Generations of frontal lobes, working in close collaboration, have created culture

Van Der Kolk (2014). The body Keeps the score

Around Canada Day, we went for walks and drives towards Orangeville, in preparation for the G license. As I told my son Sahil to review the drive, the scenic route through Caledon, develop a road memory especially at the curves of the road as we go from 410 North towards 10 North at the edge of Brampton and Caledon, we went through a tool of David Burns (Feeling Good) in which we are to rate our mastery and pleasure on a scale of 10, and then generate a number with specific details of different components. We tried this for the different components of driving and also the scenic route. We remembered journeys on this route in the yesteryears , when we went towards Blue Mountains.

Remembering Ontario Science Centre

Over the years, I’ve visited the Ontario Science Centre (OSC) several times to see the special and permanent exhibits. My first visit was in 2014, when I was taking a manual medicine course at a nearby college. My younger son, Sahil, was studying at Camilla Road School at the time and was about to go to Gordon Graydon. One of my favorite memories from that visit was showing Sahil the different sounds of the forest. Another was making him appreciate a tree system that was part of a Masters thesis and donated to the center in 1971. While standing in front of the tree, I told him that his grandmother had done her Masters in Botany in India in the 1960s. Being from the life sciences, I found the section on the brain and the special exhibitions on different parts of the body and how they adapt to extreme weather and high mountains particularly appealing. The dioramas of immigrant families were especially touching.

SOUNDS OF FORESTS-Ontario Science Centre

Rating Mastery and Pleasure: An Application from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (Burns, 1981)

In this method, we break activities into parts and rate how good we are at them or how much pleasure they bring. This cognitive behavioural therapy tool can be used in various situations. For example, we watched “Chandu Champion” again and thought about how different generations have shaped the culture of sports. This reminded us of the 2012 London Olympics, which we attended at Celebration Square in Mississauga. That year, we moved to Canada from India after living in Malta for two years.

Van Der Kolk (2014) in this book -Body Keeps the score writes ” The frontal lobes allow us to plan, reflect, imagine, and play out future scenarios. They help us to predict what will happen if we take one action (like applying for a new job) or neglect another (not paying the rent). They make choices possible and underlie our astonishing creativity. Generations of frontal lobes, working in close collaboration, have created culture, which got us from dug-out canoes, horse-drawn carriages, and letters to jet planes, hybrid cars, and e-mail. They also gave us Noam’s lifesaving trampoline”

Picture from Van Der Kolk (2014) of a five year old’s drawing of what he witnessed in 9/11 at the World Trade Centre attack

Home Library and Journals

Our home library has books on Science and some interesting collections of pictures of scientific exhibits. The Ontario Science Centre gave many such memories. Will miss it.

Do you have a favourite museum or exhibit, which has enhanced your thinking about culture?

References

Burns, D. D. (1981). Feeling good (pp. 131-148). Signet Book.

Van der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. New York, 3.