25:33 i think a better response goes something like: the brain as currently formalized in science is as a solitary, functional unit that is parachuted into its environment. However, 4E cognition claims a more ethological view of the brain's development both in individual and evolutionary history. Moreover, no functional unit greater than neuron can be understood independent of some 4E-elaborated enviornment. Rather than examine the brain as a Martian would examine and make claims about strange conclusions about strange pocket-sized rocks with black mirrors.
Although the evidence for embodied cognition is compelling, affective and cognitive neuroscientists continue to study the brain as a disembodied entity, or a ‘brain in a vat’, and this neglect of embodiment has resulted in convoluted explanations for mental states that would be rendered simple if we just add a body to a brain. A good of example of this is the concept of mindfulness. Disembodied Neuroscience For affective and cognitive neuroscience, brain imaging (fmri) and ‘in vivo’ or direct stimulation of cellular arrays in the brain are the primary methods to understand how affect in instantiated in the brain, yet cannot account for how neuro-muscular or proprioceptive stimuli modulate affect. This has resulted in the general neglect of how these stimuli elicit and inhibit affective states. Below is a brief explanation and simple procedure that demonstrates the role of tension and relaxation in eliciting affect, and provides a much simpler and testable explanation of ‘unique’ affective states such as meditation, peak experience, and ‘flow’. Proprioception and Affect Proprioceptors (sensory receptors) are located in our muscles and joints and respond to changes in the relative activity of the covert musculature. They also induce changes in affective states in the brain. An example of this is how we experience pleasure. Unlike other functions in the brain, from perception to thinking, the neural source of our pleasures are localized in the brain as specialized groups of nerve cells or ‘nuclei’, or ‘hot spots’, located in the midbrain. These nuclei receive inputs from different sources in the nervous system, from proprioceptive stimuli (neuro-muscular activity) to interoceptive stimuli (satiation and deprivation) to cognitive stimuli (novel positive or negative means-end expectancies), and all modulate the activity of these nuclei which release or inhibit endogenous opioids that elicit the rainbow of pleasures which mark our day. For example, relaxation induces opioid activity and is pleasurable, but tension inhibits it and is painful. Similarly, satiation inhibits our pleasure when we eat, and deprivation or hunger increases it. Finally, positive novel means-ends expectancies enhance our pleasures, and negative expectancies inhibit them. Thus, for our sensory pleasures (eating, drinking), watching an exciting movie makes popcorn taste better than when watching a dull or depressing movie. This also applies to when we are relaxed, as thinking or performing meaningful activity is reflected in ‘flow’ or ‘peak’ experiences when we are engaging in highly meaningful behavior while relaxed. (Meaning will be defined as anticipated or current behavior that has branching novel positive implications, such as creating art, doing good deeds or productive work) A simple proof from a simple self-help protocol Just get relaxed using a relaxation protocol such as progressive muscle relaxation, eyes closed rest, or mindfulness, and then follow it by exclusively attending to or performing meaningful activity, or in other words, positive thinking, and avoiding all meaningless activity or ‘distraction’. Keep it up and you will not only stay relaxed, but continue so with a greater sense of wellbeing or pleasure. The attribution of affective value to meaningful behavior makes the latter seem ‘autotelic’, or reinforcing in itself and thus increasing self-control, and the resultant persistent attention to meaning crowds out the occasions we might have spent dwelling on other unmeaningful worries and concerns. Wither Meditation It is important to note that this protocol for emotional control represents sustained positive judgments in a relaxed state, whereas mindfulness represents sustained non-judgments (being in the moment) in a relaxed state. Both sustain relaxation, but only the former increases affective tone (i.e. pleasure) as well as being far easier to sustain and increasing self-control. Indeed, variants of mindfulness (e.g. loving kindness meditation, savoring) embody the same procedure but attribute enhanced affect to highly complex and disembodied (i.e. neglecting the influence or proprioceptive stimuli on neural activity) neurological processes rather than the simple neuro-dynamics of resting states, thus precluding a much simpler and parsimonious explanation of meditation that does not require the postulation of unique neurological and phenomenological states. References: Rauwolf, P., et al. (2021) Reward uncertainty - as a 'psychological salt'- can alter the sensory experience and consumption of high-value rewards in young healthy adults. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General doi.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fxge0001029 A more formal explanation from a neurologically based learning theory of this technique is provided on pp. 44-51 in a little open-source book on the psychology of rest linked below. (The flow experience is discussed on pp. 81-86.) www.scribd.com/doc/284056765/The-Book-of-Rest-The-Odd-Psychology-of-Doing-Nothing The Psychology of Rest and Meditation, from the International Journal of Stress Management, by this author www.scribd.com/doc/121345732/Relaxation-and-Muscular-Tension-A-bio-behavioristic-explanation The Psychology of Incentive Motivation and Affect www.scribd.com/document/495438436/A-Mouse-s-Tale-a-practical-explanation-and-handbook-of-motivation-from-the-perspective-of-a-humble-creature Meditation and Rest- The American Psychologist www.scribd.com/document/291558160/Holmes-Meditation-and-Rest-The-American-Psychologist More on the Neuroscience of Pleasure Berridge Lab, University of Michigan lsa.umich.edu/psych/research&labs/berridge/research/affectiveneuroscience.html
I just found out Catherine died in 2016 . I am so saddened by this . She inspired me through her youtube talks and even though I did not know her, I saw a brilliant mind. Such a loss to her family, friends and to the scientific and contemplative community.
I love Dr. Klima's humorous deconstruction of how, as Buddhism tries to join the mainstream, it imbibes cultural assumptions including white supremacist views.
blah blah blah jealous of these spoiled academics with their cushy secure lives and degrees up the wazoo, but helping people like myself forget it. I 'live" in New Haven,CT home of one of the richest Universities on the planet and Yale offers nothing back. Unless one considers being a guinea pig for a measly amount for a totally redundant research. Talk is cheap. Refusing to contribute to help or give back is criminal.
Also the distinguished Yoga/Vedanta scholar David Frawley often mentions the importance of Transcendental Meditation to the spread of the meditative sciences.
Concerning Even Thompson's remark about the investigation by science into meditation starting with Yoga, the contributions of Swami Rama and the Menninger Clinic from 1968 should not be forgotten. adamskolnick.com/beneath-the-surface
Thanks Cliff for hosting this enlightening conference and posting it online. You have brought together quite an excellent mix of thought leaders, and I particularly appreciate "meeting" new folks each conference.
