Salad burnett.
Toward a New
Split-Brain Model: Up Brain-Down Brain
Bridging the gap between your intellectual and intuitive
minds.
Christopher Bergland
In The Athlete's Way, I present a revolutionary
split-brain model that I coined
"Up Brain/Down Brain." I am not a
neuroscientist, but through lengthy conversations with my father (who was a
world-renowned neurosurgeon and neuroscientist) we developed a revolutionary
concept that would complement the outdated and controversial concept of
"Left Brain/Right Brain."
My father was a visionary and renegade. His ideas about
the mind and brain caused him
to be labeled a heretic by many people in the medical
establishment, but he was also a mainstream author and wrote the The
Fabric of Mind (Viking). My dad was always fascinated by the mystery
and beauty of the cerebellum, which is why I focused on all of these
in The Athlete’s Way.
In 2007, I published this revolutionary split-brain model
in which I designated the cerebellum
as our “Down Brain” and the cerebrum as our “Up
Brain." These brain "tags" were a direct, simple, and cogent
response to the concept of Left Brain/Right Brain. As an athlete, coach and
writer
I am eager to put the cerebellum in the spotlight and
explore how it interacts with the cerebrum.
Leonardo Da Vinci made wax castings of the brain in 1504
and coined the term cerebellum
(Latin: little brain). The mysterious and powerful cerebellum
is only 10 percent of brain volume
but holds more
than 50 percent of your brain’s total neurons.
This is a perplexing ratio to neuroscientists.
What exactly is the cerebellum doing that requires so
many neurons? Nobody knows for sure.
My dad always said, “We won’t know in our lifetime
exactly what the cerebellum is doing,
but based on the disproportionate number of neurons it
holds we can be assured that
whatever it’s doing, it’s doing a lot of it!”
Have you ever heard the word cerebellar before? If you
had to pinpoint where the cerebellum is
in your skull, would you know where to point? My spell
check always tries to correct the word,
which is a constant reminder of why I am on this crusade
to get the word cerebellar
into circulation. Before reading any further, please
take the time to watch this quick two-minute animated video here.
Muscle memory has long been known to be held in
the cerebellum. Anything that you learn
through practice and do without thinking, like riding a
bicycle, hitting a tennis ball or driving a car
is cerebellar. As a kid practicing tennis religiously, my
father would coach me by saying things like: “Think about hammering and forging
the Purkinje cells of your cerebellum into muscle memory
with every stroke, Chris.” For more on this check
out: No.1 Reason Practice Makes Perfect.
Drawing on the
Right Side of the Brain
In the 1970s my father was one of many neuroscientists
intrigued by the concept that the left brain may be our 'reasoning' brain and the
right brain our 'creative' brain. He was one of the experts referenced in the
bestselling book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain,
which was one of the first books to create a prescriptive
based in neuroscience
directed at teaching readers how-to master a skill.
The empirical proof from my life experience combined with
observing and coaching others suggests that the cerebellum holds so
much untapped power. I know from first-hand experience
and researching the daily routines of creative greats,
thought leaders and high achievers
that most of them are tapping into the power of their
cerebellum by choices
they make everyday—and you can too.
Being sedentary, isolated from face-to-face contact,
plugged into a two-dimensional digital device, and disconnected from nature shrinks
your cerebellum and restricts your ability to maximize
your intuitive and intellectual capabilities, be more
creative and ultimately feel fully alive.
Cerebellar
“Implicit Memory” Vs. Cerebral “Declarative Memory”
The cerebrum is responsible for "cerebral"
things that you do consciously ("know-you-know")
or do with volition; "cerebellar" things are
things you do automatically and learn through practice. When you are chopping
vegetables and you drop the knife
and in a millisecond move your foot to avoid the falling
knife, that is cerebellar "thinking."
This is the difference between declarative memory and
implicit memory.
The cerebellum learns through trial and error, and once
the Purkinje cells have encoded
the "long-term depression" necessary to
fine-tune motor skills like riding a bike,
flipping an egg in a skillet, or serving a tennis ball,
you will be able to do that skill automatically
for the rest of your life with a little warm-up.
