0.10 Biology and personality  (Page 17/22)

PET scan images of the author’s brain on the anti-Parkinson’s Disease drug l-DOPA (for research).

The use of these brain imaging techniques to study the mind during meditation raises the possibility that they may be useful in studying other altered states of consciousness. Indeed, Amir Raz and his colleagues (2005) have utilized fMRI and electrical scalp recording of event-related potentials to demonstrate that hypnotic suggestion reduces the activity of cortical regions in the brain that have been associated with conflict monitoring. In other words, when hypnosis is used to alter the behavior and cognition of individuals, there are recognizable changes in brain function. When the study of hypnosis is combined with the data obtained on alterations in brain function during meditation and under the influence of mind-altering drugs (see Mathew, 2001), it seems clear that the mind, either in its normal state or in various altered states, is reflected in unique states of neural activity. We may be a long way from fully understanding the details of the relationship between the mind and neural activity, and there may indeed be more to the mind than simply the neural activity itself, but this is certainly a fascinating field of study on the nature of who we are as individuals.

Discussion Question: Cognitive neuroscientists have begun to identify changes in brain activity associated with meditation, and similar changes occur during hypnosis. What do you think this says about the mind?

Martial Arts

When we think of the martial arts, most of us think of East Asia. The different forms are typically associated with the countries where they developed: Kung Fu in China, Taekwondo in Korea, and Karate and Judo in Japan. Actually, Karate was developed on the island of Okinawa, and, although it is part of Japan today, its martial arts history has been influenced more by Chinese settlers than by the Japanese (Chesterman, 2003; Hornsey, 2002; Johnson, 2003a; Lewis, 1993; Ribner&Chin, 1978). Today, however, the martial arts are popular worldwide. There are many forms in addition to those listed above, including Capoeira , a martial art developed in Brazil by African slaves (Atwood, 1999). Capoeira is a particularly complex martial art, involving play, dance, and music. As some slaves escaped, they banded together to fight Portuguese soldiers and help other slaves to escape. More recently, Capoeira was one of the inspirations for break dancing, an African American dance style that developed in the 1970s and 1980s (Atwood, 1999). Although the Western world certainly has its equivalent forms of armed and unarmed combat, such as wrestling, boxing, and fencing (e.g., see Styers, 1974), they are not typically thought of as belonging to the Asian forms of fighting known as the martial arts.

It is estimated that as many as 18 million people in America alone practice some form of the martial arts (Nathan, 2005), and martial arts films have proven very popular. From Bruce Lee to Jackie Chan, and more recently Chow Yun Fat (star of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon , which won four Academy Awards [Lee, Ling, Schamus,&Jung, 2000]), we have seen examples of the classic good-guy, an honorable individual defending those who are abused by others. The famous American martial artist and movie star Chuck Norris, in cooperation with former President George H. W. Bush, has established a national program called KICKSTART to introduce martial arts to “at risk” middle school students to raise their self-esteem (Nathan, 2005). Although the martial arts are often seen as an opportunity for athletic young men to engage in disciplined and/or ritualized combat, there are also programs for children of all ages, general physical conditioning, and people with disabilities (Chaline, 2003; Johnson, 2003b; McNab, 2003). There is also a rich history of women practicing the martial arts (Atkinson, 1983; Chaline, 2003b). Indeed, Bruce Lee first studied the Wing Chun style of Kung Fu, a style developed some 400 years ago by a Buddhist nun named Ng Mui and her student Yim Wing Chun, who was also a nun. It was later that Lee developed his own technique, known as Jeet Kune Do or “the way of the intercepting fist” (Lee, 1975; see also Johnson, 2003a; Lewis, 1993; Little, 1998; Ribner&Chin, 1978).