From Monkeys to Muslims: Excitable Primates

The differences between the minds of monkeys and the minds of men are differences of a graded evolutionary nature. Natural selection follows a forked and winding pathway, diverging and converging unpredictably. The range of primate emotions is remarkably similar from monkeys to humans. All primates -- from monkeys to higher species -- are excitable to a greater or lesser degree.

Monkeys Attacking Automobile

Monkeys are excitable, like all primates. Monkeys experience rage reactions -- like apes and humans -- but they do not typically organise in up close and personal group attacks like common chimps and people are wont to do. When they flock together, it is more likely in search of food or out of curiosity.

Evolving Apes on Rampage

In an evolutionary sense, apes are much closer to humans, and ape behaviour has many more parallels with human behaviour. Apes have been known to carry out sustained genocidal wars against competing groups of apes. The superior size and organisation of the ape brain makes it capable of organising and sustaining rage for longer periods of time on a larger scale.

Excitable Muslims

The human brain is larger yet, and formed in such a way to allow for even more complex levels of societal organisation than is found in ape societies. Human groups have been aroused to violence and warfare for as long as there is recorded history.

Human excitability -- particularly in groups -- can be a serious problem for human societies, and for the ability of humans to get along in non-violent ways. Religious excitability and violence has been a problem ever since disparate human tribes began to assert the superiority and dominance of their particular tribal gods over the gods of rival tribes.

Some forms of relgion - instigated rage appear indistinguishable from caricatures of rage as portrayed in feature films such as "28 Days Later." In that film, a "rage virus" escaped from the lab to infest human populations, leading to cataclysmic violence.

Human rage will often build in normal circumstances -- as in "road rage," "computer rage," and other common situations where other humans may act to frustrate or oppose the wishes of a protagonist (that would be you).

Opinions vary widely, as to what should be done to manage human excitability and rage, to prevent out-of-control violence. Would it be better -- for example -- to release one's anger in a real life "fight club?" Or is it better to salve one's anger in meditation, yoga, or even a "laughter club?"

One interesting suggestion is the creation of "rage clubs," as a means to purge the inevitable anger and rage that tend to build over time.

This is how they would work. People first gather together in a large open space (a barn or warehouse type area – incidentally, no alcohol would be allowed), then several passionate speakers incite the crowd with stories of injustice and exploitation inter-cut with biased news reports (there could even be a standard canon of examples; Bhopal, Gaza, The Crusades, Big tobacco. For ‘light hearted rage’ the subjects could be narrowed down to, poor user interface or badly designed electronic equipment or non existent customer service). The speakers would then lead the crowd into demonstrating their wrath and frustration with screams, tears and rending of shirts (bought specifically for the event from charity shops). A percussion ensemble or rock band will create a throbbing soundtrack of primitive trance like rhythms building in volume. The crowd will simultaneously produce various implements of noise making capability and commence to create a cacophony of sound so powerful it would even make Lemmy from Motorhead stop his ears.

Areas will be set aside where crockery seconds can be hurled furiously at a brick wall. Effigies of slippery political criminals will be stuck on poles and aggrieved victims given fifteen minutes with a baseball bat to put their point across to them (this is contentious I know, but it is meant to be purely symbolic. The signal sent out will be that such behaviour will only be tolerated at the Rage Club but at the same time it will also be a reminder to the authorities and multinationals: “we people know of our power, so don’t screw with us and ignore us at your peril.”)

Ultimately, an energy of pure rage will be created and each individual will experience a catharsis which will lead to exhaustion, reflection and a reasoned course of action to methodically change those things which enrage them. _Rage Club

Would this work? Consider that some of the most spectacular rage displays put on by groups of Muslims often occur immediately after Friday noon prayer at the mosque. Religious clerics often learn to work a crowd into a righteous frenzy. If the group is then released directly onto the streets in the form of a mob, the results can sometimes be quite photogenic.

But what if these excitable primates were steered into a rage club instead? Allowed to vent their rage in a controlled and relatively private manner, such frenzied zealots might gradually ease into a more controlled mental state. Their internal rages may even be satisfied -- at least until next week's Friday noon prayer at the mosque.

It is something to think about.

