THE PROBLEM WITH MIND-CONTROL (NOT THE CIA-TYPE)

BURNOUT, ADHD AND UNEXPLAINED LEARNING DISABILITIES – THE MENTAL PLAGUES OF THE MODERN WORLD

ABSTRACT

This essay suggests that the activity level of brains, or their ability to properly activate concepts in memory, has been dropping in recent decades – with some people more affected than others. This drop is suggested to have resulted in problems with control of memory – creating lack of focus and “attention problems.” The essay further suggests that this drop, and the resulting control problems, is being diagnosed as ADHD, as well as various learning disorders. The essay describes a potential mechanism behind this drop in activity and possible causes.

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Our problems seem to pile up. We are all aware of what is going on in the world around us, but there are other problems which seem to be spiraling out of control. These problems are within – inside our minds. Something has been causing more and more people to lose control of their thoughts and emotions. It seems to have started with Generation X – born around 1970 – and it has been getting exponentially worse since then. The increased use of electronic devices by children and teenagers – and everybody – has been blamed by many people for this development. That is a highly plausible explanation although it may not be the only cause.

Those problems are not really understood but they have labels. The most common one is ADHD, which is unthinkingly treated with a plethora of drugs, mostly amphetamine analogs. Another one is a cluster of various “learning disabilities” which are often associated with ADHD. Dyslexia is probably the most common of those, although it’s difficult to keep track. The third major one is burnout, which is mostly associated with work. There are two types of burnout. Type one involves emotionally fragile people, usually narcissists, who can’t deal with their work or coworkers, and go home and curl up in their sofa and cry. They blame the situation on burnout because that sounds better than anxiety and fragility. The other type is the real burnout, which is a horrible condition which often destroys the life of the afflicted.

All these conditions, even sometimes dyslexia, have two separate types of dysfunctions: Emotional dysfunctions and cognitive dysfunctions. This piece will only deal with the cognitive dysfunctions. The emotional ones will have to wait.

What is interesting is that these conditions seem to share a common cause – i.e. the same cognitive problem seems to account for a large part of symptoms. This applies to both ADHD, which is considered to be a developmental disorder, and burnout – which usually happens to (up to then) normal people in their forties. It probably explains a significant part of dyslexia cases and it may even contribute to some of the symptoms of PTSD.

This analysis is speculative in nature. Its purpose is to describe this possible common cause, this single cognitive problem, which may be behind this epidemic of mental dysfunctions. A possible mechanism explaining the problem, and why it is becoming more common, is presented.

This is a long and fairly technical analysis, but I will venture to make it readable without an advanced degree in psychobabble. Still, it will probably be one of those less-read posts.

The problem of empty concepts

There are some issues which have impeded the understanding of these dysfunctions. This applies to most people working with them, including semi-experts associated with the school system tasked with diagnosing them, doctors, clinical psychologists and even research psychologists and neuroscientists. This is the problem with empty concepts – or inaccurate concepts – which are commonly used in research and diagnosis. These concepts are real to a degree but misleading. We must do away with them before we continue.

The first concept is “attention” itself – a key concept in ADHD research and diagnosis. It is debatable whether there is such a thing as attention at all. The focusing and filtering of perceptual input as well as own thoughts is, at least for the most part, a memory process. The brain is a memory processing machine and nothing we see has any meaning without memory. Focusing on something and blocking out interruptions is interplay between the memory centers of the brain (particularly the hippocampi in the limbic system) and the prefrontal cortex where control of memory seems to be exercised. There is evidence that there is no real difference in how the brain makes sense of perceptual input and “internal” processing of memories during recall. This is a problem because this might very well mean that most or all “attention problems” are actually memory processing problems.

A good example of this is the so called “attention span,” a key concept in “attention deficit disorders.” Attention spans are evidently becoming shorter, fueling the increase in ADHD. Attention span is the length of time someone can focus on a task (or what a teacher is saying) before becoming “distracted.” There is no evidence that there is such a thing as attention span or that people become “distracted” after a certain length of time. It is more likely that people with short attention spans need extra effort to keep memory engaged to process input or work on a task – and then simply get tired. That is then defined as them becoming “distracted.” People with ADHD tend to have lower short-term memory capacity than others, which may support that – as we shall see later. Attention span is almost certainly just a measurement method rather than a real phenomenon.

The third problem concept is short-term memory – or “working memory” – depending on what people prefer to call it. Short-term memory (STM) is the ability to hold concepts consciously active in “long-term memory.” It is measured with the so called “articulatory loop.” An STM test measures the size of the loop by presenting a list of words, letters, numbers, etc to a person in a sequential fashion, perhaps one per second. The person then recalls as many as he can. The average size of the loop is 7 words/numbers/ etc – i.e. seven concepts. This means that the brain can hold on average 7 concepts active at the same time – before the first concept in the loop fades below a threshold where it is no longer accessible to the “conscious mind.” Most people have STM of 7 +/- 2 – i.e. between 5 and 9. This means that most people can keep 5-9 concepts above the threshold of consciousness simultaneously.

