Welcome back. In my last post I talked about how an analysis of linguistic behavior could reveal structural brain deficiencies (e.g., the Goldberg example) as well as functional brain deficiencies (e.g., the Adult Attachment Interview example). In the Goldberg example, as well as in the insecure attachment example, the interviewee was not able to maintain context. In the Goldberg example, the interviewee fixated on the various objects that surrounded him such as the tape recorder being used, or a passing bus outside. In the AAI example, the interviewee fixated on canned speech reflecting social expectations such as “he was, so, so, so caring … always, always there for me.” In both cases the interviewee was not able to keep the mind of the interviewer in mind reflecting a lack of “mind-in-mind” or metacognitive processes. With respect to the insecure attachment interview, the interviewee began experiencing the past as if it were happening in the present moment reflecting an inability to engage in the Executive Function skill of mental time travel.
As mentioned in my previous post, Goldberg knew that his patient had sustained damage to the upper part of the brain. He expected the kind of interview he recorded, one that revealed perseveration and field-dependent behavior. During an AAI interview, the interviewer does not know what to expect necessarily. And the interviewer does not key in on one particular utterance but looks for consistency and coherence across the entire interview. If the interviewee says that an early attachment relationship was “supportive,” then the interviewee should be able to provide concrete (as opposed to canned or stereotypical) evidence as called for by Grice’s maxim of Quality: Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.
So, what’s going on in cases of insecure attachment? Modern attachment theorists, such as Allan Schore, Louis Cozolino, and Dan Siegel, argue that early attachment relationships that are not safe and secure (and possibly chaotic) can affect brain development resulting in certain brain deficiencies as reflected in the AAI. Now, keep in mind that these deficiencies are revealed during the AAI while the attachment behavioral system is deliberately activated. Again, this is why you may not recognize these deficiencies during, say, a self-report survey purportedly designed to assess for attachment functioning. Allan Schore’s work goes a step further and argues that early safe and secure attachment relationships are key to the development of right brain structures and functioning. And this brings us back around to Goldberg’s insights concerning creativity, which is where we will go next.
I am simplifying Goldberg’s work here to the point of risking libel. In my defense, I am doing so as a way of affording understanding (not unlike MacLean’s use of the triune brain model). For the full story, please read Goldberg’s book Creativity—The Human Bain in the Age of Innovation.
Apparently the left brain is a pro at recognizing objects in the environment and recording information concerning those objects like tape recorders, buses, and even social objects like “a really, really, really great dad.” Both Goldberg and the AAI interviewer recording an insecure attachment narrative should be writing in their chart notes: “Can identify objects, left brain seems to be OK.”
Apparently the right brain is a pro at recognizing context or relationships or gestalts (i.e., wholes). In essence, the right brain places an “umbrella,” if you will, over a collection of objects in a way that gives them meaning and context. When I was in the throes of a migraine and experiencing global amnesia, it would have been nice had my right brain stepped in and said something like, “Whoops, sorry, yeah, those objects are associated with your lawyer’s office. You are at your lawyer’s office and you are waiting to sign and execute the will you had him draw up last week. Have fun! Got to go.”
That is a real example. I was at my lawyer’s office and I had no idea why. For an extreme example of global amnesia, I am going to point you in the direction of a YouTube content creator who I watch from time to time by the name of Chase Hughes. Chase is a member of the Behavior Panel. In this video he describes helping his wife enter the hospital to deliver their baby. However, he did not know who is wife was. He knew that she must be important to him. He reacted to the social cues in canned ways (e.g., smiling and helping out) hoping that context would once again reappear. If my examples fail you, please watch this video. Chase is so amazingly articulate. He even gave voice to my rather mild experiences of global amnesia brought on by migraine headaches.
Both Goldberg and the AAI interviewer recording an insecure attachment narrative should be writing in their chart notes: “The right brain, and the context it normally brings, seems to be missing.”
Goldberg essentially suggests that for creativity to emerge, two things must happen: First, the left brain must have an opportunity to be immersed in an environment long enough that it can interact with objects and record information about those objects. This is the role of formal education systems. Second, the right brain must be able to “make sense,” to create a whole out of the various pieces the left brain brings in. As McGilchrist puts it in his book The Master and His Emissary, “One of the most durable generalisations about the hemispheres has been the finding that the left hemisphere tends to deal more with pieces of information in isolation, and the right hemisphere with the entity as a whole, the so-called Gestalt [italics in original]—possibly underlying and helping to explain the apparent verbal/visual dichotomy, since words are processed serially, while pictures are taken in all at once.” Here’s an example from my life.
