Considering the impact of diet on physical, mental, and aesthetic well-being, the author sought to create a comprehensive picture of Dietetics - the art of living - through four books. However, as he wrote, it became clear that something important w...
What are we studying: What is the role of unconscious processes in human control?
What's new: What discoveries in the field of brain and nervous system physiology have been established?
What will we learn: How are motive, control, and will be related to unconscious processes?
1. One of the principles of modern science is that psychical processes are conscious and unconscious and that many decisions and actions are carried out entirely outside the conscious [outside our control, ed., author] (Atkinson R.L., et al. 2003) [1].
2. Below our level of awareness is a very active, hard-working unconscious brain. It is more difficult to imagine (although over the last fifty years, they have been discovered everywhere) the myriads of unconscious processes that flow unnoticed and uninterruptedly within us" (italics author) (Gazzaniga M. 2017) [2].
3. Myriads of physiological unconscious processes. For example, when a human standard, calculates, weighs, etc., how much, when, what kind of food, and why, his body is unnoticed and uninterruptedly engaged in this process without any control, motive or will on the part of the human. In the process of the unconscious, myriads of signals from 30-40 trillion cells flow into the brain, each of which is similar to a metropolis in complexity and volume of actions performed in it (IV fr. 2. 5, 11). Now let us imagine the number and volume of incoming impulses from all the human body's cells to the brain. Where they are coordinated and reflected in our consciousness in the form of sensations and feelings: hunger or satiety, thirst or its quenching, cold or heat, fatigue or fullness of strength, sleep or wakefulness, lightness in the body or heaviness, etc. (IV fr. 28. 8).
4. Examples of unconscious processes of the brain. Watch a pianist or a skier racing at a speed of 70 to 200 km/h, or a hurdler, or a hockey player or surfer. Think about the speed, the incredible coordination of the body's muscle movements, their consistent and precise direction, the sense of proportion, the instantaneous changes of the body or its parts in direction, strength, speed, balance, etc. There are also unconscious physiological processes carried out by every person every day - these are walking, speaking, blinking the eyelids, yawning, sneezing, etc. Now think about your body temperature, blood pressure, breathing, heart rhythm, the secretion of gastric juice, bile, insulin, hormones, metabolism ..., also about the constant process of renewal of all the cells of the body and countless other invisible and uninterrupted processes of the unconscious [2]. Does consciousness at this time control all these processes, find out the reason (motive), or perform an act of will? (IV fr. 28. 8) [3]. But without these unconscious processes, our life would be completely impossible [2]. Similar unnoticeable and uninterrupted unconscious processes also occur in another area of a human - his psyche.
5. Psychical unconscious processes. It is more appropriate and correct to talk about psychophysiological unconscious processes. Any processes occurring in the human body (for example, pain from an injury when falling) undoubtedly affect the human psyche in the process of experiencing it. The opposite is also true - any processes occurring in the human psyche (fear of falling on a slippery sidewalk) are reflected in human physiology in his process of coordinating movements (avoiding falling so as not to experience pain). The division into psychological and physiological unconscious processes is conditional, therefore, it is good to remember this:
• "Numerous discoveries in the field of physiology of the brain and nervous system have made it possible to establish an unambiguous relationship between neurological events and psychical processes" (author's italics) (Atkinson R.L. et al., 2003) [1].
* Neurology is a science that studies the nervous system, brain activity, and human behavior (author's note).
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