Mastery of the various Aspects of Life

The Brain That Makes Us

Aug23
2011 3 Comments Written by bohdan


Latest 3D brain scan (Photo from http://gadgetsteria.com/)

In this and other blogs there is often a discuss about the power and influence of the brain/mind but often there is little conveyed understanding of its basic building blocks. I hope this post can provide some of that understanding.

Because of its crucial role as the human body’s communication and decision center, the brain has been one of the most studied organs of the human body. Since the brain generally controls the functioning of other body parts, you can only understand why a certain body part is working in a particular manner by tracing it to the brain’s function.

The brain is made up of three major parts:

  • the cerebrum,
  • the cerebellum and
  • the brain stem.

Being the largest part of the human brain, the cerebrum (or cortex) is divided into four lobes (“chunks”) namely:

  • frontal lobe – takes charge of problem solving, reasoning, critical thinking and movement coordination;
  • parietal lobe – handles sensation, recognition and perception;
  • occipital lobe – focuses on visual processing; and the
  • temporal lobe – specializes in auditory stimuli, memory and speech.

Different parts and divisions of the brain

Different parts and divisions of the brain (Photo from http://cognitrn.psych.indiana.edu/)

The cerebrum is also made up of two hemispheres: left and right. Despite the symmetrical appearance of the two hemispheres, each has its own specialty to work on:

  • Right hemisphere – controls the left side of the body, handles creativity; and the
  • Left hemisphere – controls the right side of the body, handles logic.

The two hemispheres are connected by the corpus callosum, a bundle of axons. Thus, when the left side of the body gets paralyzed, the damage is in the right hemisphere.

The cerebellum is also known as the ‘little brain’. It supervises balance, posture and motor centers.

Lastly, the brain stem is found underneath the limbic system. Despite being dubbed as the ‘simpliest part of the human brain’ because of the resemblance between the brain stem and animals’ entire brains, the brain stem still controls all basic yet vital life functions such as respiration, blood pressure and heartbeat. It also serves as the motor and sensory pathway to the body and face. The brain stem is made up of the following parts:

  • The midbrain controls eye movement, body movement, hearing and vision.
  • The pons handles motor control and sensory analysis.
  • The medulla handles life processes such as heartbeat and pressure.

Some parts of the human brain are not visible in the external view, particularly those in the limbic lobe, which is responsible for regulating sexual and emotional behavior as well as recording memories. Also called the ‘emotional brain’, the limbic lobe is buried within the cerebrum. The limbic system houses the following parts:

  • The thalamus – performs motor and sensory functions.
  • The hypothalamus – controls homeostasis, emotion, thirst, hunger and circadian rhythms; also controls the functions of the pituitary gland.
  • The amygdala – controls emotion, memory and fear.
  • The hippocampus – plays an important role in converting short-term memories into long-term memories and in recalling spatial relationships.
  • Inside the brain, you can also see basal ganglia, a pea-shaped collection of nerve bundles that takes charge of motor programming.

A picture of the interior of the brain

A picture of the interior of the brain (Photo from http://cognitrn.psych.indiana.edu)

 

Posted in Brain - Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Looking At Art With A New Perspective

Aug11
2011 1 Comment Written by bohdan

Pablo Picasso's The Three Musicians 1921

Pablo Picasso's The Three Musicians (1921) (Image courtesy from http://artquotes.net/)

The concept of neuroesthetics appears peculiar: To learn about the mind, scientists are using artists to look for objective facts in the most subjective of places, by means of paintings and sculptures as sources of experimental data.

As widely defined, the term refers to an attempt to combine neurological research with aesthetics by investigating the experience of beauty and appreciation of art on the level of brain functions and mental states.

One of the many approaches to the study of neuroesthetics is the observation of subjects viewing art and the exploration of the mechanics of vision. This approached is pioneered by neuroscientist, Semir Zeki at Univerity College in London.  He proposed that pleasing impression is derivative on the repeated activation of neurons due to horizontal and vertical lines visual stimuli.

One of the most mysterious artworks

One of the most mysterious artworks (Photo from http://www.ibiblio.org/)

Another approach is through the study of individuals with neural disorders such as savant syndrome or some form of traumatic injury.  The art analysis of these patients yields valuable insights to the brain areas responsible for capturing the essence of art.

Aesthetic responses to different types of art and techniques have recently been studied. Cubism, forces the viewer to discover less unstable elements of the object to be represented. This may be compared to how the brain maintains an object’s identity despite varying conditions. Modern, representational, and impressionistic art has also been studied for the purpose of explaining visual processing systems. Yet an aesthetic judgment exists in all domains, not just art.

