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Category: neuroscience – Page 784

From Fringe to Mainstream: Experiential Realism of the Evolving Conscious Mind

Our physical space-time reality isn’t really “physical” at all, its apparent solidity of objects, as well as any other associated property such as time, is an illusion. As a renowned physicist Niels Bohr once said: “Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real.” But what’s not an illusion is your subjective experience, i.e., your consciousness; that’s the only “real” thing, according to proponents of Experiential Realism. It refers to interacting entangled conscious agents at various ontological levels, giving rise to conscious experience all the way down, and I’d argue all the way up, seemingly ad infinitum. It’s a “matryoshka” of embedded realities: conscious minds within larger minds.

#ExperientialRealism

So, why Experiential Realism? From the bigger picture perspective, we are here for experience necessary for evolution of our conscious minds. Our limitations, such as our ego, belief traps, political correctness, our very human condition define who we are, but the realization that we largely impose those limitations on ourselves gives us more evolvability and impetus to overcome these self-imposed limits to move towards higher goals and state of being.

We are what we’ve experienced — the sum of our experiences define who we are. In this sense, as free will agents, we are co-creators within this experiential matrix. Non-duality is the essence of Experiential Realism — experience and experiencer are one. How can you possibly separate your own existence from the world, the observer from the observed? Today, philosophers and scientists argue that information is fundamental but consciousness is required to assign meaning to it. That makes consciousness (our experience in a broader sense) the most fundamental, irreducible ground of existence itself, while some philosophers suggest consciousness is all that is.

Experiential realism refers to interacting entangled conscious agents at various ontological levels, giving rise to conscious experience all the way down, and I’d argue all the way up, seemingly ad infinitum. It is a “matryoshka” of embedded realities: conscious minds within larger minds. Experiential Realism is a non-physicalist, monistic idealism. It is not to be confused with Naïve Realism, the idea that we see the world around us objectively, as it is. We don’t. Just the opposite is true. Experiential Realism is predicated on the centrality of observers and all-encompassing quantum computational principles. The objective world, i.e., the world whose existence does not depend on the perceptions of a particular observer, consists entirely of conscious agents, more precisely their experiences. What exists in the objective world, independent of your perceptions, is a world of conscious agents, not a world of unconscious particles and fields.

The Schizophrenic World Of Quantum Interpretations

I believe that schizophrenia although an illness could be a quantum sense in the quantum realm essentially feeling different dimensions which still remain unknown. The minds developed by the military in different projects like the stranger things series is an example of such a wild reality we live in and how interesting dimensions beyond ours touch our reality.

To the average person, most quantum theories sound strange, while others seem downright bizarre. There are many diverse theories that try to explain the intricacies of quantum systems and how our interactions affect them. And, not surprisingly, each approach is supported by its group of well-qualified and well-respected scientists. Here, we’ll take a look at the two most popular quantum interpretations.

Does it seem reasonable that you can alter a quantum system just by looking at it? What about creating multiple universes by merely making a decision? Or what if your mind split because you measured a quantum system?

You might be surprised that all or some of these things might routinely happen millions of times every day without you even realizing it.

Partners of People With Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Have Often a Mental Disorder

Summary: Almost fifty percent of people who have children with partners suffering from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder also have mental health challenges, a new study reports.

Source: Aarhus University.

Almost half of the parents who have children together with a parent with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, are themselves burdened by psychological issues. This can affect family life and the children. This is shown in the research result from the major Danish psychiatry project iPSYCH.

Something Is Frizzling Up the Brains of Old White Guys

“This work confirms that there is a link between air pollution and how well the aging brain works,” senior study author and Columbia University researcher Andrea Baccarelli told The Guardian. “These shorter-term effects are reversible: when air pollution clears, our brain reboots and starts working back to its original level. However, multiple occurrences of these higher exposures cause permanent damage.”

Thankfully, it’s reversible.

Experiments on Live Human Brain Tissue Yield Unexpected Findings

These findings may have implications for brain disease, disorders.

Scientists at the Krembil Brain Institute, part of University Health Network (UHN), in collaboration with colleagues at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), have used precious and rare access to live human cortical tissue to identify functionally important features that make human neurons unique.

This experimental work is among the first of its kind on live human neurons and one of the largest studies of the diversity of human cortical pyramidal cells to date.

The Sensitive Brain at Rest

Summary: A new study sheds light on how highly sensitive people process information. After experiencing something emotionally evocative, brain activity displayed a depth of processing while at rest. Depth of processing is a key feature of high emotional sensitivity.

Source: UC Santa Barbara.

You know that raw overwhelm people have been reporting after months of a pandemic, compounded by economic issues and social unrest? Does fatigue and compulsive social media scrolling strike a familiar chord?

Chronic attack on the aging nervous system

Aging is the biggest risk factor for perturbation of the nervous system, even in the absence of distinct disease or trauma. For yet unknown reasons, the impulse conducting, myelinated projections and synaptic connections between nerve cells are especially vulnerable to aging-related degeneration. These pathological alterations often manifest as cognitive, sensory, and motor decline in older adults and represent a serious socio-economic challenge.

Malactivation leads to damage

Scientists have long assumed that inflammation plays an important role in this process. Mal-or overactivation of distinct belonging to the innate immune system—the microglia—appears to promote damage of nerve fibers and synapses in the aging central nervous system (CNS). In a recent project, scientists of the University Hospital Würzburg have now discovered an important role of the adaptive immune system.

FDA Places Gene Therapy LX1001 on Fast Track

LX1001, a gene therapy for Alzheimer’s disease being developed by Lexeo Therapeutics, has been granted fast track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The therapy is designed to deliver a version of the APOE gene, called APOE2, to cells in the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) using an engineered viral vector.

Every person inherits two copies of the APOE gene, one from each biological parent. There are three versions of the APOE gene, called alleles — APOE2, APOE3, and APOE4 (often abbreviated to E2, E3, and E4). The specific combination of alleles a person has affects their Alzheimer’s risk. Broadly, the E2 allele is associated with lower Alzheimer’s risk, whereas the E4 allele is linked to increased disease risk. As such, LX1001 is designed to deliver the protective allele (APOE2).

Light Therapy Helps Veterans Treated for Traumatic Brain Injury

Summary: Morning bright light therapy improved both physical and mental health symptoms, including cognitive function and sleep quality, in veterans who suffered TBI.

Source: Experimental Biology.

A new study by researchers at the VA Portland Health Care System in Oregon found that augmenting traditional treatment for traumatic brain injury (TBI) with morning bright light therapy (MBLT) improved physical and mental symptoms for participants.

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