Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #BrainStuff
Most recents (12)
Right, following on from this thread about #IntrusuveThoughts, a lot of people have commented about embarrassing memories that pop up out of the blue and make them cringe all over again.
That's a different, if related, phenomenon. Here's my understanding of why it happens
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That's a different, if related, phenomenon. Here's my understanding of why it happens
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First and foremost, it's important to recognise that the fundamentals of the human brain's memory system were laid down looooong ago. Before we were even human. Consciousness and rational thought are far more recent developments, evolutionary-speaking
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One upshot of this is that our memory system is often the result of new software running on old hardware.
A lot of the brain is like this, in fairness, and it causes a lot of issues. I *may* have written a book all about it
amazon.co.uk/Idiot-Brain-Ne…
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A lot of the brain is like this, in fairness, and it causes a lot of issues. I *may* have written a book all about it
amazon.co.uk/Idiot-Brain-Ne…
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Ok so this is actually quite a common thing. It's 'intrusive thoughts', and it's invariably a harmless, sometimes even helpful, phenomenon. It's often just the sign of a human brain operating as normal. That said, things can go wrong.
WHY does it happen? Well...
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WHY does it happen? Well...
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One particularly useful power of the human brain is its ability to create simulations and scenarios. i.e. we have a powerful imagination
But it's not used solely for fantastical stuff; a lot of the time we use it to model scenarios of everyday things that might/could happen
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But it's not used solely for fantastical stuff; a lot of the time we use it to model scenarios of everyday things that might/could happen
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Basically, our brain is pretty much constantly coming up with hypotheticals. "What if this happened?" "What if that occurred?" "What if I did this?" "What if they did that?" etc.
This helps shape, guide, and reinforce our decision making and behaviour
#IntrusiveThoughts
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This helps shape, guide, and reinforce our decision making and behaviour
#IntrusiveThoughts
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Here's a question that arose via a @distantpod group chat
If stood on a cliff edge/high building, why do otherwise 'normal' people experience the urge to jump off?
Here's one potential neurological explanation
[Yes, it's the first #BrainStuff thread of 2022]
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If stood on a cliff edge/high building, why do otherwise 'normal' people experience the urge to jump off?
Here's one potential neurological explanation
[Yes, it's the first #BrainStuff thread of 2022]
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So, our brains understand the world by running a mental model of how it 'works'. It combines all available memories, attitudes, beliefs, assumptions, experiences etc, into one big mental simulation of how everything around us works, or *should* work, based on what we know.
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But, as humans have the hefty cognitive power required, we also constantly run simulations of events that *might* happen. We can predict the outcomes of the choices we make, the things we encounter, and so on. We use this to function and survive in the world.
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People have asked that I explain why this sort of reporting is blatant nonsense.
So here's a #BrainStuff thread about it
Does working from home affect your brain?
Yes
So does working from the office. Or from the moon. Or not working at all. THAT'S HOW BRAINS WORK!
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So here's a #BrainStuff thread about it
Does working from home affect your brain?
Yes
So does working from the office. Or from the moon. Or not working at all. THAT'S HOW BRAINS WORK!
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It's reminiscent of the scaremongering news stories that you still occasionally get, the ones which argue that [Insert latest technological thing] is bad, because it 'changes children's brains'.
Yes, that's true. But so do books, and playing outside, the 'healthy' stuff
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Yes, that's true. But so do books, and playing outside, the 'healthy' stuff
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EVERYTHING brings about changes in our brain. If it were static, rigid, unchanging, it would be completely useless. Might as well lodge a coconut in our skulls and have done with it. The brain changing in response to our experiences is the default norm.
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Ok, the legendary @elisjames asked why he struggles to remember new info in his forties but can still readily recall countless minor details from childhood
I could only really answer this if I'd done a PhD in memory retrieval mechanisms. And I did. So here we go
#BrainStuff
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I could only really answer this if I'd done a PhD in memory retrieval mechanisms. And I did. So here we go
#BrainStuff
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As a rule, the memories we acquire during childhood are more impactful, more enduring, than those we acquire later in life. For various reasons.
First and foremost, things are just 'newer' then. The experiences we have, the info we take in, makes a bigger impression
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First and foremost, things are just 'newer' then. The experiences we have, the info we take in, makes a bigger impression
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After all, childhood is the part of our life where we're figuring out how... 'everything' works, in the world around us. So anything we take in then will form the basis of everything we acquire later on. First impressions, and all that.
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OK, seen this Tweet shared a lot lately. I get why; it implies some scary, but cool, stuff. But it's misleading by omission, and a good example of why Evolutionary psychology is regularly co-opted by those with ideological agendas.
Here's why
Yes, it's more #BrainStuff
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Here's why
Yes, it's more #BrainStuff
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I'll say up front; as far as I'm aware, nobody knows with 100% certainty why the Uncanny valley effect exists.
BUT, it doesn't automatically follow that there were shapeshifting human-resembling predators in our deep past. There are far more logical, and likely, explanations
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BUT, it doesn't automatically follow that there were shapeshifting human-resembling predators in our deep past. There are far more logical, and likely, explanations
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For instance, the uncanny valley effect may be the result of corpses.
