The Brain that Changes Itself Quotes

“When such patterns are triggered in therapy, it gives the patient a chance to look at them and change them, for as we saw in chapter 4, “Acquiring Tastes and Loves,” positive bonds appear to facilitate neuroplastic change by triggering unlearning and dissolving existing neuronal networks, so the patient can alter his existing intentions.”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“He also discovered that when he touched certain parts of the brain, he triggered long-lost childhood memories or dreamlike scenes—which implied that higher mental activities were also mapped in the brain.”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“In Elizabethan times lovers were so enamored of each other’s body odors that it was common for a woman to keep a peeled apple in her armpit until it had absorbed her sweat and smell. She would give this “love apple” to her lover to sniff at in her absence. We, on the other hand, use synthetic aromas of fruits and flowers to mask our body odor from our lovers. Which of these two approaches is acquired and which is natural is not so easy to determine. A substance as “naturally” repugnant to us as the urine of cows is used by the Masai tribe in East Africa as a lotion for their hair—a direct consequence of the cow’s importance in their culture. Many tastes we think “natural” are acquired through learning and become “second nature” to us. We are unable to distinguish our “second nature” from our “original nature” because our neuroplastic brains, once rewired, develop a new nature, every bit as biological as our original.”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“physical exercise and learning work in complementary ways: the first to make new stem cells, the second to prolong their survival.”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“Cultural differences are so persistent because when our native culture is learned and wired into our brains, it becomes "second nature," seemingly as "natural" as many of the instincts we were born with. The tastes our culture creates - in foods, in type of family, in love, in music - often seem "natural", even though they may be acquired tastes.”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“Whenever a goal is achieved, something funny happens: the character in the animation eats the answer, gets indigestion, gets a funny look on its face, or makes some slapstick move that is unexpected enough to keep the child attentive. This “reward” is a crucial feature of the program, because each time the child is rewarded, his brain secretes such neurotransmitters as dopamine and acetylcholine, which help consolidate the map changes he has just made. (Dopamine reinforces the reward, and acetylcholine helps the brain “tune in” and sharpen memories.)”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“That’s why learning a new language in old age is so good for improving and maintaining the memory generally. Because it requires intense focus, studying a new language turns on the control system for plasticity and keeps it in good shape for laying down sharp memories of all kinds. No doubt Fast”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“The irony of this new discovery is that for hundreds of years educators did seem to sense that children’s brains had to be built up through exercises of increasing difficulty that strengthened brain functions. Up through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries a classical education often included rote memorization of long poems in foreign languages, which strengthened the auditory memory (hence thinking in language) and an almost fanatical attention to handwriting, which probably helped strengthen motor capacities and thus not only helped handwriting but added speed and fluency to reading and speaking. Often a great deal of attention was paid to exact elocution and to perfecting the pronunciation of words. Then in the 1960s educators dropped such traditional exercises from the curriculum, because they were too rigid, boring, and “not relevant.” But the loss of these drills has been costly; they may have been the only opportunity that many students had to systematically exercise the brain function that gives us fluency and grace with symbols.”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“That’s why learning a new language in old age is so good for improving and maintaining the memory generally. Because it requires intense focus, studying a new language turns on the control system for plasticity and keeps it in good shape for laying down sharp memories of all kinds.”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“As we age and plasticity declines, it becomes increasingly difficult for us to change in response to the world, even if we want to. We find familiar types of stimulation pleasurable; we seek out like-minded individuals to associate with, and research shows we tend to ignore or forget, or attempt to discredit, information that does not match our beliefs, or perception of the world, because it is very distressing and difficult to think and perceive in unfamiliar ways. Increasingly, the aging individual acts to preserve the structure within, and when there is a mismatch between his internal neurocognitive structures and the world, he seeks to change the world. In small ways he begins to micromanage his environment, to control it and make it familiar. But this process, writ large, often leads whole cultural groups to try to impose their view of the world on other cultures [...]”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“What nature provides, in a neuromodulator like oxytocin, is the ability for two brains in love to go through a period of heightened plasticity, allowing them to mold to each other and shape each other’s intentions and perceptions. The brain for Freeman is fundamentally an organ of socialization, and so there must be a mechanism that, from time to time, undoes our tendency to become overly individualized, overly self-involved, and too self-centered. As Freeman says, “The deepest meaning of sexual experience lies not in pleasure, or even in reproduction, but in the opportunity it affords to surmount the solipsistic gulf, opening the door, so to speak, whether or not one undertakes the work to go through. It is the afterplay, not the foreplay, that counts in building trust.”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“We must be learning if we are to feel fully alive, and when life, or love, becomes too predictable and it seems like there is little left to learn, we become restless-a protest, perhaps, of the plastic brain when it can no longer perform its essential task.”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“civilization will always be a tenuous affair that must be taught in each generation and is always, at most, one generation deep.”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“The more education we have, the more socially and physically active we are, and the more we participate in mentally stimulating activities, the less likely we are to get Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“nonchalant.”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“The balance system gives us our sense of orientation in space. Its sense organ, the vestibular apparatus, consists of three semicircular canals in the inner ear that tell us when we are upright and how gravity is affecting our bodies by detecting motion in three-dimensional space. One canal detects movement in the horizontal plane, another in the vertical plane, and another when we are moving forward or backward.”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“We have senses we don’t know we have—until we lose them; balance is one that normally works so well, so seamlessly, that it is not listed among the five that Aristotle described and was overlooked for centuries afterward.”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“We detect mistakes with our orbital frontal cortex, part of the frontal lobe, on the underside of the brain, just behind our eyes. Scans show that the more obsessive a person is, the more activated the orbital frontal cortex is.”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“Because we could change, we did not always know what was natural in us and what was acquired from our culture. Because we could change, we could be overly shaped by culture and society, to a point where we drifted too far from our true nature and became alienated from ourselves.
