May
6
I’m a science fiction fan from way back, and have always been interested in the idea of brain-computer interfaces. So when the BBC reports that a musical piece has been performed in part controlled by brain waves, I sit up and take notice.
The Multimodal Orchestra included several performers fitted with EEG caps and leads. “There is a first violin, a second violin and so on, except that instead of violins they are brains,” explains Dr Anna Mura, the producer. Some of them watched a screen for a particular letter and when they saw it, it triggered a measurable change in their brains which launched a sound or recorded instrument. Others, directed by the conductor, switched their attention between several flashing lights at different frequencies. As their brains synchronized with the lights, the detected changes in their EEG changed the sounds that the audience heard.
 photo credit: Spigoo
There was also an “emotional conductor”, who was watching images while having her heart rate and skin conductance – measures of emotion – monitored. The changes in her mood led to changes in the measures, which in turn blurred and changed the images (I assume these were visible to the audience as well).
All of which sounds gimmicky, one of those geeky science demos, combined with the kind of art that most people don’t understand. Right?
But here’s why I think it’s important. When science matures, it becomes technology – it becomes something that we can use to do things we want to do. This is the beginning of a technology. And it’s based on the fact that what you pay attention to changes the state of your brain.
This is a very important point that underlies a lot of what I talk about here at Living Skillfully. What you pay attention to changes the state of your brain, and what you pay attention to long-term changes the structure of your brain. This isn’t just philosophy, it’s science which is rapidly becoming technology. In fact, the “technology” of using attention to change your brain has been around for centuries, except we usually call it meditation. The difference here is that the technology is now being used to control things outside the brain.
So it pays to put some thought into what you pay attention to, am I right?
Technorati Tags: brain, orchestra, attention, EEG, Multimodal Orchestra, emotion, technology, meditation, brain-computer interface
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Mar
16
I’ve recently finished reading Richard O’Connor’s book Happy at Last: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Finding Joy. O’Connor doesn’t identify himself as part of the Positive Psychology movement, and in fact has some criticisms of it, but I am putting this review in my Positive Psychology series because it is definitely in the same general zone: learning how to be happy.
The author’s previous books include Undoing Depression and Undoing Perpetual Stress, and he is a psychotherapist who works with depressed people and who himself has struggled with depression. Good credentials. Although he doesn’t go into scientific studies in depth in the body of the book, preferring the more layperson-friendly approach of endnotes without explicit markers in the text, he does base what he says on current science. This isn’t just a survey of knowledge, though; it’s a practical guide, with techniques and exercises.
O’Connor, like me, thinks very highly of the potential of meditation (specifically, in his case, mindfulness meditation) to help us improve our lives. It’s the main technique he recommends, in fact. He also puts forward a strong critique of contemporary culture and its consumerism, and makes it very clear that money does not buy happiness. But he’s not just a hippy. He emphasizes taking pleasure in what we have, dealing appropriately with grief and pain when they come to us, and looking for meaning in our lives. He discusses how the brain’s innate mechanisms are set up to produce desire, not happiness, and how we can work around this; talks about defense mechanisms and their uses and dangers; and knowledgeably expounds on the inner critic, stress, how to improve your personal relationships, and the importance of daily gratitude. (He recommends reminding yourself each night of three things you are grateful for about the day. It’s a good exercise.)
There’s a mass of good stuff in here. I don’t agree with everything he says, of course; for one thing, he’s a psychotherapist and so tends to believe that change takes a long time and a lot of self-exploration. Time and self-exploration are important, but people who are ready to change can do so surprisingly quickly and without an archaeological expedition, in my experience. Minor quibbles aside, though, this is an excellent resource and I recommend it to anyone who would like to increase their overall level of happiness in life.
Technorati Tags: happiness, positive psychology, book review, meditation, technique, gratitude, psychology, joy
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Jan
14
For over 10 years now, New Zealand general practitioners and other primary healthcare providers have been giving “green prescriptions” – written advice to patients to be physically active, as a way of improving their health. Research published in the British Medical Journal indicates that it works.
photo credit: Celso Flores
I’m all for this. Not only am I all for improving health by non-drug means, I’m very much in favour of encouraging health professionals to think about ways of doing so and communicate those to their patients or clients.
So here’s a further idea: the “blue prescription”.
Let’s say that your patient presents with elevated blood pressure, digestive problems, general malaise, sleeping difficulties or headaches, is nervous and jumpy, irritable or anxious, or gets ill a lot with colds and other minor infections. You have some tests run and there is nothing serious wrong with them, but they feel unwell and tired nearly all the time. They’re perhaps a person in their middle years with a growing family and an all-too-slowly-shrinking mortgage, who’s consistently working overtime, or who works on long-term projects with a lot of pressure, or who holds a job with a lot of responsibility which they feel is a bit beyond them. What do you do?
photo credit: a.drian
Well, some doctors will either tell them there’s nothing really wrong with them and send them home (that’ll be $45, thanks), or prescribe medication that they may or may not really need or benefit from – antidepressants, perhaps, sleeping pills, or the ever-popular Losec to reduce the acidity of their stomach.
I propose, instead, the “blue prescription”. Just as the “green prescription” is a written recommendation for exercise, the “blue prescription” is a written recommendation for deliberate relaxation, with a referral to a yoga class, meditation teacher or (best of all, in my of course unbiased opinion) hypnotherapist.
For those without the means or inclination to go to someone else, you could provide a small brochure like the bookmarks that I give my clients outlining Dr Herbert Benson’s “relaxation response” practice, or even a recording like my therapeutic relaxation track. (It’s free for download from the page just linked to, and you can use it as long as you acknowledge me as the source.)
So there’s the challenge: start prescribing relaxation. We need more of it.
photo credit: exfordy
Technorati Tags: green prescription, blue prescription, relaxation, stress, drug alternatives, exercise, medicine, doctor, general practice
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