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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Noa on November 4, 1999, at 13:48:21
Did abyone read the news about a neuroscientist at Wisconsin that has come out with data on brain images showing certain emotions associated with electromagnetic activity on either the left or right prefrontal cortex? The Washington Post did a feature in their health section. VERY INTERESTING. He found positive, activating emotions to be connected with more activity on one side, while negative, deactivating emotions were connected with the other side (sorry-I left the article at work, don't remember the specifics-I'll post them tommorrow). When I read this article, it spoke to me about my very variable moods. The article also said that most people have more activity on one side or the other, and this is associated with temperament. Motivation was associated with the ability to access positive feelings about the envisioned outcome of effort. While intuitively, this is no surprise, it seems this guy was able to operationalize these things and get actual images using a device that measures electromagnetic activity. The article mentioned the idea of a potential for using a pacemaker type device in the brain to regulate activity in people with mood disorders--similar to something mentioned in an earlier thread. Also helps me understand the ECT and Transcrainial magnetic stimulation thing. It seems someday instead of bathing our entire brains in neurotransmitter stimulating chemicals, we might be able to target stimulation to the parts of the brain where the cascade of electrical activity/neurotransmitter activity is malfunctioning. Way cool, if you ask me.
Posted by Bob on November 4, 1999, at 14:52:28
In reply to Emotions and brain laterality, posted by Noa on November 4, 1999, at 13:48:21
It also seems to add some veracity to the whole depressed artist thing, if artists have more active right hemispheres. Maybe that's where the trouble comes from for those out in Babbleland who say ADs take the life out of their "muse".
Bob
Posted by juniper on December 22, 1999, at 23:23:51
In reply to Re: Emotions and brain laterality, posted by rui ramos on December 22, 1999, at 19:30:14
i do not know if this thread was ever expounded on as to which side of the brain appears to control which characteristics. the right side seems to control negative emotions, while the left side seems to control positive emotions, in particular those related to forming, looking forward to, and reaching a goal. i know that i have read prior studies which show patients with anxiety and depression have excess activity in the right frontal lobe. i have also seen speculation that since the right half of the brain seems to control more creative pursuits, while the left is in charge of logic (and in my experience depression and logic are pretty polar opposites), that artsy types may harbor more activity on this side of the brain. i ran across a study a while back that broke down into percentages the amount of mental disorders experienced by artists by their medium...for instance, poets were most likely afflicted, followed by finction writers, followed by non fiction. interesting. i read the Washington Post article a while ago and one thing that struck me as a bit scary is that these researchers found one side of the brain to be more active in infants--and this corresponded to their tempermants. makes me wonder if i was screwed from the beginning as i wondered in diapers with my right frontal lobe burning gluclose like crazy...
Posted by Noa on December 22, 1999, at 23:58:30
In reply to Re: Emotions and brain laterality, posted by juniper on December 22, 1999, at 23:23:51
Yes, I think you are right about right side being associated with negative emotions.
I also think we each DO have innate tendencies, but I don't think it necessarily dooms us. I think there is the possibility of sensitizing parents to the individual tendencies of their infants, and that this increased awareness and sensitivity would help prevent some of the suffering that many of us have experienced. If my parents had known how to respond appropriately to my "style" and could understand how I might be experiencing my world and myself, maybe I wouldn't have learned to be so self critical.
Posted by Phillip Marx on December 23, 1999, at 1:58:08
In reply to Re: Emotions and brain laterality, posted by Noa on December 22, 1999, at 23:58:30
The actual article on emotional research:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/health/A6266-1999Nov1.html
using equipment designed and manufactured at www.egi.com for visualization of measured brain responses of any stimulus response reaction.
also, lateral thinking, more like Mensa thinking than emotional thinking:
"Lateral Thinking" by Edward de Bono (Harper Colophone, NY, NY) A somewhat abstract book on creative thought processes but has very effective problem solving techniques.Phillip Marx PhilMarx@net999.com
> Yes, I think you are right about right side being associated with negative emotions.
>
> I also think we each DO have innate tendencies, but I don't think it necessarily dooms us. I think there is the possibility of sensitizing parents to the individual tendencies of their infants, and that this increased awareness and sensitivity would help prevent some of the suffering that many of us have experienced. If my parents had known how to respond appropriately to my "style" and could understand how I might be
experiencing my world and myself, maybe I wouldn't have learned to be so self critical.
This is the end of the thread.
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