A person or patient who is delusional is someone with an immutable, persistent and most importantly, false belief in something that has absolutely no basis in reality. They resist all arguments and evidence that they are wrong and blindly remain fixed on their delusion. There are five main types of delusions seen by psychiatrists.
The first one is what they call an “Erotomanic” delusion and it is when a person believes that another person is seriously and romantically in love with them. It’s very often a Hollywood star or a superior at work. Normal people who are suspicious of someone having a crush on them may do very little but patients with an Erotomatic delusion utilize a great deal of time and energy contacting their delusional lover via emails, visiting and stalking them.
Then there’s the “Grandiose” delusion and it’s when a person believes that they are special and have extraordinary unparalleled abilities or have made a significant discovery, when they in fact have done neither. These delusions may sometimes lead the person to feel that they are a prominent person with special relationship with others or may even be religious, leading to believe that they have a unique connection with a diving being.
Next is the “Jealous” delusion or the unsubstantiated belief that a partner is being unfaithful. People with this delusion often hire a private detective and in worse cases, attempt to imprison their partner as well as verbally and physically assault them.
Fascinatingly, The most common type of delusion is a “persecutory” one where the person strongly believes that someone or a group is conspiring against them. They are often very indignant and scornful for they believe that they are being cheated, spied on, harassed, gossiped about or even poisoned and drugged. Many attempt to take legal measures but fail to proved evidence to authorities regarding their claims. In extreme cases, they get vicious and aggressive towards people whom they wrongly suspect is targeting them.
The last one is the “Somatic” delusion and is not very different to an intriguing disorder known as the Body Dismorphic Disorder. Here, the individual is deluded to believe that his or her body is strange and not functioning properly. This delusion can come in many different types, sometimes is the consistent belief that one smells odd and other times that a particular part of the body is misshaped. In most cases, however, people believe that they may have some internal bug, insect or parasite that is affecting a specific part of the body regardless of medical examinations proving otherwise.
Unfortunately, the causes of these delusions, in particular the extreme ones, still remain a mystery. Various studies have pointed to different biological features of the brain being associated with such disorders including the basal ganglia and neo-cortex. Some researches have found stastical evidence that there is a genetic basis for delusions, as so many patients seem to have first-degree relatives with related disorders. Others have pointed to the fact that many with the disorder have had difficult and often abusive childhood.
Nevertheless, innovations and developments in neuroscience and brain scanning technology leave a lot of hope in unraveling the mysteries of delusions in the near future. It’s astonishing, really, how small minor false beliefs that we all have can develop into such outrageous delusions in some of us.
What is a personality? What is it that makes you the distinct individual that you are? There may be over seven billion people on this planet but what are the chances that you will come across an individual with exactly the same personality as you? And i’m talking about someone with identical likes, dislikes, hobbies, passions, emotions, views, beliefs, values, thoughts, tastes and so on. Of course, its not impossible but highly unlikely.
But what is it that determines who we are and the decisions we make? How much control do we really have over who we want to be? I think most of us fail to realize how complex the factors that influence our personalities and characters are. First of all, for instance, there are the influences of society and its values and norms. The beliefs and traditions of the place and society you live in can greatly influence what your own beliefs are. Then there are the influence of your family and I don’t just mean the background you come from. Psychological studies have constantly shown that whether you’re a first child or a last child can by itself influence your personality. Then you have your friends, the peer groups, the type of school you go to or the kind of people you hang out with. These in return can be influence by the social classes and social background you come from which influences the type of opportunities you are give to express and discover yourself. Moreover, there are the social roles and societal expectations. All of these determine the experiences you’ve had which in return shape who are. Then there’s media with the all trends they try to implant into you as a consumer. In addition to all of this, there are the genetic and dispositional factors that also play a huge role. Brain chemistry and the way in which your neurons are constructed in your brain also play a very significant role in who you are.
All of these are just a few examples of all the many factors and influences of your personality which in return is dynamic and changing, especially if you’re still young.
Exciting news; A new project that aims to map the entire human brain could receive more that three billion dollars in funds in Obama’s upcoming budget proposal. Just like the Human Genome project had in the past, understanding and decoding the billions of neurons in the human brain is expected to have innumerable benefits. “The Brain Activity Map project” will not only have medical benefits in allowing us to provide better cures and treatments for brain diseases and disorders. It will also be an extraordinary step in understanding our true nature and answering many questions about human consciousness, free will, self-awareness and much more.
To some, it may sound outrageous that we’re spending such a sum of money on brain research in this economy. But its important to note that in the past, The Human Genome project itself $140 dollars for every dollar invested in it. Even with this, Scientists behind the project hope to return over three billion back into the economy in 10 years. In other words, if the project is successful, it could be an economic boost.
Book review: Who’s In Charge? by Michael S.Gazzaniga
The question of whether or not humans have free will is much more complicated than you think. Numerous studies have constantly revealed that our brains decide on our actions before we become aware of them. Even more, there doesn’t seem to be any sort of biological basis of free will in the human brain. So do we or do we not have free will?