Warning: This Tune Unsafe for Listening While on Zombie Guard Duty

...women were connected to sensors and given challenging puzzles to complete against the clock in order to induce a level of stress.

They were then played different songs as their heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and brain activity were recorded.

Studies found Weightless was 11 per cent more relaxing than any other song and even made many of the women 'drowsy' in the lab.

It induced a 65 per cent reduction in overall anxiety and brought them to a level 35 per cent lower than their usual resting rates.

The song features guitar, piano and electronic samples of natural soundscapes. It is pierced throughout by buddhist-like chants that induce a trance-like state. _DailyMail

"Weightless" is reputed to be the "most relaxing tune ever (mp3)." People are advised not to listen to it while driving, so it goes without saying that it should not be on your playlist while transiting zombie zones.

A British band and a group of scientists have made the most relaxing tune in the history of man (mp3)....

Sound therapists and Manchester band Marconi Union compiled the song. Scientists played it to 40 women and found it to be more effective at helping them relax than songs by Enya, Mozart and Coldplay.

Weightless works by using specific rhythms, tones, frequencies and intervals to relax the listener. A continuous rhythm of 60 BPM causes the brainwaves and heart rate to synchronise with the rhythm: a process known as ‘entrainment’. Low underlying bass tones relax the listener and a low whooshing sound with a trance-like quality takes the listener into an even deeper state of calm. _ShortList

Here is a top-ten list of most relaxing songs taken from a recent study, see if you agree:

The study - commissioned by bubble bath and shower gel firm Radox Spa - found the song [Weightless] was even more relaxing than a massage, walk or cup of tea. So relaxing is the tune, apparently, that people are being...advised against listening to it while driving.

The top 10 most relaxing tunes were: 1. Marconi Union - Weightless 2. Airstream - Electra 3. DJ Shah - Mellomaniac (Chill Out Mix) 4. Enya - Watermark 5. Coldplay - Strawberry Swing 6. Barcelona - Please Don't Go 7. All Saints - Pure Shores 8. AdelevSomeone Like You 9. Mozart - Canzonetta Sull'aria 10. Cafe Del Mar - We Can Fly _ShortList

Of course each person has his own grouping of tunes which elicit the greatest relaxation. But the list above serves as an example.

Using modern brain monitoring and imaging, scientists can test the relaxation effects of different types of brain inputs to all of the senses, as well as effects of internal inputs such drugs or electrical impulses via implants.

Audio relaxation utilising binaural beats and other subliminal effects are likely to grow ever more popular, as their effectiveness improves. When used in combination with complementary electromagnetic and advanced visual stimulation, it is likely that such non-invasive and time controllable mood control methods could become more popular than recreational drugs, among a certain smart set.

But when combined with structured mental training, meditations, and advanced neurofeedback, such an approach might revolutionise psychotherapy. For maximum effectiveness, such avant-garde psychotherapy would need to bring out a full range of emotions in an appropriate sequence -- much like the Sentic Cycles of Manfred Clyne. The deep relaxation segment would likely occur near the end, with a finishing touch of rejuvenatingly brisk wakeup to finish.

What Are You Afraid Of, Senorita Amygdala?

Scientists are beginning to learn how the brain learns to be afraid, and how learned fears are activated at the level of individual nuclei and cells in the amygdala.

In this week's issue of the journal Nature, a research team led by scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has taken an important step toward understanding just how this kickoff occurs by beginning to dissect the neural circuitry of fear. In their paper, these scientists—led by David J. Anderson, the Benzer Professor of Biology at Caltech and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator—describe a microcircuit in the amygdala that controls, or "gates," the outflow of fear from that region of the brain.

The microcircuit in question, Anderson explains, contains two subtypes of neurons that are antagonistic—have opposing functions—and that control the level of fear output from the amygdala by acting like a seesaw. _Eurekalert

Antagonistic neuronal types allow for finer control of output -- which allows us to preserve some of our dignity when surprised, at least.

Brain-Mind
A team of European scientists has looked at different parts of the central nucleus of the amygdala, and have discovered that the lateral subdivision of the central nucleus is involved in learning a fear response. The medial subdivision of the central nucleus is involved in the behavioural manifestation of a fear response.

