There were so many excellent papers at this year’s British Association Festival of Science, that I still haven’t had been able to comment on all of them, but here’s another one that I found interesting for two reasons.

Bruce Hood, who is Professor of Experimental Psychology at the University of Bristol, presented an interesting paper on the near-Universality of superstitious beliefs and magical thinking. In his view people are naturally biased to accept a role for the irrational, and magical thinking is hard-wired into our brains.

Magical thinking is invaluable to an artist: being able to make new connections is the key to their creations. But it has long been argued that either rejecting or accepting magical thinking may both be potential triggers of psychopathology. I once treated a young Israeli man who, during the first Gulf War, became convinced that Saddam Hussein was personally writing the Israeli man’s name on each Scud missile. He refused to remove his gas mask, and eventually his thinking became delusional.

Bruce’s conclusion is that magical thinking and a belief in the supernatural is an evolutionary adaptation. He goes on to argue that the rabid atheists who blame organized religion for the spread “illogical thinking” and a belief in the supernatural and are just plain wrong. Instead he contends that religion may capitalize on a natural bias to assume the existence of supernatural forces.

In a world in which religious fundamentalism is something of a challenge, he had this to say:
“It is pointless to get people to abandon their belief systems because they operate at such a fundamental level that no amount of rational evidence or counter evidence is going to be taken on board to get people to abandon these ideas.”

Bruce has carried out studies to show how the brains of even young babies organize sensory information. They supply what is missing and use the information to generate theories about the world.

In adulthood, the visual centers of the brain still fill in details that are not there, as shown in common visual illusions such as the blind spot. Several years ago we did some experimental work on facial recognition, and it is remarkable how little information is needed to recognize a face: the brain supplies the missing pieces of the picture. This childhood “intuitive reasoning” persists in to adulthood and may explain many aspects of adult magical beliefs. We are programmed to see coincidences as significant and to attribute minds to inanimate objects.

One form of this is known as pareidolia in which vague and random stimuli are misperceived as recognizable patterns. Examples of this are seeing shapes in clouds or in a fire. With the new information from the European Space Agency, perhaps we could include seeing the Face on Mars.

Professor Hood used an interesting example. He offered members of the audience the chance to wear a sweater, for which he would pay them a sum of money. They were all happy to do so, until they heard that it had supposedly belonged to a mass murderer, when suddenly there were no takers. Many said that they felt that the clothing was contaminated with evil.

But I don’t think that Bruce has taken something else into account. According to the theory of spiral dynamics, we are all mixtures of Memes. We tend to associate magical thinking with the Purple Meme. It would be very valuable to look at a person’s developmental level and to see how much he or she engages in magical thinking. Someone once said to me, “Are you superstitious?” I said, “No, but I do understand that there are many forces at work in the Universe, and we do not yet know all of them.”

Are you a magical thinker, or is it that you are aware of the unseen forces of the Universe?

“The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.” –Eden Philpotts (Indian-born English Novelist, Dramatist and Poet, 1862-1960)

There is a fascinating new approach to treating chronic pain.

The story goes back two years, to the publication of important research from a team at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, in Bath in England. They wrote a paper in which they tried to link joint pain in neurological conditions. They wanted to see how the pain of rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia and complex regional pain syndrome might relate to phantom limb pain (PLP) experienced by many amputees.

They suggested that in each condition there is reorganization in the sensory regions of the cerebral cortex. And it is this reorganization that generates pain and an altered body image. It seems to be just the same in rheumatology patients as has previously been hypothesized for amputees with PLP; that is a motor/sensory conflict. The body and the sense don’t match and it hurts. Their initial research indicated that something incredibly simple: using a mirror could help people correct of this conflict. They were able to show that a mismatch between motor output and sensory input creates sensory disturbances, including pain, in rheumatology patients and also in healthy volunteers.

In a second paper the investigators were able to show that doing a movement while looking at a distorting mirror could quickly induce uncomfortable symptoms in fit healthy people.

For over two decades, David Blake - the senior author of this research - has championed the idea that there is an important neurological component in inflammatory arthritis. It all started with a simple observation that has puzzled generations of clinicians: why is it that joint involvement in inflammatory arthritis is so often symmetrical? It isn’t surprising if both hips get arthritis: they will likely both have been subjected to a lot of wear and tear. But why should arthritis involve the second joint of the index finger in both hands? It has always looked as if this might imply some neurological contribution.

The idea is that although pain may have originated in inflamed joints, it is maintained and exacerbated by the nervous system. This fits with a fact that has been known to acupuncturists for centuries and has been replicated in pain clinics around the world. If you can interrupt what we call the pain cycle - constant chronic pain that feeds on itself and gets progressively worse – then you may often see pain relief for weeks or months, or sometimes even indefinitely. It is quite common for chronic pain to have had a clear physical precipitant, but to be maintained by key regions in the brain.

This new research strongly supports these observations, implies that the successful treatment of chronic rheumatological pain may involve a neurological approach, and offers a brand new therapeutic option.

“The speaker is only a mirror. Where you can see yourself. When you recognize yourself clearly, you can put aside the mirror.”–Jiddu Krishnamurti (Indian Spiritual Teacher, 1895-1986)

“Perception is but a mirror, not a fact. What I look on is my state of mind reflected outward.”–A Course in Miracles

Today being Halloween, I was thinking about some of the deep beliefs that some people across the world still hold about this day.

I’ve just come across an extremely interesting report from Baylor University entitled American Piety in the 21st Century.

It is a survey conducted by the Gallup Organization of 1,721 randomly selected individuals, that examined some of their beliefs and attitudes.

I was particularly drawn to it because of the undoubted relationships between health, faith, religion and spirituality.

