Addendum

Jul. 22nd, 2006 09:03 pm
tarigwaemir: (Default)
[personal profile] tarigwaemir
DeWolfe Apts., on the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene

Guess who aced their general GRE today! [livejournal.com profile] schwimmerin and [livejournal.com profile] tarigwaemir, that's who! ::is exultant:: (Because the exam is computerized, you get your scores immediately after you finish.) We celebrated afterwards by going to karaoke, which is on the same bus route as the testing center. We also ate lunch at this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that served made-to-order genuine Italian pasta (it was delicious) and sat around on park benches watching some truly crazy parking violations occur. Oh, and we ate ice cream at Herrell's and played a game of chess that ended in a stalemate because neither of us are any good at strategy games. What a wonderful day! I feel as if a load's been taken off my mind.

I promised to post with notes and references I used for Found Notebook, and here it is:

0. Pre-writing notes: (I wrote the following in my notes file before beginning writing and am copy-pasting here.) Full name is Kujou Mine. In an early chapter, she is introduced as a post-doc returned to Japan after earning her Ph.D. while studying abroad in America. Later though, in the chapters with her friend Kimiko, we find that the two were at medical school together, which would imply that Mine has an M.D. A translation mistake? Or did Mine go to medical school but decide to transfer to the Ph.D. track instead when she chose to study abroad? Or does she have an M.D./Ph.D.? Or is she a medical researcher with an M.D.? However, she is definitely working with Professor Masuyama, and the research is definitely experimental (as opposed to computational), and the research institution she's at is translated as Touhou Medical Center. I'm tempted to conclude she's in fact a psychiatrist (especially if she did go to medical school rather than grad school), but psychiatric research as far as I know concentrates on drug treatments, and she doesn't seem much involved in that sort of study. Her field is translated as "neurophysiology" which also fits the medical setting, and from Google searches, neurophysiology seems mainly concerned with neural imaging. More importantly, her research seems to function at a macro rather than micro level. (Why we can't call her a strict "neurobiologist".) The MEG test that her advisor suggests measures the different levels of activity in the brain; that suggests that she focuses more on brain organization than neuronal circuitry. Other instances, such as her conversation with Yuri's mother about child abuse, suggests that her training is in psychology rather than biology. On the other hand, the examples of the lion and crucian fish she brings up at the omiai suggest that she is in fact quite familiar with evolutionary theory, at least in a sociobiological context. She enters the story by investigating the case of the boy who imagined himself burned alive, which suggests that her lab is accustomed to investigating cases of abnormal psychology and perhaps criminal cases as well.

Mine can be basically described as a knowledge bank. (The type of person who at a group meeting always has read all the relevant papers to the topic of discussion even if it's not in her field of expertise. Why did I choose this character again?) She is overanalytical and absentminded, as per the stereotype of passionate researcher. Interestingly, she's more likely to analyze the other person's thoughts and feelings than her own. (Externally focused. Is it accurate then to call her an introvert? I suspect that while she may not be an extrovert in the usual sense of the word, she is not particularly awkward in social situations. That is, she may behave awkwardly but she herself does not feel awkward. She lacks self-consciousness--that's what I wanted to say.)

Is there a reason why she can resist Shuro and Izaku's psychic manipulation, or is it just the luck of the draw?

Her train of thought is highly organized, and I would imagine her writing, whether in the form of notes or prose, would be as well.

1. Hippocampal lesion case study: I decided that the Masuyama lab was researching memory. The reference I used was:

Moscovitch M, et al. (2006). The cognitive neuroscience of remote episodic, semantic and spatial memory. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 16(2): 179-90.

The paper was a bit dense to read through but basically it focused on how long-term (i.e. remote) memory is retained and retrieved as opposed to short-term memory (for which there is more research). There were two main methods of studying memory: studying patients who had brain lesions in various structures known to be involved in memory and using brain imaging techniques (such as fMRI) to study normal subjects. Sometimes the two approaches were combined. The hippocampus is primarily responsible for memory, and there are competing theories as to how important it is for various types of long-term memory.

The date of the lab meeting is April 23rd, 2002. I decided I wanted to the notebook to start slightly before the series, which was released in late 2002 to 2003. Unfortunately, that makes most of the research referenced in the notebook anachronistic (since most of the papers I used were published recently).

2. Prosopagnosia: Apologies for misleading my readers but Nakayama et al., 2002 is a made-up paper. Perhaps it really exists but I haven't looked for it. Nakayama is the name of the Harvard psychology professor who runs the Prosopagnosia Research Centre. [livejournal.com profile] ladydaera brought prosopagnosia to my attention with the New York Times article Just Another Face in the Crowd, Indistinguishable Even if It's Your Own. Prosopagnosia basically means face blindness. You are able to see faces but not distinguish them, much the same way all monkeys may look alike to us. I found the concept fascinating because it indirectly connected to several themes in Eternal Sabbath, namely what makes an individual and how much reality is dependent on cognitive processes. Unfortunately, I couldn't think of a better way to incorporate it than a shout-out reference here.

