Thread: what part of your brain thinks?

I watched a show the other day on sleeping or dreaming. Not sure what it was. I only cought a little bit of it. Anyway, they had some big names in the lucidity institute on the show. They were saying that when you fall asleep, one of the first parts of your brain to fall asleep is the logic center of your brain.
So when you have a lucid dream, does this part of your brain wake up? I have had only 1 lucid dreams in my life. the first one was an accident, the second was caused using a wild. In both cases, I remember being able to think very clearly.

Yup, you got it. For natural LDers this part of the brain is not fully shut down so they become lucid by themselves.

IMJ

Since realising you're dreaming involves reason and logic, clearly that part of the brain has to be activated to have a LD! Brodmann area 46 also seems to be highly relevant, and it's apparently one of the few areas normally deactivated during REM; it's responsible for attention and working memory. Without either, you'd lose any lucidity instantly.

"Hey I'm dream.... ooooh a pink elephant"

I seem to remember reading that an amino acid blend was actually able to reactivate a part of the brain involved in reasoning at certain concentrations, which is why it boosted the chances of an LD. Interesting stuff.


Edit: If you have a WILD though, then clearly parts of the brain are not deactivated.

As any modern college level psychology class will tell you, the brain is a complex organ of tissue and nerves and confusing gray matter -- not some nice color-coded diagram where specific parts of the brain are roped off and perform very specific functions. There are general centers of activity (logic center, pleasure center, etc.) but even these "centers" aren't very clearly defined. The brain is still very much a mystery, I'm afraid. Most people stick to the old tradition of color-coded diagrams, where everything just fits nicely together (it's nicer to think about that way, I suppose).

So, to answer your question, the entirety of your brain is thinking, all the time: your logic "center" (which is really a misnomer; I haven't met anyone yet who thinks completely logically) doesn't shut down when you fall asleep as much as it loses concentration... and then you lose track of it. I have no idea what happens in the brain when you become lucid in a dream xD

the entirety of your brain is thinking, all the time

Not only if that were true would this result in a seizure (as thinking would mean constant firing), but it also contradicts large amounts of MRI and PET scans which clearly show little or no neurological activity in different parts of the brain at different times.

It also ignores the fact that some parts of the brain are hard-wired and respond to certain stimuli only; an example is a vestigal part of the human brain which responds to light; not every part of the brain thinks. Thinking is a higher thought process which depends on many basic processes.

psychology class

Wouldn't that be a Biology class? Or Neurology?

Originally Posted by Photolysis

Wouldn't that be a Biology class? Or Neurology?

No he's correct. Intro level psychology, although you get more of it in a neuropsych class, they do skim the basics. In a gen bio class you don't even talk about the brain Of course it depends on the school, probably the professor and their interests/focus. But generally speaking, he's correct.

Whatever else I think is bad about the UK, apparently Biology features more about the brain than the US :p

I was taught the very basics of the brain and the major areas at 15 in my biology class. And this was not any specialised course, but something that everyone took.

Originally Posted by Photolysis

Thinking is a higher thought process which depends on many basic processes.

Well, yeah. Specifically speaking, my definition of "thought" is highly sentimental... I often reject hard science, as it offers the delusion that we have any idea about the reality of the universe...

Which is entirely beside the point xD

I suppose I shouldn't open my little mouth when I don't know anything about the subject. You see, the major colleges don't often allow squirrels to enroll (though I've found a few Community Colleges who don't mind).

Of course, if every nerve in your brain were constantly firing, you'd have something resembling an electric generator on your hands. Or in your skull, whichever. And the "hardwiring" you refer to is actually something I find very fascinating... I come across it a lot in my studies of animal behavior. Too much, in fact. Anyway, my point is, I'm sorry I said anything really. It was ten thirty at night when I typed that, so surely you'll forgive any factual oversight.

~tamias

The point is, referring to the process of thinking logically as a "logic center," and referring to lucidity as the "turning on" of that center is just shorthand. It is much easier to talk about the process of thinking as something concrete, and by monitoring (experimentally defined) logical thinking, MRIs have found that certain parts of the brain have more blood flow, which is an indicator of more activity. Does that prove that the increased activity is what produces the logic? No. The increased activity is only correlated, and one cannot base conclusions off of correlations (because some third party could be causing both events to occur).

That being said, in the case of non-WILD techniques, we don't know if the initial realization causes the "logic center activity" to increase, or if the "logic center" must be active before the realization. There is only a correlation. Based on my personal experiences in DILD, however, I think both outcomes are equally likely (depending on your effort in lucid dreaming at the time). Sometimes, first will come the initial spark in the dream that "turns on the logic center." I will become lucid based on a reality check. Once I become lucid, I suddenly notice all the other signs that it is a dream (I will notice that the text on the "Doomsday Billboard" is unreadable. I become lucid, and realize that there is no such thing as a "Doomsday Billboard" in real life.). Other times, I will be aware of the finer nonsense-details from the start of the dream (this seems to infer that my "logic center" remained active). I prepare for these dreams beforehand (WBTB/WILD). Both types of lucidity can attain the same quality once you get into good practice.