SHEsaysWITHaSMILE.blogspot.com

In Search of Memory, Eric R. Kandel ORIGINAL POST 5/27/2006

The Emergence of a New Science of Mind.

this is going to take me a long time to re-re-read. especially if i have to stop every other page to write my thoughts... pg 6: ... It was then that i began to think about exploring the mystery of learning and memory in biological terms. How did the viennese past leave its lasting traces in the nerve cells of my brain? how was the complex three-dimensional space of the apartment where i steered my toy car woven into my brain's internal representation of the spatial world around me? how did terror sear the banging on the door of our apartment into the molecular and cellular fabric of my brain with such permanence that i can relive the experience in vivid visual and emotional detail more than half a century later? these questions, unanswerable a generation ago, are yielding to the new biology of mind.


to which i can only say -YAHOO!- and -IT'S ABOUT TIME!- god, for years, i've known intuitively, that psychoanalysis is an inappropriate treatment, in fact, maybe - a complete waste of time, when it comes to certain traumas, mental illnesses, odd behaviors. i've known it... i know it right now! and when i grow up, i want to be a molecular biologist! -just like eric kandler! (but, if i may let off a little bitter steam here, when "i" -me- when I, wrote to some experts in the brain/memory field, explaining my curiosity about the brain, the biology of post trauma stress after rape, they write me back saying, "i'm sorry, but i am not a counselor, or therapist.." when clearly in my correspondence i did not express any interest in "talking" to someone. i wanted to learn more about my BRAIN (you dickhead!), but when i write my questions/curiosities -they think they have the making of a new therapy patient - but when eric kandler says he's curious... when eric kandler wonders... when eric kandler asks, "how did terror sear the banging on the door of our apartment into the molecular and cellular fabric of my brain with such permanence that i can relive the experience in vivid visual and emotional detail more than half century later.." -oh, so now we have the making of a nobel prize winning neuroscientist!



back to point:


because, i am always, constantly, non-stop like, wondering about my brain! what does happen during traumatic events to our brains?... what is the root cause, biologically speaking, of post traumatic stress disorder, what is happening -in the brain- during, "out of body" experiences? terror? shock? why do some people love to smoke, have addictions, lose the weight battle while others don't struggle at all with weight, alcohol, nicotine or sex addictions? i don't think it is nearly as related to "family lifestyle or stress, or poor choices" as it is a biological pre-disposition... brain default. (or, de- fault of the brain!) and i wonder lots and lots about motivation... yes, fascinated by motivation, lots about action vs. inaction, and i wonder, silly things, like today... i wanted some chocolate... not uncommon pre-period time, (pms time as it is more commonly known), and i had it in my head to go to the mall because i still have a gift certificate for see's candy, but then a flash went in my head on my way... a flash of trader joe's, and the chocolate covered orange and raspberry sticks... and then i headed right for trader joe's instead.. why? i haven't been there in a long time.. not a place i frequent.. what is going on in my brain when i have a thought, a desire, head in one direction, and then.. out of nowhere (but really out of somewhere in the brain... which is the whole point!), a very specific picture flashes and then i'm at trader joe's. i'm soooo curious about these common occurences!
not to mention the curiosities born from having so many people in my life i love, suffer from, "mental disorders," - tourette's syndrome, alzheimers, parkinson's, alcohol addictions, and myself, 10 years + with post traumatic stress disorder. what is going on in our brains!!?? in the molecular and cellular fabric of our brains?!? (come to think of it, perhaps i was not as poetic about it as mr. kandler... in my inquiries to the brain/memory experts )

and i'm sure if i could stop thinking and read more... i'll get some up to date answers...

but this is so exciting! pg 7: ... in the 1970's cognitive psychology, the science of mind, merged with neuroscience, the science of the brain. the result was cognitive neuroscience, a discipline that introduced biological methods of exploring mental processes into modern cognitive psychology.

