Early
afternoon. This morning after you walked a mile on the beach (Carol more) you
had breakfast with Linda and Bill at Frida’s then as they drove home you drove
up to Cafe du Paris where Carol bought two treats for tonight. Carol packed and
read the paper while you had a nap. Yesterday you both saw dolphin for the
first time. You haven’t seen any today – lots of pelicans though. – Amorella
1255
hours. I think I’m still half asleep. Yesterday broke another November high
record though at 91 degrees – maybe more of the same for today. There were more
people on the beach this morning than now. The Gulf is a rather dull greenish blue
as Carol sits out reading on the balcony chairs for some sun. She still looks
good in a suit.
After the evening news and Carol is playing
Sudoku and you are writing, waiting for one of your favorite shows at eight. –
Amorella
1922
hours. I read a good BBC article earlier and feel it is important to save in
the notes.
** **
BBC Future: Brain/Neuroscience
“Why we should stop worrying about our wandering minds”
Daydreaming has
a bad reputation, but neuroscientists are beginning to realise that a wandering
mind is not only typical – it might be beneficial.
By Claudia Hammond
6 November 2015
Sit
down, relax and think of nothing. Struggling? There might be a good reason why
your mind seems to wander even when you try very hard to switch off: your brain
never really rests. And contrary to popular belief, those idle daydreams might
even be beneficial.
For years, neuroscientists worked
on the assumption that our brains work hard when given a specific job to do,
and switch off when we’re not mentally stimulated. This is why you’ll read
about experiments in which volunteers perform a task – tapping a finger,
performing some mental arithmetic, looking at evocative pictures – while their
brain is scanned. The scan reveals which parts of the brain become more active
during the task and which become less active. In this way it is possible to
work out how our brain controls our behavior.
Often
the neuroscientists want to explore brain activity for a number of different
tasks, so they need a way of getting the brain back to a neutral state between
tests. This is typically done by asking the person to stare at a simple white
cross in the middle of a black screen. By thinking about nothing in particular,
the theory goes, the brain should basically switch off.
There
is just one problem: it doesn’t.
The
first sign that a resting brain is surprisingly active came two decades ago. A
student called Bharat Biswal was studying for a PhD at the Medical College of
Wisconsin in Milwaukee. He was investigating ways to get a purer signal from a
brain scanner, when he noticed that the resting brain isn’t doing nothing. Even
when people were told to clear their minds or to stare at a cross, activity in
the brain continued. Not only that, the brain scans seemed to
reveal this activity was actually coordinated.
Idle
network
Then in 1997 an analysis
incorporating the results of nine brain scan studies revealed another surprise.
Gordon Shulman hoped his analysis would help identify the network that comes to
life when people pay attention. But he discovered the opposite – the network
which is activated when we do nothing.
It
would make sense for the brain to become more active when volunteers shifted
from resting to performing a task. Instead, Schulman noticed that some areas of
the brain consistently became less active when the resting period ended and the
activity began. This suggested that while people were lying quietly in the
scanner supposedly doing nothing, parts of their brains were in fact more
active than when the volunteers were actively performing a task.
It took a while for the idea that
the brain never rests to catch on. For years neuroscientists had thought that
brain circuits switched off when they weren’t needed. In 1998 the
neuroscientist Marcus Raichle, now one of the leaders in the field, even had a
paper rejected by a referee who said the apparent
activity must surely be down to an error in the data.
Today
things are very different. Almost 3000 scientific papers have been published on
the topic of the brain’s surprisingly
busy “resting state”. Some object to this term for the very
reason that the brain isn’t resting at all. They prefer instead to talk about
the “default mode network” – the areas of the brain, which remain active while we are apparently
idle.
The
big question is: why is the idling brain so active? There are
plenty of theories, but no agreement yet. Maybe different brain
areas are simply practising working together. Perhaps the brain is staying
active like an idling car, just in case it needs to act suddenly. But it’s
possible that those mind wanderings and replays of our day play a vital role in
helping us to consolidate our memories. We know that our dreams seem to play a
part in sorting out our memories – now there is evidence that
it happens during the day too (in rats, at least).
We
also know that when the mind is left to wander, it often focuses on the future.