Incidentally, my lab has been trying to incorporate paper discussions into its meetings, which is why I thought of adding this section.

3. To-do list: MEG (magnetoencephalography) is kind of like EEG (electoencephalography) except it measures magnetic fields rather than electric current. The key thing to note is that MEG only provides measurements of brain activity; it is not an imaging technique by itself. It must be combined with fMRI or PET to draw any conclusions about the localization of the activity being measured. What's also key is that MEG can measure activity over time, while fMRI can only capture a static image. All this information taken from Wikipedia.

Hackett is the last author cited on a chapter called "PET studies during hypnosis and hypnotic suggestion" published in volume two of the Psychiatry: The State of the Art, Biological Psychiatry, Higher Nervous Activity. I found it cited several times, so I copied the name, but I haven't read the actual book myself. Induction procedures refers to, of course, the standard protocol on how to induce hypnosis in a clinical setting.

fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) and PET (positron emission topography) are two different brain imaging techniques. The essential difference between the two is that PET requires that the subject be injected with a radioactive tracing chemical prior to imaging, while fMRI does not. fMRI is a newer technology however and more prone to error.

4. Resistance to hypnosis: The statistic is from this great New York Times article on hypnosis, This is Your Brain Under Hypnosis. Spiegel is a name I took from that article; again Spiegel, 2004 does not really exist. The information on twin studies, the candidate gene COMT and the correlation between hypnosis and attention is all based on the paper:

Raz A, Fan J and Posner MI. (2006). Neuroimaging and genetic associations of attentional and hypnotic processes. J Physiol Paris. 99(4-6): 483-91.

I found the paper, as well as the two other hypnosis-related references, through a blog article. Apparently the Journal of Physiology-Paris had recently published a series of hypnosis studies, which was fortuitous for me.

The part about the selective forces on hypnotizability is my extrapolation from reading Raz et al., 2006 and not based on any established theory. I.e. I made it up. As you may have seen earlier from my pre-writing musing, I thought that Kujou might have a casual interest in sociobiology (cf. her omiai meeting), so this bit was my chance to work not only that connection in but to obliquely reference Eternal Sabbath. Sociobiology, by the way, is a highly controversial field and often critiqued for its lack of falsifiable hypotheses...I suppose you get the gist.

I think the connection between hypnosis and Eternal Sabbath becomes clear in hindsight, but it took me a long time to arrive at hypnosis as a possible topic for Kujou's research. You may remember the critical hypnosis scenes when she delves into Shuro's memory and when she goes to confront Izaku. But they didn't occur to me until afterwards. What finally clued me in was when I went back and reread some of the early chapters and noticed that she postulated hypnotic suggestion as a possible explanation for the homicidal boy who imagined himself being burned alive (thanks to Shuro's manipulation). Only then did I realize that Kujou was interested in hypnosis...hence it was plausible that she would be researching it. From there on, the rest of the connections fell in place.

5. To-do list: Aphasia is inability to process language. People with the condition are able to speak but have some sort cognitive malfunction that prevent them from communicating intelligibly. It's something I've always found interesting (I was thinking about making it the subject of Kujou's research at one point while planning this fic), which is why I slipped in a reference. Aphasia is a likely subject of research for a lab studying memory because it affects semantic memory.

"Gender-based differences in episodic memory" was a entirely improvised phrase; I have no idea if psychologists actually study that or not.

6. Hypnotic state: All information about activation of certain centers in the brain during hypnosis, its similarity to dreaming and its association with visual processing are taken from:

Faymonville M, Boly M and Laureys S. (2006). Functional neuroanatomy of the hypnotic state. J Physiol Paris. 99(4-6): 463-9.

The speculation about being able to distinguish between false (i.e. hypnotically suggested) memory and true memory and the question about hypnotic studies on blind subjects are both my extrapolation and not based on any real research.

7. Learning and hypnosis: Based on research presented in this paper:

Halsbrand U. (2006). Learning in trance: Functional brain imaging studies and neuropsychology. J Physiol Paris. 99(4-6): 470-82.

The rest of the paragraph that wonders how hypnosis may be related to memory is again my speculation.

8. ANOVA test: Analysis of variance, for the curious. Probably not powerful enough for psychological experiments, which are notoriously prone to error, but since I'm rather ignorant of statistics above the very simple level, I chose the one test I actually knew something about.

9. Post-writing: (A brief disclaimer.) I confess a lot of the more technical terminology in these papers went over my head, and I focused mostly on the introduction and discussion/conclusion sections to understand what was going on. It could be though that I may have missed some important details that make the information presented, or for that matter, my amateur extrapolations completely invalid. But in any case I really enjoyed writing the notebook, and I even had thoughts of trying to include some actual fMRI photos, but since they would probably not represent the sort of images Kujou would be seeing in such an experiment, I decided to refrain. ^_^ I uploaded all the papers here for those of you who want to read further.

