Objectivity & Kindness Creates Evolutionary Growth

I read an article recently by JOHN M. ALLMAN,a ATIYA HAKEEM,a JOSEPH M. ERWIN,b ESTHER NIMCHINSKY,c AND PATRICK HOFd. It is a report on the Evolution Of The Interface Between Emotion & Cognition. www.allmanlab.caltech.edu/PDFs/AllmanHakeemHofetal2001.pdf

There is an area of the brain that can identify the relationship between Emotion and Cognition. Specifically, this area can definitively show how our biology is affected & cognitive maturity is affected by our emotional state of being.
-Diana Howes

“We propose that the anterior cingulate cortex is a specialization of neocortex rather than a more primitive stage of cortical evolution. Functions central to intelligent behavior, that is, emotional self-control, focused problem solving, error recognition, and adaptive response to changing conditions, are juxtaposed with the emotions in this structure. Evidence of an important role for the anterior cingulate cortex in these functions has accumulated through single-neuron recording, electrical stimulation, EEG, PET, fMRI, and lesion studies. The anterior cingulate cortex contains a class of spindle-shaped neu- rons that are found only in humans and the great apes, and thus are a recent evolutionary specialization probably related to these functions. The spindle cells appear to be widely connected with diverse parts of the brain and may have a role in the coordination that would be essential in developing the capac- ity to focus on difficult problems. Furthermore, they emerge postnatally and their survival may be enhanced or reduced by environmental conditions of en- richment or stress, thus potentially influencing adult competence or dysfunc- tion in emotional self-control and problem-solving capacity.”

WE AS A LIVING HUMAN MACHINE (Brain & Body) BECOME BETTER AT LIVING BETTER WHEN WE PRACTICE OBJECTIVITY.
The following research shows how the above statement is biologically true, meaning, it’s our design as human beings.

It is also apparent in the research below that ADHD & lack of self control could be treated by increased practice of “OBJECTIVITY”.
The practice of “objectivity” or “zooming out” of the life-story will increase maturation (spindle cells) causing the anterior cingulate cortex to monitor performance and adjust behavior to optimize payoff.
-Diana Howes

“ANTERIOR CINGULATE CORTEX AND SELF-CONTROL: Posner and Rothbart have proposed that the anterior cingulate cortex is involved in the maturation of self-control as the individual progresses from infancy to child- hood to adulthood. In the classic condition of lack of self-control, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the normal response to the “counting Stroop” task is absent from anterior cingulate cortex. There is also evidence of increased func- tioning in anterior cingulate cortex in individuals with greater social insight and ma- turity. Lane and colleagues found that the activity of the anterior cingulate cortex was greater in subjects who had higher levels of social awareness based on objec- tively scored tests. In these tests the subjects wrote about how they would perceive a particular social situation and how they would imagine one of the participants to perceive that same situation. The discrimination of affect in faces, which contributes to social awareness, also selectively activated anterior cingulate cortex.”

Further reading of this research also indicates: AS PARENTS, IF WE ARE NOT PROVIDING SAFE, NURTURING & STRESS-FREE CONDITIONS FOR OUR CHILDREN, WE ARE AFFECTING OUR CHILDREN’s DEVELOPMENT (of their brain development of spindle cells) THAT CAN CAUSE: emotional self-control dysfunction & problem-solving capacity dysfunction.
-Diana Howes

“Thus it is conceivable that environmental stimulation, stress, and the quality of parental care might also affect the survival and development of the spindle cells during infancy, thus influencing adult competence or dysfunction in emotional self-control and problem-solving capacity.”

With the rates of ADHD and emotional dysfunction in children going on these days… isn’t it apparent that they are most possibly a generation of children raised in conditions of STRESS, DIMINISHED NURTURING & ENVIRONMENTS where they conclu…ded they were not “safe”?

Not that this is meant to “judge” any parent. It is not. We all do what we can to provide the best for our children the best we can & know how.

But, biology does not lie. And whether a child was “truly” safe is not what matters. It’s what the child “believes”. For it is what the child determines is “so” that gets imprinted neurologically.

Therefore, I can see it is the most important thing to be a NURTURER and LISTEN to our children. It’s most important to reassure our children, even when they are seeing a reality that is just an illusion. I can see, for the sake of healthy child development (and healthy adult development) that we must encourage one another with Kindness. Kindness shows others in this world they are safe. It shows them that they are not alone… that someone cares. THE ACT OF KINDNESS will allow the neurology of a person to evolve… THEN we as a species can EVOLVE into higher states of awareness and Love.
-Diana Howes