While we may rejoice at the thought that the brain and human nature may be "improved," the idea of human perfectibility or plasticity stirs up a hornet's nest of moral problems.”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“McLuhan's insight was that the communications media both extend our range and implode into us. His first law of media is that all the media are extensions of aspects of man. Writing extends memory, when we use a paper and a pen to record our thoughts; the car extends the foot, clothing the skin. Electronic media are extensions of our nervous systems: the telegraph, radio, and telephone extend the range of the human ear, the television camera extends the eye and sight, the computer extends the processing capacities of our central nervous system. He argued that the process of extending our nervous system also alters it.
[...]
As we use an electronic medium, our nervous system extends outward, and the medium extends inward.”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“Civilization is a series of techniques in which the hunter-gatherer brain teaches itself to rewire itself. And the sad proof that civilization is a composite of the higher and lower brain functions is seen when civilization breaks down in civil wars, and brutal instincts emerge full force, an theft, rape, destruction, and murder become commonplace. Because the plastic brain can always allow brain functions that it has brought together to separate, a regression to barbarism is always possible, and civilization will always be a tenuous affair that must be taught in each generation and is always, at most, one generation deep.”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“Tallal’s research showed that children with language disabilities have auditory processing problems with common consonant-vowel combinations that are spoken quickly and are called “the fast parts of speech.” The children have trouble hearing them accurately and, as a result, reproducing them accurately.”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“Nobela prēmijas laureāts Frānsiss Kriks un Greiems Mičisons izteica domu, ka sapnī notiek kas līdzīgs "atpakaļejošam" mācību procesam, jo viens no smadzeņu uzdevumiem sapņa laikā ir aizmirst dažādas nejaušas ainas, kuras uztvere fiksējusi atmiņā. (..) Tas kļūst saprotami, ja pieņemam, ka smadzenes sapņa laikā šķiro pieredzētos notikumus un tēlus. (..) Freids apgalvoja, ka halucināciju un sapņu laikā cilvēka apziņa "regresē" (..), ka informācijas apstrāde notiek atpakaļejošā jeb apgrieztā secībā. Tā vietā, lai sākumā uztvertu ārējās pasaules informāciju un vēlāk veidotu abstraktas idejas, šoreiz viss sākas ar abstraktiem tēliem (..). Skenējot cilvēku smadzenes miegā, Alens Brauns pierādīja, ka smadzeņu daļas, kas vispirms saņem ienākošo redzes informāciju - primārās redzes zonas -, tobrīd atslēdzas. Bet sekundārās redzes zonas, kas apvieno dažāda veida ienākošo vizuālo informāciju (,,), joprojām atrodas aktīvā stāvoklī. Tāpēc sapņojot mēs sastopamies ar iekšējās, nevis ārējās pasaules pieredzi (..). Sapņu tulkošana jāsāk ar halucinatorajiem tēliem, kas šķiet dīvaini un savstarpēji nesaistīti, un jāizseko tie līdz abstraktajām idejām, kas tos varētu būt radījušas.”
― Normens Doidžs, Dr. med., The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“Spriežot par jēdziena "perversitāte" rašanos, dzimumdziņu var salīdzināt ar upi, kas plūst noteiktā gultnē, līdz notiek kas tāds, kas novirza (pervert) to no dabiskā tecējuma. Līdzīgi ir ar vārdu kinky ("nenormāls", "perverss"), jo viena no vārda kink nozīmēm ir "savijums".”
― Normens Doidžs, Dr. med., The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“Platona Erots nav identisks Freida libido (ko viņš vēlāk arī sāka dēvēt par Erotu), tomēr ir dažas līdzības. Platona Erots - tās ir kaislīgās ilgas, ko jūtam, apzinoties savu nepilnību. Tā ir tiekšanās pēc pilnības. Viens no veidiem, kā pārvarēt savu nepilnību, ir atrast otru cilvēku, kuru var mīlēt un ar kuru var stāties dzimumattiecībās.”
