Neuropsychological Idiosyncrasies (Neuropsychoidiology Preface)
Have you ever wondered if we all see the same color blue when we look up into the sky? I did, a long time ago when I was a kid without any of my formal education in psychology or neuroscience. Back then I didn’t know that color was a perception derived from how the wavelengths of color hit the retina, at the back of the eye, and then carry that information into the brain to give rise to our experience of color. I didn’t know color was actually subjective. The question occurred to me because I loved blue so much and I couldn’t understand why others also didn’t love it. Maybe people didn’t see what I saw and that’s why it wasn’t everyone’s favorite color. What if my blue might be someone else’s red. What if we just all learned to name a particular color “blue” even if we saw something totally different? When I watched my 2-year-old learn colors, I realized how likely that was. I’d point to my blue and say “blue”. Eventually he would repeat it. Eventually he learned “blue”. But was his blue the same as mine?
By then I had already learned that blue was subjective. One day, I noticed that even in my own eyes, one eye saw things with more of a rose tone and the other with more of a green tone. It took a brightly-lit ice surface of the hockey rink and me closing one eye then the other to discover this idiosyncrasy. The neuroscientific explanation for this difference from eye to eye is that the retina houses photoreceptors that respond to three specific colors (red, blue, green) and exist in different proportions. My educated guess is that my right eye that sees more pink, has a higher proportion of red photoreceptors. My left eye that sees more green, has a greater proportion of green photoreceptors. We know this to vary across people and we also know that there are gender differences in the proportions of these receptors. So likely, it varies even within an individual, like me.
Now, I don’t expect you to read this book because my eyes see different colors. This would be a trivial discovery to most anyone else but me. However, this neuropsychological idiosyncrasy is just one of many examples of the study of idiosyncratic psychological and neurological experiences. Knowing that we have individual differences (even within our own visual system) can serve to remind us that diversity exists and that all experiences are valid. If my two eyes had a conversation about blue they could argue endlessly about whether blue was the best or they could appreciate that they see things differently and both experiences are valid, and in this case, supported by neuroscience. (Note: my right eye does like blue better than my left eye.)
Now, more than ever, we need every opportunity to appreciate, honour, and be compassionate about individual differences. Discovering for ourselves our own uniqueness is a good place to start and it goes well beyond color perception. Exploring basic human experiences like mental health, drug experiences, relationship with food, human intelligence, and sex, gender, and reproduction (all sections of this book) are all useful areas to explore to gain more insight into who and why we are as humans, individually and collectively. Learning that the human is much more diverse than the binaries, categories, and classifications we are often assigned to is freeing, at least it has been for me.
I have been thinking about how and why I am the way that I am and why others are the way that they are my whole life. That interest is what led me to formally study psychology and neuroscience so I could better understand myself and others. This process of self-discovery is what I call Neuropsychoidiology — the study of our own mind, brain, and behaviour. What I am sharing in this book are some interesting examples of how the mind and brain work, and in particular, how MY mind and brain work. On the surface this book looks like the story of my brain, mind, and behaviour, but in actuality, I’m just an example, a character with whom others can identify. I share my own experiences as openly and vulnerably as I possibly can about my experiences with anxiety, depression, obsessions, and paranoia. I also share how I respond to marijuana, caffeine, and ginseng. I also admit to a past abusive relationship with food and with my own body. And I share how my own brain has formed biases and prejudices despite my best efforts to be anti-racist. I also share my experience growing up thinking I was a dumb kid and ended up finding an intelligence that is not accounted for by an IQ test. While reading about my experiences, you should feel inspired to learn about your experiences and about those of the people around you. You should become curious to develop your own hypotheses, observe, and test what you think is going on. Many people have responded well to the approach of neuropsychoidiology. People have told me they feel less alone knowing others share their experiences. Some people have also told me it helps them better understand their friends and family and to find tolerance and compassion. Most of my students love the opportunity to connect neuroscience with their very own self.
Learning specific neuroscience and psychology concepts is an added bonus. The book includes further readings for those who want to go on to read primary and secondary research articles. There is also a list of terms at the end for people to revisit if they want to. There is also a community of people to connect with about these concepts for anyone interested. Neuropsychoidiology is a way of integrating the age-old practices of self-discovery and science with a more holistic approach to human nature.
My work in neuroscience, psychology, and later in meditation, mindfulness, and yoga (perspectives that are infused throughout this book), has taught me how to understand myself in a way that has been empowering and liberating. Self-knowledge has helped me make better choices in business, as a parent, as a teacher, in sports, and for my own mental and physical health. Having a clearer sense of who I am, helps me understand what I can and cannot do, what I should or should not do, and what I want to and don’t want to do. I feel more accepting of myself as a whole and extend that acceptance to others. I feel like I can be a better person in this world by using my unique gifts, talents, and strengths in my work, relationships, play, and life in general. I also feel more connected to and compassionate with others, knowing that we all share some similarities, despite our individuality.
I don’t really want to spend any more time introducing this book. If you’re here, you’re probably ready to dive in. Personally, I never read the preface… or when I do it’s often after long after I read or skimmed the book in the first place. I’m too eager to get started. So let’s dive in. My suggestion is to read whichever chapters make sense and to do it in whatever order makes sense. Each section stands alone. I don’t read many books cover to cover. I dabble. And so this can be a dabble too.
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Courses on Neuropsychoidiology available through the Centre for Applied Neuroscience: https://www.knowyourbrain.ca/courses/neuropsychoidiology
