Bernard D. Beitman M.D.
Connecting with Coincidence
The
Resonating Dance of Intention and Synchronicity
Imagining the future programs the reticular activating system.
Posted March 10, 2024
Reviewed by Jessica Schrader
KEY POINTS
The human prefrontal cortex is designed to anticipate the future.
Intention involves creating images of desired futures.
The reticular activating system (RAS) can filter information in desired directions.
By Bernard Beitman, M.D., and Ruslana Remennikova, M.S.
To intend is to imagine and design desired futures. Intention can play a significant role in the creation
of synchronicities.
In this post, we weave together the prefrontal cortex, reticular activating system, intention, and synchronicity.
Humans are evolutionarily equipped to imagine the possibilities of the future. Psychological approaches to human functioning often focus on how the past creates problems in the present. Building on the work of psychologist George Kelly, psychiatrist Fred Melges (1982) presented evidence for the value of emphasizing the future to enable psychological change.
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Homo Futurus
Our large prefrontal cortex is involved in higher cognitive functions such as decision-making, planning, reasoning, and self-control. In some individuals with depression, there may be abnormal functioning in areas of the prefrontal cortex.
This abnormal functioning is often associated with depressive symptoms such as cognitive deficits, executive dysfunction, emotional dysregulation, and pessimistic views of the future (Pizzagalli, Roberts, 2022).
The human brain is constantly processing a vast amount of information from various sensory inputs simultaneously. While the exact number of stimuli that the brain filters per second fluctuates, here are known baselines:
The eyes process approximately 10,000,000 bits per second.
The skin processes around 1,000,000 bits per second.
The ears process about 100,000 bits per second.
The sense of smell processes around 100,000 bits per second.
The sense of taste processes approximately 1,000 bits per second.
The brain integrates and filters these stimuli to create our perception of the world around us.
For higher-level cognitive processes such as attention, decision-making, perception, movement decisions, language, and plans for the future, the estimated capacity for processing domain-specific information ranges from 2 to 60 bits per second. The conscious mind can only process a fraction of this higher-order information at one time.
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The capacity to consciously control cognition, which is also a higher-level function of the brain, has been estimated to be approximately 3 to 4 bits per second. This principle suggests that cognitive control has a relatively low capacity compared to other cognitive processes. (Wu, Dufford, Mackie, Egan, Fan, 2016).
Intention
Intention is a form of cognitive control used to create a deliberate, conscious, and purposeful mental state by focusing one's thoughts, attention, and energy toward a particular desired outcome. Intentions can range from short-term goals—completing a task or making a decision to long-term aspirations including pursuing a career path or fostering personal growth. Each person’s intentions encompass several aspects of one’s day-to-day interactions including relationships, health, career, creativity, and spiritual development.
Our Sensory Filter: The Reticular Activating System
Source: Diego69/Wikimedia Commons
Locus Coeruleus-part of the RAS.Source: Diego69/Wikimedia Commons
Holding certain images in mind focuses the reticular activating system (RAS) on the image. The RAS is a component of the reticular formation, found in the anterior-most segment of the brainstem. The reticular formation receives input from the spinal cord, sensory pathways, thalamus, and cortex and has efferent connections throughout the nervous system. The RAS itself is primarily composed of four main components: the locus coeruleus, raphe nuclei, posterior tuberomammillary hypothalamus, and pedunculopontine tegmentum. Each releases unique neuropeptides. In large part, these centers are activated by the lateral hypothalamus, which releases the neuropeptide orexin in response to the absorption of light through the eyes, which then stimulates arousal and the transition from sleep to waking (Arguinchona, Tadi, 2023).
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