Beneficial Yawning?

[LoneMateria]

http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/1109/expert.html

What do you guys think ... pseudo-science or not pseudo-science?

[OldGit]

What do you guys think ... pseudo-science or not pseudo-science?

Do you think this might be a clue?  

This essay is from the book: HOW GOD CHANGES YOUR BRAIN

[LoneMateria]

I didn't see that

[Squid]

I've read some of Newburg's stuff and usually his science is pretty decent, it's the conclusions he draws from the data that don't seem warranted.  For instance, in "Why God Won't Go Away" he talks about some research with SPECT scans on Tibetan Buddhists meditating and Franciscan Nuns praying and found commonalities in particular brain function especially in parietal lobe functioning which parts of create our "spatial filter".  This filter tells us what is us and what is other things in the space we occupy.  Break down of activity or alteration of activity in these areas begins to make that distinction fuzzy and people feel "at one" with "something greater".  All fine and good and cool but the conclusion Newburg makes about this supporting the "possibility" - he doesn't necessarily come directly out and say "this means God exists" (he's not direct or completely conclusion about it) - that some "greater power" may exist and so on and so forth.

Now he isn't necessarily wrong about the action of neurotransmitters when yawning.  Much of the research I've read concludes that yawning has a small anti-sleep effect by effecting the actions of serotonin and acetylcholine.  Excessive yawning has also been somewhat linked to some cardiovascular diseases if I remember correctly.  Yawning is also "contagious" due to our wonderful mirror neuron system (in a large part but not completely responsible) and has a history in primates of being used in social situations.  But I guess if someone wants to force themselves to yawn a lot - go ahead if it makes you feel better.  However, I would be as enthusiastic as old Andrew in his article as my understanding is that the effects of yawning on ligands in the brain isn't all that powerful - maybe lightly to moderately (at the most); but hey, yawn if ya want.  [/2cents]

[Kylyssa]

I've read some of Newburg's stuff and usually his science is pretty decent, it's the conclusions he draws from the data that don't seem warranted.  For instance, in "Why God Won't Go Away" he talks about some research with SPECT scans on Tibetan Buddhists meditating and Franciscan Nuns praying and found commonalities in particular brain function especially in parietal lobe functioning which parts of create our "spatial filter".  This filter tells us what is us and what is other things in the space we occupy.  Break down of activity or alteration of activity in these areas begins to make that distinction fuzzy and people feel "at one" with "something greater".  All fine and good and cool but the conclusion Newburg makes about this supporting the "possibility" - he doesn't necessarily come directly out and say "this means God exists" (he's not direct or completely conclusion about it) - that some "greater power" may exist and so on and so forth.

A bit of Ganja will make one feel at one with the universe, too, but I scarcely take it as support for the existence of God.  To me, it just shows me how complex and un-designed the human brain is and how little fiddling it takes to create mental and emotional artifacts and glitches in perception.  

I once took a medication which severely compromised my sense of time.  Time seemed to be running out of order with one moment not flowing into the next but simply existing in a bubble which popped as another bubble of deja-vu filled future formed.  While on that medication I said such bizarre things to my partner as, "Don't you remember, we went to the bookstore tomorrow?"  This isn't evidence that time is not linear, it's evidence that specific neurological activity in the brain produces specific responses and that my brain was misinterpreting data.

[OldGit]

I once took a medication which severely compromised my sense of time.  Time seemed to be running out of order with one moment not flowing into the next but simply existing in a bubble which popped as another bubble of deja-vu filled future formed.  While on that medication I said such bizarre things to my partner as, "Don't you remember, we went to the bookstore tomorrow?"

Got any of that stuff left?

[karadan]

I once took a medication which severely compromised my sense of time.  Time seemed to be running out of order with one moment not flowing into the next but simply existing in a bubble which popped as another bubble of deja-vu filled future formed.  While on that medication I said such bizarre things to my partner as, "Don't you remember, we went to the bookstore tomorrow?"

Got any of that stuff left?

I do  

[Ultima22689]

I once took a medication which severely compromised my sense of time.  Time seemed to be running out of order with one moment not flowing into the next but simply existing in a bubble which popped as another bubble of deja-vu filled future formed.  While on that medication I said such bizarre things to my partner as, "Don't you remember, we went to the bookstore tomorrow?"

Got any of that stuff left?

I do  

Can I have some?

[karadan]

You in the UK?