[Advaita-l] Brain structure and Memorization

[Ramesam Vemuri]

Respected All,



I have been hesitant to continue the discussion on some of the issues
raised here as I am not sure if I would be over-stepping the
written/unwritten norms of this forum. However, please let me just mention
that assertions like "This is nothing to do with advaita" will be difficult
to defend in not too distant a future, if one observes the trend in modern
developments in Physics and Neuroscience/Cognitive Science.



I shall restrain myself for the present highlighting a few references
without going into the detail.



While the 2014 book of Dr. N. Doidge does demonstrate the 'plasticity' of
the brain, it was shown towards the end of that year that effectively you
can change not only your moods and behavior but also essentially what you
are by the power of your thought! The technological possibility is
established through a ‘Proof of Concept’ research paper  published in
Nature Communications. Perhaps, perhaps (to repeat), the sAdhana catuShTaya
sampatti, satsAngatya and so on we speak of may not be much different from
re-orientating the neuronal connections in the brain.



There is considerable published data on the effect of different types of
Meditation on the brain and the subsequent behavioral patterns of people.
While it is true that correlations cannot be taken to imply causation
within biological systems as pointed out by Respected Dr. Sadananda,
potential answers to a number of other considerations  may be seen in the
2014 Video "A neural portrait of the human mind" by Neuroscientist Prof. N.
Kanwisher at:
http://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_kanwisher_the_brain_is_a_swiss_army_knife?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2014-10-04&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_content=talk_of_the_week_button

The March 2015 Video of Prof. D. Hoffman "Do we see reality as it is" can
be watched to see how the various elements of his talk resemble the
teaching of Advaita (Link:
https://www.ted.com/talks/donald_hoffman_do_we_see_reality_as_it_is?language=en
)



It is becoming increasingly clear that ‘We are stuck inside the universe –
which means we can’t give a consistent description of the universe without
also describing ourselves. But Godel’s theorem showed that self-referential
statements can’t be proven from within the system that’s stating them. … If
self-referential statements can’t be proven by physical measurements, then
observers can’t measure themselves….. Spacetime, gravity, electromagnetism,
the nuclear forces, mass, energy, momentum, angular momentum, charge,
dimensions, particles, fields, the vacuum, strings, the universe, the
multiverse, the speed of light – one by one they had been downgraded to
illusion.’



I would also like to request the kind attention of the interested members
to the Posts on "The Physics of Reality" at a Blog I happen to maintain (
http://beyond-advaita.blogspot.com/ ).


