Mind vs brain

This slide explains the relation between mind and brain in one perceptive.

1. MIND Vs BRAIN S.Jerslin

2. Cont… Let’s try a little experiment. Using your right index finger, point to your brain. Now using the same finger, point to your mind.  mind talk and brain talk.

3. MIND TALK We talk about  feeling  this way and  thinking  of that, of  remembering  one thing and  dreaming  of another. Those verbs are examples of mind talk. Using mind talk, we would say, “I recognized my first-grade teacher in the crowd because she was wearing the necklace with the beetle scarab, which was so unusual I still remembered it after all these years.”

4. BRAIN TALK We would not say, “A barrage of photons landed on my retina, exciting the optic nerve so that it carried an electrical signal to my lateral geniculation body and hence to my primary visual cortex, from which signals raced to my striate cortex to determine the image’s color and orientation, and to my prefrontal cortex and inferotemporal cortex for object recognition and memory retrieval—causing me to recognize Mrs. McKelvey .”

5. BRAIN AND MIND The mind, after all, is generally regarded as synonymous with our thoughts, feelings, memories, and beliefs, and as the source of our behaviors. It’s not made of material, but we think of it as quite powerful, or even as who we are.

6. BRAIN The brain, the three-pound slab of tofu-textured tissue inside our skull, is recognized (by scientists, at least) as the physical source of all that we call mind. If you are having a thought or experiencing an emotion, it’s because your brain has done something—specifically, electrical signals crackled along a whole bunch of neurons and those neurons handed off droplets of neurochemicals , like runners handing off a baton in a relay race.

7. MIND Neuroscientists don’t object to mind talk for casual conversation. But most insist that we not invoke the mind as if it is real, or distinct from the brain. They reject the notion that the mind has an existence independent of the brain (often called Cartesian dualism, after René Descartes of “I think, therefore I am” fame). Obviously, avoiding mind talk would be a problem for a column about the science of the mind in a magazine called Mindful.

8. Cont… people with obsessive-compulsive disorder practicing mindfulness to approach their thoughts differently, with the result that the brain region whose over activity caused their disorder quieted down. 

9. Con… we need mind talk because although most neuroscientists reject the idea of a mind different from brain, most civilians embrace the distinction.  If something goes wrong with behavior, then it’s because something has gone wrong with the brain (in the same way that if something has gone wrong with, say, insulin secretion, it’s because something has gone wrong with the pancreas). We can probably all agree that criminal assault and downloading child pornography both count as something “going wrong” with behavior. Yet in these and other cases, judges presented with evidence that the behavior had a biological basis have meted out more lenient sentences than in cases where no such evidence was presented.

10. Con… To which neuroscientists reply, are you out of your mind? Why are you relying on such a distinction? What else is behavior but the result of brain biology? Yet the fact that criminals are treated more harshly if their mind (motives, anger, antisocial feelings…) made them do it than if their brain (aberrant activity patterns, pathological circuitry…) did shows just how deeply average folks believe that mind and brain are distinct.

11. MIND NOT BRAIN One case for mind talk is that we have access to our mind. We can recognize and describe what we know, remember, and think. We do not have access to our brain: we cannot tell which regions (my hippocampus? my anterior cingulate ?) are active during particular activities.

12. Cont… It doesn't help that many alternatives to the "mind=brain" equation seem counterintuitive or spooky. For example, some suggest that the mind extends beyond the brain to encompass the whole body or even parts of the environment, or that the mind is not subject to the laws of physics. Understanding the mind isn't the same as understanding the brain. 

13. Article According to Prof. Joseph B. Martin, Caroline Shields Walker Professor of Neurobiology and Clinical Neuroscience, Dean of Faculty of Medicine, Harvard School, Boston, USA (2003): “….Diseases of the brain in an aging population will increasingly limit the use of our lives – whether of Alzheimer’s disease, whether it is stroke, whether it is the other complication or chronic disease, the incidence of depression, schizophrenia, which occurs in the 1% of population worldwide, bipolar manic – depressive disease – these are major contributes to the morbidity of our society and further more the study of mind, brain and behavior is similar to understanding who we as human beings are and why we behave the way we do both for good and unfortunately sometimes for bad. So I would submit that this area, over the next decades, will be of crucial importance in understanding of ourselves and of the character that we bring to the world”.

14. What is Mindfulness? Mindfulness can be described as the practice of paying attention in the present moment, and doing it intentionally and with non-judgment.  Mindfulness meditation practices refer to the deliberate acts of regulating attention through the observation of thoughts, emotions and body states. Typical mindfulness activities include: Mindful non-judgmental awareness of breath, body, feelings, emotions and/or thoughts (in sitting meditation practice or throughout the day) Mindful walking meditation Mindful eating Mindful body scan in a sitting or lying down position Listening with non-judgment

15. What can mindfulness do for students? Reduced Stress:  Improved ability to manage stress Increased Focus:  Improved ability to pay attention, focus and concentrate Improved Emotion Regulation:  Reduced impulsiveness, improved child behavior (rowdiness, suspensions, expulsions) Increased Emotional Intelligence:  Improved conflict resolution skills Increased Empathy and Respect:  Increased empathy and understanding of others Increased Resilience:  Increased capacity to overcome challenges Improved Physical Well-being:  Increased engagement in physical activity Improved Creativity & Collaboration:  Improved expression of creative arts.

16. Cont…. Students will find it much easier to focus and actively engage in the classroom. The class will benefit as a whole from a collective calm. These skills can also be applied to maturely navigate challenging peer or family interactions. Students will be less likely to bully others, and those students who are bullied will be more resilient. Students are also less likely to engage in high-risk behaviors as they will be calmer and less reactive. Some immediate benefits we expect to see are:

17. What can mindfulness do for teachers? Reduced stress and burnout (and reduced absenteeism from stress and burnout related conditions) More easily managed classrooms Improved learning conditions Positive dyadic teacher-student relationships Teachers will be able to spend more time teaching and less time managing the classroom and also be better equipped to handle the stresses of work. Teachers teaching students that are practicing mindfulness will also find students to be better mentally equipped to learn.  

18. Is mindfulness religious? No. Mindfulness is a practice  – the practice of paying attention in the present moment and doing it with non-judgment. Over the last 30 years this practice has been thoroughly researched and successfully implemented in hospitals, businesses, education and the military.

19. The goal of mindfulness is to wake up to the inner workings of our mental, emotional, and physical processes.   Mind talking Mind reading

20. Thank You