default brain network

[Guest guest]

One of the things that seems most difficult for new and old trainers to make sense of is the idea that there is generally a benefit to training down ALL brain activity. I just read today an excellent post from the brainmaster list, sent by Bob Thatcher about brain activation levels, and I wanted to make it available to members of braintrainer as well.

The default brain was discovered by PET and fMRI researchers when they noticed that the baseline oxygen, blood flow and energy consumption of the brain decreases when one is engaged in a task in comparison to simply resting with eyes closed or eyes open (like we

use in QEEG). Also, the higher the I.Q. the more the brain decreases its energy utilization when engaged in a task. This counter intuitive finding is still a puzzle however it is very important to our understanding of brain function. It turns out

that there is a system of the brain that includes the posterior cingulate gyrus, the precuneus, the bilateral temporal lobes and the midline prefrontal cortex that is involved in maintaining the " self "

or creating the " self narrative " or the " autobiographical self " . This system of " self homeostasis " or " self maintenance " is a very energy expensive system and consumes large amounts of oxygen and

blood flow within the most interconnected parts of the brain. Subjects that have a better regulated or homeostatic " self " have more resources to allocate for tasks. When the metabolically expensive " self referential " system is out of balance, then there is

a high price to pay in diminished functioning or efficiency in other brain regions. NeuroGuide, especially with LORETA, consistently shows the " default " brain regions and our recent analyses confirm

and are consistent with the fMRI and PET studies of the " default " brain structure.The reference to some of the important studies on this subject are available at http://www.appliedneuroscience.com/Articles.htm and

download articles #38, #39 & #40 or click on the hyperlinks to the articles below:http://www.appliedneuroscience.com/DTI-CORTICAL-CONNECTIVITY.pdf

http://www.appliedneuroscience.com/Maturation%20of%20default%20network.pdfhttp://www.appliedneuroscience.com/Default%20mode-a%20brief%

20history.pdf

.. _ -- Van Deusenpvdtlc@...

http://www.brain-trainer.com305/433-3160The Learning Curve, Inc.