Sublime

The middle prefrontal region creates links among the following widely separated and differentiated neural regions: the cortex, limbic areas, and brainstem within the skull, and the internally distributed nervous system of the body proper.

I agree that the goal of therapy is to enable clients to experience greater flexibility in the world by having access to neural circuits that can efficiently dampen defense in appropriate settings and to utilize the phylogenetically older circuits for very positive outcomes.

Scientists have known for decades that the brain relegates more habitual jobs (like checking breathing and heart rate) to less thoughtful, more automatic, less energy-draining parts of the nervous system.

Of the many emerging descriptions of our social brain, for me the simplest and most elegant is the highly regarded Social Baseline Theory of Lane Beckes and James A. Coan, two researchers at the University of Virginia.

introduced by the legendary air force pilot and military strategist John Boyd: observe, orient, decide, and act.

The key point is that all the neurons are passing information back and forth, from the top down and from the bottom up and from side to side. It’s a highly parallel system, and one that is quite different from our self-perception of the brain as a monolithic, centrally controlled system.

In its place, a new field emerged, called cognitive psychology.

The instrument, it appeared, was driving the practitioner, rather than the reverse.