regards,

On Thu, Aug 20, 2015 at 10:27 AM, Sunil Bhattacharjya via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Yes, it has long been known that there occurs physiological changes in the
> brain with its use. It was reported long ago that the brain size of the
> London Taxi-drivers was generally bigger than that of the common people as
> the taxi-drivers have to remember the details of the many roads in that
> city.
> Regards,Sunil KB
>
>
>
>      On Thursday, August 20, 2015 8:14 AM, Srirudra via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
>
>  Dears
> This is just to inform our members that there is an e book by one Norman
> Doidge which deals with plasticity of human brain.He has said even if one
> hemisphere of the brain is removed the other half can be made to take over
> the functions of the lost side to a creditable extent.It requires some
> conscious effort by the patient helped by a Neuro specialist.He says music
> plays an important part and the ear according to him has evolved into brain
> as part of evolution.The book gives anecdotes of such people who were
> affected by brain injuries ,diseases like Alzheimer's and  dementia but
> we're able to lead a tolerably normal life thanks to brain plasticity.The
> brain does change itself by developing new glial and neuronal circuits by
> proper stimuli through touch,music/ sounds and conscious efforts to move
> limbs which were earlier not movable.
> This is nothing to do with advaita but I thought some members who are also
> interested in the function of brain apart from Vedantha can get interested.
> R.Krishnamoorthy.
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> > On 19-Aug-2015, at 9:04 am, kuntimaddi sadananda via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
> >
> > Rameshamji - PraNAms
> >
> > When Sunlji posted the URL first time, I did point out that these
> objective correlations have no meaning unless they show converse validity
> and that involves one to one correspondence.
> >
> > I respect objective sciences but being a good scientist also involves
> clear understanding of  their limitations in trying to account things that
> are subtle and are  not amenable by the objective tools. The very
> limitations of the tools need to be objectively understood.
> >
> > I am trying understand the process of perception and I find some of the
> axiomatic statements in Navya Nyaaya and meemaamsa are taken as facts which
> may be speculative at best at that time, but not really valid based on the
> current observations. One has to reinterpret them without stepping on to
> the things where objective tools are no more valid particularly in the
> analysis of subtle things like mind, thoughts, and of course consciousness.
> >
> > Hari Om!
> > Sadananda
> >
> > --------------------------------------------
> > On Tue, 8/18/15, Ramesam Vemuri <vemuri.ramesam at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Brain structure and Memorization
> > To: "Ajith Srinivas" <ajithpolo at gmail.com>, "A discussion group for
> Advaita Vedanta" <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
> > Cc: "Sunil Bhattacharjya" <sunil_bhattacharjya at yahoo.com>, "kuntimaddi
> sadananda" <kuntimaddisada at yahoo.com>
> > Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2015, 11:03 AM
> >
> > Respected Members,
> >
> >
> >
> > I have been seeing these
> > reports being circulated in many
> > public and private e-mail groups in our country and have
> > been waiting to see
> > that a more competent Scientist than me will correct the
> > 'covert' slant implied
> > in the announcement.
> > As far as changes in the
> > brain are concerned, it is long
> > known that any activity does modify the neuronal connections
> > and repeated
> > practices do alter the cortical thickness, not only in
> > people but also in many
> > animals and birds.
> >
> >
> >
> > Even the morning cup of
> > coffee we drink changes the neuronal
> > connections. The sensorimotor areas of the brains of
> > athletes also show
> > relative differences compared to non-athletes.
> >
> >
> >
> > A well-known example for
> > the 'alteration' in the brain is
> > the case of London Taxi Drivers, as showed from the work
> > done over five years
> > ago. Quoting from various published reports:
> >
> >
> >
> > The examination to become
> > a London cabby is possibly the
> > most difficult test in the world. "The
> > Knowledge," as it is
> > called, is unique to London taxi licensing and involves a
> > series of grueling
> > exams that only about 50 percent of hopefuls pass.
> >
> >
> > Ever since 1865, they’ve
> > had to memorise the location of
> > every street within six miles of Charing Cross – all
> > 25,000 of the capital’s
> > arteries, veins and capillaries. They also need to know the
> > locations of 20,000
> > landmarks – museums, police stations, theatres, clubs, and
> > more – and 320
> > routes that connect everything up.
> >
> >
> > The taxi drivers need to
> > know the way around so well that,
> > when asked, he can calculate the most direct legal route
> > between any two
> > addresses anywhere in the entire 113-square-mile
> > (293-square-kilometer)
> > metropolitan area within seconds, without looking at a map,
> > and be able to
> > rattle off the precise sequence of streets, junctions,
> > roundabouts, and left-
> > and right-hand turns necessary to complete such a
> > journey.
> >
> >
> > The Scientists found
> > that The Knowledge may enlarge the
> > hippocampus's posterior (rear) at the expense of its
> > anterior (front), creating
> > a trade-off of cognitive talents—that is, taxi drivers
> > master some forms of
> > memory but become worse at others.
> >
> >
> >
> > Thus we may note that the
> > Pundits may undoubtedly have
> > altered brain conditions in some lobes, but maybe at the
> > expense of some other
> > faculty.
> >
> >
> >
> > regards,
> >
> > On Tue, Aug 18, 2015 at
> > 6:36 AM, Ajith Srinivas via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
> > wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> >
> >
> > Came across a similar topic from other group.
> >
> >
> >
> > Courtesy: Dr.James Hartzell
> >
> > _________
> >
> > Dear all,
> >
> >
> >
> > Herewith a link to the published (in Neuroimage, open
> > access),
> >
> > peer-reviewed study we did of the brain structure of
> > Delhi-area, qualified
> >
> > Yajurveda Pandits from government Vedic schools.  I hope
> > this may be of
> >
> > some interest and/or use to some members of the list.
> >
> >
> >
> > http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811915006382?np=y
> >
> > <
> http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencedirect.com%2Fscience%2Farticle%2Fpii%2FS1053811915006382%3Fnp%3Dy&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHmOuXkNEFsdXhRxU8kBNBxSiJc2w
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > We found very large changes in the grey matter (neuronal
> > tissue) of the
> >
> > Yajurveda Pandits' brains.  The evidence we found
> > strongly suggests that
> >
> > 7-10 years of intensive, professional-level training in
> > memorizing and
> >
> > reciting the Yajurveda Samhita (and related texts) is
> > associated with some
> >
> > of the largest changes in brain structure ever reported for
> > a
> >
> > cross-sectional study (i.e. one that compares two closely
> > matched groups,
> >
> > here two groups that differ primarily in the Yajurveda
> > training).
> >
> >
> >
> > Article Title:  Brains of verbal memory specialists show
> > anatomical
> >
> > differences in language, memory and visual systems
> >
> >
> >
> > Authors:  James F. Hartzell,  Ben Davis, David Melcher,
> > Gabriele Miceli,
> >
> > Jorge Jovicich, Tanmay Nath, Nandini Chatterjee Singh, Uri
> > Hasson
> >
> >
> >
> > Highlights:
> >
> > •  We compared professional Sanskrit verbal memory
> > specialists and
> >
> > well-matched controls.
> >
> > •  We measured cortical thickness (CT), gray matter
> > density (GM), and
> >
> > gyrification (LGI).
> >
> > •  Pandits showed increases in CT and GM in lateral
> > temporal cortices.
> >
> > •  Pandits showed relative decrease in subcortical GM and
> > occipital LGI.
> >
> > •  Findings suggest brain organization supporting
> > intensive oral
> >
> > memorization/recitation
> >
> > *** snip
> > ****
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