The 10% brain myth

Referring to Earl Miller and Jonathan Cohen, two Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) neuroscientists Arrowsmith-Young (2012, p. 64) points out that the prefrontal cortex “provides ‘top-down’ bias signals to other parts of the brain that guide the flow of activity along the pathways needed to perform a task.”

The human brain always uses 100% of its capacity at all times

Our high-level and sophisticated executive thinking functions are necessary for us to carry out a wide range of cognitive, intellectual and behavioural functions, such as being able to reflect, to contemplate, to analyse, to plan (not pre-plan), and to evaluate our thoughts and our behaviours in terms of “past actions and future consequences” (Arrowsmith-Young, 2012, p. 62). The prefrontal executive function centre also allows us to consider and question our thoughts, emotions and behaviours in terms of goals, as well as being able to to suppress or positively (rather than negatively) act on impulses, or to inhibit inappropriate responses to internal and/or external stimuli.

Achievement and excellence is not an accident, it is crafted

The executive symbolic thinking centre of our brain also helps us to consciously and with deliberate activation delay “immediate gratification” (Arrowsmith-Young, 2012, p. 62), the aim of which is to be able to strive for and achieve long-term rewards at a later time. For example, such as putting off the action of watching television, playing an internet game, or any other non-goal directed activity; and instead choosing to study, to train, to practice, to work hard, in fact to do everything that is necessary to continue to improve in one’s knowledge and/or skills to achieve the aspiration of our choice. Achievement and excellence is not an accident, it is crafted.

The prefrontal cortex is the executive and symbolic centre of the brain

Whatever our hopes, wishes or desires; whatever our immediate, short-term or long-term plans (there ain’t no such thing as pre-plans), all of these thoughts, desires, hopes and plans begin in the prefrontal cortex, the executive symbolic centre of our brain. “The prefrontal cortex is the anterior part of the frontal lobe in front of the motor and premotor areas” of our brain (Arrowsmith-Young, 2012, p. 62).

The executive and symbolic thinking area of the brain is located in the left hemisphere of the brain: “The left hemisphere is the world of symbols and language” (Arrowsmith-Young, 2012, p. 91). “The symbolic thinking area allows us to consider everything [we are aiming to] achieve” (p. 62).

The executive and symbolic centre of the brain helps us to explore and contemplate all manner of thoughts, choices, and their potential consequences. The executive and symbolic part of our brain helps us to plan, to choose and select our best strategies, while at the same time allowing us to weigh our strategies against our intended goals, and to also ignore all manner of distractions, and to suppress all of the unnecessary impulses, and actions, that arise and may distract us from our immediate and planned future goals.

The prefrontal cortex “provides ‘top-down’ bias signals to other parts of the brain

Referring to Earl Miller and Jonathan Cohen, two Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) neuroscientists Arrowsmith-Young (2012, p. 64) points out that the prefrontal cortex “provides ‘top-down’ bias signals to other parts of the brain that guide the flow of activity along the pathways needed to perform a task.”

The symbolic thinking area of the brain engages with the entire brain

Because of this neurological universal capacity, when we are “presented with a problem to solve, the symbolic thinking area of the brain is the recruiter” (Arrowsmith-Young, 2012, p. 64), and this recruiter – the symbolic thinking area – is what then engages with the entire brain. All of this recruited neurological capacity is then utilised by the executive thinking process until the “task is completed” (Arrowsmith-Young, 2012, p. 64).

The left and right hemispheres of the brain are central to judgement

“The prefrontal cortex, in both the left and right hemispheres, is central to judgment, planning, problem solving, self-direction and self-regulation” (Arrowsmith-Young, 2012, p. 75). The “brain’s right hemisphere is involved in many complex tasks” (p. 91) involving communication and understanding of both our internal world and our external world.

The right hemisphere is involved in nonverbal communication, spatial perception, self-awareness, object and facial recognition, empathy, humour, perception of emotion, music appreciation, the intonation aspects of speech, moral and ethical judgements, and our consciousness (Arrowsmith-Young, 2012).

Initiative, planning, and evaluating courses of action

The right hemisphere is also associated with “initiative, planning, and evaluating courses of action” (Arrowsmith-Young, 2012, p. 92). As with the left hemisphere prefrontal cortex, the right prefrontal cortex is also a recruiter for the entire brain. “In addition to the executive planning function, the right prefrontal region of our brain plays a crucial role in establishing the relationship between the self and the world” (p. 92). This “relationship between the self and the world” (p. 92) is very much associated with self-awareness and theory of mind. Citing the neuroimaging research undertaken by Vogeley (2001), Arrowsmith-Young (2012) points out “that the right prefrontal cortex is critical for tasks that involves thinking about one’s own thinking” (p. 92), and it also allows us to engage in thinking about someone else’s thinking, i.e., the concept of theory of mind, which also has an association with empathy.