V.S. Ramachandran , a neuroscientist proposed  10 perceptual principles of great art:

  • PEAK SHIFT: We find deliberate distortions of a stimulus even more exciting than the stimulus itself—which is why cartoon caricatures grab our attention.
  • GROUPING: It feels nice when the distinct parts of a picture can be grouped into a pattern or form. The brain likes to find the signal amid the noise.
  • BALANCE: Successful art makes use of its entire representational space, and spreads its information across the entire canvas.
  • CONTRAST: Because of how the visual cortex works, it’s particularly pleasing for the brain to gaze at images rich in contrast, like thick black outlines or sharp angles—or, as in the geometric art of Mondrian, both at once.
  • ISOLATION: Sometimes less is more. By reducing reality to its most essential features—think a Matisse that’s all bright color and sharp silhouettes—artists amplify the sensory signals we normally have to search for.
  • PERCEPTUAL PROBLEM SOLVING: Just as we love solving crossword puzzles, we love to “solve” abstract paintings such as cubist still lifes or Cézanne landscapes.
  • SYMMETRY: Symmetrical things, from human faces to Roman arches, are more attractive than asymmetrical ones.
  • REPETITION, RHYTHM, ORDERLINESS: Beauty is inseparable from the appearance of order. Consider the garden paintings of Monet. Pictures filled with patterns, be it subtle color repetitions or formal rhythms, appear more elegant and composed.
  • GENERIC PERSPECTIVE: We prefer things that can be observed from multiple viewpoints, such as still lifes and pastoral landscapes, to the fragmentary perspective of a single person. They contain more information, making it easier for the brain to deduce what’s going on.
  • METAPHOR: Metaphor encourages us to see the world in a new way: Two unrelated objects are directly compared, giving birth to a new idea. Picasso did this all the time—he portrayed the bombing of Guernica, for example, with the imagery of a bull, a horse, and a lightbulb.

Neuroesthetics explains what makes random strokes a work of art

Neuroesthetics explains what makes random strokes a work of art (Photo from http://os.typepad.com/)

Indeed, we are no longer strangers to studying and defining art but the concept of defining art from the perspective of the brain still remains a contemporary concept. Brain-imaging experiments have already been conducted such as taking fMRI images of individuals viewing kitch-art objects criticized for shallowness and sentimentality and fine art canvases that are usually displayed in museums. Such experiments generate significant data on understanding different aesthetic reactions to various visual stimuli. These brain imaging experiments indeed shed significant light on what makes random strokes an art. With the information that we can generate through these experiments, the beauty of Mona Lisa’s smile will not be that mysterious at all.

To read some more of this fascinating topic see Six Ways That Artists Hack Your Brain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Brain, Fun - Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

Are You Contributing to Social Capital ?

Apr13
2011 4 Comments Written by bohdan

Muhammad Yunus helps build social capital using the Grameen Bank

Muhammad Yunus helps build social capital using the Grameen Bank

Over the last few days I’ve been objectively thinking about how one can contribute in some meaningful way to the community/ies one belongs to, and my attention has turned to the concept of social capital. Although there is much debate about what social capital exactly means, it tries to capture the notion that there is value in social networks. At this point I don’t want to get into whether this value can be used for ‘evil’ purposes, since that can certainly happen; we will stick to the positive view of value.

So what are these benefits that are attributable to social capital? They are things like:

  • improved children’s lives. For example, Robert Putnam states that “.. social capital is second only to povery in the breadth and depth of its effects on children’s lives” (see his book Bowling Alone).
  • improved educational outcomes;
  • lower crime rates; and
  • better economic prosperity.

So how does social capital generate these benefits? The benefits flow from the trust, reciprocity, information and cooperation associated with social networks. More specifically, we have in social networks:

  • information flows - such as people providing information ro other in their social network;
  • mutual aid (norms of reciprocity) – helping each other;
  • collective action - members of a social network working together on some joint goal;
  • broader identities and solidarity - moving people beyond “I” identities to identities associated with their social networks.

So how do you rate your own contribution to social capital? Try to answer the following questions (some are taken from the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey):

  • How often do you visit with family or friends?
  • How many neighbours do you know by their first/given names?
  • Do you participate/volunteer in any local/community groups such as your children’s school, senior citizens, environment groups, etc.
  • Do you attend parades, festivals, galleries or other public places or public events?
  • What do you think about those who hold public office in your community, such as elected officials and police? Do you think they care about you?
  • Do you believe you do/can make a difference to the quality of the community/ies you are in?

Of course, these days there is not just the “real” face-to-face world of interaction and social network. There are also virtual /web networks. And we not only live/participate in one single network, we are a part of many networks of interest. So the above questions can be extended to these other networks.

So are you satisfied with you contribution to social capital? If not, then start making small incremental steps to increase your contribution to social capital. Of course, we all have to balance time involved in maintaining and building social capital with all the other things we want/need to do, but some things will not involve a lot of effort.