We start thinking about what we’re going to eat in the evening or where we’re
going to go next week. All three of the chief areas of the brain involved in
imagining the future are part of the default mode network. It is almost as
though our brain is programmed to contemplate the future whenever it finds
itself unoccupied.
Moshe Bar from Harvard Medical
School thinks there
might be a very good reason for that. He believes daydreaming
essentially creates memories of events that haven’t happened. This gives us a
strange set of “prior experiences” we can draw on to help us decide how to act
if the daydreams ever do come to pass. For instance, many air travellers have
wondered what it might be like to crash. Bar’s idea is that if the plane did
actually crash, the memories of all those daydreams from previous flights would
come into play and help the passenger decide how to behave.
But
the resting state is not easy to investigate. As some
cognitive psychologists have pointed out, just because a person
is lying in a scanner we can’t be sure that they are alone in their thoughts,
introspecting. They could be thinking about the sounds of the scanner and
what’s happening around them. For this reason there are still plenty of
unanswered questions about mind wandering. For instance, are the daydreams we
experience when we’re trying – and failing – to focus on our work different
from the ones we have when we’re deliberately trying to switch off?
Unique
idleness
Progress is being made, though. A
study published earlier this year hinted that we might all experience the
resting state in a slightly different same way. Researchers conducted a
detailed brain scan study of five people who had been trained to recount their
mind wanderings in detail every time they heard a computer beep. The
researchers found considerable
differences between each person’s daydreaming thoughts and experiences.
In
September researchers at the University of Oxford used scans from the Human
Connectome Project of 460 people’s brains in a resting state to explore which
parts of the brain communicate with each other when we are at rest. Again, the
results hinted at personal differences in the resting state – this time
linked to life skills and experiences. The strength of the
connections between different parts of the brain varies with the strength of a
person’s memory, their years of education and their physical endurance. It is
as though parts of the brain remain connected when our mind wanders just in
case we need them to do something.
Scientifically,
the discovery that the brain is never truly at rest could help make sense of a
longstanding mystery: why does the brain uses 20% of body’s energy when the
activities we know it performs should need only need about 5%? Marcus
Raichle has labelled the missing 15% the brain’s “dark energy” –
resting state activity might account for some of this discrepancy.
The discovery of the resting
state also has the potential to change the way we each feel about our brains.
We know how hard it is to empty our minds. We know how our minds have a
frustrating tendency to wander even when we don’t want them to. But the
emerging picture suggests these quirks might actually be beneficial – even if
they do prevent us from finishing a task in time to meet a deadline. In other
words, perhaps it’s time to celebrate the virtues of an idle mind.
Selected and edited from http://www.bbcDOTcom/future/story/20151106-why-we-should-stop-worrying-about-our-wandering-minds
** **
1938
hours. My wandering mind does feel vindicated by the article though personally
I have never worried much about it.
One of my aspects, orndorff, is to note and
use your wandering passageways to solidify and instill the unconscious focus
that exists already. One of the points to be noted is a good definition of
daydream. Let’s see what’s out there. – Amorella
** **
Five Surprising Facts About Daydreaming
New
computer model aims to simulate our mental escapes.
BYLINE
By
Christine Dell'Amore , National
Geographic
PUBLISHED JULY 16,
2013
Now,
a new computer model that simulates these periods of mental wandering may give
scientists clues about how our brains
work. Specifically, the model shows how our brain cells communicate when our
minds are either engaged or idle.
Scientists
have known since the late 1990s that our brains still fire off nerve impulses—an
indicator of activity—even when they're idle. Since then, scientists have
identified several brain networks, called "resting state" networks,
inside our gray matter where this phenomenon occurs. (See "Is Your
Brain Sleeping While You're Awake?")
Since
resting state networks are disrupted in the event of brain injuries and
cognitive diseases, modeling them may eventually help people with these
conditions, Maurizio
Corbetta, of the Washington
University School of Medicine in St. Louis, said in a statement.
"We
can give our [computer] model lesions like those we see in stroke or brain
cancer, disabling groups of virtual cells to see how brain function is
affected," said Corbetta, co-author of a study on
the model published in the July 3 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. "We can
also test ways to push the patterns of activity back to normal."
But
wait—before you drift off into la-la land, here are some interesting facts
about daydreaming you may not have known.
You
daydream less as you get older.
