Die kosmische Oktave

[anthonychipoletti]

https://www.mdpi.com/821920

Gold J, Ciorciari J. A Review on the Role of the Neuroscience of Flow States in the Modern World. Behavioral Sciences. 2020; 10(9):137. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs10090137

Flow states have been shown to help people reach peak performance, yet this elusive state is not easily attained. The review describes the current state of literature on flow by addressing the environmental influences as well as the cognitive and neurocognitive elements that underlie the experience. In particular, the research focusses on the transition of cognitive control from an explicit to an implicit process. This is further expanded upon to look at the current, yet related neurocognitive research of high performance associated with the implicit process of automaticity. Finally, the review focusses on transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as a novel method to facilitate an induction of flow states. Implications are aimed at a general technique to improve on skill acquisition and overall performance.

'... the basal ganglia (BG) have most often been critically associated with implicit system [41]. The BG are interconnected masses of gray matter positioned in the interior regions of the limbic cortices and in the upper part of the brainstem. This key region of the BG receives all extrastriate visual cortex projections, with about 10,000 visual glutaminergic connections to each caudate cell in the striatum [75]. Projections are then sent to various cortical premotor and prefrontal regions via two synaptic pathway convergences...'

Conclusions

This collection of results from the literature begins to show what type of elements in a person’s professional environment need to be taken into consideration to help facilitate flow along with an understanding of the importance of supporting a transference of skills from explicit knowledge systems to implicit procedural systems. The literature appeared to highlight the role of the BG and its related components as a key research direction in which to further explore to enable a greater facilitation of skill automaticity that appears highly related to flow state.

Furthermore, there appears to be support in the literature for a particular neurocognitive activity pattern for flow induction in which expertise and flow studies appear to show a hemispheric shift away from the frontal left evidenced by a resulting reduction of left frontal activity and an increase in frontal alpha while facilitating a greater allocation of neuronal resources to the visual-spatial processes of the right brain, thus resulting in higher levels of performance. Recent interventions such as tDCS have been shown to have a positive effect on the facilitation of flow states that have followed this pattern and with more research may prove to be an effective intervention for real life applications as they are low cost, safe and non-invasive. Due to their simple application, it may be possible to conceive a work environment in which people are working at high levels of productivity with low levels of distractibility from low voltage of electricity.

[anthonychipoletti]

https://www.cnn.com/2014/03/25/health/b ... index.html

This is your brain on crafting
By Jacque Wilson

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi first described this phenomenon as flow: a few moments in time when you are so completely absorbed by an activity that nothing else seems to matter. Flow, Csikszentmihalyi says, is the secret to happiness – a statement he supports with decades of research.

“When we are involved in (creativity), we feel that we are living more fully than during the rest of life,” Csikszentmihalyi said during a TED talk in 2004. “You know that what you need to do is possible to do, even though difficult, and sense of time disappears. You forget yourself. You feel part of something larger.”

[live]

Ich habe in diesem Zusammenhang über Leistungssucht gelesen. Die völlige Hingabe in die Arbeit. Das ist bestimmt etwas anders, als Flow zB. mittels Musik. Der geistige Spielraum ist ein anderer, oder? Phantasie.

In this context, I have read about workaholism. The complete dedication to work. That is definitely something different from flow, for example through music. The mental space is different, right? Fantasy.

[anthonychipoletti]

https://www.cell.com/trends/cognitive-s ... 13)00049-1

Music is used to regulate mood and arousal in everyday life and to promote physical and psychological health and well-being in clinical settings. However, scientific inquiry into the neurochemical effects of music is still in its infancy. In this review, we evaluate the evidence that music improves health and well-being through the engagement of neurochemical systems for (i) reward, motivation, and pleasure; (ii) stress and arousal; (iii) immunity; and (iv) social affiliation. We discuss the limitations of these studies and outline novel approaches for integration of conceptual and technological advances from the fields of music cognition and social neuroscience into studies of the neurochemistry of music.

[anthonychipoletti]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/29/health/b ... index.html

What jazz improv can teach us about creativity and breaking the rules
By Sandee LaMotte

“When you hear great jazz, like John Coltrane or Miles Davis, it has this jaw-dropping quality to it, and what’s been described as ‘a sound of surprise’ takes place,” Limb said. “And you think to yourself, ‘Wow, that’s not just phenomenal music, that’s phenomenal neurobiology.’”

Could jazz improvisation be a key to understanding how the brain invents? Could that creativity be studied? An accomplished jazz musician himself, Limb was the perfect scientist to tackle the project.

[anthonychipoletti]

https://neuromodec.org/what-is-transcra ... tion-tdcs/

The basics of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS):
Transcranial Direct-Current Stimulation (tDCS) is a portable, wearable brain stimulation technique that delivers a low electric current to the scalp. A fixed current between 1 and 2 mA is typically applied1. tDCS works by applying a positive (anodal) or negative (cathodal) current via electrodes to an area. tDCS is a neuromodulation technique that produces immediate and lasting changes in brain function. The position of the anode and cathode electrodes on the head is used to set how current flows to specific brain regions. The current delivered by tDCS is NOT strong enough to trigger an action potential in a neuron; instead its “sub-threshold” changes the pattern of already activity neurons. Think of the brain as active, trying to do or learn something, and tDCS coming along to boost this ongoing activity. At the cellular level2, tDCS changes neuronal firing and by strengthening synaptic transmission between neurons by augmenting synaptic plasticity3 which is, in turn, the cellular basis of learning. tDCS is often combined with training. Training in itself produces learning (synaptic plasticity), and concurrent tDCS amplifies these effects (enhances synaptic plasticity). Some clinical applications tDCS is currently being explored for are depression, schizophrenia, aphasia, addiction4, epilepsy, chronic pain (migraine, fibromyalgia), attention, and motor rehabilitation. tDCS is also used for non-medical wellness applications, for example accelerated learning5, focus, relaxation, and meditation.6

[live]

Apropos Lachs..

https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/a-760220.html

[anthonychipoletti]

Apropos Lachs..

https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/a-760220.html

THIS STORY SOUNDS A LITTLE FISHY
Diese Geschichte klingt ein wenig faul

[Giulia]

Good morning.