Can you think of a time recently when a cerebellar skill
or memory resurfaced after years or decades of hibernation? I had an experience
playing tennis this summer as the recreational director
of Camp Lightbulb. When we arrived early at the tennis
courts the instructor wasn't there
and I realized that I would have to be a tennis
instructor for campers. I hadn’t held a tennis racquet for over a decade, but
the second I had the racquet in my hand, all of my 'cerebellar' muscle memory
came rushing back like I had been on the court yesterday.
I was excited to read professor Rob Mancuso’s latest blog
called Think Less, Feel More
about “mastering the art of intuitive intelligence.”
Although the blog is written from a business perspective, there are a lot of
parallels to the message of The Athlete’s Way. The blog points out
that cognitive “book smarts” and intuitive “street smarts” are equally
important.
Mancuso talks about the key to intuitive intelligence as
being able to "allow subconscious thoughts to percolate into your
conscious mind where they can be processed cognitively."
He states that "if you spend too much time watching
TV, on your computer or smartphone
where information and entertainment is spoon fed to you
that your intuitive intelligence will shrivel and you’ll end up sabotaging your
chances for success. On the flip side, the time you spend unplugged from
digital devices, meeting new people, traveling, exploring nature, moving your
body, bonding intimately with family and friends will fortify your intuitive
intelligence and make you
more likely to create your own luck and truly succeed.” I
couldn’t agree with this sentiment more.
Conclusion: Screen
Time Shrinks Your Cerebellum
The importance of being more physically active is not
just about body-mass index
and the health costs associated with the “obesity epidemic.”
It is much more complex.
Another unspoken toll of inactivity is that it causes your
down brain to shrink,
and without your cerebellum working in unison with your
cerebrum, we as individuals and a nation are stunting our ability to create and
innovate. Cerebellar thinking is the mysterious engine
that drives many
aspects of cognition, including creativity.
As a parent, I want my daughter to lock in as much
muscle memory as she can at a young age—
and to be exposed to as many enriched environments,
cultures, and languages as possible.
Yes, she can learn things in school and by interfacing
with an iPad, but this doesn't really flex
her cerebellum to the degree exploring and living in the
three-dimensional world does.
What will the long-term impact be on our youth if they
grow up in a two-dimensional virtual reality and have shriveled cerebellums
with no muscle memory to go back to when they're adults?
I believe it will result in a weaker brain pool, less
creativity, and innovation, which is one reason
that it is so
important that we make sure that young Americans stay physically active,
spend time outdoors exploring nature, and are encouraged
to be adventurous
and engage all of their senses everyday. This bulks up
both the white and gray matter
of all hemispheres of the up brain and down brain.
The same is true for senior citizens. If you don’t use
the cerebellum regularly, it shrinks
and you lose its most basic function which is
proprioception and balance. People who sit all day
or are on bed rest can lose up to 25 percent of cerebellar
brain mass. Senior citizens who don’t get up and move around regularly are
more likely to have falls and break a bone, which is often
the beginning of a downward spiral. The same is true for
flexing both hemispheres of the 'up brain' by attaining new knowledge and
connecting ideas in new and useful ways
whether it be through crossword puzzles or brain
teasers.
People of all generations need to understand the
importance of doing things every day
to keep every hemisphere of the brain healthy and strong. Below
is a quick "map" I drew illustrating THE SUPER 8 LOOP which
connects all hemispheres of Up Brain/Down Brain & Left Brain/Right Brain.
This happens automatically when we do rhythmic, aerobic cardiovascular exercise
like: running, biking, swimming, dancing, riding the elliptical etc.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201209/toward-new-split-brain-model-brain-down-brain
Turbo Charged Reading: Read
more>>>Read fast>>>Remember all>>>Years
later
You can TCR music, poetry or self development material for
internal knowing.
I can Turbo Charge Read a
novel 6-7 times faster and remember what
I’ve read.
I can TCR an
instructional/academic book around 20
times faster and remember what
I’ve read.
Advanced Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like to join my FaceBook
group ?
Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:
All aspects of regular, each-word reading and education.
Turbo Charged Reading uses these skills significantly
faster
www.ourbusinessminds.blogspot.com
development,
growth, management. www.mreenhunthappyartaccidents.blogspot.com
just for fun.
To quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read,
the more things you will know.
The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.”
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