thought bubble: now, when a person suffers physical pain... the doctors will prescribe pain medication, and, okay, sometimes there's nausea, but for the most part, the person's pain subsides substantially. the doctor does not say... well, if you do this, and that, and think this, and relax that, etc., etc., you can make your pain go away BUT with emotional and behavioral struggles, people are adverse to medication... like it's a big no, no. stigma.. if it is emotional or behavioral, you are supposed to be able to go "talk" about it, and "work through it" and it will go away... and okay, for some things yes... but for many things... too many things; no.
for many things it seems as stupid to me, for emotional/behavioral changes, to suggest counseling as it does for the dentist who accomplished my root canal, to tell me, to talk about the excruciating pain afterward with a counselor. no. no. no! medicine is good. medicine can help. i think we need more of it, not less, to improve the lives of human beings across the globe. -not "control the lives of" as political phobics will have us believe -improve the lives of-

if i had time, i would also become a pharmacist, or research person... i'd love to know how all the medications currently on the market do their job? so many of them, saving lives, improving lives, increasing life-times...

why still, 2006 for goodness sakes, with all we know, do we not blink an eye when we see someone take medicine for physical symptoms, but freak-out and judge so harshly, when it is offered for mental/emotional/behavioral matters? this drives me nuts!

"people are avoiding the human experience, the human condition, drowning themselves, numbing themselves with antidepressents" or "government just wants to control societies by medicating them... " i've read and heard ignorant people write and say...

and i think, i had an epidural when i gave birth to both my daughter and son.. a positive experience.. and i had anesthesia when i had my tubal ligation.. and anesthesia to have my gallbladder removed, and having these things was WONDERFUL, a GIFT, and i in no way feel like these advances in medicine rob me of an authentic human experience! and i don't think i'm trying to be controlled by the government!

i say.. let's study the brain, yes! cell by cell.. let's understand how these medicines work for physical symptoms, how they reduce pain, improve peoples lives. and bring on more drugs!! let's manipulate our brains with pharmaceuticals and/or surgeries so everyone has a great life...

can you imagine?!? why are people resistent to enjoying a great life!?!? health, happiness, energy, vitality, curiosity; hunger for knowledge, the ability to retain it and pass it along! inner peace for everyone might accidentally result in peace across the globe? what if anger and violence can be prevented with medication!?!? should we ignore that? oh, i want to know everything about the brain!! every little thing... every tiny detail, cell by cell, oh, i am so jealous of you eric kandler!! and now i will shut up and continue reading...


but first, i'm thinking now about the initial resistence to birth control (so against nature!), and in vitro-fertilization.. (a crime against god!), and, stem-cell research (freak-out!)...

but look at the results!! look at the results when we allow ourselves to explore and discover our own amazing human bodies ... and more, the capacity we have as intelligent, sentient, human-beings to over-ride the default bodies/minds we are born with...

have we not over-riden our default life-spans through manipulation with this knowledge to our own delight? vitamins, medicines, innoculations, surgeries, diet and exercise, -love- marriage, or divorce but pets! ( i think single parents with furry pets outlive married people by the way.. i hope)


once, if you made it to 30, that was considered "a long life" , now my children, they may easily live to 125! i recently read, with all the advances and knowledge we have today and expect to see in the near future...

i'm all for exploring, learning, knowing -cell by cell- everything! and i'm all for over-riding the default systems in the human mind/body (really one, i believe), i'm all for manipulating through science, medicine, pharmaceuticals, whatever... technology included, cyberbrains, bionic body parts, you name it... i'm for it! if it equals a better, more fulfilling, rewarding, life experience.. bring it on!

i do not fear the good life! the good life for one and all!

okay now, really... back to the book.. pg 8:


but one, make that two more things: i wanna know why i have to write all the time! why am i compelled to blog my favorite book passages and share my thoughts here? my neighbor would rather have a root canal without anesthia than write one paragraph... why? and how can she cook 3 hot meals a day? i only use the oven to make shrinky dinks! why?

why? why? why? how?

posted by SHE @ 8:54 AM