Peter Slattery

I am always delighted and impressed when I read things like this because it is outside the oblong…kinda thing. There is I think, a quiet joy in the knowledge that people continue to push past, look further…try something else…so here are some grabs from an article by Douglas S. Fox.

He writes of Allen Snyder at the Centre for the mind Sydney University who has been studying savants who of course can do extraordinary things. What I find interesting and encouraging though is Snyder applying his findings more broadly. He says:

‘Even accomplished artists sometimes employ strategies to shake up their preconceptions about what they’re seeing. Guy Diehl is not a savant, but he is known for his series of crystal-clear still lifes of stacked books, drafting implements, and fruit. When Diehl finds that he’s hit a sticking point on a painting, for example, he may actually view it in a mirror or upside down. “It reveals things you otherwise wouldn’t see, because you’re seeing it differently,” he says. “You’re almost seeing it for the first time again
When Diehl finds that he’s hit a sticking point on a painting, for example, he may actually view it in a mirror or upside down. “It reveals things you otherwise wouldn’t see, because you’re seeing it differently,” he says. “You’re almost seeing it for the first time again.”‘

And we may never know just what is happening for a savant, a person of exceptional and unusual talent. But Fox quotes Snyder as saying with vision and optimism:

“I envisage the day, he says, ‘when the way to get out of a [mental rut] is you pick up this thing those of us with jobs that demand a certain type of creativity and you stimulate your brain. I’m very serious about this.’”

Yeah sounds okay doesn’t it.

This stuff is just interesting isn’t it…on TV Australian Broadcasting Corporation 9/09/2008 and the reporter is Kerry O’Brien speaking Norman Doidge about his, I guess now, pretty famous book.

And whether you think it is fabulous or not, there is hope and inspiration in some of the things he says, and some of the new research around brain development.

KERRY O’BRIEN: ‘There’s the claim that we can radically improve how we learn, think, perceive and remember, even in old age. Is that proven?’

NORMAN DOIDGE: ‘Yes, it is proven.’
Now that has to be good news doesn’t it!

And Norman Doidge goes on to say that:

‘…you actually turn on genes inside the nerve cells in your brain to change the number of connections between those cells. You can double them in a matter of hours between nerve cell A and nerve cell B. So, what we’ve discovered with neuroplasticity is that consciousness can direct genetic expression, and neuroscientists are looking at all the sort of points along that trail from consciousness, ultimately to structural change in the brain and altered behavioural expression as one of the chief tasks right now.’

And:

‘Once you understand that plasticity exists from cradle to grave, what it means is that a development, which most people think of as, really, child development, is something that goes on throughout the course of life.’

And:

‘…when you think thoughts or learn something, you actually turn on genes inside the nerve cells in your brain to change the number of connections between those cells.’

Dunno about you, but that all makes me feel pretty good.

This is my nan, at the time she was well into her nineties, sharp as a tack and a joy to be with.

I am always interested in what helps us flourish…and having older people in the family, and looking at getting older myself as we all will do, (if healthy and lucky), I am interested in the social research as well as the neurophysiological stuff. So…

There is much research about just what it is that helps us as humans, grow and develop, sustain ourselves and flourish. And the research just keeps adding up, and these are the elements I keep talking about. And while you might use different words to describe these elements, they keep on looking something like these four:
- A sense of belonging and security
- Good loving relationships
- Feeling like you are in charge of your life, being in control or having personal power
- A strong and positive sense of self

And not far behind them are these three:
- Having a sense of meaning in life
- Other’s positive expectations. If people expect the best of someone, they may well see it emerge. The reverse is also true
- Hope. A sense of being able to survive, get through, continue.

On this favourite topic of mine, I continue to say that I think these ingredients are relevant both in people’s lives as well as having a place in group work, therapy, social contact groups, schools, sports clubs, communities; indeed all aspects of the welfare and health systems. Actually, they make sense in terms of people generally.

The latest brain research
We are finding out stuff we just never knew because of new technology like MRI’s. And we are discovering that sayings like: ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks…..may just not be true.

REAL YOUNG: The first three years of life are REALLY important…this is when we develop neural pathways….
ADOLESCENCE is REALLY important…there is a new development of grey matter and as always, it becomes a case of ‘use it or lose it’
GETTING OLDER. As we get older, if we wish to retain interest and vigour in life, it is REALLY important to ‘…learn something new, rather than simply replaying already-mastered skills.’ (P253 Norman Doidge. ‘The Brain that Changes Itself.’
I may be wrong here, but I think the message is: ‘DO STUFF!’ (Interesting stuff, fun stuff, new stuff, challening stuff…)

And so with resilience and ageing in mind, here is an (almost) gratuitous pic of my family at one of our ‘five generations’ gatherings.