A man posts an interactive browser of his brain (scan).

I spent quite a lot of time working with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans during my doctoral research.  In my case I looked at two specific things.  The MRI is very helpful when one wishes to establish the location of some form of damage to the brain (a tumor, cyst, or lesion).  I used this to help me understand how persons processed meaning (and of course how pathology impacted the processing of meaning in the human brain - it is a common occurrence that persons manifest heightened religious or spiritual consciousness when they have some form of abnormality in their brain).  Just as an aside, note that I say abnormality in this instance and not pathology! Of course this is because being different from the norm is not only a neurological phenomenon.  There are many persons who are different from the norm (whatever the 'norm' is!) because, for example, they may be an immigrant in a new country (sociology), taller than the average population (physical attributes), have extra abilities (such as exceptional sports skills) etc.  Abnormality must not be confused with pathology - just because someone, or something, is not 'normal' it does not make it wrong.

Nelson Mandela is an 'abnormal' being - after 27 years in prison the average person (normal) would seek some form of retribution or revenge for their suffering.  He, however, sought reconciliation!  Abnormality can give us a great deal of insight into how things should be!

Other than MRI scans I also made use of magnetoencephalography - this is different from MRI scanning (well slightly different) in that it gives one the ability to view the whole brain (rather than just 'slices' of the brain) to be able to see where the electrical pulses and 'hotspots' of certain cognitive processes are located.  So, for example, one could ask a person to imagine a certain event, or stimulate an emotion through showing them a picture, inducing the sense of smell, or playing a piece of music, and then see where in the brain there is electrical activity (neural activity).  I am STILL working on a rewrite of my doctoral thesis - when that project is done it will present some of my research on how the brain processes religious consciousness (particularly as it relates to identity).  The working title of the book is "Why you're not who you think you are:  Adventures in neuroscience and theology".

Of course the human brain is only one part of the complex array of interconnected elements that makes up who we truly are - however, it is a rather important part of that complex reality!  I found the following post quite interesting (if not amusing!).  If you're interested to see what an MRI looks like in relation to the person who's brain was scanned then follow this link.  Here's the original story from Boing Boing.

In September 2009 my doctor recommended an MRI to rule-out a couple of potential conditions. The scan came back completely normal, which was a great relief! As a kind of cathartic exercise, and inspired by Dustin Curtis's brain tour I decided to do something with the images. I spent most of a fun weekend writing this MRI explorer. I hope you enjoy playing with it! Inside Bill Moorier's Brain

For more of my posts on the brain and neuroscience please follow this link, or simply search for 'brain' or 'neuroscience' in the search box on this blog.

Scanning the brains of jazz musicians.

This research shows that Jazz musicians 'switch off' (or at least slow down) parts of their brains - I know a few first year students who have the capacity to do the same thing! Ha ha.

Seriously, this is quite interesting. Since Jazz requires the capacity to move outside of the confines of what is generally acceptable in the composition music (through the inclusion of 'blue notes', crossing octaves, combining irregular timing etc. in the composition). I'm sure that there are many other things that require a similar capacity (e.g., surgeons who deal with the gore of cutting up a human body, social workers who face the brutality of human frailty and economic subjugation in their clients, sex workers who have to perform unnatural acts for survival, ministers who are constantly faced with crises, deaths, and sorrow, oh and of course Justin Timberlake fans.... say no more).

I thought this was quite interesting.

According to new research, jazz musicians unconsciously switch off regions of the brain involved in self-censorship and firing up the area linked to self-expression. The scientists from Johns Hopkins University and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders used fMRI to scan the brains of jazz musicians as they played a specially-designed piano keyboard. From a press release:

The scientists found that a region of the brain known as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a broad portion of the front of the brain that extends to the sides, showed a slowdown in activity during improvisation. This area has been linked to planned actions and self-censoring, such as carefully deciding what words you might say at a job interview. Shutting down this area could lead to lowered inhibitions, Limb suggests.

The researchers also saw increased activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, which sits in the center of the brain’s frontal lobe. This area has been linked with self-expression and activities that convey individuality, such as telling a story about yourself.

“Jazz is often described as being an extremely individualistic art form. You can figure out which jazz musician is playing because one person’s improvisation sounds only like him or her,” says (professor Charles) Limb. “What we think is happening is when you’re telling your own musical story, you’re shutting down impulses that might impede the flow of novel ideas.”

Link to press release, Link to scientific paper in Public Library of Science (PLoS) ONE (via Michael Leddy's Orange Crate Art)

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