With all these thoughts about the mind, brain, body and dopamine, i began
thinking.

Firstly, someone had written, "Kandel's was one of the most compelling proofs
that the brain is "plastic", and that thinking changes the brain structure.
Indeed, a number of recent studies show that psychotherapy actually rewires the
brain, and it's changes are no less structural than those seen with medication."
and

A 2001 brain scan study from UCLA of depressed patients treated with
interpersonal psychotherapy -- a treatment Kandel's Columbia colleague Myrna
Weissman developed by taking some key features from psychoanalytic approaches --
showed that prefrontal brain activity normalizes with treatment.

Why plastic ? If thinking can change the brain structure, surely the brain must
be organic. How could plastic be restructured? How could plastic be affected by
thought? Makes no sense to me.

With regard to the development of the brain i had also read :- "Some of the
neurotransmitters involved in schizophrenia include dopamine, glutamate and
serotonin..............Functions such as attention, memory, and language depend
on complex interactions between cells and different parts of the brain. Specific
processing can be specialized to one area but the overall function depends on
the co-ordination of several different brain areas......These connections form
in a very systematic way as the brain develops. - (pp.15-16 "Mind, Brain, and
Schizophrenia" by Peter Williamson MD; University of Western Ontario, Canada,
Oxford University Press 2006). Brain development does not stop at birth. In
fact, myelinisation goes on well into adolescence and early adulthood (Benes et
al., 1994).

This now begs the question, if thoughts can develop the brain can thoughts also
attack and kill off grey matter?



Also read, from a paper by Neurophilosopher Patricia Churchland - "Consciousness
is almost certainly a property of the physical brain. The major mystery,
however, is how neurons achieve effects such as being aware of toothache or the
smell of cinnamon".



I agree, it appears to me that the brain must have some form of consciousness as
it interacts and can be restructured (rewired) by thought. Perhaps wired is an
inappropriate term as it implies a merely mechanical function. As the brain
continually developes through differing experiences, ( surely it must be
organic. If consciousness is a property of the brain, whom defines the thoughts
that develop the brain? If thoughts/feelings can alter brain chemistry and brain
chemistry can alter not only the physical form, but also thinking, then there
must be a subject that experiences, thinks, and feels and an entity of brain
matter that also experiences, thinks, and feels with interaction between both.
Is this the Jungian distinction between the Self and ego self?



Love & Hugs

Elaine




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