Now, research involving several Swiss and German teams and a researcher from Inserm Unit 862, “Neurocentre Magendie”, in Bordeaux, has been able to identify, for the first time, distinct neuronal circuits within the central nucleus of the amygdala which are specifically involved in acquisition and control of behavioural fear responses. Details of these results are published in this week’s edition of the journal Nature.

...In that second step, real-time recording of the activity of the neurons in the lateral and medial subdivisions of the central amygdala, using unique electrophysiological techniques, made it possible for the researchers to identify the specific neurons, within the structures, which were involved in conditioning and behavioural manifestation of fear responses.

These neurons are inhibitor cells belonging to very organized and strongly interconnected neuronal circuits. Modification of the activity of these circuits enables the relevant behavioural fear response to be selected as a function of the environmental situation. _SB

Fear is at the center of primate learning, particularly the earlier stages. Much of the late early, middle, and latter parts of our lives involves the "papering over" of our raw learned fear responses, in order to avoid the unpleasantness of feeling afraid, and to allow us to act in groups without triggering contagious fear response chain reactions. Anxiety emerges when we are not sure what it is that we are afraid of at the moment.

There are good reasons why benzodiazepines, alcohol, and other anxiolytics account for so much economic activity.

Putting the I Back Into Imagination and Imaging

Curiosity and imagination are inextricably tied to each other. When our curiosity is aroused, we begin to imagine how things might be -- and how they might be different than they are. Cascading emotions triggered by our imaginings raise our curiosity even higher -- or sometimes shut our curiosity down in fear and anxiety.

Imagination calls upon "mental images", which may be visual, auditory, otherwise sensory, or emotional in nature. Mental images call upon much of the same brain real estate that is utilised when we perceive sights, sounds, tastes . . . or emotionally-tinged situations.

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess the maximal degree of shared neural processing in visual mental imagery and visual perception. Participants either visualized or saw faint drawings of simple objects, and then judged specific aspects of the drawings (which could only be evaluated properly if they used the correct stimulus). The results document that visual imagery and visual perception draw on most of the same neural machinery. _Ganis, Thompson, Kosslyn 2004 CognitiveBrainResearch

Mental images "connect up" with a wide array of sensory, motor, cognitive, and emotional centers of the brain. Understanding the broad nature of connectiveness of mental imagery should give a hint to the power of image and imagination.

Brain studies now reveal that thoughts produce the same mental instructions as actions. Mental imagery impacts many cognitive processes in the brain: motor control, attention, perception, planning, and memory. So the brain is getting trained for actual performance during visualization. _SeeingIsBelieving

Mental imagery has been used by world class athletes for over 50 years. Even golf champion Tiger Woods has used mental imagery for decades (although he probably didn't see that 9 iron coming). Imagery is also useful in rehabilitation from stroke and brain surgery.

Recent research in Lausanne, Switzerland suggests that mental imagery can improve our perceptual skills. In other words, if we train ourselves to "see" ambivalent visual phenomenon more precisely -- using our imagination with a bit of (non-visual) feedback -- we can actually learn to perceive such phenomena more precisely. A tricky concept to put into practise, no doubt. But highly suggestive nonetheless.

So -- how would we go about putting the I back into imagination and imaging? What I mean by that is how do we compensate for generations of neglect by governmental institutions of education, to train individuals in constructive, creative, and productive imagination and imagery? We have spawned generations of low-curiosity graduates, who instinctively appeal to authority rather than puzzling a situation out for themselves. Their imaginative facilities are atrophied -- except in regard to popular topics within a very superficial zeitgeist. The events occurring underneath the very foundations of their existences go undetected, in their dull-witted and incurious ignorance. All of this obliviousness occurs within minds of high and low IQ alike.

Why?

Education is currently dominated by highly verbal indoctrinists, professors in university schools of education caught in the ambiguous verbal slipstream of meaning. Modern philosophies of pedagogy are prone to fad and fashion, lacking basic grounding in any meaningful or sustainable reality. A society built upon graduates of such educational theories will be prone to the type of failure that leads to authoritarianism and totalitarianism. This is precisely what has been happening throughout the western world.

Visual images tend to be more permanent and lasting than verbal "imagery." Visual images often contain their own "falsifiability" criteria. Consider the ice age cave paintings found in southwestern Europe. One can easily identify the objects represented, and can judge the level of accuracy in representation, tens of thousands of years later. Those paintings predate any evidence of written language by tens of millenia.

