Reply to comment

I thought our conversation about unconscious learning was very interesting this past week. We concluded that unconscious learning in general is not just a template but that we have to use reafferent loops, put them into practice, in order for what was learned to become ingrained. This got me thinking about what we previously learned, that practicing certain actions cause those patterns of neuronal activity to become ingrained (piano playing, sports, etc.). In the case of such unconscious actions, we are programed to run certain reafferent loops, whether we like it or not. This may help explain "perfectionists", who have to do something right or in the right way so as not to feel anxious, and maybe even cases of OCD. A close friend of my has rather debilitating OCD...he has certain patterns throughout each day that grow harder for him to break the more he practices them. Is the psychological reasoning behind his OCD related todiscomfort in breaking certain conscious or unconscious loops?

Another thing that interested me from this week's conversations was the negative feedback loop of weight control vs pain sensation. It is funny that something which seems to be in our control, weight loss and gain is really not, as there is a certain set point that changes with age which we cannot deviate from without consciously thinking about it, while something that seems to not be in our control, pain, really has to do with our state of mind and is something we can have more control over. Both processes, negative feedback loop for weight control and pain sensation, can be interrupted or affected by conscious processing. I'm not sure if this is the best example, but my lacrosse coach told us that when her 9-month old son Jack, who will stand up holding on to a wall, falls down on his bottom, she and her husband will cheer and clap for him. His face may seem upset right as he falls down, but when he sees the happy faces and hears the reassuring cheers, he starts to smile and laugh. Jack's conscious processing of the positive reinforcement "gets in the way" of the pain sensation.