Gay

Neurofeedback. So yes, you’re right there. I would tweak it just slightly by saying the brain is evaluated based on its connectivity—its functional and effective connectivity in many ways. That’s just one of the things we look at. Basically, when you don’t have really good connectivity, you fill in the blank. If neurotransmitters are not acting in the way they should act, either through physiological damage or neurological damage, then we’re filling in the blank. We fill in what’s not there, what’s not connected, what’s not real. We’re creating a reality. And Jeremy, that works in the system as well.

Bill B

Jack was talking about alternative realities and alternative structures. He mentioned music. I think we have someone sitting here who apparently has gone over to the “bad side”. Mark has decided that certain narratives are best told through something called music.

Mark

Well, it’s interesting that we have a kayak session at least monthly or more. And at the end, we have a book that we discuss. And this book concerns a lyric from Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah: “I heard there was a secret chord.” Basically, it seems like music is an important avenue. And going back to what Jack said about the work of Wendell Berry. Life is a mirror, integrating science, art, religion, and so forth. And in the art realm, certainly music. And it turns out, in biological terms, that music affects more areas of the brain than does just about any other activity.

Memory is organized in chunks. One of the reasons why music is an interesting avenue for wellness, is that there are many entry points in music for these chunks. My new chunk is playing the cello. But it’s hard to schlep around, so I’m picking up the violin. But hopefully, I’m spreading new circuits.

Gay, this has some potential for opening up a whole concept of integrative medicine. It is about epigenetics. It seems we have the same amino acid sequences, but there are different expressions. And perhaps music is an expression, a new word saying, filling in the blanks with positive, so-called top-line behaviors.

Jeremy

Mark, are you going to play something?

Mark

I just got the violin, so when I don’t sound like a cat scratching on a blackboard, I’ll be happy to.