Just as painted imagery predates printed language, so did mental imagery precede verbal thought. That is true evolutionarily and it is true in individual human development. Our brains may have evolutionary advantages that allow us to use language, but images and non-verbal imagination came first.

It is important to understand how human minds are built -- more sophisticated and artifactual tools are built upon the simpler and more natural structures of "thought." Language is built upon image, in a sense. Even verbal thought is based upon imagery -- often emotion-loaded imagery. (of course, skillful language conjures emotional images just as emotional images can trigger involuntary verbal utterances) Basic language metaphors are built of images of various types. More complex language constructs are built of basic language metaphors.

What is imagery built upon? Emotions? Well, they certainly work together. Curiosity is an emotion, after all. And curiosity uses imagery and is also triggered and stimulated by imagery. If a child is deprived of both curiosity and imagination, he is doubly damned by the frivolous gods of pedagogy and neglectful sprites of parenting.

Imagery is built upon pre-verbal, pre-image metaphor. More on that later.

It is enough to understand that our kludgy consciousness is built from lower level spare parts, all the way down to the turtles. (from there, it's turtles all the way down...) Some levels are accessible and trainable, and some are not. We are neglecting much of what is trainable.

The point is, that the "play pedagogy" that permeates Montessori education and also is used in executive function training programs for young children, is a form of training of imagination and imaging. It is an approach that boys are desperate for, and that could also benefit girls immensely.

Uh-oh! By stating that boys might benefit more from training in visual imagination, I have alienated leftist and feminist curriculum designers. There is, after all, an undeclared "war on boys" happening. No matter how desperate the condition of boys in education becomes, they must not be favoured in any way -- not even a little!

That, too, is beside the point. There are other types of images than visual images. Training in many of those forms of images would benefit girls more than boys, on average. But curriculum designers themselves lack imagination. They never learned to use imagery themselves, so of course they would never think to design a curriculum to help children learn these vital skills.

It is a blindspot for leftists, largely due to the focus on the "I" in imagination and imagery. Think about it, and you may see what I mean. But the rest of us can act without their permission, can't we?

Addendum: Imagination, Mental Imagery, Consciousness and Cognition, is the best one-stop information source on this general topic, according to Al Fin cognitive scientists. The author is Nigel J.T. Thomas, PhD.

Curiosity Is a Matter of Life and Death

Curious minds are alive, constantly probing and questioning. We see curiosity most often in the young -- and in the genius. The absence of curiosity implies a dead mind, a zombie mind. We see this in dementia, depression, and in totalitarian environments -- where being too curious can get you killed, fired, or denied opportunity.

But why is curiosity so important? Here are four reasons:

It makes your mind active instead of passive
Curious people always ask questions and search for answers in their minds. Their minds are always active. Since the mind is like a muscle which becomes stronger through continual exercise, the mental exercise caused by curiosity makes your mind stronger and stronger.
It makes your mind observant of new ideas
When you are curious about something, your mind expects and anticipates new ideas related to it. When the ideas come they will soon be recognized. Without curiosity, the ideas may pass right in front of you and yet you miss them because your mind is not prepared to recognize them. Just think, how many great ideas may have lost due to lack of curiosity?
It opens up new worlds and possibilities
By being curious you will be able to see new worlds and possibilities which are normally not visible. They are hidden behind the surface of normal life, and it takes a curious mind to look beneath the surface and discover these new worlds and possibilities.
It brings excitement into your life
The life of curious people is far from boring. It’s neither dull nor routine. There are always new things that attract their attention, there are always new ‘toys’ to play with. Instead of being bored, curious people have an adventurous life. _Lifehack

Do you think you are living in a culture that encourages curiosity? I am not talking about frivolous curiosity aimed at celebrities such as Tiger Woods. Does your society encourage a deep probing curiosity aimed at all aspects of life -- particularly those that are most profoundly relevant to a quality existence?

Take the "cause of the century" climate change. The news and science media is always full of catastrophic predictions concerning melting icecaps, rising sea levels, unprecedented storms and droughts. But where are the probing, questioning news stories that look behind the carbon hysteria to try to find the rational truth? Why are the news and science media virtually silent on such profoundly important questions?

