So what?! That’s a serious philosophical comment. We know we can change our ~mind’s~ structure by behavior — utterly obvious. So what does it tell us that we can also change our brain’s structure, unless you actually believe that mind is simply an epiphenomenon of brain.

Well, if mind is indeed an epiphenomenon of brain, then the fact that we can change our mind’s structure already told us we could change our brain structure. It’s just that the brain changes are undetectable with current technology.

If it isn’t, then the original question is of marginal interest.

Of course, there’s always another way for the mind to change the brain. Suppose I fall into a deep, suicidal depression and resolve to take my life. Being of a gruesome temperament, I take an icepick and… ummm details omitted for propriety… but fail to complete the job. Unfortunately, I do manage to inflict serious brain injury on myself and proceed through life with much altered intellectual capacities.

So in this case, something in my mind — the depression — led to a change in the brain — the injury.

I realize there are differences between that and the changes in the taxi driver’s brain form doing a lot of geolocating. But when you get down to it, both kinds of changes are mediated by physical processes: the former by signals to the muscles to pick up an ice pick and proceed with the deed; the latter, presumably by some yet undiscovered neurological/biochemical process in the body. But is there a fundamental difference from a philosophic standpoint?

–David.

Does this mean a pessimist can become an optimist and cognitively effect change of the reticular formation just through positive thought? So,then, a change in personal philosophy might effect a change in brain structure as well? (Assuming you philosophize enough) David - is the depression the brain’s or mind’s or both? (I guess if the chemistry is off in the brain the mind is victim too) How do we separate them? As for brain structure, maybe we develop more convolutions and neural pathways with repetitive activity like the cabbies. Anyway, it appears to me that, yes the mind just could be an “epiphenomenon”, sort of; the mind appears to be a representation of brain processes. So, therefore, thinking of the brain as a computer of sorts, you could only physically add a larger hard-drive, more RAM, faster processor to a computer to increase it’s capacity for input and output. You could download software to the computer(like repetitive mental processes?)….but no matter whether you typed letters to Hillary, produced charts, surfed, played games….you wouldn’t change your hard-drive size.You could change the amount of space dedicated to particular operations. A virus introduction could effect an informational meltdown …not mechanical (depression?) Rendering the computer a blithering idiot. Now,the idea that by doing more calculations my computer would gain a few gigs is cool. Amazingly it works with the brain and I’m unsure about whether that is equivalent to more software and info stored in space available or increasing space with larger hard-drive. Just some further musings.

iI HAVE BENN SUFERRING FROM DEPRESSION FOR MANY YEARS, THE DRUGS MADE MY HANDS FRAGIL AND SHAKING SOME MONTHS AGO I TRIED EXERCISES USING THE HANDS AND FINGERS AND SINCE THEM THE SHAKING I8S FAR BETTER I HAD THIS IDEA TO MAKE REVERSAL ENGINERING. SO IF A SHAKE WHEN NERVOUS I CAN ALTER BRAN BY MODIFYING THE STRUCTURES OF THE MUSCLES, NOW I AM TRING OTHER EXERCISES TO SEE IF I CAN SLOW DOWN ANCIETY.

Somos cuatro en mi familia y creo que todos tenemos características -no muy agudas-diferentes.¿Cómo debo actuar con respecto al dinero en nuestro futuro?Somos cuentapropistas…Muchas gracias…