As I get older, I find it harder to recall certain things, like names. The other day I was trying to remember Ralph Nader’s name. Couldn’t do it. So I asked the left brain for “objects” in relative isolation:
- Tall, lanky guy
- Talks in a monotone voice
- Consumer advocate lawyer
- Tattered suits
- Fought against the Chevy Corvair
- Fought against the Jeep CJ
- My father didn’t like him much
And, boom, his name popped into my mind as if a picture. I think it was that last one that did it ;-) So, the various objects that form the Ralph Nader “picture” are stored in different parts of the brain. And it’s the right brain who places the Ralph Nader umbrella over all of those objects (at least for me). But in order for the right brain to do its thing, there are two more things that need to happen: First, the right brain must be properly developed. This is the role of caregivers, especially attachment figures. Second, the right brain must be afforded the luxury of what Goldberg calls undirected mental wanderings once the default mode of the brain is engaged. Simply, the best way to solve a problem is to just walk away, wander, chill out, think about something else, listen to music, do yoga, relax. As you are chilling out, the right brain comes over and looks at the pieces assembled and comes up with a possible gestalt, something that makes sense out of it all, not unlike the young son or daughter who comes over and inserts the puzzle piece you have been searching for for hours. Of course, lawyer, Corvair, tattered suits, is Ralph Nader. As Goldberg points out, the benzene ring appeared in a dream. In fact, many great and creative ideas appear this way.
So, what’s the takeaway here? The left and right brains must learn to work together. In his book The Master and His Emissary, McGilchrist describes in detail how civilizations over millennia have vacillated between left-brain dominance, right-brain dominance, and balanced. Yes, culture reflects brain structure and functioning, and McGilchrist has the gift of reading such structure and functioning like interpreting an Adult Attachment Interview. As you might expect, right now we are in a period of left-brain dominance. As unpolitically correct as this may be, caregivers, especially mothers, are critical to the process of proper brain development. Placing infants and young children in daycare and pre-K at earlier and earlier ages will have a deleterious effect. And schools removing opportunities for the right brain to chill and for undirected mental wanderings to takeover—sports, recess, music, arts & crafts, etc.—likewise will adversely effect brain development. Students not encouraged to read and to read full books where the brain can experience multiple pieces spread out over space and time ultimately being brought together as whole—deleterious. People attached to the Internet where objects in isolation are the order of the day—deleterious. In addition, the objects that the Internet delivers are essentially canned social contrivances that algorithms find for us. I’m sure the right brain looks over and says in disgust, “Nope, sorry, can’t make head nor tail out of that mess.” It is no wonder young people are having such difficulty, difficulty that often leads to social isolation, drug addiction and even suicide. Let’s look at this a bit closer using the above model.
Using myself as an example, when I’m in the throes of global amnesia, not unlike Chase in the video above, I’m praying that context and the right brain will come back and make sense of it all. Unfortunately, too often people get into similar spaces and they will do whatever is necessary to bring back the right brain. Sadly, the various addictions that surround us are called upon to provide context, to provide the soothing effects of the right brain. These addictions work … but only temporarily. In the mean time, the left brain is bringing in more and more objects—not unlike the situation Mickey faced in the Sorcerer’s Apprentice—that need context. And so more right brain substitutes are sought. It’s a never-ending cycle.
Can right brain functioning be improved? Depends. If there is no underlying organic issue, then, yes, possibly. Psychodynamic therapy (as opposed to cognitive-behavioral therapy) is designed to immerse you in the world of the right brain. In essence, the therapist acts as a surrogate right brain engaging in all manner of mind-in-mind processes and experiences. As Allan Schore points out in his work, the therapist acts as a surrogate parent. It is a time consuming and laborious process, one the patient or client must be dedicated to. And, of course, there’s the financial price tag. Sure, cognitive-behavioral therapy could help. However, as Cozolino points out, it’s not so much the methodology that brings about a therapeutic effect; it’s the client-therapist (attachment) relationship that does the heavy lifting.
At the end of his book, Goldberg does talk about the effects of technology on the brain. Goldberg says that the technology genie is very much out of the bottle and there’s little that can be done. Surprisingly (at least for me) Goldberg seems to be in favor of Ray Kurzweil’s soon-to-come Singularity where the brain will be downloaded into a machine. Throwing off the organic body and the right brain’s intimate connection to that body is definitely one solution. Addictions are about throwing off the body. Sitting in front of a computer (as I am doing right now) is about throwing off the body. It would seem that we have been in a long period of throwing off the body, which goes along with the left-brain dominance we currently experience. Looked at in this light, then, yes, institutionalizing kids at earlier and earlier ages, removing opportunities for undirected mental wanderings from schools, getting kids (and many adults) to form attachments with their devices, discouraging deep reading, all makes perfect sense. But is it really the world we want?
As Damasio points out in his book Feeling & Knowing: “When people think of ‘uploading or downloading their minds’ and becoming immortal, they should realize that their [posthuman] adventure—in the absence of live brains in live organisms—would consist in transferring recipes [italics in original], and only recipes, to a computer device.” Damasio gives us this bottom line: “Following this argument to its conclusion, they would not gain access to the actual tastes and smells of the real cooking and of real food.” Becoming a recipe reminds me (as my right brain is telling me) of a Twilight Zone episode that freaked me out as a kid—To Serve Man. From Wikipedia, here’s the closing narration:
The recollections of one Michael Chambers, with appropriate flashbacks and soliloquy. Or, more simply stated, the evolution of man. The cycle of going from dust to dessert. The metamorphosis from being the ruler of a planet to an ingredient in someone’s soup. It’s tonight’s bill of fare from the Twilight Zone.
Postscript: In his 2016 book entitled