Curiosity. How does one come by it?

1. Keep an open mind

This is essential if you are to have a curious mind. Be open to learn, unlearn, and relearn. Some things you know and believe might be wrong, and you should be prepared to accept this possibility and change your mind.

2. Don’t take things as granted

If you just accept the world as it is without trying to dig deeper, you will certainly lose the ‘holy curiosity’. Never take things as granted. Try to dig deeper beneath the surface of what is around you.

3. Ask questions relentlessly

A sure way to dig deeper beneath the surface is asking questions: What is that? Why is it made that way? When was it made? Who invented it? Where does it come from? How does it work? What, why, when, who, where, and how are the best friends of curious people.

4. Don’t label something as boring

Whenever you label something as boring, you close one more door of possibilities. Curious people are unlikely to call something as boring. Instead, they always see it as a door to an exciting new world. Even if they don’t yet have time to explore it, they will leave the door open to be visited another time.

5. See learning as something fun

If you see learning as a burden, there’s no way you will want to dig deeper into anything. That will just make the burden heavier. But if you think of learning as something fun, you will naturally want to dig deeper. So look at life through the glasses of fun and excitement and enjoy the learning process..

6. Read diverse kinds of reading

Don’t spend too much time on just one world; take a look at another worlds. It will introduce you to the possibilities and excitement of the other worlds which may spark your interest to explore them further. One easy way to do this is through reading diverse kinds of reading. Try to pick a book or magazine on a new subject and let it feed your mind with the excitement of a new world. _Lifehack

Children are naturally curious, but too often something happens to change this.

For too many children, curiosity fades. Curiosity dimmed is a future denied. Our potential — emotional, social, and cognitive — is expressed through the quantity and quality of our experiences. And the less-curious child will make fewer new friends, join fewer social groups, read fewer books, and take fewer hikes. The less-curious child is harder to teach because he is harder to inspire, enthuse, and motivate.

There are three common ways adults constrain or even crush the enthusiastic exploration of the curious child: 1) fear, 2) disapproval and 3) absence.

Fear: Fear kills curiosity. When the child's world is chaotic or when he is afraid, he will not like novelty. He will seek the familiar, staying in his comfort zone, unwilling to leave and explore new things. Children impacted by war, natural disasters, family distress, or violence all have their curiosity crushed.

Disapproval: "Don’t touch. Don’t climb. Don’t yell. Don’t take that apart. Don’t get dirty. Don’t. Don’t. Don’t." Children sense and respond to our fears, biases, and attitudes. If we convey a sense of disgust at the mud on their shoes and the slime on their hands, their discovery of tadpoles will be diminished.

Absence: The presence of a caring, invested adult provides two things essential for optimal exploration: 1) a sense of safety from which to set out to discover new things and 2) the capacity to share the discovery and, thereby, get the pleasure and reinforcement from that discovery. _teacher.scholastic

The crushing of curiosity occurs fairly early and easily for most children. Some children seem to survive a mountain of discouragements and keep their curiosity. But those are exceptions.

We need more curious young, middle-aged, and old people. We need people unafraid to question authority, to laugh at pompous overreach of authority.

Without that element, a society sinks into authoritarianism, like North Korea or Cuba. Those two countries used the "cult of personality" to destroy curiosity, and purge the curious from their numbers. It could happen to you.

For the Past 8 Years, Every Day Is 9 / 11

I don't tend to mark particular events or special days, except when I am forced to do so. Certain events leave a mark so deep and profound, that one never really forgets them, except perhaps in sleep. So that every day after that, becomes something of a commemoration and reliving.

The same is true for certain insights and epiphanies that one experiences and achieves -- often after great struggle. Once experienced, there is no going back. The ideas and emotions that are set in motion by these epiphanies can lie silent and unseen, beneath the surface layers. Until something happens to change that. Hope that nothing happens.

It is difficult to imagine machines capable of being so marked by life. But I am certain that such machines will eventually come about. That won't necessarily be a good thing.


Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

Visualizing Intelligence & Genetics of Fear

Brain imaging is improving so quickly that soon we may be able to measure intelligence using brain scans, and simply skip the IQ tests altogether.