Theory of mind

Theory of mind “allows us to take into account someone else’s perspective in order to attribute opinions, feelings, attitudes, and intentions to others” (Arrowsmith-Young, 2012, p. 92). This type of awareness is critical in a person’s life because it leads to successful social interactions that then help us to better “make predictions about others’ behaviors” (p. 92).

This theory of mind awareness can also help us to “decide which of these perspectives (self or other), we should take in a particular situation (depending on the desired outcome)” (Arrowsmith-Young, 2012, pp. 92-93). Arrowsmith-Young points out that someone with problems in this part of the brain will generally tend to “either miss or misinterpret others’ intentions” (p. 93), or they may “misunderstand how his or her own behavior affects others” (p. 93), and they may even have a “difficult time with social reciprocity” (p. 93). In addition to this, there will also be the added burden of communication. Even though the right hemisphere has all of these aforementioned capacities, including the capacity to plan, “think, process, and feel” (p. 91), the right hemisphere of the brain “cannot communicate through language” (Arrowsmith-Young, 2012, p. 91), this is achieved through the left prefrontal cortex.

Be alert to any ongoing problematic presenting behaviours

One needs to be alert to any ongoing presenting behaviours in which a loved one, a friend or colleague you are communicating with may be having a difficult time in presenting ongoing positive social behaviours. As Arrowsmith-Young (2012) points out, someone with problems in the right prefrontal cortex of the brain will, more often than not, tend to not only “miss or misinterpret others’ intentions” (p. 93), but they will also tend to not understand “how [their] behavior affects others” (p. 93), which means they could also have a “difficult time with social reciprocity” (p. 93). This fits in with the concept of where one may be lacking what is often referred to as emotional intelligence. Brackett, Rivers, & Salovey, (2011) point out that emotional intelligence was described for the first time in 1990 by Salovey and Mayer. Salovey and Mayer (1990, p. 189) defined emotional intelligence as “the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions.”

The astute and insightful need to be highly skilled sophisticated communicators

All of what has been described above requires sophisticated thinking and communication skills and abilities. The literature in the field of communication indicates there is a need for a wide range of communication skills, both at the personal and professional level (Siegel, 2000; Wardrope, 2002), the purpose of which should be about consciously and constantly aiming for shared, i.e., win-win accomplishments to take place. The win-win shared goal is never easy. The win-win outcome requires astute and highly sophisticated analysis, negotiation and highly refined communication skills.

Communications has many elements, these include personal one-on-one discussion, listening, active listening, and public speaking (Mayes, Weldey, & Icenogle, 1997; McEwen, 1998; Wardrope, 2002). Communication also involves written, oral and interpersonal communication skills (Floyd & Gordon, 1998; Golen, Catanach, & Moeckel, 1997; Tanner & Cudd, 1999; Wardrope, 2002). Astute communicators are able to negotiation, with win-win goals in mind; they have positive conflict management skills, and positive persuasion techniques (Reinsch & Shelby, 1997; Wardrope, 2002). Insightful and sophisticated communicators have the ability to handle group discussions assertively and sensitively, and they also have what the literature refers to as personal, professional, cultural, corporate and global awareness skills (Tanyel & Mitchell, 1999; Wardrope, 2002).

Communication is complex

It would therefore be reasonable to suggest that communication, at any level is extremely complex. Associated with this, it would also be reasonable to suggest that corporate and/or organisational communication is especially complex process (because of the number of people that are usually involved). All of this requires highly sophisticated, insightful and refined emotional awareness as well as highly developed intellectual engagement. Added to this, the erudite communicator will also have an appreciation and an understanding that all organisations, big or small, and at all levels have political machinations taking place. This requires being alert to any hidden agendas that may also be taking place (Salmon & Young, 2011). This is where the urbane communicator is still able to filter through whatever negatives that may be taking place, with the purpose of achieving the win-win goal.

