Brain – Harmonia Philosophica

Drawing. Seeing.

Drawing an object and naming it engages the brain in similar ways, according to research recently published in JNeurosci. The finding demonstrates the importance of the visual processing system for producing drawings of an object.

In a study by Fan et al., healthy adults performed two tasks while the researchers recorded brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging: they identified pieces of furniture in pictures and produced drawings of those pieces of furniture. The researchers used machine learning to discover similar patterns of brain activity across both tasks within the occipital cortex, an area of the brain important for visual processing. This means people recruit the same neural representation of an object whether they are drawing it or seeing it. (1)

We think what we see.

We speak what we think.

Draw a line.

Contain the cosmos on a paper.

And you will remain speechless.

Do you see?

We think what we speak.

We see what we think…

But who drew the first line? Who thought of that first thought? Who spoke the first words?

In the midst of silence, can you listen to yourself?

Stop looking.

In the void of everything, can you see anything?

Learning new words…

Children may learn new words better when they learn them in the context of other words they are just learning – according to research from the University of East Anglia.

Eighty two children took part in the study. In two experiments the team taught them some new words for things they couldn’t name – such as honey-dippers and strainers. Dr Samuelson said: “We practiced these new words until they knew the honey-dipper was called a ‘zeb’ and the strainer was a ‘yok’. We then showed them a new thing – a bird toy – in the context of either the objects they knew well (a ball and a car) or things they had only just learned to name (the ‘zeb’ honey-dipper and ‘yok’ strainer).

“When we asked them to get the ‘blick’, they were good at linking this new word to the bird-toy when it was presented with the familiar things, and with the just learned things.”

But, after a five minute colouring break, the children were not so good at remembering what a ‘blick’ was when they had learned it in the context of objects they already knew. (and did better when they had initially leaned the word in the context of the less well-known things — the ‘zeb’ honey dipper and the ‘yok’ strainer). “We had expected that a stronger knowledge of familiar words would be better for learning new words, but we found the opposite was true” claim the researchers.

“It seems counterintuitive, but it is perhaps because the less well-known items don’t compete with the new words as much. If they learn new words in the context of playing with well-known items such as a ball, book or car, they don’t process the new word as much.” (1)

Remembering things. Learning new things. Forgetting others.

The best way to learn is to unlearn.

The best way to remember new things is to forget the old ones.

New things will then become old.

And soon, they will too be forgotten in the quest for knowledge.

Babies we will be once more.

To view the cosmos as it is.

At the moment we are old and die…

And for the first time we will see.

That this is not the first time we see…

Hallucinations…

Hallucinations are spooky and, fortunately, fairly rare. But, a new study suggests, the real question isn’t so much why some people occasionally experience them. It’s why all of us aren’t hallucinating all the time.

In the study, Stanford University School of Medicine neuroscientists stimulated nerve cells in the visual cortex of mice to induce an illusory image in the animals’ minds. The scientists needed to stimulate a surprisingly small number of nerve cells, or neurons, in order to generate the perception, which caused the mice to behave in a particular way. (1)

Asking the right question.

But once more, giving the ring answer.

Because even before we start thinking, we have concluded on the answer we want.

Every day more and more evidence arise regarding how easily our perception of the cosmos might be distorted. And yet every day we still insist on us having the right and “correct” (true? What does this even mean?) perception of the cosmos. Because we do not want to accept the obvious. That was always our flaw.

Yes it is easy to hallucinate.

It is easy to fool the mind.

It is easy to see things which should not be seen.

It is not your fault. It is not the cosmos’ fault.

It is just that neither you or the cosmos should care about being here wandering if it’s your fault. Because you actually aren’t here. And there is no fault. That is how all problems start. By seeing a blank piece of paper and yet still wanting to fill it in with every single thought that you make.

Admire that empty piece of paper.

It holds more knowledge than you would ever be able to write down…

Dreamless dreams…

Photo by **Rafael Paul** from **Pexels**

In a nighttime experiment called the Dream Catcher, people’s dreams slipped right through the net. Looking at only the brain wave activity of sleeping people, scientists weren’t able to reliably spot a dreaming brain. (1)

Weird cosmos…

No signs of dreams.

And yet, we are dreaming.

No signs of consciousness.

And yet, I am me.

No sign of free will.

And yet, I am writing this article.

No, the world is not inconsistent.

We are.

Weird humans…

Trying to find truth, thus giving birth to untruth.

Trying to find our self, this giving birth to others.

Trying to analyze dreams, thus destroying them…

Peaceful child.

Smiling in its sleep.

It is dreaming.

And yet, when you wake it up.

It will remember nothing…

Shhhh…

Open your eyes…

It was just a dream.

Go back to sleep…

Learning. Remembering. Crying.

Photo by **Sebastian Voortman** from **Pexels**

Scientists have revealed the structure of a critical receptor in the brain associated with learning, memory, behavior and mood. The new research is the first to reveal the structure of AMPA receptors in their natural state. This discovery could lead to new insight about the mechanism behind a wide range of nervous system disorders and diseases. (1)

Humans wandering in the cosmos.

Learning things.

Remembering things.

Changing moods.

Trying to find a clearing in a forest full of life.

Feeling anxious. Alone. Sad.

There was a time when we felt nothing.

When there was nothing to learn.

Nothing to remember.

No receptors.

For we were there ones who omitted knowledge.

We were the ones who made things memorable.

Bridging the Gap between death and life.

Between being and existing.

Everything is wet.

But there is no rain falling.

Empty forest.

Can you feel it?

Tears down your cheek…