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In only a few decades, the work of researchers such as Michael Merzenich have obliterated notions of the brain as stable, rigid, and stagnant. The field of neuroscience has been forced to accept a dynamic, shifting, fluid concept of not only personality and psychology, but of of physiology as well. Neural connections which create the networks necessary for thought, motion, and perception are widely accepted as malleable. This is a result of the subject's "thrown-in-ness" into language. The inevitability of the Real guarantees a continuous shifting of identity which, I argue, is reflected in the physiology of the brain in the range of Acts described as "neuroplasticity."
Doctors and scientists use these concepts to tackle unusual diseases. Take the case of Cheryl Schiltz, who had an inexplicable sensation of falling which made her physically fall. Her vestibular apparatus - the organ system responsible for balance - was estimated to be only 2% operational. She lived in a perpetual state of motion sickness and was on the brink of suicide until Yuri Danilov - a bioengineer - designed a helmet which attached a patch of microelectrodes to Schiltz's tongue. The helmet directed electrical signals to the tongue based on the balance of weights inside the helmet. Upon wearing the helmet, Schiltz immediately regained her balance. Within a few short months, she regained her equalibrium and can now balance normally without the helmet because her brain has re-organized as to stimulate her vestibular apparatus based on a different form of input.
As impressive as this is, it is noteworthy that Schiltz was initially dependent on an external electro-sensory device for the creation of her new neural networks. More surprisingly is the fact that brain physiology is manipulable absent external stimulation.
"Pascaual-Leone taught two groups of people, who had never studied piano, a sequence of notes, showing them which fingers to move and letting them hear the notes as they were played. Then members of one group, the 'mental practice' group, sat in front of an electric piano keyboard, two hours a day, for five days, and imagined both playing the sequence and hearing it played. A second "physical practice" group actually played the music . . . Both groups had their brains mapped before the experiment, each day during it, and afterword. Then both groups were asked to play the sequence, and a computer measured the accuracy of their performances."
"Pascal-Leone found that both groups learned to play the sequence, and both showed similar brain map changes. Remarkably, mental practice alone produced the same physical changes in the motor system as actually playing the piece. By the end of the fifth day, the changes in motor signals to the muscles were the same in both groups, and the imagining players were as accurate as the actual players were on their third day."
"The level of improvement at five days in the mental practice group, however substantial, was not as great as in those who did physical practice. . . Clearly mental practice is an effective way to prepare for learning a physical skill with minimal physical practice." [1]
Not only does this mean that one may learn new motor skills through imagination, but that assumptions of how the world works - what Lacan would call fantasy - become increasingly influential on behavior as time passes, and as the fantasies are repeatedly played out. This is what makes one comfortable in a situation which one has never experienced, but one has heard of before. The assumed knowledge gained through imaginary experience - via stimulatory channels such as media, social interaction, or study - is highly influential and amplifies its power over time.
Lacan argues that because such fantasies are an inevitable result of the subject's position in the symbolic network (as in inherent lack in the signifying chain), the way in which we relate to fantasy is of utmost importance. An eternal lack resulting from the Real motivates our behavior - the resulting activity is described by Lacan within the structural framework of desire. In most cases, we unquestioningly believe that there is a certain series of activities which could fill this void and complete our identity. However, the law of the father prohibits access to the maternal body: Phrased differently, our lack is a permanent condition of subjectivity - indeed, it's the defining trait.
In the mirror stage of development, the child creates a projection of a unified, coherent body absent lack. This ideal self or ego-image is, again, unattainable. The child then creates fantasies which - presumably - would fill this void and achieve a permanent state of satisfaction within the psyche. It is important to note that these fantasies involve an Other in their creation: Individuals must imagine an Other-supposed-to-enjoy who has fulfilled the aforementioned fantasy and thus exists in a blissful state. Because fantasies are continuously played out and invariably fail to achieve lasting satisfaction, the Other-supposed-to-enjoy is supplemented with what I am tempted to call an Other-supposed-to-prohibit, who somehow restrains access to objet-petit-a (the assumed object of desire attained upon fulfillment of the fantasy).
The structure of an individual's fantasies may be categorized in terms of the internal discourse used to sustain it. Although Lacan outlines four possible discourses, the discourse of the analyst is unique because it opens the space for the structure of fantasy to be revealed. This is accomplished through "traversal of the fantasy" which involves disclaiming the bliss of the Other-supposed-to-enjoy and acceptance of lack necessary for subjectivity (which is a simultaneous rejection of the Other-supposed-to-prohibit). Although fantasy remains inevitable, the subject must now relate to fantasies from the perspective of drive rather than desire. Rather than believing that playing out fantasies will result in satisfaction, the Real is accepted and the subject is forced to accept a new level of responsibility for their discontent.
Rather than utilizing fantasy to blame the Other (disease) for restrained access to jouissance (health), the subject accepts the Real of physical discomfort and is thus enabled to work around the disease and accept more painstaking methods of its treatment.
These two figures are commonly encountered in social fantasies. Take, for example, the notion of a successful businessman who has used his savvy skills to accumulate enough wealth to retire early onto a sandy tropical beach. Of course, a Marxist would also conceptualize this person as a restrictive figure who pilages the poor for his own benefit, restraining access to a classless society.
Neuroplasticity proves that our identity is inherently unstable. It isn't just our ideas of our identities that are constantly in flux. Rather, it's the very cells in our bodies connecting and disconnecting, synchronizing and sometimes contradicting each other. Our behavior is not guided by a firm set of rules, but is constructed through a tremendously complex series of largely unpredictable biological procedures and changes.
1. "The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science" Diodge, Norman M.D. 2007.
Learning Through Imagination: Neuroplasticity and the Biological Violence of Fantasy by Sheldon Paul Kreger is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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