Daydreaming
is often about anticipating the future, especially in a fantasy context, notes Peter Delaney, a psychologist at the
University of North Carolina, Greensboro.
For
instance, young men often have "power fantasies" of what it would be
like to be a superhero. But as people get older, the amount of time they spend
daydreaming decreases—perhaps as the future shrinks.
Daydreaming makes you forget what
you were doing.
If
people are asked to daydream about the past, for instance, they tend to forget
what they were doing before the daydream started, according to previous
research.
The
type of daydream also affects how much you forget, according to Delaney and
colleagues' research.
When
people working on a task were asked to daydream about their childhood home, the
older subjects forgot more of the interrupted task than the younger subjects
did. That means that the further back in time the daydream reaches, the bigger
the forgetting effect.
It's
not only temporal, but physical: If you daydream about a vacation abroad versus
a vacation out of state, you are likely to forget more of what you were doing
because your trip abroad is so out of context—it's like "mentally
transporting yourself back there," he said.
Delaney
suggests that this should be of special note for people who rely on memory,
including those in careers such as medicine: If a doctor who just memorized a
drug dosage is stopped in the hallway and asked about her recent vacation
abroad, she may well forget the drug information, he explained.
Daydreaming
turns off other parts of the brain.
Our
brain has two key systems: An analytic part that helps us make reasoned
decisions, and an empathetic part that allows us to relate to others.
When
confronted with a cognitive task, your brain requires the empathetic area to
turn off to get the job done, notes Anthony Jack,
a cognitive scientist at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. (Read
"Beyond the Brain" in National Geographic magazine.)
In
other words, "if you are engaged in a demanding analytic task, it doesn't
leave any room for empathy."
Yet
when you are daydreaming, your mind naturally cycles through different modes of
thinking, and during this time the analytic and empathetic parts of your brain
tend to turn each other off.
Your
brain, not your mind, controls your daydreams.
The
mind and brain can be thought of as different aspects of the same thing, like
the software and hardware of a computer.
"We
tend of think of our minds in the driving seat and our brain activity as
following," Jack said.
But
in fact, the relationship goes both ways. How we daydream and think depends on
the brain's structure. On the other hand, that structure is constantly changing
in small ways—as we learn new things the connections between nerve cells
change. (See brain
pictures.)
"Your
brain naturally fluctuates in certain ways because of its structure, and that
determines the structure of your daydreaming," Jack said.
Daydreaming
makes you more creative.
Many
times the "dialogue" that occurs when the daydreaming mind cycles
through different parts of the brain accesses information that was dormant or
out of reach, notes Eugenio M.
Rothe, a psychiatrist at Florida International University.
Likewise, the daydreaming mind may
make an association between bits of information that the person had never
considered in that particular way.
"This
accounts for creativity, insights of wisdom and often time the solutions to
problems that the person had not considered," Rothe said by email.
"A
similar process, but more random, also takes place during dreaming."
Still there? Tell us: What do you
daydream about?
Selected and edited from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/07/130716-daydreaming-science-health-brain/
** **
You are surprised that the dictionary and
Wikipedia were not that much help here. Post. - Amorella
2038
hours. Further checking I found a definition of daydreaming.
** **
Daydreaming
Daydreams
are a form of imagination. In daydreams, the person forms a mental image of a
past experience or of a situation that he or she has never actually
experienced. Some psychologists use the acronym TUIT (Task-Unrelated Images and
Thoughts) to describe episodes of daydreaming. A daydream may be triggered by a
situation, a memory, or a sensory input (sight, taste, smell, sound, touch).
The
daydreamer may use these mental pictures to escape from reality temporarily, to
overcome a frustrating situation, or to satisfy hidden wishes. Almost all
people daydream, although the frequency of daydreaming varies considerably from
individual to individual. Psychologists estimate that one-third to one-half of
a person's thoughts while awake are daydreams, although a single daydream
rarely last more than a few minutes.
When
the daydreamer begins to confuse the mental images with reality, the daydream is
called an hallucination. Daydreaming is generally not harmful, unless
the daydreaming episodes interfere with activities of daily living. When the
daydreamer's daily routine is disrupted—a driver misses an exit on the freeway
continuously, or a student does not hear the teacher assigning homework—he or
she may want to consider whether the daydreams are a symptom of a psychological
problem.