Here were some of the key findings:

• 8% of men and 18% of women surveyed thought that psychics fortunetellers. Astrologers and palm readers could foretell the future
• 41% believed that ancient civilizations such as Atlantis once existed
• 37% believed that places could be haunted
• 28% thought that it was possible for the mind to directly influence the physical world
• 25% believed that some UFOs are extraterrestrial spaceships

My first reaction to these figures is just how low they are. Certainly lower than many previous studies of this type.

I was also struck that few of the respondents could have been aware of some of the research that seems to indicate the existence of some form of psychokinesis: the ability of the mind to influence objects in the material world.

Of course this work is controversial, but there really is enough data for us to realize that there is a case to be answered.

If you are interested in looking into this in more detail, I recently compiled a short reading list that you can find on the Amazon website.

“Without mastering breathing, nothing can be mastered.”
–George Gurdjieff (Armenian-born Adept, Teacher and Writer, c.1873-1949)

I strongly recommend breathing. It’s actually one of my favorite pastimes….

Of course breathing is all-important, but it is just as important to ensure that you are breathing in good quality air. Scattered throughout the world are weather fronts accompanied by hot dry winds of ill repute:

• The Santa Ana Winds of Southern California,
• The Mistral of France
• The Khamsin of North Africa
• The Foehn of Switzerland
• The Sharav in Israel
• The Chinook of Canada
• The Sirocco in parts of the Mediterranean
• The Xlokk of Malta
• The Zonda in Argentina
• The Halny of the Carpathian Mountains

These are just some of these winds, that have been known for centuries to precipitate a variety of symptoms in the exposed population, including depression, irritability, insomnia and headaches. The explanation of these effects is an increase in the number of positive ions in the atmosphere, which alter the amount of serotonin in some parts of the brain. I was consulted about an epidemic of headaches amongst people working in an electrically insulated room. It soon became clear that the setup had allowed an enormous concentration of positive ions, and once they installed a negative ionizer virtually all the headaches stopped. We believe that many of the beneficial effects of high altitudes or of being near waterfalls of fountains spring from the way in which they generate large numbers of negative ions.

Poor oxygenation of the lungs has been known for many years to be associated with disease. Pulmonary tuberculosis classically affects the upper lobes of the lung, where there is the poorest oxygenation, and it has been known for a century that people suffering from a blockage of the mitral valve of the heart, which leads to high blood pressure in the lungs, do not get tuberculosis in that part of the lungs.

Conscious control of the breath enables us to modulate the activity of the autonomic nervous system. Specific types of breathing can induce specific psychological and physical effects.

We usually breathe through one nostril at a time. Either the right or left nostril is dominant for anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours. You then switch sides. This is known as the nasal cycle, and is one of the faster circadian rhythms. The popular yogic practice of single nostril breathing is thought to feedback directly into the hypothalamus of the brain. You can learn to use this to your advantage. If you are right handed, if you direct your focus onto opening the right nostril, you may well find an increase in salivation, which is an aid to good digestion. A useful trick that we have used for many years is at bedtime to start by lying on your left side, which has the effect of opening the right nostril, and after ten minutes roll onto your right side for sleep. Again you reverse this if you are left hand dominant. It seems that this simple trick lowers your core temperature, which is one of the main determinants of sleep. There is some research that opening the right nostril increases body temperature, while opening the left has a calming effect. These techniques are often very helpful. Apart from these physical effects, using the breath is one of the quickest ways to learn to sense the subtle forces of the body.

You may already have some breathing practice that you like, and by all means continue using it. If you need a new one, the simplest that I have ever been taught, and that I have used with countless students and patients is this:
Count your breaths. Breathe deeply using your abdominal muscles, so that you are drawing more air into your lungs. Stop immediately if you feel faint or dizzy. As thoughts come up, keep concentrating on the incoming and outgoing breath. Gradually slow the breath, by extending the pause between the inhalation and exhalation.

I always make myself unpopular when I insist that people check with a healthcare provider before stating any exercise plan, including breathing. But I’m going to say it anyway. It just makes good sense!

“Controlled deep breathing helps the body to transform the air we breathe into energy. The stream of energized air produced by properly executed and controlled deep breathing produces a current of inner energy which radiates throughout the entire body and can be channeled to the body areas that need it the most, on demand. It can be used to fuel a specific physical effort, such as tennis or jogging. Or you can use this current of inner energy to relieve muscular tension throughout the body, revitalize a tired mind, or soothe localized aches and pains.”
–Nancy Zi (American-born Chinese Opera Singer, Voice Teacher and Qigong Expert)

I recently reported about some research from SIngapore that indicated that the spice turmeric might help with cognition.

Today there is a study form the University of Arizona in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism suggesting that the spice may also be helpful in experimental rheumatoid arthritis. In line with most other studies of herbal supplements it is interesting that the maximal effect was obtained by using the natural form of turmeric, that contains three major "curcuminoids," the likely active ingredients. If one of the three is missing, the effect is a lot less.

The extracts appears to work by preventing the activation of a protein that controls when genes are switched on or off in the joint. Once the protein known as NF-KB is activated, it binds to genes and increases the production of inflammatory proteins, which in turn attack the joints.

This is not a surprise: In traditional Indian Ayurvedic medicine turmeric has been used for centuries as a treatment for inflammatory disorders including arthritis. Based on that, dietary supplements containing turmeric rhizome and turmeric extracts have been sold for years. However, there’s been little direct evidence that they are helpful.

We are going to need more research before we can sy whether turmeric supplements can be recommended for medicinal pruposes, and eating more spices is unlikely to work.

These findings are opening up a new approach to treating not just rheumatoid arthritis, but perhaps also other inflammatory diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, asthma and multiple sclerosis. Interestingly the turmeric extract also has another effect: it deactivates a biochemical pathway that leads to the resorption of bone. So it may help with osteoporosis.