The final goal of any communication should be shared agreement

How does one reach shared agreement? Even if both parties hear, read, or see the same information, this exact same information may in fact be interpreted completely differently by the receiver in terms of what was intended by the sender. Being consciously and constantly alert, engaging in active listening, seeking clarifications – all of which requires effort and astuteness – helps in the process of ensuring that, as much as possible, this relentless alertness may help to reduce communication misinterpretations. Constantly checking with the other is one way of trying to improve communications that are taking place, rather than relying on or making the assumption that what is being sent and/or received is the actuality of the communication (Salmon & Young, 2011).

References

Arrowsmith-Young, B. (2012). The woman who changed her brain. Square Peg, London.

Brackett, M.A., Rivers, S.E., & Salovey, P. (2011). Emotional intelligence: Implications for personal, social, academic, and workplace success. Social and Personality Psychology Compass (5)1 (2011): 88–103, 10.1111/j.1751-9004.2010.00334.x

Floyd, C.J. & Gordon, M.E. (1998). What skills are most important? A comparison of employer, student, and staff perceptions, Journal of Marketing Education,20, 103-110.

Golen, S.P., Catanach, A.H. & Moeckel, C. (1997). The frequency and seriousness of communication harriers in the auditor-client relationship. Business Communication Quarterly, 60(3), 23-37.

Mayes, J.D., Weldy, T.G., & Icenogle, M.L (1997). A managerial perspective: Oral communication competency is most important for business students in the workplace. The Journal of Business Communication, 34, 67-80.

McEwen, T. (1998). The impact of type and level of college degree on managerial communication competence, Journal of Education for Business, 73, 352-358.

Purje, R. (2014). Responsibility Theory? (Who’s got the power?). Purje Publications.

Reinsch, L.N., & Shelby, A.N. (1997). What communication abilities do practitioners need? Evidence from MBA students, Business Communication Quarterly, 60(4), 7-29.

Salmon, P. & Young, B. (2011). Creativity in clinical communication: from communication skills to skilled communication, Medical Education, 45, 217–226 doi:10.1111/j.1365-2923.2010.03801.x

Salovey, P. & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 9, 185–211.

Siegel, G. (2000). Management accounts: The great communicators, Strategic Finance, 82, 75-77.

Tanner, J., &. Cudd, M. (1999). Finance degree programs and the issue of student preparedness, Journal of Education for Business, 75, 335-341.

Tanyel, F. & Mitchell, M. (1999). The skill set for success of new business school graduates: Do perspective employers and university faculty agree? Journal of Education for Business, 75, 33-38.

Vogeley, K., et al. (2001). Mind reading: Neural mechanisms of theory of mind and self-perception, NeuroImage, 14, 170-181. In Arrowsmith-Young. B. (2012). The woman who changed her brain. Square Peg, London.

Wardrope, W.J. (2002). Department chairs' perceptions of the importance of business communication skills, Business Communication Quarterly, 65(4), 60-72.

About the Author

Dr. Ragnar Purje PhD is the author of Responsibility Theory?. The initiator of NeuroNumeracy?, an intensive self-motivating neuroscience brain based program for children, the purpose of which is to enhance their skills, knowledge and understanding of the four operations in mathematics. Ragnar holds the position of Adjunct Lecturer and Research Higher Degree Student Supervisor, CQUniversity Australia.

Ragnar’s thesis, under the supervision of Professor Ken Purnell, led to his therapy being classified as Complex Brain Based Multi-Movement Therapy (CBBMMT). In addition to this Ragnar’s thesis added two new descriptors into the lexicon of human biology; these are neurofluidity and hólos. Neurofluidity are the neurological processes that lead to the condition of brain plasticity. The hólos is a term which, for the first time in history (to the best of Ragnar’s research and understanding), provides a descriptor which unifies the brain and the body, with one word. Prior to this the brain and the body had always been referred to as two separate entities, i.e. the brain and the body. Hólos derives from the Greek: ?λο? ? ? ólos. The English word holistic is derived from hólos. Holistic and hólos offer the same classification. Holistic and hólos incorporate the concept of holism.

Ragnar bases all of his achievements, which also includes the authorship and publication of his book Responsibility Theory? and his PhD as a result of him undertaking and passionately persevering with the traditional martial art of Goju Karate that began in January of 1970. Ragnar continues his practice of Goju Karate on a daily basis. “Every day one kata.” Achievement and excellence is not an accident, it is crafted.

Responsibility Theory? is available from the CQUniversity Book Store. Website: bookshop.cqu.edu.au Phone: + 61 7 4930 9421. Dr Purje's thesis is available from the CQUniversity Library.