The problem with this is that STM is often seen as a loop or a buffer, which handles concepts independently – which have been “taken from” long-term memory. There is no indication that this is the case. STM is almost certainly merely the ability of the brain to keep concepts in memory active. The more powerful the brain is, the more concepts it can keep active at the same time and for a longer period of time. STM capacity is significantly correlated with IQ, which is most likely associated with “higher tuning” of the brain. Someone with very high IQ, say 150+, is likely to have far greater STM capacity than a normal person – perhaps 10-16 concepts. This indicates that high IQ brains have higher “activation ability” for concepts than normal brains. Understanding this is extremely important when dealing with memory (and “attention”) dysfunctions.

The automatic brain and frontal cortex ‘mind-control’

Now we come to an absolutely critical issue when trying to understand all memory processing and “attention” phenomena. It is so important that without understanding it, there can be little understanding of anything at all regarding cognition in general – as well as massive number of phenomena in psychology. This is the nature of the “train of thought” and how the frontal cortex seems to control it. I’m using the train of thought concept rather liberally here since I’m basically talking about the general control of memory and “attention” – and indeed of the conscious mind.

Let’s say that you are relaxing and your brain runs through all kinds of stuff. All kinds of memories and ponderings pop up. This process is traditionally called a “train of thought.” What is happening is the following: A concept is activated in memory above your consciousness threshold and you become aware of it. This concept activates all associated concepts, some to above the threshold, others below. This continues like a super-complex wave of activations in your memory that goes around and around. This process seems to be automatic.

However, despite this being an automatic process, you can control it. You can stop your train of though and direct it toward something or away from something. You can avoid thinking about something and instead focus on something else. This applies both to what is already in memory and what you are seeing or hearing in the environment. This control process does not seem to be entirely a function of long-term memory itself, but of a separate part of the brain altogether – the frontal cortex. This means that basic memory processing is in the center of the brain, in an old part evolutionarily speaking. The control of memory is, however, in the front of the brain, in a “new” part evolutionarily speaking.

It is most likely the control part in the frontal cortex which enables you to stop and control your train of thought. Should that part be damaged, you would not be able to control your thoughts fully. The train of thought would just go on and on, and you would, at best, be a passive observer to what is going on in your own mind. You would not be able to stop bad thoughts, or focus on anything you want to focus on. The train of thought is automatic and beyond your control without the control system.

There is another issue which also seems to be able to impede control of your train of thought. This is the brain’s ability to maintain the activity level of concepts above the threshold of consciousness. If that ability is “naturally” low, or compromised, the result will be low STM capacity – say 5 or lower. What seems to happen is that if the brain can only keep few concepts simultaneously active above the threshold of consciousness, the frontal cortex control system will run into trouble taking control of memory – i.e. your train of thought. It seems that the frontal control system needs a certain number of concepts active (or certain activation ability of the brain) to gain control. If the concepts are too few (i.e. activity too low), it will struggle. Gaining control of the train of thought will then require extra effort which will be tiresome after a short while (short attention span). This means that outside the short periods of extra concentration, the mind will run on with limited control. This is the main issue in ADHD and several other conditions.

This is supported by the fact that stimulants, such as an amphetamine, can alleviate the symptoms of ADHD. The stimulant will tune up the activation level of the brain, thereby increasing the number of concepts which can simultaneously be activated above the threshold of consciousness. STM capacity therefore increases and the frontal control system can regain control of memory and the train of thought. This is also supported by the descriptions of people with ADHD who get a stimulant for the first time. They say that the chaos has stopped and they finally have control of their minds.

This also means that the cause of ADHD is not a hyperactive brain – it is exactly the other way around. It is a brain out of control because the activation ability of the brain for concepts in memory is too low, leading to control problems, leading to chaos in the mind.

If this mechanism correctly describes what it going on in the brain, the increase in ADHD and the shortening of attentions spans in the last few decades seem to be caused by a generational drop in brain activity – or at least the ability of the brain to activate concepts in memory properly for conscious processing. There are also indications that IQ has been dropping as well, which would make sense since low STM negatively affects performance on IQ tests.

If we wanted to be sensationalist and unscientific, we could say that the level of consciousness is decreasing year by year.

