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binaural-histolog · 2 months

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Cognitive Construction and Hypnosis

Cognitive neuroscience has some ideas that I think are potentially very useful when thinking about hypnosis.

In particular, cognitive neuroscience starts with the idea of the operation of the brain based on hierarchical predictive processing. This theory inverts the theory that brains directly process the raw input coming from our environment continously. Instead, the brain keeps a model of what it has already experienced and what it predicts, and sends the expectation "down" to the parts of the system that deals with raw input. The expectation is compared with the actual result, and error neurons react if the two signals differ.

When there is no error signal coming back, we don't just assume it's real, we perceive it as real. In these situations, it usually never occurs to us to question our perceptions. We're usually only aware of the constructed nature of perception when we discover that other people don't perceive the same things that we do., such as seeing a blue dress or a white dress or hearing yanny or laurel.

Evidence for predictive processing is strongest when it comes to physical perceptions, but the theory has been expanded to interoception and the theory of constructed emotion.

In every waking moment, your brain uses past experience, organized as concepts, to guide your actions and give your sensations meaning. When the concepts involved are emotion concepts, your brain constructs instances of emotion.

The theory of constructed emotion uses the affect system as a physical interoceptive component. The affect system consists of a valence, arousal, and motivational intensity. Valance in this context means "good" or "bad", arousal is the activation of sympathetic nervous system, and the motivation intensity is the impulse to act on the stimulus. The brain takes the input from the affect system (the raw vibes) and constructs it as an emotion to the rest of the brain. Emotions are how the brain labels and conceptualizes the raw input. Different cultures have different categorizations, and can conceptualize the same affect as different emotions.

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Construction

But hang on a second. Everything we perceive about our environment and ourselves is categorized as concepts based on past experience. We have to, because the brain has no direct line to the raw physical world -- it only deals with concepts.

Assume that we take construction to be a basic operational principle of the brain. The brain resolves ambiguity and uncertainty by conceptualizing an internal model, and then uses that model to construct instances. These instances are also "real" in that they themselves can be conceptualized as part of an internal model. The brain constructs perception out of a categorized model at every level and assumes that this is reality unless an error signal is propagated.

The idea of construction is intuitively connected to our experience of learning. As it builds up experience, it starts categorizing and organizing concepts at higher and higher levels. Conscious attention and control is defined in building up concepts and tearing down faulty concepts, while the underlying models that produced those concepts are unconsciously provided.

Take the example of learning how to read. We move from perceiving individual letters and translating them to phonemes to sound out words, to identifying words and finally to immediately processing entire sentences directly. Reading is so ingrained and immediate that we do not have the ability to not read, leading to the Stroop effect. It can even persist in the face of jumbled up words. We don't perceive our experience of words as constructed, even though we understand logically that construction must be happening. In our minds, words are real.

All communication and the concepts used in communication are constructed. There's nothing special about emotions. It's just as valid to talk about a theory of constructed perception, or a theory of constructed body-image. In every case, we construct a perceived reality from underlying ambiguous input.

Constructed Perception

The idea of constructed perception is the hardest pill to swallow, because we look around and we can see the world around us. But even from 1897, it was known that the human eye is incapable of producing a high quality image directly. More investigation reveals that the retina has a blind spot, the eye routinely moves in irregular patterns called saccades, and various portions of the visual cortex handle object detection and persistence. We don't see a tree, we see the idea of a tree. We don't see blue or red, we see the idea of blue or red, even if the actual color is different.

A few people can directly change colors and sounds that they hear at will, without any kind of hypnosis at all, a phenomenon called phenomenological control.

Even for the majority without excellent phenomenological control, it only takes a nudge or two on the uncertainty of perception to change the way that they see things. You can take a lightbulb and change the color very slightly and convince people that their perception is changing in response to hypnotic suggestion. This will cause them to be more responsive to other suggestions in general, even after telling them how it worked, as the brain has already accepted that it can control perceptions. In the same way, what you perceive as your own body can also be nudged. For example, the rubber hand illusion uses a mirror and tactile input to confuse body sense into experiencing a rubber hand as part of the body.

