Category: EPPP Preparation Materials

Keeping Mentally Sharp for your EPPP Preparation

Posted on in EPPP Preparation Materials, EPPP Study Tips by TSM Admin

A key concern for those involved in EPPP preparation is staying mentally sharp. That is why we have been running series of articles on brain fitness. Our previous post, ‘Michael Merzenich and Brain Fitness’, introduced the ground-breaking work of neuroscientist Michael Merzenich, a pioneer in the field of brain fitness.

Merzenich was part of the team that received grants to develop Posit Science Corporation. The corporation uses plasticity-based science to research and develop exercises that increase cognitive functioning. Their exercises are available through their website, Posit Science, which is essentially a brain fitness gym that subscribers can access for $10 a month.

I don’t get any money for recommending this resource, but do so out of pure enthusiasm for Merzenich’s work. One of the reasons I’m so enthusiastic about it is because it has been proved to slow down, and sometimes even to reverse, the mental degeneration that often accompanies aging. In an article on the PositScience website titled ‘The Brain: Changing the adult mind through the power of plasticity’, Theresa Boyle explained about this degeneration process:

“Research by Dr. Timothy Salthouse at the University of Virginia shows that by about age 22 our ability to make rapid comparisons, remember unrelated information and detect relationships are at their maximum. Speed of thought and spatial visualization also peak around this age. Reasoning peaks a little later, at about age 28, and then typically declines, as do the other skills.”

What we now know is that this decline is not inevitable and can be averted by treating the brain like a muscle: the more you train it, the stronger it will become.

This has enormous for those studying to sit the EPPP and dovetails with observations we made in our previous post ‘Be Careful How You Train Your Brain.’

Further Reading

Michael Merzenich and Brain Fitness

Posted on in EPPP Preparation Materials by TSM Admin

In his 1949 classic The Organization of Behavior: A Neuropsychological Theory, the Canadian behavioural psychologist D.O. Hebb pioneered ideas about the brain that greatly advanced our understanding of the “fire together wire together” principle.

Hebb’s work has been built on by Michael Merzenich, the professor emeritus neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco. (Merzenich is also the author of more than 200 scientific papers, and has appeared in two documentaries about neuroplasticity, and has been praised in the New York Times, Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, Time, Forbes, Discover, and Vogue.) Continue reading →

Abnormal Psychology and the Fire-Wire Principle

Posted on in EPPP Preparation Materials by TSM Admin

Our previous post, ‘Agoraphobia and Brain Plasticity’ explored how the principle ‘neurons that fire together, wire together’ is behind certain exposure therapies, including strategies used to help sufferers of agoraphobia.

This same understanding can be used, in conjunction with other therapeutic work, to help patients deal who are struggling with conditions of abnormal psychology, including sexual problems.

In Dr. Doidge book The Brain That Changes Itself, Doidge tells of a man who had experiences when he was young which caused the mind-maps for sexuality and aggression to become fused. Successful treatment involved finding ways to help him associate sexuality with things other than aggression and anger, such as love and gentleness. By disassociating the neurons that had fused sexuality with aggression, and then reinforcing healthy neuro-connections, the patient was able to eventually leave behind his sexual pathologies.

This understanding not only helps people who suffer from pathologies, but is also at the cutting edge of therapies to help people born with various types of learning disabilities. But more about that in a future post.

 

Further Reading

 

Neuroscience and the Freudian Revolution

Posted on in EPPP Preparation Materials by TSM Admin

In our recent series of blog post we have been sharing how many psychotherapists are now turning to neuroscience to better understand the mysteries of human behavior.

In our previous post, ‘Freud and the law of association by simultaneity’, we shared that some of Freud’s early theories of the brain were developed after laboratory research he conducted following the completion of his medical training. Continue reading →

Psychological Implications of Neuroplasticity

Posted on in EPPP Preparation Materials by TSM Admin

Our previous post ‘Of Thumbs and Monkeys’ looked at some basic physiological examples of the principle that ‘Neurons that fire together wire together.’ We’ve also explored the relevance this has for the smells associated with those of the opposite sex.

This phenomenon doesn’t just apply to fingers or to our relationships with the opposite sex, but has enormous psychological implications.

One of the reasons the bond between a child and mother is so strong is because the presence of mother is associated with the provision of food, warmth and comfort. When the part of the brain associated with food, comfort and warmth fires up, this happens simultaneous with the part of the brain associated with mother firing up. This is one of the reasons why simply being in mother’s presence can have a calming effect on a young child. Continue reading →

Of Thumbs and Monkeys

Posted on in Brain and memory, EPPP Preparation Materials by TSM Admin

I want you to do a little experiment.

Hold out your right hand horizontal in front of you, making sure to leave a gap between each finger. While keeping your hand as relaxed as possible, bend your thumb inward so that it touches, or nearly touches, your palm. As you do this, watch the tip of your index finger? Does it involuntarily move or twitch? Chances are that you will find it hard to move your thumb without there also being some movement in your index finger. Continue reading →