UCLA Journal of Radiation Oncology SUMMER 2024 - Flipbook - Page 10
UCLA RADIATION ONCOLOGY JOURNAL
to take so much time, it’s just the power of that
experience is so salient that in an instant the world
changes.” She’s talking about the power of a kiss or
hug, being put in a state of awe or wonder from what
one or more of our senses has taken in.
positive salient experiences and engaging with art,
with music, with poetry, as a way to feel connected to
a story. Magsamen breaks it down: “There is a part
of the brain that’s called the Default Mode Network
that is considered the seat of self. It is the part of
the brain that is the storyteller. When we spend
time bringing di昀昀erent kinds of experiences into our
brains and bodies, this is where those perceptions
are formed. If you are bringing in rich experiences
that are o昀昀ering an opportunity for meaning and
purpose, you in essence are beginning to retrain your
brain to make healthier connections.” Too, when
these new, rich experiences trigger our reward center
to release, say, serotonin, suddenly it could become
habit forming, thus rewiring your brain. “But,” Ross
cautions, “give your Default Mode time to kick in
and assimilate all the new experiences.” Our brain’s
changes, like our bodies adjusting to a new workout
regimen, do not produce changes overnight.
And this is why art, like nature, so deftly gives us
the power for saliency. Musician and icon Bruce
Springsteen has likened creators to handymen, their
poetry or art mending the broken parts of us. When
I bring this up, both Magsamen and Ross light up.
Magsamen says, “Neauroaesthetics and the 昀椀eld of
Neuroarts, I think, is really working to highlight
the importance of the arts for what it means to be
human. That’s what Springsteen is saying. We have
marginalized the arts so much; they’re seen as a ‘nice
to have,’ but they are the handyman, the 昀椀xer, the way
we address our problems, and I think we’ve forgotten
that we need connection, we need meaning, we
need purpose. The arts are the way we get there like
nothing else. I think Bruce Springsteen and his lyrics
so beautifully represent this: the feeling of the music
has so much power and longing and resilience. It’s
really spot on.” Ross agrees, “Yeah, it’s truth telling—
his storytelling. It goes to your heart; you feel it.”
Another method for rewiring is use of eidetic images.
Magsamen explains, “Eidetic imagery work is a
process. But seeing yourself in a new situation where
you want to be can help you change your perspective
and narrative. It is a process that frees you from old
stories that are often stuck inside your mind.” But,
And if that is what we are after, feeling connection,
as Magsamen notes in terms of actually rerouting
having art that goes to our hearts, and since we
our synapses toward being present, “This really
naturally strive to feel good, to have our reward
comes down to agency, to really wanting to make
center dose us with oxytocin, dopamine, and/or
those changes,” especially since, as she adds, the bad
serotonin, it is also natural that we look to art to
memories “are harder to displace,” and that rather
mirror how we feel, to make our struggles seem less
than attempting to erase trauma or bad memories,
daunting—not trivialized, but not hidden out of
the brain can be changed by reframing. They are
shame, fear, or guilt. The brain is a natural storyteller, quick to communicate that there is a di昀昀erence
Magsamen and Ross tell us, and it is possible to
between bad memories and traumatic memories, but
strengthen our executive function and well-being by
in terms of bad memories, Magsamen shares that
allowing our brains to rewrite our narratives, to lift
exposure therapy can slowly minimize the e昀昀ects of
out of depression or hardship through ensuring more triggers or reduce the emotional content or reaction
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