A dead human looks just like a live one, but without all the subtle cues and animations that living humans give off constantly. Much like 'realistic' androids, animations etc.
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A dead human looks just like a live one, but without all the subtle cues and animations that living humans give off constantly. Much like 'realistic' androids, animations etc.
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This Sunday is #WorldMentalHealthDay2021, so here is a #BrainStuff thread about one of the less often discussed, and more readily stigmatised, disorders; addiction.
What happens in the brain to make addiction so harmful? Suffice to say, it's not 'just a matter of willpower'
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What happens in the brain to make addiction so harmful? Suffice to say, it's not 'just a matter of willpower'
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At present, practically all 'recognised' forms of addiction concern a type of psychoactive chemical substance. Alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, heroin, cocaine, etc.
The only 'official' non-chemical type of addiction so far is gambling.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
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The only 'official' non-chemical type of addiction so far is gambling.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
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There's much debate as to whether other types of addiction should be recognised, like shopping, porn/sex addiction, video games or social media etc.
These are all essentially marked 'TBC' right now. They may end up being recognised addictions, they may need a new label
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These are all essentially marked 'TBC' right now. They may end up being recognised addictions, they may need a new label
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Empathy, as in recognising, understanding, and *sharing* the emotional state/experience of others, is a vital ability of the human brain. It makes us what we are.
However, one problem is, that our own emotions and experiences can distort the process.
Here's more #BrainStuff
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However, one problem is, that our own emotions and experiences can distort the process.
Here's more #BrainStuff
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A surprising amount of our brain's processes are geared towards detecting, recognising, and recreating the emotions of others. We're constantly, often without realising, broadcasting our inner state, and human brains have evolved to recognise and interpret these cues.
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As I say, we often don't even realise this is happening. You ever walked into a room after a huge argument has happened and immediately felt uncomfortable, or noted a 'frosty atmosphere'? That's what's happening there.
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Why do we readily remember someone's face, but regularly struggle to remember their name?
What makes names so hard to remember, when far less salient/important/useful stuff is often recalled so readily?
Because @GuitarmoogMusic asked, here's a #BrainStuff thread to explain
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What makes names so hard to remember, when far less salient/important/useful stuff is often recalled so readily?
Because @GuitarmoogMusic asked, here's a #BrainStuff thread to explain
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@GuitarmoogMusic A big part of why we often struggle to remember someone's name relates to a previous #BrainStuff thread; the v small capacity of the short term memory
Basically, our brains can only take in a small amount of abstract info at once
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Basically, our brains can only take in a small amount of abstract info at once
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When you meet someone, they tell you their name. But very rarely is that the only information dispensed by the encounter. A conversation normally ensues, where a lot of basic personal info is exchanged. Their name is a small part of this.
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How come we can listen to the same song again and again, for years, and still enjoy it, but a joke's never as funny if you've heard it before?
It's because, far as we know, our brains process humour and music differently
Here's another #BrainStuff thread for you
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It's because, far as we know, our brains process humour and music differently
Here's another #BrainStuff thread for you
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Music affects us on multiple levels of the brain. From the most fundamental, to the incredibly complex. And a lot of it is tied up with instinct, emotion, memory, and so on.
nature.com/articles/nrn36…
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nature.com/articles/nrn36…
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E.g. some argue that certain sounds trigger instinctive emotional reactions.
Discordant, high-pitched, chaotic noise sounds like the shriek of a predator, so we don't like them
Rhythmic noise means harmony and coordination, so we like that, and so on.
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Discordant, high-pitched, chaotic noise sounds like the shriek of a predator, so we don't like them
Rhythmic noise means harmony and coordination, so we like that, and so on.
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Here's something several people asked me recently:
Why can't we remember our dreams very well, if at all?
It's because dreams are *made of* memories. The elements of dreams are *already* stored in our brains. Just... not in that weird configuration
#BrainStuff #SciComm
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Why can't we remember our dreams very well, if at all?
It's because dreams are *made of* memories. The elements of dreams are *already* stored in our brains. Just... not in that weird configuration
#BrainStuff #SciComm
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A lot of stuff goes on in our brains when we sleep, like clearing away the cellular debris built up during the day. But one particularly important process is the consolidating, organising, and general sorting out of memories, old and new.
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When a new memory is formed in the brain, it's not just left there. It's linked up to existing memories, depending on relevance, category, stuff like that. And a lot of this happens when we're asleep, like a library that sorts all the new books after hours
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When does short-term memory become long-term? How 'recent' does a memory need to be to be classed as the former, not the latter?
From a week ago? A day? Hours?
Actually, *60 seconds*. Max. Anything you remember from more than a minute ago is a long term memory
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#BrainStuff
From a week ago? A day? Hours?
Actually, *60 seconds*. Max. Anything you remember from more than a minute ago is a long term memory
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#BrainStuff
Short-term and long-term memory are actually very different things, in terms of how they work in the brain. It's like comparing printed books to blackboards, or some other analogy which doesn't make me sound like I'm from the 19th century
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The main difference between long-long term and short-term memory is that long-term memories have a physical presence in the brain. Short term... doesn't. Not strictly speaking. It's more patterns of neurological activity. While still complex, they're way more fleeting.
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