I am posting this in English as my time is limited.

A little while ago I watched a very interesting video course on Udemy.com, which was on sale at the time with a 90% discount.

The author and instructor is: Gregory Caremans, Neurocognitive and Behavioral Expert (Gregory Caremans Brain Academy).

The title of the course is: Focus And Flow State: A Comprehensive Brain Guide A neuroscience perspective on Focus, from distractions and multi-tasking over improvement strategies to the Flow State

Towards the end of the course, after having explained what focus and flow are, the instructor gives the students the following assignment, whose wording partly explains his understanding of FLOW:

Flow is an exceptionally unique experience, and an activity that elicits a flow-like state for one person may be a burdensome chore for another. Even identical twins don’t necessarily find flow in the same events. Flow is extraordinarily personalized and intimately tied to one's individual skills and challenges.


As discussed before, flow occurs when the skills and challenges of a person match perfectly, and the activity just seems to glide, like water flowing down a stream. It can be a feeling of being "in the zone," or hitting a kind of "sweet spot" in your actions and thoughts. Here are the other hallmark characteristics of flow as described by MC:

Complete concentration on the task

Clarity of goals and reward in mind and immediate feedback

Transformation of time (speeding up/slowing down of time)

The experience itself is intrinsically rewarding, has an end in itself, is autotelic

Effortlessness and ease

There is a balance between challenge and skills

Actions and awareness are merged, losing self-conscious rumination

There is a feeling of control over the task



I’d bet that when reading those characteristics, some experience in your life instantly came to mind. If not, that's okay too. Not every flow experience is going to check all of those boxes but read through them carefully and try to remember a time in your life where you engaged in some activity that met at least a few of those criteria.

"My mind isn't wandering. I am not thinking of something else. I am totally involved in what I am doing. My body feels good. I don't seem to hear anything. The world seems to be cut off from me. I am less aware of myself and my problems. My concentration is like breathing I never think of it. When I start, I really do shut out the world. I am really quite oblivious to my surroundings after I really get going. I think that the phone could ring, and the doorbell could ring or the house burn down or something like that. When I start I really do shut out the world. Once I stop I can let it back in again. I am so involved in what I am doing. I don't see myself as separate from what I am doing." (Adapted from Csikszentmihalyi and Csikszentmihalyi 1988 b, p. 195)



Here is a passage from C & C s Flow Questionnaire, a tool used to study the subjective experience of flow. Read through it and think about a time you identified with the author:

There are certainly some activities that are more likely to elicit a flow like experience than others. You'd be hard pressed to find someone who reaches peak flow while doing their taxes or getting their teeth cleaned. Athletics is one area where flow experience has been extensively studied. Almost all professional level athletes report getting into some kind of flow when they are performing at their peak capacity. They are some of the fortunate people whose jobs are frequently flow experiences. Maybe you remember a time in your work where you felt something like flow? Another activity that is commonly reported to be a flow experience is artistic endeavors. From painters to musicians, artists often report getting into a kind of "trance" like flow state when they are rooted in the creative process. The same can be true for writers and creatives of all types. Even the appreciation of good art can bring about a flow experience when dancing, singing or listening to good music.



Some people find flow while driving cars, motorcycles or bicycles. People who sail or kayak often find a flow out on the water. Some people find flow in the kitchen while cooking. Some people find flow playing video games! In fact, playing, in general, seems to be an activity in which individuals frequently find flow. Playing chess, bridge, poker or other strategic games can often be a flow experience, perhaps because of how the challenges of the game continually rise and fall to meet the skills of the player. These activities are games, and they are immensely enjoyable, but still challenging, if not impossible to ever truly master. Conversely, there is not a lot of flow reported in playing “go fish” or tic tac toe. It is speculated that children seem to engage in flow states more frequently, often while playing. This is an interesting observation and likely due to many factors, one of which is a wonderfully child-like lack of self-awareness and self-conscious rumination that is, unfortunately, such a part of growing up.

Now you've hopefully identified at least one time in your life when you felt a flow experience. It is such an intuitive feeling to know when you are in flow but challenging to put your finger on exactly what it is that makes it that way. As an exercise, I'd like you to try to remember as much as you can about that experience and then write a response to the following prompt:

Questions for this assignment:

Describe the circumstances surrounding your flow experience, where were you? How did you feel emotionally, intellectually and physiologically before during and after the experience?

Looking back at the eight characteristics of flow, how many of the criteria did you meet in your experience? Describe how your activity met those criteria in detail. Which ones did it not match? Why?

as a reminder, here are the 8 characteristics of flow again:

1. Complete concentration on the task

2. Clarity of goals and reward in mind and immediate feedback

3. Transformation of time (speeding up/slowing down of time)

4. The experience itself is intrinsically rewarding, has an end and purpose in itself

5. Effortlessness and ease

6. There is a balance between challenge and skills

7. Actions and awareness are merged, losing self-conscious rumination

8. There is a feeling of control over the task



What steps can you take in your life to cultivate that feeling of flow and increase the amount of time you spend engaging in your chosen flow activity?

[live]

That's cool! Thanks a lot, Tony!