To find out more about Social Capital have a browse the the Harvard Kennedy School’s Saguaro Seminar.

UCSD social network for obesity epidemic

Example social network (Courtesy: UCSD)

Posted in Contribution - Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Keep Up, Catch Up, Get Ahead

Mar31
2011 3 Comments Written by bohdan

light-cone-past-present-future

The Past, the Present, the Future - Get a handle on them!

I have to admit to a current problem of mine . . . certain parts of my life have recently become ‘messy’. The mess keeps getting worse, and I can see that if I don’t do something soon about it I am going to be buried, and loose lots of productivity and information at the same time. The culprit . . . my notebook! I use it to scribble (in the worse sense of the word) notes about my work tasks, information, contacts, etc. Things I often need for the work that I am doing. But lately I have gotten out of the habit of capturing the more important notes into a more permanent form that I can quickly and readily use. Now I need to keep on going but I also need to catch up on my past scribbles. And I sure don’t want things to get worse. Indeed, I want it to get better!

Now this is a small example of situations most of us face from time to time across a range of daily issues. Some bad strategies would be to:

  • Spend all my time catching up on the past, but the current way of doing things does not improve.
  • Devising a new beaut way of doing things in the future, working on it, but the past and present never improve.

What I suggest is that you need to simultaneously think about the Present, the Past and the Future. This goes for many action areas in our lives. Here’s how:

  • Present: Get a process in place so that you are doing things quite/reasonably well from NOW ON.
  • Past: Put time in to chip away at past messes, probably starting from the more recent past to distant past.
  • Future: Also put in time to set up processes/systems to make improvements in how you are doing things. This can be small steps at a time, as in kaizen/continuous improvement.

So how does this translate to making me a happier note-taker?

  • I will make sure that on a daily basis I will write clearer notes and that by the end of each day will transcribe any essential information to my various digital places.
  • Each day I will chip away at past notes, say processing a previous day’s notes each day.
  • Once the above 2 habits are reasonably set in I will start some kaizen. For example, start putting some of my notes directly into their digital places whenever I can rather than wating time double-handling from paper notes to digital notes.

So what types of situations do you need to apply Present-Past-Future actions?

Posted in Metalevel - Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Financial Re-Think: Anchoring

Mar31
2011 42 Comments Written by bohdan

anchor

Will anchoring lead to you to sink due a poor financial decision?

Psychologists studying how people think about and act about money have revealed some deep biases and self-deceptions we have about finance. And not just ordinary folks but traders and more financially sophisticated types as well. These types of questions are part of the relatively new discipline of of behavioral finance. It is a bit embarrassing some of the crazy financial decisions we end up making if we are not aware of the tricks our brain is playing on us. I want to start exploring from time to time some of these pitfalls of the mind when it comes to dealing with money. Let us start of with what is called anchoring, which is the effect caused on our thinking of price or value by having some arbitrary number set in our mind.

roulette wheel

Will a random number on a roulette wheel affect your next 'rational' decision?

Suppose I was to spin a roulette wheel and the ball landed on a particular number. Then if I asked you to estimate say the price of a computer mouse one would find that the guesses tended to sway towards the number obtained on the roulette wheel! Strange but true. Why? Even though the random number from roulette is not relevant to the price of the mouse it is a recent number that ‘sticks’ in your head and influences a recent number-oriented decision. This is especially true if you are not aware/don’t know what the price of something is. Your mind needs an anchor, some initial number to start from, to form a basis for guessing that price. Thus, what you have done before you approach a financial decision or how the decision is being framed can greatly affect the value/price you estimate for something. Hence, you can end up making completely silly decisions.

Marketers/sales people know the importance of anchors and hence they can manipulate the perception by a consumer of what is regarded as a fair price. Examples include setting high prices for products or services to give the impression of value (luxury goods, high end consultancies), and discounting a high priced good to give the feeling that one is getting a bargain even though the final price may still be excessive.

Of course we can use the same anchoring strategies to our own advantages as well, such as when we want to sell things, ask for a high salary expectation, etc.

So, in order to try to guard yourself somewhat from the anchoring effect in finance, try the following:

  • Don’t purchase on impulse. Give it time to, and give yourself a chance to get a better assessment of price/value.
  • Learn something about the true value-price for something; ie do your research. But be wary just comparing similar goods that are also being anchored, as it may be standard industry practice.

Anchoring is important in our daily lives. Without it we would not be able to make various predictions and estimates. But we have to guard against basing these estimates on biased initial values, including our own past experience. Stretch yourself and and your thinking to buy better and achieve more by trying to remove incorrect anchors.

Posted in Finance - Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,
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