Well, to explore this significant question, one has to look at not only various aspects of neuroscience but science as a whole and thats exactly was Gazzinga does in this book. He doesn’t just explore the human brain but also physics, computing and much more. In addition, he gives the reader a wonderful introduction to neuroscience and the human brain, hence making this book ideal not just for learning about the biological basis of free will but neuroscience in general as well. There are so many fascinating trains and thoughts and ideas that are presented in this book, including free will in the context of socialization, our brain as an interpreting machine and free will as an emergent property of the brain as whole. It was a truly enlightening read!
This video is absolutely mind-blowing! Turns out that when it comes to our brains, imagination and actions are not very different and in fact, inter-related. This means that imagining doing something, can be almost as effective as actually doing it. Every single thought that you have actually changes the physical structure and function of your brain. Now take that into consideration with the fact that you have about 70,000 thoughts a day!
We human beings are a remarkable species and capable of extraordinary things. If we let ourselves, we could, in fact, create infinite minds. We could become immortal beings living and loving forever. We could allow ourselves to travel across the cosmos unharmed. We could allow ourselves access to millions and millions of bytes of information within our very own heads. We could do all of these things- but only if we wanted to.
I think its important that everyone has a cosmic perspective and understand how much we’re worth. Our knowledge and technology are advancing rapidly - just look at how much we’ve grown as a species in the past several thousand years. Hence, my TEDx talk is all about making our time in the cosmos worthwhile. Its about time we became more ambitious.
What if every neuron in our brain was directly connected to every other neuron? Considering that our brains constitute of about 86 billion neurons, our brains would end up being gigantic! Computational scientists have estimated that if each of our brains were fully connected in the shape of a sphere, they would have to be 20 km in diameter. You can imagine the metabolic costs that would be required to manage such a big head (at the moment, our brains use 20% of our bodies’ energy supplies). Another disadvantage would be a slow in processing speed and synchronizing activity because of longer axons. This also would result in longer dendrites in order to increase the number of synapses.
It was because of all these reasons that our brains evolved to not allow all neurons to connect to one another. Hence, over the past several thousand years, as our brain size increased, the proportional connectivity of our brains decreased.
“Our brains are a vastly parallel and distributed system, each with a gazillion decision-making points and centers of integration. The 24/7 brain never stops managing our thoughts, desires, and bodies. The millions of networks are a sea of forces, not single soldiers waiting for the commander to speak. It is also a determined system, not a freewheeling cowboy acting outside the physical, chemical forces that fill up our universe. And yet, these modern-day facts do not in the least convince us there is not a central “you,” a “self” calling the shots in each of us. Again, that is the puzzle, and our task is to try and understand how it all might work.” - Michael S.Gazzaniga
What most of us often fail to realize is that a large portion of personalities and day-to-day decisions are controlled by our brain chemistry or in other words, the chemicals that are flowing in and out various pathways in our brains. The slightest bit of imbalance can often leave us feeling off, or can have even more drastic consequences. I think its a fascinating thought; our moods, emotions and feelings are all controlled by a whole range of chemicals that we are unaware of.
I’ll give you a few examples of these chemicals. One of them is serotonin, low levels of which are associated with depression. In fact, people who are diagnosed to be “clinically depressed” have naturally low levels of serotonin and have to take drugs to balance things out. Then you have dopamine, which is associated with rewards and is responsible for arousal and simulation. There are also Endorphins, which are released when we are stressed out or in pain. They are responsible for relaxing us and allowing us to feel euphoric. And the good news is that chocolate enhances the secretion of endorphins!
These are only three examples of the innumerable types of chemicals that control who we are. Its important to keep in mind that our moods and emotions are not only controlled by each individual chemical but an interaction between many of them if not all…
We often like to tell ourselves that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, but research has constantly shown that, even though this is true to some extent, its not exactly the case.
To begin with, researchers at University College London have identified a region in the brain- the medial orbitofrontal cortex - that becomes active whenever we experience something beautiful. And by beautiful, I mean anything from a work of art to a piece of music or even an attractive face. In other words, the brain has mechanism to perceive and process beauty regardless of the source.
But why do we find some people more attractive than others? The answer to this question is far more complex than we can imagine but a few studies here and there are hinting us to the right direction. For instance, one of the main factors is face symmetry. The fact is that infections by parasite can lead to organisms growing asymmetric faces and in the past, our ancestors had to evolve to associate symmetrical features with a good immune systems. Of course, only those who mated with individuals who had a strong immune system would give rise to offspring that would survive and so the preference gradually developed. There have been numerous studies conducted that prove that even today, more symmetrical faces are preferred amongst human beings.
Of course, it doesn’t give a full detailed answer to why we prefer some faces over others let alone why we find certain things beautiful. Its merely a tiny an aspect of it. However, studies like this open up the possibility that perhaps we all have more in common in perceiving beauty than we think.
