Re: Can a person reprogram their neural computation unit?

Dear Craig,
First, we’ll skip the part about voltage patterns. There’s a much simpler answer. The electroencephaolgraphy of the human brain (the subject is electroencephalography) is too far removed from the simple answer. Although a lot of work is currently being done in the field of neuroelectroencephalography as it applies to behavior, the information is very abstract to date, to all but a few. We don’t even have the basics down such as mood - the differences between anger and joy are so subtle that mountains of papers have been written on attempts to distinguish the two.

But yes, indeed the brain is continuously reprogramming itself, not only while you are awake, but also while sleeping. What you are refering to is a cognitive process. Human behavior is continuously evolving, to some degree, throughout our lives, although most of your ‘programming’ is determined by age 5, more or less. Every action, experience, and thought goes into building this program, which can some times go wrong - according to cognitive theory, although most of us in pharmaceutical chemistry tend to lean towards bad neurochemistry as the culprit for much brain malfunction.

A good example of programming gone bad in adult life, which then results in some mysterious neurochemistry is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, such as is witnessed with war veterans, victims of automobile accidents, rape victims, etc. (I use a brain gone bad because it truly exemplifies an alteration in one’s programming. But, 50,00 soldiers can fight in the same battlefield, perhaps 1 in 100 in develop PTSD. Behavior modification has been unsuccesful, for the most part, as a treatment - meaning that the new programming has so many bugs in it, so to speak, that it can’t be re-written, rather, re-edited back to its original form. Drugs have only been succesful in induceing a calmer state - ie., doped up, but provide no hint of a cure. This may indicate, to date, that the problem is not neurochemically related - at least, we haven’t found any neurochemical marker other than those associated with high anxiety, fear, anger, and stress. Together, these two things indicate that the brain has been re-programmed, although it is not a good one.

I beleive the field you want to look directly into is referred to as neuro-linguistic-programming, or NLP for short. NLP (similar on the surface to hypnosis, but specifically used for reprogramming) is employed by many professionals in the field of psychology and psychiatry in order to directly ‘re-program’ (and that is the exact terminology used) human behavior. For instance, NLP has been very succesful in reduceing stress, relieving sexual dysfunction, eliminating bad habits such as scratching, biting, etc, alleviating addictive symptoms such as experienced with smoking (some but not much work has been done with drug addictions)...

Most interesting, I believe for you is the dubious effect NLP can have on memmory. Hypnosis has been employed to ‘retreive’ memmories for some time now, although it is swiftly comming to light that hypnosis does not retreive memmories, it rather creates new ones, if not done very carefully, possibly over writing old ones in the process.

For instance, UFO abductions (see NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILES OF ADULTS WHO REPORT "SUDDEN REMEMBERING" OF EARLY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES: IMPLICATIONS FOR CLAIMS OF SEX ABUSE AND ALIEN VISITATION/ABDUCTIONS EXPERIENCES, M.A. Persinger, ‘Perceptual and Motor Skills,’ 1992, vol 75 p259-266) which are popular today, in this paper are clearly presented as a cerebral phenomenon, not an actual event, brought on by - typically, a verbal command, often from a councelor who mnight suggest during therapy that he or she was physically abused or abducted by aliens.

The alteration of cognitive pathways is, in fact, discussed in some length in this paper, if I recall, and goes quite detailed into brain function, neural function, etc. (a direct answer to your question). Another excellent paper is ‘Past-life identities, UFO abductions, and satanic ritual abuse: the social construction of memmories.’ Spanos-NP; Burgess-CA; Burgess-MF. International Journal of Clincial Exp. Hypnosis. 1994 Oct, vol 42(4), 433-46. This paper goes into some length describing how these ‘experiences’ are actually written into the individual’s memories by faulty hypnotic procedures. These False Memories (the syndrome is called False Memmory Syndrome - it actually has a name, we’ll use FMS for short) are ‘solidified’ (is the term) into genuine memory to the extent that no man or machine can tell the difference. These are now physically encoded memories, not differentiable from any other memory, although they did not occur. In some cases, as are pointed out in this paper, the false memories have to be removed by another psychiatrist.

Neuro-linguistic programming takes advantage of this ‘false memory’ effect, effectively over writing current unwanted programs, such as my smoking program, some one else’s overeating program. When repeated over and over again, NLP is extremely effective.

Turning bitter old people into timid nice people? Don’t know if has ever been tried. Success with something like that would vary from individual to individual. Belief patterns, such as experienced in our world view or religious faith is still primarily untreaded turf in this field, although many professionals believe that our belief patterns are not mutable - the ‘Near Death Experience’ and church of Sun Yung Moon (Moonies) seem to be exceptions to this rule.

In fact, even physiological changes can be brought about. Very, very few people are aware of the following references:
1. Breast Development through Hypnotic Suggestion. Leslie M. LeCron, B.A. Journal of American Society of Psychosomatic Dentistry and Medicine. vol 16, no 2, p58+

2. Breast Enlargement Through Visual Imagery and Hypnosis. Richard D. Willard, MD. The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. vol 19, no. 4, p195+

3. Hypnotic Stimulation of Breast Growth. Allan R. Staib and D. R. Logan. The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. vol 19, no. 4, p 201+

The reason I point these out is that the human mind can not only over-write gross cognitive function such as is seen when we quit smoking or have false memories, but produce physiological changes which are directly measurable in our own bodies. These three papers clearly point out that the method was hypnosis and the results were both measurable and permanent, as well as significant, with respect to the physical size of the womens breasts. The method primarily (is hypothesized to have) affected hormonal balance, a gross physiological change. I don’t have references off hand for this, but my understanding is that body builders in olympics are using NLP to replace steroids these days, with the same results, minus the side effects of steroids.

If you are interested in ‘reprogramming’ the key areas to look into are:
Hypnosis, neuro linguistic programming, electroencephalographicaly driven stimulation (EDS), light-sound devices or sound-light devices - [EDS and sound-light devices fall into a category called ‘entrainment,’ which is sort of the opposite of neurofeedback - or neurofeedback in reverse], you might even rent a truly classic film called ‘The Manchurian Candidate...’ A must see. You should also look into electroencephalography, although you should begin with the basics - you’re likely to misunderstand what you’re reading and end up misleading yourself into knowing it wrong - or perhaps the ‘false memory’ of it...

William J. Bray