... lesions in the left frontal cortex were associated with lower scores on the verbal comprehension index; lesions in the left frontal and parietal cortex (located behind the frontal lobe) were associated with lower scores on the working memory index; and lesions in the right parietal cortex were associated with lower scores on the perceptual organization index.

Somewhat surprisingly, the study revealed a large amount of overlap in the brain regions responsible for verbal comprehension and working memory, which suggests that these two now-separate measures of cognitive ability may actually represent the same type of intelligence, at least as assessed using the WAIS.

The details about the structure of intelligence provided by the study could be useful in future revisions of the WAIS test so that its various subtests are grouped on the basis of neuroanatomical similarity rather than on behavior, as is the case now.

In addition, the brain maps produced by the study could be used as a diagnostic aid. Clinicians could combine the maps with their patients' Wechsler test results to help localize likely areas of brain damage. "It wouldn't be sufficient to be diagnostic, but it would provide information that clinicians could definitely use about what parts of the brain are dysfunctional," Adolphs says.

The converse--using brain-scan results to predict the IQ of patients as measured by the Weschler test--may also be possible. Although the results wouldn't be as clear-cut as they are in patients with brain lesions, Adolphs says, "you could take a large sample of healthy brains and measure the relative volumes of specific brain areas and draw some associations with these IQ factors." _Eurekalert

This study used scans of persons with brain lesions to correlate with Wechsler test scores. Future brain scans will reveal far more detail anatomically and functionally. As spatial and temporal resolution of brain imaging improves, the newer brain imaging should provide far more insight into the neural correlates of intelligence.

On another topic, research into the neuroscience of fear is revealing the importance of genetic polymorphisms in the experience and recovery from fear and anxiety in everyday life.

The results showed that while the participants with the shorter version of the serotonin transporter gene developed a very strong physiological fear response to picture A, participants with a longer version of the gene did not. In addition, a variation in the gene coding for the COMT enzyme was associated with fear extinction - volunteers with this particular variant were able to very quickly overcome their fear while volunteers with the other variant failed to do so.

The researchers note that these findings have very interesting implications for understanding gene-environment interactions and that "genes may act through the environment by making carriers of particular gene combinations more likely than other individuals to easily pick up and retain fear of stimuli associated with threat and trauma." The authors go on to suggest that these findings may indicate that individuals with specific polymorphisms may be more susceptible to anxiety disorders by being more prone to developing fear and being less likely to overcome that fear by common cognitive behavioral treatments which are based on the extinction principle. _SD

We are all unique in our responses to our different environments. While some are certainly predisposed genetically to experience more fear and anxiety in response to ordinary everyday experiences, we should all be allowed to learn how to overcome fear and anxiety responses in order to be able to pursue our life's goals. In the absence of such training to overcome innate anxiety responses, individuals can be prone to obsessing on perceived external obstacles to success. Such obsession on externals makes it almost impossible to understand the far more important internal obstacles to reaching satisfactory plateaus of achievement.

Love, Empathy, Kindness--Not Just for Christmas

Humans have evolved with a full set of emotions and dispositions. Even infants can be seen empathizing with others who are suffering. These tender emotions are worth bringing out and exercising frequently, not just at certain times of the year.

But we should own all of our emotions, the good and the bad. Otherwise, what we try to suppress within ourselves becomes our "shadow self", and gains power with each act of suppression. Since we don't want to act obnoxiously without good reason, we need to find a safe way of exercising all of our emotions. I like Manfred Clyne's discovery of Sentic Cycles--the safe way to let all your emotions out to play.

Thanks to Eide Neurolearning.

Emotional Calibration

Our emotions are powerful tools for evaluating the world around us quickly, and at levels we may not be able to describe verbally. Cognitive scientists are just now starting to tackle the complexities of emotions in their more advanced machines and programs.

Human emotions need calibrating, just as our cognitive systems and mind-body controls need calibration.

I was first exposed to conscious calibration of emotions when taking drama class and musical theatre class. A good actor needs to express a wide range of emotions, without having to reach too far for them. Likewise, a good singer in a musical play needs to find the emotions within himself that the song is expressing.

