Frank Wilson, MD, on The Hand: How Its Use Shapes the Brain, Language, and Human Culture. Approximately twenty five percent of the motor cortex in the human brain (the part of the brain which controls all movement in the body) is devoted to the muscles of the hands. Frank explores the hand's evolution--and how its intimate communication with the brain affects areas such as neurology, psychology, and linguistics--offering provocative new ideas about human creativity and how best to nurture it. One of the most interesting aspects of Frank’s thesis is something termed Kinesthetic Imagination, how the body learns, moves and imagines, as a foundation for cognitive thought and imagination. This is of particular interest as thumbs and forefingers, interacting with technology, replace whole body movements the developing brain gets swimming in and relating to nature.
Awakening of Intelligence
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Frank Wilson, PhD - The Hand: How Its Use Shapes the Brain, Language, and Human Culture
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Nate Jones: Bringing Brain Science Home, Epigenetics at Work
We have domesticated our children by restricting what they do with their hands. A domesticated brain is fundamentally different than a wild brain.Technology compressed the living world into a two dimensional flat experience. Since the 1990’s this flat, dead experience has increasingly shaped the developing brains or our children. Nate Jones, sitting in his dusty tire shop, a backdrop for the Long Beach Formula One Grand Prix, describes how the domestication Chris writes about changed the brain of the young men by changing what boys do with their hands.
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Marian C. Diamond, PhD -The Constantly Adapting Brain
Marian C. Diamond, Ph.D, a neuroscientist did research at U.C Berkeley on the neuroanatomy of the forebrain, notably the impact of the environment on brain development, published under the title Enriching Heredity: The Impact of the Environment on the Anatomy of the Brain. Marian describes how rich interaction with the environment literally grows and shapes the brain lifelong. “There are a hundred billion nerve cells in a brain and many of those nerve cell can make connections with thousands of others. A single nerve cell can receive as much input from about 20,000 other cells, so you think of the computation that goes on in a single cell before it fires. The interaction of the environment with this system is extremely dynamic and important. One can say that the brain is responding to the external environment and to the internal environment at all times. The nerve cells are designed to receive stimuli, store information and transmit information. Every cell receives input from both the internal and the external environment at all times. And we've shown that we can (physically) change the brain by changing the internal and external environments at any age.”
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Darcia Narvaez, PhD Neurobiology and Morality
Neurobiology in the Development of Human Morality, Evolution, Culture and Wisdom is about trying to shift our imagination to remind us that our human nature is different from what we see today and the way we raise children can be different also and they’re linked to what we think is human nature and what we think of as normal human adult behavior is not normal. We are very abnormal. But unfortunately the people who are abnormal are the ones that are spreading their view of the world all over the world as if that’s normal, to be selfish and always thinking about what you can gain for yourself. That’s a very primitive morality.
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Jaak Pansksepp, PhD - Play, the Brain and Brain Development
Jaak Panksepp, PhD, Emeritus Professor of the Department of Psychology at Bowling Green State University. Panksepp coined the term 'affective neuroscience', the name for the field that studies the neural mechanisms of emotion. "We finally got a handle on the nature of psychological pain, which is very important for depression and other psychiatric disorders. And then we said well there must be something fundamental about the social principal that is in the arena of joy. What would it be? And the answer was obvious that it must be playfulness. And there was not yet a science to play. A lot of people had described play but no one had tried to analyze it in a really scientific experimental way. So we decided to go with a good ole laboratory rat and we said well how do you get them to play in front of you? The answer seemed pretty obvious. You make them hungry for play."
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Jaak Panksepp, PhD - The fundamental nature of emotional feelings
Jaak Panksepp, PhD, Emeritus Professor of the Department of Psychology at Bowling Green State University. Panksepp coined the term 'affective neuroscience', the name for the field that studies the neural mechanisms of emotion. "We finally got a handle on the nature of psychological pain, which is very important for depression and other psychiatric disorders. And then we said well there must be something fundamental about the social principal that is in the arena of joy. What would it be? In 1965 there was no conversation about the nature of emotions at that time, certainly not in the sense of understanding affective feelings deeply at the neuroscience level. Panksepp gradually started developing the field, which is now called Affective Neuroscience, that has a lot of implications for understanding ourselves as creatures of the world and what we share with the other creatures. The goal is to gain a fundimental undrestanding of the nature of emotions and feelings.
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Lifelong Implications of Attachment
Gabor Maté M.D. is a physician and bestselling author on a range of topics, from addiction and attention deficit disorder (ADD) to mind-body wellness, adolescent mental health, and parenting. He focuses on understanding the broader context in which human disease and disorders arise. Gabor’s approach is holistic and kaleidoscopic – linking everything from neurophysiology, immunology, and developmental psychology to economic and social policy – and even touches on the spiritual dimensions of disease and healing.
Common to all of Dr. Maté’s work is a focus on understanding the broader context in which human disease and disorders arise, from cancer to autoimmune conditions like MS, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, or fibromyalgia; childhood behavioral disorders like ADD, oppositionality, or bullying; or addiction, from substance abuse to obsessive gambling, shopping, or even workaholism.
Rather than offering facile, quick-fix solutions to these complex issues, Dr. Maté weaves together scientific research, case histories, and his own insights and experience to present a broad perspective that enlightens and empowers people to promote their own healing and that of those around them. His approach is holistic and kaleidoscopic – linking everything from neurophysiology, immunology, and developmental psychology to economic and social policy – and even touches on the spiritual dimensions of disease and healing.
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Marshal Rosenberg Nonviolent Communication
Our training centers on the literacy of feelings and needs, which is quite different than that which people have been trained in. Instead of speaking a language of life, a language of feelings and needs, most people have been taught a language of criticism, moralistic judgments, analysis and diagnoses. They're trained to say to other people, "the problem with you is…", and they have a wide vocabulary for telling people what wrong with them. Nonviolent Communication says get good at expressing two things: what's alive in you right now and what would make life more wonderful. Learn how to say just that without any criticism or demand. Just say what's alive in you, how you are in other words, and what would make life wonderful. And no matter what other people say, hear only what's alive in them and what would make life wonderful.
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Joe Dispenza
Joe Dispenza, D.C., first caught the public’s eye as one of the scientists featured in the award-winning film What the BLEEP Do We Know!? Since that movie’s release in 2004, his work has expanded, deepened, and spiraled in several key directions—all of which reflect his passion for exploring how people can use the latest findings from the fields of neuroscience and quantum physics to not only heal illness but also to enjoy a more fulfilled and happy life. Dr. Joe is driven by the conviction that each one of us has the potential for greatness and unlimited abilities. As a teacher and lecturer, Dr. Joe has been invited to speak in more than 27 countries on six continents. As a researcher, Dr. Joe explores the science behind spontaneous remissions and how people heal themselves of chronic conditions and even terminal diseases.