Diagnosing a zombie: Brain and body
Zombies eat brains. They are also, like all of us, driven by brain functions. What is happening in their brains to make them act as they do? In this intriguing dialogue, Tim Verstynen & Brad Voytek apply the various human medical possibilities that make zombies…zombies.
So if Zombies were real, neuroscientists would have excellent scientific explanations to describe their nature. How awesome is that?
When the human brain goes wrong, it often results to some very mind-blowing symptoms, many of which raise a whole series of profound questions. One example of this is with “split-brain” patients, who are basically patients whose corpus callosum has been cut, creating a disconnection between the left and right hemispheres. So In other words, you suddenly have not one but two conscious human beings in one body!
Whats intriguing here is that not only does each hemisphere have different capabilities and skills, but also personalities, likes and as a matter of fact, beliefs. For instance, when the right hemisphere of a patient is asked whether he believes in a God, it answers yes. But when the left is asked the same question, it answers no. So here you have an atheist AND a theist in one skull.
I wonder how the original religious view of the individual before the disconnection between the hemisphere influences the difference in opinion between them. Do we all have a part of all that is a theist and a part that is an atheist - but one is more dominant? What about agnostics? What does this tell us about how and why we humans choose to believe in a divine being?
But most fascinatingly, such a brain disorder raises a very profound theological question for those who believe in an afterlife. When such patients die - does the left hemisphere go to hell and the right to heaven? Has the so-called soul split into two as well?
The human brain is an unimaginably intricate and complex organ. The more we study it, the more mysteries we stumble upon. One of the many examples of this is in an captivating but rare disorder known as sudden artistic output. This is when a patient, usually after some sort of a brain injury, experiences an uncontrollable explosion of creativity. This can be in the form of poetry, written works, painting and even music. It is as if, out of the blue, patients are transformed into artists. They are described to be abnormal and seemingly possessed by uncontrollable drive to create, expressing their inner turmoils and ideas unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.
There are very few documented case studies on this rare disorder. The term “disorder” here may sound negative, but these individuals are suddenly provided with a wonderful gift of creating some of the most beautiful and enchanting works of art. They often describe the process as a comforting way of throwing out all their emotions and thoughts. They become obsessed about their new passion whilst they frantically create and create and create…
Sudden artistic output is thought to be a result of a chemical imbalance in the brain as a result of the injury or sometimes even a traumatizing event. By Studying such patients, scientists are better able to explain how creativity and the human ability to create marvelous works of art arises in the brain.
George Widener may appear to be simply an autistic adult, but he is not. Give him a date and a year, either from the past or the future, and he can tell what day it was. He has an exceptional and extraordinary gift that makes him essentially a calculating calender.
He is not the only human being with a rare but extraordinary skill. Kim Peek was another person with a cognitive brain abnormality that also made him extraordinary. Despite being socially isolated, He had a mind-blowing memory that allowed him to memorize about nine thousand books!
Lesli memki is yet another autistic prodigy, that also happens to be blind. He, however, does not memorize books but has the ability of playing back any music on the piano upon hearing it once - without any training whatsoever. No one had taught him how to play the piano or identify notes, yet somehow he is able to do what he does.
Such rare and remarkable individuals are known by psychologists as Savants ; Geniuses that also have a disability of some sorts. At this very moment, there are about 100 of these in the world. It appears that they are born with some sort of a inimitable skill installed into their brains, whether its to do with math, memory or music. Yet, one can’t help wondering what went wrong - or right- in their brains. How are they so different? Was it nature or nurture? Even though recent studies have conveyed that the brains of savants have a special and unique brain wiring, no one knows how this difference came into being.
But what if all our brains have the potential of being so powerful? Could we, with the right techniques, be able to unleash such phenomenal skills in any individual? Could we allow ourselves prodigious abilities without sacrificing other crucial cognitive abilities?
“What should impress us about the mind is not its rare extraordinary feats, like the accomplishments of Mozart or Shakespeare or Einstein, but the everyday feats we take for granted. Seeing in color. Recognizing your mother’s face. Lifting a milk carton and gripping it just tight enough that it doesn’t drop but not so tight that you crush it, while rocking it back and forth to gauge how much milk is in the bottom just from the tugs on your fingertips. Reasoning about the world - what will and won’t happen when you open the refrigerator door. All of these things sound mundane and boring, but they shouldn’t be. We can’t, for example, program a robot to do any of them! I would pay a lot for a robot that would put away the dishes or run simple errands, but I can’t, because all of the little problems that you’d need to solve to build a robot to do that, like recognizing objects, reasoning about the world, and controlling hands and feet, are unsolved engineering problems. They’re much harder than putting a man on the moon or sequencing the human genome. But a four-year-old solves them every time she runs across the room to carry out an instruction from her mother.”
-Stephen Pinker
