PHILOSOPHY JOURNAL

by Valerie Pennacchio, D.C., '90

Article 6 "If you would understand the invisible, look carefully at the visible."      - Talmud

In the previous two Philosophy Journals, we studied the simple cycle. As mentioned then, the simple cycle gives us a philosophical model that attempts to explain physiology.

A deeper look at the physiological processes explained by the simple cycle reveals that they are processes that we are not routinely or consciously aware of. Functions such as digestion, respiration, circulation, cellular repair, hemopoisis and many other bodily functions carry on physiological activity without our frontal lobes engaged in the process.

What about the bodily processes that are routed through our educated mind? Is there a model embedded in the philosophy of chiropractic that accounts for such functions as the willful movement of certain tissue cells? I refer to activities such as walking, swallowing and eating, writing and typing being performed when issue cells such as the muscles of our legs, throat, arms, fingers, etc., are engaged. There is such a model.

The explanation of the cognitive processes that we continually utilize is found in the interbrain cycle. The interbrain cycle is the simple cycle with another branch or overlay that accounts for our voluntary functions. The simple cycle is the foundational model of all our physiological functions. Just like a house needs a strong foundation before adding walls, floors, and a roof, so too an understanding of the simple cycle is important before adding any overlaying pieces.

Before this discussion gets too involved, let's revisit some terms and their definitions. Innate brain is defined as the physical organ (brain and spinal cord) that innate intelligence expresses through specifically to create mental impulses (nerve impulses carrying specific adaptive information to a specific destination). Educated brain is defined as that portion of the brain and spinal cord that innate intelligence uses for the specific functions of sense perception, memory, reasoning, will and adaptation to the external environment.

Wait a minute... innate brain, educated brain -- do we have two brains? Of course not. The terms innate brain and educated brain are used to distinguish the different "jobs" the brain and spinal cord perform depending upon a specific situation. Physically, the innate brain and educated brain are the same anatomical structure (brain and spinal cord); however functionally, they have different responsibilities.

The innate brain is responsible for the creation of mental impulses, while the educated brain is responsible for directing specific mental impulses in order to perform certain physical activities such as walking and exercising. An example to illustrate the difference between the innate brain and educated brain could be: I am a woman, a professor, a practicing chiropractor, a friend, a sister and a mentor. All of the roles I fulfill are embodied in one physical being known as "me," yet I function differently when performing different roles -- such as when I am practicing chiropractic as opposed to when I am teaching a course.

For this article, the voluntary or cognitive functions that we will discuss are willful actions such as sprinting and moving our arms. Please note that this is not meant to be an all-inclusive description of the cognitive functions but merely an example.

Remember from the simple cycle that innate intelligence is in the mental realm coordinating specific information (forun) for a specific need. When that information from the mental realm combines with the energy of the physical realm, a mental impulse is created (step 1). When that mental impulse is relative to a willful action like sprinting, it is the educated brain that directs the information/message to the muscles of the legs (step 1a).

The message travels over the efferent nerve (step 2) and is received by the leg muscles at which time contraction of the muscles in response to the "sprint" command takes place (step 3). This muscle response, experienced by all the tissue cells of the body (step 4), is transmitted to the mental realm (step 5) where an interpretation takes place (step 6).

Keeping with our sprinting example of the previous article, let's combine the response of the heart muscle with the leg muscles as we sprint to the end of this article. When the mental impulse is created in the innate brain, the involuntary aspect of the message is transmitted over an efferent nerve to the heart (informing the heart to beat faster) while the muscles of the legs receive the message routed through the educated brain (informing them to "move quickly" at least until the sprint is completed, at which time a "slow down" message gets transmitted to both the heart and the legs).

Dr. John C. Lilly, a physician and psychoanalyst who specialized in biophysics, neurophysiology, electronics, computer theory and neuroanatomy, sums up man's need to understand: "The miracle is that the universe created a part of itself to study the rest of it, and that this part in studying itself finds the rest of the universe in its own natural inner realities." Amazing!

Read Article 7  in this series

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