o1o1 Your Brain Is a Your Brain Is a Work in Progress Brain and Consciousness

SunMondayTuesdayWedThursdayFridaySat Sept11: Paradigms13: Brain Develop- ment Sept Mongolia Conference SeptYom Kippur27: Sleeping 28: TM and TC Oct2: Science and Pseudoscience 4: Other Meditations Oct9: Cosmic Consciousness Timeline: 7:45 – 9:00 Drfredtravis.com for copy of lecture power points

Our Brain Is Unassembled at Birth

Dendrites, Dendritic spines

Synaptic connections naturally increase during first 3 years of life.

Number of Connections Increases and then Decreases oYears

Why High Synaptic Density from 2-9 Years? –This is a physiological counterpart of all possibilities. This sets the stage for ongoing experience to enliven specific cortical circuits to deal with current experiences.

Why Synaptic Pruning from Years? –Pruning is not bad (garden analogy) –Pruning eliminates connections that are not used, and strengthens brain connections that are used. This optimizes our ability to interact with the environment.This optimizes our ability to interact with the environment. –Pruning is not bad (garden analogy) –Pruning eliminates connections that are not used, and strengthens brain connections that are used. This optimizes our ability to interact with the environment.This optimizes our ability to interact with the environment.

Glial: Myelination—speed up the action potential 20 times Schwann Cell (body) Oligodendroglia (brain)

Notice the Orderliness of Axonal Connections

1. Development Why might we learn Word of Wisdom at age 5, TM at 10, and TM-Sidhis at 15 years?

Years Experience Interacts with Natural Maturation Maturation Experience Amount of Influence

Neuroplasticity: Experiences changes the brain Buonomano, D.V., Merzenich, M.M., Cortical plasticity: from synapses to maps. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 21,

Dendritic Spines change Minute-by-Minute

Exercise: Let’s pretend we are neurons. Exercise: Neurons cannot move, but they can move their arms around, and even grow new arms…. I’ll signal a person in front, who will tap people behind them and so on….let’s see how quickly the “tap” makes it to the back.

Your Brain is a River, Not a Rock 70% of connections change every day….

London Taxi Cab Drivers

It’s our Choice: Reinforce Old Habits or Make New ones Same decisions = Same brain patterns New decisions = New brain patterns

Evans & Schamberg (2009) Childhood poverty, chronic stress, and adult working memory, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(16) 6545– 6549 Reduced frontal (executive center) and hippocampal (memory) volume.

Negative Experiences Number of violent films Behavioral Data: After watching violent movies, you are less likely to help others.

“The Brain That Repairs Itself” Antibiotic led to dizzinessAntibiotic led to dizziness Restricted Mitt Technology for stroke victims Restricted Mitt Technology for stroke victims

Education: Encounter New Ideas

When Law Students Study: Mackey et al, 2012, Frontiers in Neuroanatomy Increased Myelination in frontal executive circuits.

It’s our Choice: Reinforce Old Habits or Make New ones  FEED Focus Focus Effort Effort Effortlessness Effortlessness Determination Determination Arden, Rewire Your Brain

Transcending thought is infinitely more valuable than thinking. --Maharishi

Four Months TM Practice Eyes Open TM Travis, 1991 Front Center Back

Eight Years TM Practice Eyes Open TM Travis, 1991 Front Center Back

Main Point Biologically driven processes sculpt the number of connections (synapses) and nature of the output fibers (myelination). The maturation of brain structure and functioning allows increasingly abstract levels of inner experience to be maintained in a stable way including growth towards enlightenment. Biologically driven processes sculpt the number of connections (synapses) and nature of the output fibers (myelination). The maturation of brain structure and functioning allows increasingly abstract levels of inner experience to be maintained in a stable way including growth towards enlightenment.

Group Discussion  Why does it take time to evolve?

Brain Activity Associated with General Intelligence