Constructed Narrative

In the same way that perceptions are constructed from underlying models, memory and narrative are also constructed from models informed by data, rather than from data directly.

It's long been known that memory is unreliable and can be easily influenced. Memories are almost always accessed as part of internal narrative that puts together a story of what happened from raw flashes. The narrative itself is the internal model of what happened. Stories can be collaboratively constructed by many people, or the underlying events can be questioned, as in the case of gaslighting.

Because narrative is an internal model describing past events, it also applies to the self. Narratively speaking, we perceive ourselves to be a particular kind of person based off our own memories of our thoughts and actions. Our thoughts and actions are based on an idea of what we imagine we are like.

Uncertainty

There are several applications for hypnosis that come out of construction.

The first application for hypnosis is that the brain, under normal circumstances, dislikes uncertainty and ambiguity and will resolve it if possible. This means it's possible to get better at controlling perception by focusing on things at the edges of perception.

By questioning past perception and history and providing different context, you can create uncertainty of thought. Given uncertainty of thought, you can reframe and shift thinking in different directions.

Physiological Reactions

Hypnosis in some situations can produce actual psychological reactions.

Similar to the way that the brain perceives its environment, the brain also senses its own internal state through interoception and maintains an internal model of the body. The interoception and imagination loop in hypnotic phenomena (2019) provides a starting point for viewing hypnotic phenomena through interoception.

The brain takes note of differences between its internal state and its anticipated internal state, and resolves the difference through allostasis as a control feedback loop. Crucially, allostasis is a predictive homeostasis — it allows the body to proactively prepare for events before they happen and react accordingly.

This potentially closes the loop on how the brain affects the body through hypnosis. Allostasis as control mechanism very neatly explains hypnotic phenomena that don’t fit into environment-based nonvolitional responses, like wart removal. (I am extrapolating here. As far as I know, there are no papers directly linking hypnotic phenomena with allostasis.)

Wants and Needs

One of the models that people have is wants and needs. A good deal of cognitive neuroscience goes into describing an active inference model that describes behavior dedicated to satisfying wants and needs. Simply put, if you need food and water in the near future, you'll immediately engage in behavior that will get you that food and water.

But wants and needs are constructions. They're ideas that come out of a model based on past experiences and general perception. It's therefore possible to shift that perception and update the model. By creating a need, you can drive people to fulfill that need.

This is, of course, what sales and marketing do.

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Narrative and Story

Because the sense of self and self perception is constructed from memory of past experiences, it's possible to change self-perception. This can be done by adding uncertainty into the loop, and reframing past experiences.

Another way to change self-perception is to take people through an experience that makes a good story -- building up a sense of tension and anticipation, progressing towards a goal, and then releasing it in a climax that produces a paradigm shifting change or revelation of self.

This is, of course, what therapists do.

Dissociation

Finally, there's a thread I haven't completely pulled on yet, which is dissociation.

The state of hypnosis is characterized by a focus on following hypnotic suggestions, frequently accompanied by dissociation. Dissociation is interesting because it is described as a detachment from reality, and an inability to put together events into a cognitive whole. Dissociation is also associated with amnesia, forgetting self or identity, and a sense that the world or the self is unreal.

This is a processing problem. Without the ability to put events together into narrative, memory is never constructed. Without the ability to integrate thoughts and self-identity together into action, the model of self is inaccessible. In short, dissociation is a state in which the brain is not engaged in construction.

I don't fully understand the implications, but I think that to make any sustained change, you need dissociation. I am not aware of any cognitive neuroscience that goes into dissociation in detail, but I'm just beginning to look.

#binauralhistolog #cognitive neuroscience #hypnosis #nerdery #Youtube

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lovemesomesurveys · 3 years

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[created by: joybucket]

What was the last thing you ate? This Little Debbie’s snack called Banana Twins.