Selected
and edited from http://psychology.jrank.org/pages/163/Daydreaming.html
** **
and,
** **
Introduction
to Psychology: Homework Help Resource /
Psychology Courses
What is Daydreaming in Psychology? - Definition & Disorder
Chapter 4 / Lesson 11
Instructor: Lawrence
Jones
Lawrence "LoJo" Jones teaches Psychology,
Sociology, Ethics and Critical Thinking
We all
experience altered states of consciousness throughout our lives. Sleeping,
dreaming, meditation, and the use of drugs and alcohol all impact our states of
consciousness. The most common, everyday altered state of consciousness is the
act of daydreaming, which may actually be a healthy thing you can do for your
mind.
Dreaming the Impossible
Dream
Have you ever fantasized about being the hero or
heroine of your own story? When bored, does your mind wander off into fields of
fancy filled with imagery and experiences you can't possibly have in real life?
Do you take a break from the everyday life around you in order to plan for your
future? If you have, then you are as normal as all other human beings. We all daydream.
Altered Consciousness
Daydreams
are the most common form of altered consciousness. Consciousness is simply our
level of awareness of what's going on around us and in us at all times. It is a
level of our alertness. However, our levels of consciousness are often changing
throughout the day; most often without us even having a choice in the matter.
The brain likes to do things on its own quite often.
Sleeping
is an altered state of this alertness, and thus an altered state of
consciousness. Whenever we enjoy an alcoholic beverage, yes even just one, we
have altered our consciousness. If we are addicted to nicotine, in any of its forms (smoking,
chew, vaporizing), we are altering our perceptions and thus our consciousness
each time we use it or any mind-altering drug for that matter.
It is our daydreams, though, that enable us to quickly
move into an altered state at almost any time. As a matter of fact, we can
quickly shift from alert consciousness to wandering daydream in the blink of an
eye. All we have to do is remove some of our alert attention from the outside
world and sail away into daydream and fantasy.
Fantasy Prone
While
there are those who may become fantasy
prone, unable to stay away from the temptations of daydreams
and fantasies to the detriment of regular life, the overwhelming majority of us
find daydreaming a normal, relaxing, and actually helpful part of our mental
life. To be fantasy prone is to be trapped in the Secret Life of Walter Mitty and find
ourselves constantly losing track of what we were doing and what we should be
doing. The attraction of being able to immerse ourselves in fantasy becomes so
strong that real life concerns and issues become ignored and more stressful,
thus encouraging us to escape more and more until real life falls apart in a
shambles. Many have worried that immersive virtual realities such as those
found in games like The Sims, Second Life, and World of Warcraft may be detrimental to those who are by nature fantasy prone.
What Causes Daydreaming?
Psychology
has many ways of defining human experience. When we developed the proper tools
for imaging the brain while it functioned, scientists discovered that certain
parts of the brain kicked in when the subject of the experiment was not focused
or concentrating on the tasks required. It didn't take long for it to be
recognized that certain parts of the brain (limbic system, frontal cortex, and
sensory cortexes) lit up like holiday lights when the subject was allowed time
to let their mind wander. In other words, scientists identified the default network that kicks in
when the brain is not required to focus and concentrate on a task. This allows
us to focus on internal factors such as planning and escaping pressures and
stress.
So
daydreaming has a biological component, as psychological elements seem to do,
but there is also the mental component that defines it. Daydreams are not
typically a complete exclusion from the outside world, but are a focus inward
on our thoughts and imagined experiences. They are an altered state of
alertness/consciousness that takes us away from pressures and stress; some
would call this escapism. Studies have determined that prisoners in
penitentiaries and jails often use daydreaming as a means to retreat from the
reality of prison life. Sometimes they do this willfully, and at other times
the mind just seems to want to wander away from reality all on its own.
Daydreams can incorporate sensory information as well.
We can imagine how food smells and tastes, the sounds of our favorite band, or
images of whatever fantasy we find suitable to the purpose of the daydream. A
psychological term for this effect of detachment, of turning away from reality
in favor of a daydream, is dissociation.
. . .
Selected and edited from - http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-daydreaming-in-psychology-definition-disorder-quiz.html
** **
2050
hours. The above are not dictionary definitions but they better fit my concept
of the word ‘daydream’ when I use it in context within the blog.
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