Everyday life can also be emotionally demanding, with the threat of an emotional boobytrap being tripped at any time. By "calibrating" our emotions regularly, we keep our emotions tuned and ready for appropriate responses.

We are all actors on the stage. We need to utilise methods of emotional priming that are just as sound as what actors use.

The best everyday method for exercising and calibrating emotion that I have found, is the Sentic Cycle method, developed by neuroscientist and musician Manfred Clynes.

Sentic Cycles lets you generate and express your emotions in a series, as a spectrum, your emotion 'symphony', so you tend to become free from emotional rut - being stuck in one emotion- and be in touch with your real self - not overwhelmed by single emotion (yet able to savour them all as in music).

It takes only 10 minutes to learn to do it - and then you may benefit from doing it anytime the rest of your life - as long as human nature does not change! Anyone can do it.

It uses only your own natural expressions of emotion to generate and to enjoy them.

....We all tend to be prisoners of emotion more than we may wish to be. Emotions make life enjoyable and meaningful, but not if you are in an emotional rut, where a particular, most often negative, emotion takes over, and makes it hard to get out of, even temporarily. Often such negative emotions are suppressed, but still interfere with function and freedom of experience.

Sentic Cycles allow you to experience and express all such emotions more constructively, without being overwhelmed by them.

Source.

Emotions are powerful and fast, compared to other types of cognition. But they have to be kept toned and in shape, like our bodies.

A satisfying play or movie is one that exercises our emotions skillfully, so that usually we are not even aware of what is being done to us subconsciously. Most people go through life being manipulated emotionally, without realizing it. How much better it would be to become well acquainted with our emotions on a regular basis, so that they are seen more like friends than potentially dangerous strangers.

Hat tip Pastorius.

Why so Afraid, Little Flower? Is it your Amygdala Again?

We are all at the mercy of our genes. Your genes determine the color of your eyes, your hair, your approximate height, and much of your personality. Are you sanguine? Are you cheerful? Are you fearful? Activation of your amygdalae has a lot to do with serotonin levels in synapses, and the level of negative emotions you experience. Serotonin levels in the synapse are largely determined by your genes. "How Genes Make up Your Mind" is an interesting article in the Science and Consciousness Review.

Genes control the development of neurons to make up brains, but they also govern neuronal gene expression during our daily lives. The sleep-waking cycle is controlled by neurochemicals emerging from cells at the base of the brain. Genes control how neurons communicate with serotonin, dopamine or other neurotransmitters (cache). Genes are responsible for every step of the neurotransmitter cycle, including the formation, transport, pre-synaptic expression and post-synaptic reception of the transmitter (see Figure 1). Genes work at every level of the neural process. They are the fundamental building blocks for both the structure and the functioning of the brain.

....How do genes influence the emotional workings of brains? Recent studies now show that naturally occurring genetic variations - called polymorphisms (cache) - which code for serotonin affects our emotional reactions and thoughts. Humans have two common variations of a promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR); a short (s) and a long (l) version. It has been shown that two allelic (cache) copies of the long variant leads to higher concentration of 5-HTT mRNA, which leads to a doubled reuptake of serotonin, compared to one or two short allelic variations. People who have two copies of the long genetic sequence in this region have less serotonin available in the synapse, due to the higher reuptake of the neurotransmitter.

....The researchers found that the actvation of the two amygdalas differed between the two groups (see Figure 4). The s group showed a significantly higher amygdala activation than the l group. In other words, the level of amygdala activation depended on what genetic makeup a person had. Having a short version of the 5-HTT genetic code leads to a higher level of synaptic serotonine, which again leads to a higher level of amygdalar response to aversive stimuli. This is consistent with the prediction described above.

While these results have provided us new information about how genes regulate brain function, one can ask: does this have any effect on thought and behaviour? Indeed it has! Studies demonstrate that carriers of the s allele, compared to l allele carriers, are more likely to show abnormal levels of anxiety (5) develop affective illness (6) and even acquire conditioned fear responses (7). Variations in the genetic makeup of the serotonin system has profound influence on our experience and behavior. Thoughts are shaped by genes.

The original article contains several useful links. Check it out.

Not everyone wins the genetic lottery. At least now we are beginning to understand what happens, and what might be done to bring the advantages of good genes to the amygdalas of everyone.