What is one thing you're a hoarder of? I have giraffe stuffed animals all over my room.

Do you collect magazine clippings? I did when I was in middle school and some of high school. I used to love making collages with them.

What rating do you normally give surveys? I don’t rate them, I just take them. <<<

Name someone you wish acted the way he/she used to. Myself?

Have you ever worked in food service? No.

What was your favorite job that you've had? I haven’t had a job.

Does your stomach hurt currently? A little.

What's one medication condition that you have? I think you mean medical condition? One is chronic pain.

Do you forget passwords a lot? No, I keep them written down.

What is the most you've ever weighed? I’m not sure. Not more than 100lbs.

Do you plan your wedding on Pinterest? No. I don’t even plan on getting married.

Would you want your first child to be a girl or a boy? I don’t want kids.

Who are the cutest babies on Facebook? My baby cousins.

Do you refer to coral as pink, orange, salmon, or coral? I refer to it as coral.

Name someone whom you wish would apologize to you. There isn’t anyone.

Do you own a record player? Nope.

Do you have many regrets? Yes. :/

Do you wish your regrets would stop coming back to haunt you? Sigh. I don’t know how to ever get over them. Some of them have really impacted me in a long-lasting, negative way.

Have you had any regrets in the past week? Yes.

Have you ever been mad at God? Yes. :/

If you don't have a car, do you feel like you're missing out? No.

What is your favorite cousin's name? I don’t have a favorite cousin.

Who do you wish were your best friend? My best friend is my mom and I love that.

Would you ever consider moving to L.A.? Nooo.

List 5 other names that start with the same letter of your name. Samantha, Stephen, Samuel, Sydney, and Savannah.

Have you ever known anyone who's name started with a "Y"? Yes.

^If yes, what was it? Yolanda.

Did you hear laurel or yanny? I don’t remember.

Owls or penguins? Penquins.

What is your go-to comfort food? Ramen.

What is the best coffee shop in your town? I’m just a basic bitch and go to Starbucks, ha.

Do you prefer Pinterest or Tumblr? Tumblr.

Do you think blonde is the best hair color? No, but I like it.

In your opinion, what is the best hair color? I like dyeing my hair red.

If applicable, what is the name of your YouTube channel? I have one, but I don’t upload videos. I just use it to subscribe, like, comment, and make playlists if I want.

Do you wear glasses? I do.

What's one nickname you have? Sis.

What's one thing you miss? My childhood.

Do you have a favorite spot in church? I haven’t physically been to church in quite a long time.

Who was the biggest bully in your high school? I don’t recall. It wasn’t like how it’s portrayed in the movies where the bully stomped around campus or something and it was made known to everyone who they were. Which news story has still stuck with you years later, and why? Hmm.

Have you ever REALLY had a celebrity crush? I’ve had many celebrity crushes.

Did you ever have to wear a school uniform? Only in preschool.

Do you collect washi tape? No.

Tell me something random that happened to you today. Nothing so far.

If you're a girl, are you on your period? No.

Are there any balloons in the room you're in right now? Nope.

Do you have the windows open? No.

What's one good name for a new puppy? I have to see the puppy and get a vibe.

Would you collect antiques if you were rich? Maybe some things.

Did you dream last night? Yeah. I don’t remember what they were about, though. I rarely do.

Do you forget dreams or remember them? (or do you not dream?) I forget them more often than not.

What color is your phone? Gold.

Do you often have your phone on vibrate? No.

Name something that gives you headaches. The smell of Sharpie marker. <<< And other strong smells like shoe cleaner, nail polish remover, a lot of cleansing products, and strong perfumes and room sprays.

Do you have a secret hiding spot? No.

Have you ever lived in a place that had a secret passageway? No.

Did you play with legos as a kid? I did.

If applicable, what color is the rim of your bedroom mirror? Pink.

Can you be scatterbrained? Yes. My brain is a jumbled mess.

#personal #text #survey #surveys

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