Examples of chaos

Before proceeding, let’s look at some of the consequences if the frontal cortex control system cannot properly intervene into the memory process, i.e. the train of thought, – because the brain doesn’t have the ability to maintain the activation of enough concepts above the level of consciousness. Here are a few examples:

Short attention span/lack of focus – People with ADHD have both short attention spans and a lack of focus in general. In order to be able to understand what is being said to you, or to complete a task, you must be able to maintain the activation level or memory sufficiently for the frontal control system to “grab hold” of something. If you can’t, the information will just flow into your brain below the “level of consciousness.” People with ADHD seem to be able to force a temporary rise in activation levels, just like people with normal brains can force themselves to pay attention. The problem is that this seems to place some kind of strain on the brain and can only be maintained for a short while. A short attention span and a lack of focus are obvious consequences of a low activity level in memory (i.e. low STM).

Dyslexia and comprehension of speech – If you are reading a long and complicated sentence, such as in this essay, a certain STM level may be needed. If your STM is 4 concepts, but the sentence requires you to remember 6 concepts simultaneously, you may have forgotten the first concept in the sentence before you come to the last one. This means that you will have problems understanding the sentence, not to mention remembering it. This is not because you are stupid, but because you can’t remember all the points the sentence is making before you finish processing its meaning. This is most likely very common for people with low STM, including people with ADHD, and is often either blamed on a “lack of focus” or dyslexia. Dyslexia is a real phenomenon, of which there are several types, but it is likely that “professionals” who are not familiar with this problem are misdiagnosing a lot of people as dyslexic, particularly school children and teenagers. Exactly the same problem applies to the spoken word. If you have low STM, you may have a problem understanding complicated spoken sentences. Then you fill in the blanks later, and remember what was said to you wrong.

Impulsivity – One of the symptoms of ADHD is impulsivity – both in words or deeds. It is not surprising that a lack of control of the mind will translate into lack of control of what we say and what we do. It would actually be surprising if it didn’t. The term “impulsivity” is somewhat misleading since it suggests something else than a lack of control. There are however other reasons for impulsivity. Impulsivity is also a function of emotional control, also carried out by the frontal cortex – and seems to be associated with certain personality types. We can’t blame all impulsivity on ADHD.

Intrusive thoughts – One of the symptoms of ADHD is “intrusive thoughts” – i.e. unwelcome thoughts pop into your head and you have problems pushing them away. The problem here is not intrusive thoughts as such, but the ability to block them. If you have a good control of your memory processes – your train of thought – blocking those thoughts becomes easy. Most are blocked so fast that they are at best fleeting ghosts you barely notice. However, if control is lacking they may become uncontrollable. This may result in compulsive thinking and depression.

Compulsive thinking and depression – If you cannot control your train of thought properly and it can flow freely, it will eventually hit a so called “complex” in your memory. A complex is a set of associated concepts in your memory which has some kind of significance. The significance is usually based on association with emotions. A complex can be something positive – such as an issue you find fascinating and love thinking about – or something negative such as a horrible event in childhood or memories associated with feelings of inferiority. If you cannot break your train of thought, it may gravitate toward a particular complex, usually a very significant one. Your thoughts will basically move around the complex like flies around a light – and you won’t be able to stop them. If the complex represents something traumatic or perhaps feelings of shame or inferiority, it can result in significant mental suffering. This compulsive thinking, solely caused by lack of frontal brain control, is often diagnosed as depression and treated with antidepressants.

These symptoms can also be caused by “temporary factors” which put a strain on the brain. Excessive workload and excessive stress can result in “fuzzy brain” – which is a dysfunction in memory processing and control. All kinds of stress and cognitive load can cause this, including living with an abusive spouse or having a stressful job. Some prescription drugs can also cause this, even common ones.

Burnout and the issue of mental load

ADHD is usually described as a developmental disorder. It is caused by something that disrupts the normal cognitive development of children and teenagers. There is, however, another condition which has very similar cognitive symptoms to ADHD. This is the phenomenon of Burnout.

Burnout is certainly not a developmental dysfunction. It usually happens to people in their forties who have perfectly fine brains – and perhaps even above average IQs. Its main cause is long-term abuse of the brain with work which places heavy load on memory processing. A real full-on burnout requires this abuse to have been more or less constant for something like 10-20 years. Heavy workload in complicated jobs will sometimes result in this – and stress will increase the probability of this happening.

What is interesting with burnout is that there is a rather clear causal link between “cognitive load” on memory processing facilities of the brain and their subsequent breakdown. It seems likely that the brain simply can’t cope with the long-term load for some reason. Burnout has a long “deterioration” phase, sometimes taking years. During that time it becomes increasingly difficult to force the brain to do the work. Eventually this will result in a “crash” where the person hits a wall and stops functioning. It is possible that the crash is a defense mechanism where the brain partly shuts down to avoid permanent damage.