― Normens Doidžs, Dr. med., The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“Viens neirons var veidot savienojumus ar tūkstošiem šūnu. Zinātnieks Džeralds Edelmans ir norādījis, ka cilvēka smadzeņu garozā vien ir 30 miljardi neironu un tur var veidoties 1 miljons miljardu sinapšu. Edelmans raksta: "Ja mēs censtos izskaitļot iespējamos neironu ceļu variantus, mums būtu darīšana ar astronomiskiem skaitļiem: 10 ar vismaz miljonu nuļļu. (Daļiņu skaits Visumā esot aptuveni 10 ar 79 nullēm.)" Šie iespaidīgie skaitļi izskaidro, kāpēc cilvēka smadzenes var uzskatīt par sarežģītāko zināmo objektu Visumā, kāpēc iespējamas nepārtrauktas, plašas smadzeņu mikrostruktūras pārmaiņas un kāpēc tās var īstenot tik daudzas atšķirīgas mentālās funkcijas un uzvedības tendences.”
― Normens Doidžs, Dr. med., The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“Itāļu ārsts Salvatore Aljoti ziņoja, ka dažkārt sievietes pēc mastektomijas juta seksuālu uzbudinājumu pēc glāstiem ausu, atslēgas kaulu un krūšu kaula apvidū. Smadzeņu kartē šo trīs apvidu zonas atrodas līdzās krūtsgalu zonai. Tāpat ir zināms, ka vīriešiem pēc dzimumlocekļa amputācijas karcinomas dēļ reizēm veidojas ne tikai fantoma sāpes, bet arī fantoma erekcijas.”
― Normens Doidžs, Dr. med., The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“Ne vienmēr fantomi izsauc sāpes. (..) Vairāki [cilvēki] kaunīgi atzinās, ka pēc kājas amputācijas seksa laikā nereti izjūt orgasmu fantoma kājā un pēdā. Kāds vīrietis stāstīja, ka, tā kā viņa kāja un pēda bija daudz lielākas par ģenitālijām, arī orgasms bijis "daudz spēcīgāks". (..) Penfīlda sastādītajā smadzeņu kartē dzimumorgāniem atbilstošā zona atrodas līdzās pēdu zonai, un, tā kā ienākošā informācija no pēdas vairāk nepienāk, dzimumorgānu karte pārņem pēdu zonu, un fantoma pēdā nonāk patīkamās sajūtas no dzimumorgāniem. Tas rosināja pārdomas, vai dažu cilvēku (..) pēdu fetišu daļēji varētu skaidrot ar pēdām un dzimumorgāniem atbilstošo zonu tuvumu smadzeņu kartē. (..) Marta Fara no Pensilvānijas Universitātes ir aprakstījusi savus novērojumus, ka bērni mātes dzemdē nereti saritinās, sakrustojot kājas tuvu dzimumorgāniem. Kājām saskaroties ar dzimumorgāniem, notiek to vienlaicīga stimulācija un tātad arī kopīgu smadzeņu karšu veidošanās, jo neironi, kas aktivizējas kopā, sasaistās kopā.”
― Normens Doidžs, Dr. med., The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“Baudas sistēmu pārprogrammēšanas sekas un to, cik lielā mērā seksuālā gaume var būt iegūta, visuzskatāmāk demonstrē tādas seksuālās novirzes kā mazohisms, kura gadījumā fiziskas sāpes pārtop seksuālā baudā. Lai tas notiktu, smadzenēm jāpadara par tīkamu tas, kas patiesībā ir ļoti nepatīkams, un impulsiem, kas parasti smadzenēs aktivizē sāpju sistēmu, plastisku pārmaiņu rezultātā ir "jāieslēdz" baudas sistēma. Cilvēki ar perversitātēm bieži organizē savu dzīvi ap aktivitātēm, kurās agresija saplūst ar seksualitāti, un viņi nereti slavina un idealizē pazemojumu, naidīgumu, nepakļaušanos, visu aizliegto, slepeno un saldi grēcīgo, kā arī tiecas lauzt tabu. (..) Šādai "transgresīvai" jeb izaicinošai attieksmei ir būtiska nozīme, lai gūtu baudu no perversitātēm. (..) nopietnas perversitātes reti kļūst par iemeslu ārsta apmeklējumam, jo lielākoties tās sagādā patiku.”
― Normens Doidžs, Dr. med., The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

“Because the plastic brain can always allow brain functions that it has brought together to separate, a regression to barbarism is always possible, and civilization will always be a tenuous affair that must be taught in each generation and is always, at most, one generation deep.”
― Norman Doidge, The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science