When I switch to left side control of my head it is more like I am discovering the coordination of the different elements than directing them. I can ask for a certain movement such as the turning of my head but there is no way I could have thought of all the separate pieces. However once performing the movement and feeling the different elements of control initiated on the left I can remember them for the next time and try to include them in the movement. The movement feels to be more complete as I discover the different structures that can contribute.
In looking at a person's image in profile that I only see the left side of the head I do see a persona unlike when I view the left side from a full frontal position. What I think I am doing normally in the left profile instance is my right eye dominates and almost makes an assumption what the other person right eye/face/persona is on the clues suggested by the left side image. The dominance of my right eye takes over in reading the left side of the profile. If I put my attention in my left eye I have the same incomplete sense of the persona as I do when see the frontal image. I have to pay attention and scan a few seconds longer before I am able to see a persona suggested. Most of the time the persona is more complete when my right eye is directing the scan than my left.
If I close my right eye and look at a someone in the frontal image I don't have any trouble in ascertaining the persona with the natural inclination of seeing the right eye /face even though I am using only my left eye. However there feels to be a suggestion in myself that my left eye does not come up with the persona but is communicated in my head and my right(left hemisphere) comes up with the image of the persona.
Of course there is a strong possibility that I am completely out to lunch.
Monday, June 1, 2015
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
The unfortunateness of being a motor moron
Still dealing with the question of why I couldn't tell the difference between most of the left side of my head and the right side. I can sense in terms of pain and touch quite easily but that is different than movement proprioception. In practising physical therapy there is sometimes the unkind phrase that the patient is a 'motor moron' (applied usually to the non- neurologically involved patient). It could be a very smart patient or one not quite as bright but when you would ask for a specific movement you would get something completely different than what was asked. Many times it was the phrasing of the language but plenty often the person was incapable of processing what was said in their body. In the training based on the work of Moshe Feldenkrais a generalization could be made, that the person could not differentiate the separate parts and structures in his/her body image.
In most simple terms I am saying I could not tell the difference in movement of the left side and right side of most of my head. The statement at first glance seems somewhat 'moronic' besides it's obvious reflection on myself.
PS Thinking more about this if I was numbed on the right side I believe I would still be able to tell if my mouth was opening on my left. So the above argument needs to be refined to feeling where the movement was initiated. That I could not feel the initiation of the movement on my left side of my head. It feels like I am developing a separate movement image.
In most simple terms I am saying I could not tell the difference in movement of the left side and right side of most of my head. The statement at first glance seems somewhat 'moronic' besides it's obvious reflection on myself.
PS Thinking more about this if I was numbed on the right side I believe I would still be able to tell if my mouth was opening on my left. So the above argument needs to be refined to feeling where the movement was initiated. That I could not feel the initiation of the movement on my left side of my head. It feels like I am developing a separate movement image.
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
The Truth is a Half Less Scanned
The Truth is a Pathless Land
From previous post.
We used to believe the two parts of the brain work in harmony, but according to London psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist, there’s a definite shift in our modern culture which favors left-brain dominance—and it’s something we ought to watch out for and correct. In The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World (Yale University Press, 2009), McGilchrist discusses the hemispheres and their different “personalities,” and then shows a sweeping dissertation on the history of Western civilization as seen from the context of the divided brain. -
Tales from Both Sides of the Brain
Tales from Both Sides of the Brain
Why didn't I 'perceive' the left side of my tongue/throat/head as having the ability to control it's movement and instead perceiving it as one unit? I think for several reasons. One it is more efficient for control. Two I think it is what I see in most part in others from a very young age. Other people used one half of their faces in a less communicative way and I mimicked what I saw.When I now try and mimic what I see in others with my left half of face to their left half of face there is a feeling that I am connecting with the emotional/thought content expressed. It is an active process with my left side of head.
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Left Right and Different
The Divided Brain
We used to believe the two parts of the brain work in harmony, but according to London psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist, there’s a definite shift in our modern culture which favors left-brain dominance—and it’s something we ought to watch out for and correct. In The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World (Yale University Press, 2009), McGilchrist discusses the hemispheres and their different “personalities,” and then shows a sweeping dissertation on the history of Western civilization as seen from the context of the divided brain. -
Tales from Both Sides of the Brain
GAZZANIGA: ... And together, that's where the whole popularized notion of "left brain, right brain" came out of. And it was a little over-sold. And as we moved on through the study of these patients and others for fifty years, we learned, it's not quite that simple.
FLATO: Yeah, because we, everyone, walks around saying, I'm a left hand, a right-brained person. That's too right.
GAZZANIGA: It's fun, cheap. What's the new word now? Edutainment. It's a little something and a lot of fun.
FLATO: Michael, that word's thirty-years-old.
I have not read either of the books linked above but enjoyed listening and reading the linked interviews. I especially found Dr. Gazzaniga reports on cases of the right hemisphere being able to talk after many years of silence interesting. The awareness of my left sublingual musculature as a different structure from my right sublingual musculature did not exist for me until I went looking for it. In the same manner I was unaware that I did not see the persona in the left side of someone else's face. It took a great deal of time and effort and play to discern the difference of how I see another's face and the way there is a total adaptation of my musculoskeletal orientation based on what I see. I believe I can now talk using both hemispheres of my brain based on the new musculature and perceptual differentiation.
Monday, March 16, 2015
Baby talk
Infants with a clear hand preference show advanced language ability as toddlers
The study suggests there may be an advantage to having consistent hand preference as an infant. Results showed children who had clear early hand preference performed better on language skills tests than those who did not develop handedness until toddlerhood. Those who were inconsistent in their hand use as infants, but developed a preference for the left or right hand as toddlers, had language scores in the typical range for their age.
Why do elephants have trunks?
Such apparent disadvantages to side preferences, notwithstanding, new research on elephants by Martin suggests there are also some benefits. She finds that limiting precise movements to one side of the body--and subsequently one-half of the brain--may lead to better muscular control, leaving the ambidextrous with less dexterity than animals who specialize.
Elephant drinking problem
The study suggests there may be an advantage to having consistent hand preference as an infant. Results showed children who had clear early hand preference performed better on language skills tests than those who did not develop handedness until toddlerhood. Those who were inconsistent in their hand use as infants, but developed a preference for the left or right hand as toddlers, had language scores in the typical range for their age.
Why do elephants have trunks?
Such apparent disadvantages to side preferences, notwithstanding, new research on elephants by Martin suggests there are also some benefits. She finds that limiting precise movements to one side of the body--and subsequently one-half of the brain--may lead to better muscular control, leaving the ambidextrous with less dexterity than animals who specialize.
Elephant drinking problem
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Structure versus perception
I am feeling sublingual musculature on my left influences the use of my face/head in a way that it becomes the dominant side while in use. It is hard to maintain for long but I can switch in/out of it more easily than before. In my day to day communication I try at times to talk and communicate while in the left side dominant mode. My usual is still to see the 'persona in the right side of someone I am communicating with but I can more often find the 'persona' in the left side with some effort and attention. It suggests to me that any lateralization of my brain for communication was more a matter of perception than structure.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
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