Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/709470
circuitry that make up our unconscious assumptions and gen- eralizations. Bringing a fresh awareness to experiences and perspectives requires exiting to a side road, which may off er incredible scenic vistas, but the brain nevertheless resists. " is embodied brain is crucial to understanding how we learn or do not learn, because the brain wants to go on believ- ing what it already knows," Taylor explained. e brain also is wired for anxiety, due to its focus on keep- ing the body safe. Neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux believes that anxiety arises only when cues from several parts of the brain erupt simultaneously, some older and unconscious, some newer and thought-riddled. He concludes that to be more successful in helping the estimated 20 percent of Americans who suff er from anxiety (perhaps an underestimated group, given the popularity of the Republican presidential candidate), treatments need to address both the unconscious circuits of the reptilian and mammalian brains and the more conscious, thought-riddled patterns of the neocortex that are commonly known as "monkey mind" in Buddhism. BUILDING A BETTER BRAIN e good news is, by tapping insights garnered from fresh re- search into learning, memory and biology, we can rewire and improve our brains and bodies using targeted behaviors. Jap- anese neuroscientist Hideyuki Okano defi nes memory as be- havioral changes spurred by experiences, and learning as the process of obtaining memory. In this distilled view, all adults with functioning minds truly are lifelong learners. As he ex- plained in a recent science journal article, "Memory is a funda- mental mental process, and without memory we are capable of nothing but simple refl exes and stereotyped behaviors. us, learning and memory is one of the most intensively studied subjects in the fi eld of neuroscience." Two kinds of memory have been recognized according to Okano. Declarative memory, thought to be centered in the ce- rebrum and hippocampus, has to do with facts, and can be consciously comprehended. Procedural memory is believed to be located in the cerebellum, taps skills practiced in the past, such as playing an instrument, and is unconscious. For example, we don't think out the sequence of individual mus- cle movements to make and strum an "A" chord on the guitar when we play; we just do it. e actual mechanism of creation and storage for both types of memory is thought to be synaptic plasticity, in which nerve cells communicate with one another. By consciously creating new memories, we can change our brains in order to change our minds, as Taylor noted. When we are faced with moments of disequilibrium that challenge our neatly wrapped sense of reality—such as thinking that per- haps that person might actually become president a er all, or maybe racism does still exist in the criminal justice system, since somebody did everything right in his police interactions, yet still was assaulted or killed—we can remember to slow down and examine the evidence in front of us with a more consciously open mind. To engage our embodied brains, Taylor suggests consciously staying open to what is unfamiliar by fi nding activities that foster empathy and awareness: reading books we would nor- mally avoid, going to services for a religion we don't follow or attending a political event we would otherwise shun. Physical activities also contribute to more fl exible brains. "You think with your body, not only with your brain," says No- bel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman. Art, danc- ing, yoga, meditation, prayer and being out in nature—without the earbuds—can "tamp down the anxious brain and elevate the curious brain," according to Taylor, setting our minds free by providing the space for new emotions and thoughts to arise. At the societal level, as complex challenges such as global warming, starvation and drought magnify, we need to collec- tively cultivate open, curious brains. "I am passionate about this," she emphasized. "Our capacity to welcome ambiguity and uncertainty, to reach beyond what is comfortable and known, is the only thing that is going to save our planet and our species." SOCIAL MEDIA FOR YOUR NOGGIN TWITTER Joseph LeDoux, neuroscientist: @theamygdaloid Andy Clark, cognitive scientist: @fl uff ycyborg Neuroscience: @neuroscience FACEBOOK Kathleen Taylor, adult learning and development scholar: https://www.facebook.com/Embodied-Brains-1611814112475222/ Neuroscience News: https://www.facebook.com/neurosciencenews/ MEDIUM Dr. Claudia Aguirre, neuroscientist: https://medium.com/@doctorclaudia Dr. David Handel, retired brain imaging radiologist: https://medium.com/@iDoRecall august/september 2016 25