Like most cognitive dysfunctions, burnout has serious emotional consequences where the emotional system of the brain partly breaks down, resulting in extreme mental suffering. However, the consequences for memory are more interesting in this context. Burnout can result in significant amnesia, possibly both retrograde and anterograde, for both semantic and episodic memory. This means that there are problems recalling events both before and after the burnout started, and both for general knowledge and personal experiences. Blackouts can also occur. STM can also drop dramatically resulting in symptoms very similar to ADHD.

The damage burnout causes to the brain is not necessarily permanent. With a long time of rest, sometimes years, the afflicted person may recover – although a full recovery is unlikely. One of the long-term effects is a decrease in mental stamina. The recovered burnout victim will not be able to work as much as before. It’s like the brain’s ability to maintain high level of activation has been permanently compromised.

The similarity of burnout to ADHD is interesting. The similarity of symptoms indicates that the same processing facilities in the brain have been affected. The only question is whether the reason is the same. Is ADHD basically burnout which happens to children and teenagers, and because their brains are not fully developed, results in developmental disruption of their brains?

ADHD has increased massively in the last few decades. Is there some kind of cognitive load that children have been experiencing during those decades which they didn’t experience before – and is resulting in permanent brain damage?

Possible culprits

Brains have been getting larger in the West at least since the 1940s. A part of the increase may be attributed to general increase in body size as food became more available, and in practically unlimited quantities. The occurrence of dementia has also been going down, possibly because larger brains may be more resistant to neuron loss – and therefore more resistant to dementia simply because they are larger. It is also possible that this size increase is partly a response to increased information processing load. More active brains are more resistant to dementia, so more load on the brain may be beneficial in that respect.

The memory processing central of the brain, the hippocampus, has also been increasing in size during the same period, apparently more than other specialized structures – although the research on that is not entirely clear. Still, an increase in the size of the hippocampus beyond other structures would not be surprising if brains are responding to more processing load which comes with the modern world. We may be seeing evolution in action on a very short time-scale.

Interestingly, people with ADHD seem to have larger hippocampi than others. This is striking because many other structures in their brains seem to be similar or smaller than in others, depending on the research. The human body has a tendency to react to increased load by increasing the size and/or processing capacity of structures. It seems unlikely that the larger hippocampal size in people with ADHD is a coincidence.

This may indicate that the brains of some children are experiencing systematic overload, almost certainly long-term. The increase in memory processing capacity demonstrated by the increase in hippocampal size may be a coping response to that. The key issue here is that these coping efforts by the brain (actually the genetic code) do not seem to be working. If they were, we wouldn’t be seeing all those people with ADHD. The question is why increasing the size of the main memory structure of the brain does not solve the problem. Why is STM dropping as more resources are put toward memory processing?

There is no answer to this question at this point. However, it must be kept in mind that STM is a function of the ability of the brain to activate concepts in memory and to keep them active. Perhaps the increase in the size of the main memory processing region doesn’t solve that problem at all. Perhaps the overload is causing permanent disruption to the activity level of the brain as a whole, thereby lowering STM and decreasing control of the mind.

The activity level of the brain is regulated by a structure in the brainstem called the “ascending reticular activating system (ARAS).” This system can be described as the fuel injection of the brain – determining how tuned up the brain is at any given time. Short-term increase in mental load (focusing on something) causes visible increase in the activity level of the ARAS. What if long-term processing load overloads the ARAS and damages it? It would result in an epidemic of low STM and loss of control of memory processing. It would also explain the permanent lack of mental stamina in burnout victims.

Wouldn’t it make sense for our genetic code to put resources into increasing the activation level of the brain like it seems to be doing with the hippocampus? That may be easier said than done. The problem is that the level of activation of the brain almost certainly needs to be in tune with its general processing capacity. If you tune a brain up too much, for example by using amphetamine, it will result in processing errors. We will start drawing a lot of wrong conclusions and our perception of reality will suffer. In other words, tuning the brain up beyond what it can tolerate will make us crazy.

This is all rather speculative. However, if this is correct, the information overload in the modern world has put our brains in a situation they can’t deal with. The result is a catastrophic increase in loss of control over our mental processes.

Nowadays children and teenagers spend huge amounts of time playing games on their phones. When they are not using the phones, they are watching TV or browsing the internet. Playing a computer game places significant load on memory processing structures of the brain. Playing them constantly for 15 years while the brain is developing may not be a good idea.

From an evolutionary point of view, we have entered a new territory which we haven’t adapted to yet. It is not natural for us to sit in front of a computer 12 hours a day for decades doing intensive mental work. It is not natural for children with brains still undeveloped to do the same, only in the form of computer games. We need to start thinking about what we are doing to ourselves and our children. Modernity is perhaps a bit too modern for us to handle.