are recollecting it? I can’t help but believe that the Plato’s concept “eidos” exists in our reality or in our brain. So, I can enjoy my favorite music in my brain without an iPod.

Reference