Holly A. Gultiano
One day I'd like to conduct a survey asking people who work in or study neuroscience how learning about the nervous system/s has affected their own sense of self, and what kind of impact it has made on their mental health
Jan 19, 2023 at 7:57pmWeb
Show threadNicole RustJan 19, 2023

It's a great question.

Its little sister might be the comfort we feel when we have to take a drug to treat an illness and we understand the mechanism by how that drug works. Understanding might not change anything about how effective the drug is, but it's comforting all the same (I always want to know).

But your question takes it a step further, where understanding mental health acts in a feedback loop that actually changes mental health. 🤔​.

@axoaxonic

Show threadHolly A. GultianoJan 19, 2023

@NicoleCRust Yes, for me personally, knowing some about what brains do and reflecting on that for my self has really affected my mental health (mostly positively) by providing context and understanding. It's also made me not take my sense of self too seriously, or at least help ground it in experience, memory, sense, etc

The transmutation of psychology and various therapeutics like drugs can be really amazing and helpful, but there's something really unique about relating the physical structure and mechanism of my own brain that's hard to put into words. It's qualitatively different than the those things, and I'm curious about others' experience with that feedback loop.

Show threadShannon DeMariaJan 19, 2023
@axoaxonic I was in grad school studying neurobiology for a PhD when I was diagnosed with MS, which threw a whole other layer of complication on things. It actually made me less likely to talk to people around me about it because every academic talk on the subject begins with the human costs the research was trying to mitigate, so we were all exposed to vivid descriptions of the awfulness of the worst outcomes, continually.
Show threadHolly A. GultianoJan 19, 2023
@shademar That's real, and makes me think of the phrase used by a lot of disabled people and advocates: "nothing about us without us." Sometimes I personally feel alienated by what seems to be mostly neurotypical people centering an "ideal brain" picture when I listen to a talk or read a paper on ASD, I can only imagine what it's like for you.
If you ever felt like writing more on your experience I'd definitely read it. I really believe people who have whatever condition is under discussion should be given the mic (if they want). There's a big difference between experiencing something and studying it from the outside, and the former doesn't get heard enough for a variety of reasons that would need their own thread.
Show threadacmJan 19, 2023
@axoaxonic I'm sure it depends a ton on the kind of neuroscience they do. I mean, I studied development, so I guess, sure, amazement that it works out such a high % of the time, but no real mental health consequences.
Show threadHolly A. GultianoJan 19, 2023
@acm_redfox The amazement is cool too. That's why I included "sense of self" or anything adjacent to that. "What kind of effect has studying neuro had on your own mind?" might be a better question; it's not very well-formed, hence the "some day" part of my post
Show threadTeixiJan 19, 2023

@axoaxonic

Check this ;)

https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/meta-neuroscience-studying-the-brains-of-neuroscientists

Which term is best?

#MetaNeuroscience
#MetaNeuroSelf
#NeuroMeta

Meta-Neuroscience: Studying the Brains of Neuroscientists

Meta-Neuroscience: Studying the Brains of Neuroscientists

Discover Magazine
Show threadHolly A. GultianoJan 20, 2023

@teixi Oh nice, the quantitative side. It seems to be about the effect of publishing on the brain which is pretty great to look at, but I like the one they mentioned of fMRI scans of people looking at scans (altho it was chest x-rays https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22194902/)

The first one is the most straight forward and understandable I think

How doctors generate diagnostic hypotheses: a study of radiological diagnosis with functional magnetic resonance imaging - PubMed

Generation of diagnostic hypotheses and differential diagnoses made through the immediate visual recognition of clinical signs can be a fast and automatic process. The co-localization of significant brain activation for lesions and animals suggests that generating diagnostic hypotheses for lesions a …

PubMed
Show threadLaurie BayetJan 20, 2023
@axoaxonic Well, after taking just one course in philosophy of mind, I now strongly prefer not to watch movies about (a) zombies or (b) completely losing grip on reality. I'm still good with (c) bats and (d) closed rooms, though, so all in all the side effects have been mild 😉
Show threadHolly A. GultianoJan 20, 2023
@lauriebayet Seriously, I don't want to be scared of the zombies and thinking about whether or not they have qualia