Is this PROOF of the Power of Visualization?

[Dien Rice]

I just read something very remarkable in an article ... and I wanted to share it with you.

It seems to be strong proof of the power of "visualization". As many of you know, many people talk about the power of "visualization", and we've talked about it here on Sowpub before too...

Gordon Jay Alexander's "Square One Workshops" work, in part, because they are a visualization tool, to help you visualize your desired future... http://www.sowpub.com/sq1

Anyway, here's the passage I read...

(Begin quote)

Anyone who doubts the malleability of the adult brain should consider a startling piece of research conducted at Harvard Medical School.

There, a group of adult volunteers, none of whom could previously play the piano, were split into three groups.

The first group were taken into a room with a piano and given intensive piano practise for five days. The second group were taken into an identical room with an identical piano - but had nothing to do with the instrument at all.

And the third group were taken into an identical room with an identical piano and were then told that for the next five days they had to just imagine they were practising piano exercises.

The resultant brain scans were extraordinary. Not surprisingly, the brains of those who simply sat in the same room as the piano hadn't changed at all.

Equally unsurprising was the fact that those who had performed the piano exercises saw marked structural changes in the area of the brain associated with finger movement.

But what was truly astonishing was that the group who had merely imagined doing the piano exercises saw changes in brain structure that were almost as pronounced as those that had actually had lessons.

"The power of imagination" is not a metaphor, it seems; it's real, and has a physical basis in your brain.

(End of quote)

Wow!

The full article (by Susan Greenfield) is on a slightly different topic (focusing on what effect violence in games might have), but you can read it here...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...page_id=19 65

I just thought some here might be interested...

Cheers,

Dien

[Ankesh]

Thanks Dien.

I think the book - Psycho-Cybernetics talks about this research and explains the concept well.

You have to know the basics of piano. Only then will visualization help in improvement of your skills.

Research also shows that your dreams (sleep visualization) help you better your reflexes.

A recent psychology article on why we dream:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/artic...000003&print=1

What happens when a rat stops dreaming? In 2004, researchers at the University of Wisconsin at Madison decided to find out. Their method was simple, if a bit devilish. Step 1: Strand a rat in a tub of water. In the center of this tiny sea, allot the creature its own little desert island in the form of an inverted flowerpot. The rat can swim around as much as it pleases, but come nightfall, if it wants any sleep, it has to clamber up and stretch itself across the flowerpot, its belly sagging over the drainage hole.

In this uncomfortable position, the rat is able to rest and eventually fall asleep. But as soon as the animal hits REM sleep, the muscular paralysis that accompanies this stage of vivid dreaming causes its body to slacken. The rat slips through the hole and gets dunked in the water. The surprised rat is then free to crawl back onto the pot, lick the drops off its paws, and go back to sleep—but it won't get any REM sleep.

Step 2: After several mostly dreamless nights, the creature is subjected to a virtual decathlon of physical ordeals designed to test its survival behaviors. Every rat is born with a set of instinctive reactions to threatening situations. These behaviors don't have to be learned; they're natural defenses—useful responses accrued over millennia of rat society.

The dream-deprived rats flubbed each of the tasks. When plopped down in a wide-open field, they did not scurry to the safety of a more sheltered area; instead, they recklessly wandered around exposed areas. When shocked, they paused briefly and then went about their business, rather than freezing in their tracks the way normal rats do. When confronted with a foreign object in their burrow, they did not bury it; instead, they groomed themselves. Had the animals been out in the wild, they would have made easy prey.

The surprise came during Step 3. Each rat was given amphetamines and tested again; nothing changed. If failure to be an effective rat were due to mere sleep deprivation, amphetamines would have reversed the effect. But that didn't happen. These rats weren't floundering because they were sleepy. Something else was going on-but what?

Finnish psychologist Antti Revonsuo believes the marooned rats lost their ability to defend themselves not because they were exhausted but because they were robbed of their dreams. Dreams, he contends, are a training ground in which animals and people alike go over the behaviors that are key to their survival. Prevented from dreaming, the rats were unable to rehearse their survival behaviors. In other words, they were defenseless because they were out of practice.

[Ankesh]

I think that a difference of definitions has to be given between visualization and manifestation.

The airforce teaches their pilots the art of war in simulated rooms. These pilots are not actually flying. Yet, they are becoming better fliers because they practise in the simulation rooms.

Mind visualization is the same way - you're practising playing the piano in your mind.

But if you don't know piano at all and you visualize that you play very well and large crowds applaud - this won't make you a better piano player.

Visualization is a good time saving practise tool. But its not a magical manifestative tool.

[GordonJ]

Originally Posted by Ankesh

Visualization is a good time saving practise tool. But its not a magical manifestative tool.

Ankesh,

WHAT? You mean visualization won't help me win tonight's Ohio Lottery? What the __________ ????

I mean...

I play the right kind of music, paid 39.95 for it....I burn the right kind of "blessed" candles, with the visualization specific scent...I put myself into a hypnotic trance, and that only cost me 67 bux to learn.

Then I feel the check the state is giving to me. I see and feel the money, I visualize my bank account getting the winnings deposited. I see my bank teller going WHOA as she checks my account...which only yesterday garnered a snicker.

I see it clearly happening. I feel it. I smell it. I taste it. I ACCEPT it into my life.

So, just to disprove your so NEGATIVE thinking...today...and today only...

I'm actually going to buy a ticket.

HA!

Gordon Jay Alexander

PS. I've learned from years of golf instruction, that some people just can't visualize. I'm one of those that have difficulty with that part. However, I can and do use my super honed psychokinetic powers to move the ball to where I want it to go...after I hit it. AH, it again, comes down to...

hit the ball. (Insider's hee-hee)

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by Ankesh

Thanks Dien.

I think the book - Psycho-Cybernetics talks about this research and explains the concept well.

You have to know the basics of piano. Only then will visualization help in improvement of your skills.

Research also shows that your dreams (sleep visualization) help you better your reflexes.

A recent psychology article on why we dream:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/artic...000003&print=1

Thanks Ankesh,

This is fascinating! I've long been interested in dream research... I remember reading opinions of researchers who thought dreams had no purpose. Then others who think dreams are related to memory. I've read about lucid dreams. (That's where you are aware that you're dreaming, when you're in the dream... This often lets people control their dreams).

What you linked to and quoted is new to me - that dreams are a way to practice your skills, and play out new scenarios. But I think it makes sense!

When you're worried about something, you tend to dream about it. Students who are worried about exams, often dream about taking exams, for example. It's probably a way they can "practice" taking exams, before they take the "real thing"... People worried about asking a girl (or guy) out, tend to dream about asking that girl (or guy) out...

This suggests a way to use dreams for self-improvement. Before going to bed, think of the problem you want to solve. Really mull it over, go over what a horrible situation it is you find yourself because of this problem. Try to come up with many situations for solving it... All doing this while you're going to sleep...

With any luck, you'll dream about it. And you may come up with a solution!

It's worth a try. (I've been trying it since I read Ankesh's post - which is 2 nights of sleep because of my time zone - with a some success... Out of 2 problems I've tried to solve, I came up with what seems to be a good solution for one of them! I'm still working on the 2nd one... I think it's worth pursuing!)

Thanks Ankesh for sharing that piece of research!



Cheers,

Dien