1) The document discusses the difference between mind talk and brain talk. Mind talk refers to thinking, feeling, remembering, which people commonly attribute to the mind. Brain talk refers to the specific neurological processes in the brain.
2) While neuroscientists see the mind as a product of the brain, most people believe the mind is distinct from the brain. This is why criminal cases consider motives and intentions versus just biological factors.
3) The document argues that while the mind is physically produced by the brain, the concept of the mind is still useful for understanding human experience in a way that just discussing the brain is not.
2. Cont…
• Let’s try a little experiment. Using your right
index finger, point to your brain. Now using
the same finger, point to your mind.
• mind talk and brain talk.
3. MIND TALK
• We talk about feeling this way and thinking of
that, of remembering one thing
and dreaming of another. Those verbs are
examples of mind talk. Using mind talk, we
would say, “I recognized my first-grade teacher
in the crowd because she was wearing the
necklace with the beetle scarab, which was so
unusual I still remembered it after all these
years.”
4. BRAIN TALK
• We would not say, “A barrage of photons
landed on my retina, exciting the optic nerve
so that it carried an electrical signal to my
lateral geniculation body and hence to my
primary visual cortex, from which signals
raced to my striate cortex to determine the
image’s color and orientation, and to my
prefrontal cortex and inferotemporal cortex
for object recognition and memory retrieval—
causing me to recognize Mrs. McKelvey.”
5. BRAIN AND MIND
• The mind, after all, is generally regarded as
synonymous with our thoughts, feelings,
memories, and beliefs, and as the source of
our behaviors. It’s not made of material, but
we think of it as quite powerful, or even as
who we are.
6. BRAIN
• The brain, the three-pound slab of tofu-
textured tissue inside our skull, is recognized
(by scientists, at least) as the physical source
of all that we call mind. If you are having a
thought or experiencing an emotion, it’s
because your brain has done something—
specifically, electrical signals crackled along a
whole bunch of neurons and those neurons
handed off droplets of neurochemicals, like
runners handing off a baton in a relay race.
7. MIND
• Neuroscientists don’t object to mind talk for
casual conversation. But most insist that we
not invoke the mind as if it is real, or distinct
from the brain. They reject the notion that the
mind has an existence independent of the
brain (often called Cartesian dualism, after
René Descartes of “I think, therefore I am”
fame). Obviously, avoiding mind talk would be
a problem for a column about the science of
the mind in a magazine called Mindful.
8. Cont…
• people with obsessive-compulsive disorder
practicing mindfulness to approach their
thoughts differently, with the result that the
brain region whose over activity caused their
disorder quieted down.
9. Con…
• we need mind talk because although most neuroscientists
reject the idea of a mind different from brain, most civilians
embrace the distinction.
• If something goes wrong with behavior, then it’s because
something has gone wrong with the brain (in the same way
that if something has gone wrong with, say, insulin
secretion, it’s because something has gone wrong with the
pancreas). We can probably all agree that criminal assault
and downloading child pornography both count as
something “going wrong” with behavior.
• Yet in these and other cases, judges presented with
evidence that the behavior had a biological basis have
meted out more lenient sentences than in cases where no
such evidence was presented.
10. Con…
• To which neuroscientists reply, are you out of
your mind? Why are you relying on such a
distinction? What else is behavior but the
result of brain biology? Yet the fact that
criminals are treated more harshly if their
mind (motives, anger, antisocial feelings…)
made them do it than if their brain (aberrant
activity patterns, pathological circuitry…) did
shows just how deeply average folks believe
that mind and brain are distinct.
11. MIND NOT BRAIN
• One case for mind talk is that we have access
to our mind. We can recognize and describe
what we know, remember, and think. We do
not have access to our brain: we cannot tell
which regions (my hippocampus? my anterior
cingulate?) are active during particular
activities.
12. Cont…
• It doesn't help that many alternatives to the
"mind=brain" equation seem counterintuitive
or spooky. For example, some suggest that the
mind extends beyond the brain to encompass
the whole body or even parts of the
environment, or that the mind is not subject
to the laws of physics.
• Understanding the mind isn't the same as
understanding the brain.
13. Article
• According to Prof. Joseph B. Martin, Caroline Shields Walker
Professor of Neurobiology and Clinical Neuroscience, Dean of
Faculty of Medicine, Harvard School, Boston, USA (2003):
“….Diseases of the brain in an aging population will increasingly
limit the use of our lives – whether of Alzheimer’s disease, whether
it is stroke, whether it is the other complication or chronic disease,
the incidence of depression, schizophrenia, which occurs in the 1%
of population worldwide, bipolar manic – depressive disease –
these are major contributes to the morbidity of our society and
further more the study of mind, brain and behavior is similar to
understanding who we as human beings are and why we behave
the way we do both for good and unfortunately sometimes for bad.
So I would submit that this area, over the next decades, will be of
crucial importance in understanding of ourselves and of the
character that we bring to the world”.
14. What is Mindfulness?
• Mindfulness can be described as the practice of paying attention in
the present moment, and doing it intentionally and with non-
judgment.
• Mindfulness meditation practices refer to the deliberate acts of
regulating attention through the observation of thoughts, emotions
and body states.
Typical mindfulness activities include:
• Mindful non-judgmental awareness of breath, body, feelings,
emotions and/or thoughts (in sitting meditation practice or
throughout the day)
• Mindful walking meditation
• Mindful eating
• Mindful body scan in a sitting or lying down position
• Listening with non-judgment
15. What can mindfulness do for
students?
• Reduced Stress: Improved ability to manage stress
• Increased Focus: Improved ability to pay attention, focus and
concentrate
• Improved Emotion Regulation: Reduced impulsiveness, improved
child behavior (rowdiness, suspensions, expulsions)
• Increased Emotional Intelligence: Improved conflict resolution
skills
• Increased Empathy and Respect: Increased empathy and
understanding of others
• Increased Resilience: Increased capacity to overcome challenges
• Improved Physical Well-being: Increased engagement in physical
activity
• Improved Creativity & Collaboration: Improved expression of
creative arts.
16. Cont….
• Students will find it much easier to focus and
actively engage in the classroom. The class will
benefit as a whole from a collective calm. These
skills can also be applied to maturely navigate
challenging peer or family interactions. Students
will be less likely to bully others, and those
students who are bullied will be more resilient.
Students are also less likely to engage in high-risk
behaviors as they will be calmer and less reactive.
Some immediate benefits we expect to see are:
17. What can mindfulness do for
teachers?
• Reduced stress and burnout (and reduced absenteeism
from stress and burnout related conditions)
• More easily managed classrooms
• Improved learning conditions
• Positive dyadic teacher-student relationships
• Teachers will be able to spend more time teaching and less
time managing the classroom and also be better equipped
to handle the stresses of work. Teachers teaching students
that are practicing mindfulness will also find students to be
better mentally equipped to learn.
18. Is mindfulness religious?
• No. Mindfulness is a practice – the practice of
paying attention in the present moment and
doing it with non-judgment. Over the last 30
years this practice has been thoroughly
researched and successfully implemented in
hospitals, businesses, education and the
military.
19. • The goal of mindfulness is to wake up to the
inner workings of our mental, emotional, and
physical processes.
• Mind talking
• Mind reading
