OT: (NOT A JOKE) Be careful what you wish for....

[Fairlight]

On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 10:31:15AM -0700, after drawing runes in goat's blood,
Bill Campbell cast forth these immortal, mystical words:
> On Tue, Sep 14, 2010, Richard Kreiss wrote:
> >>From my non-technical brother.
> >
> >This is interesting reading.
> >
> >http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11263559
> 
> That makes excellent points.  I don't know my wife's mobile phone
> number as it's on speed dial on my phone.

I'm really good with memorising phone numbera.  But I have to talk to
someone about four times to remember their name.

> If the UK article is correct about actual changes in the brain,
> and it's applicable to government schooling, that's really
> depressing.

I have every reason to believe the article makes meritorious claims.

Briefly, with my experience with OCD and anxiety disorders, I've learned
that with 'x' repetitions of behaviour and dealing with things a certain
way, your brain builds more and more of a specialised network dedicated to
handling those tasks.  Part of what Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy does is
to short circuit those specialised pathways and break down that network.
It literally rewires the portions of the brain associated with specific
behaviours being targetted.

The same principles would logically apply in general, especially as OCD
is typically simply an exaggeration of normal behaviours.  The underlying
neurological mechanics should be the same, however.  The brain works
much like the typical depiction of a self-optimising, adaptive neural
network--in fact, it's the original model that computer scientists have
struggled to emulate.  Yes, it works that way, definitely.  It's been shown
with PET scans.

This article makes so much sense, it almost states the obvious.  Except
it's not obvious until/unless you run into a problem situation that draws
attention to the underlying problem.

It's a more clinical citation of the "use it or lose it" factor of learned
behaviour.

mark->
-- 
Audio panton, cogito singularis.