I should probably add that I don't normally plan out a fic this carefully. My modus operandi: (1) find inspiration in the form of a scene, reaction to fanon, writing prompt, etc.; (2) come up with parts of dialogue and description in my head while walking around in Cambridge; (3) put off actually writing for a long time while the bits composed in my head grow ever more elaborate; (4) finally sit myself down at the computer and write as much as I can in one go; (5) come back to the fic, anywhere from ten minutes to ten months later, and revise away, which can involve changing a word or deleting the whole thing; (6) either post it right away, postpone posting until it's finished, or never ever finish it and let it wither away in the miscellaneous folder on my hard drive. However, this time around, I couldn't keep everything straight in my head and ended up writing emails to myself throughout the day with various links and brainstorming. I also combed through the series again to mine for details about Kujou's background. -_- The bulk of the fic though was written in one night because I had ever so many false starts while trying to write for the challenge.

Yours &c.

Post-script: Oh, also meant to add, I'm still writing up rules for [livejournal.com profile] blind_go but they should be posted tomorrow, at the very latest. Thanks so much to all of you who linked and/or joined!

Post-post-script: I recently changed my layout to Flexible Squares (yes, I've finally seen the light), as well as my color scheme. The purple is supposed to match my default icon, but now, whenever I look at my LJ, I'm reminded of my high school, whose colors were purple (technically lavender) and white. Not sure if this association is good or not. -_-

(no subject)

Date: 2006-07-23 03:00 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ldmoonflower.livejournal.com
Yay, you! Was the test difficult at all? I want to call you soon.

(no subject)

Date: 2006-07-23 12:31 pm (UTC)
troisroyaumes: Painting of a duck, with the hanzi for "summer" in the top left (Default)
From: [personal profile] troisroyaumes
Call anytime! The test was roughly SAT level (maybe a bit more difficult vocabulary) but the real annoyance was the computer-adaptive format, which doesn't allow you to go back to previous questions.

(no subject)

Date: 2006-07-23 04:27 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emblem.livejournal.com
:DDDD Congrats on the GRE! *confetti*

(no subject)

Date: 2006-07-23 12:31 pm (UTC)
troisroyaumes: Painting of a duck, with the hanzi for "summer" in the top left (Default)
From: [personal profile] troisroyaumes
Thanks~ XD

(no subject)

Date: 2006-07-23 05:46 am (UTC)
ext_1502: (Default)
From: [identity profile] sub-divided.livejournal.com
Those articles are surprisingly readable. XD Though I skipped the one on memory because I am all memory-ed out at the moment. It's a pity the paper addressing genetics -- Raz et al, with the pretty pictures I was absolutely unable to decipher haha -- is more of a preliminary study. On the other hand I had no idea the path of recall under hypnosis was so well-tread (though when I think of media conceptions of hypnosis this makes sense -- probably the only better-studied phenomena are the ones that have to do with hypnosis-and-memory XD).

Don't know if I'm reading these right but:
If hypnosis is defined as a state of reduced awareness of externals and increased visulization, does this mean that daydreaming is a state of self-induced partial hypnosis? Heh. And if hypnosis supresses the area of the brain responsible for conflict-resolution (though not conflict-awareness), does this mean that when television characters faced with unappealing descisions go off into lala land, this is based on something that really happens to some people, and it stems from a desire to avoid conflict?!

Somehow I think I'd be moderately hypnotizeable. Maybe a 5 or a 6. It's interesting to think about.


P.S. Congrats on your GREs!
P.P.S. The new layout looks good!

(no subject)

Date: 2006-07-23 12:45 pm (UTC)
troisroyaumes: Painting of a duck, with the hanzi for "summer" in the top left (Default)
From: [personal profile] troisroyaumes
Hm, the hypnotized brain is supposed to resemble the brain under REM sleep, so you may be right about daydreaming. Although daydreaming isn't precisely an altered state of consciousness since you're still awake, I think. But it's a fun connection to make.

If we go strictly with what the paper says, then the conflict resolution aspect wasn't exactly to do with conscious decision-making, but perhaps whatever pathway these attentional networks use affect more upper-level resolution processes as well. The test they used in the Raz paper involved reading color words written in a different color, like "blue" written in green text and seeing whether you're more likely to say "blue" or "green" when reading the word. I wonder if absent-mindedness (like when you're concentrating so hard on one thing that you don't pay attention to anything else around you) might be similar to a hypnotic state.

It's odd, I used to think I would never want to be hypnotized (because the loss of control sounds kind of scary) but after reading these papers I want to know what it feels like. Although I wonder if you're self-aware enough under hypnosis to remember things like that. XD

(no subject)

Date: 2006-07-23 04:48 pm (UTC)
ext_1502: (Default)
From: [identity profile] sub-divided.livejournal.com
According to one of those papers (the one on attention, I think) you'll remember unless specifically instructed not to. XD Absent-mindedness is specifically mentioned in that paper as well (as an example of a conscious state resembling hypnosis that everyone experiences).

And I remember the colored word tests, because there was a poster made out of one hung in my tenth grde math class. XD; got me every time (saying the word, not the color). The way to beat it is to unfocus your eyes so that you can't read the words, though I doubt hypnotic state researchers would appreciate this.

Unrelated to anything, but when i read accounts saying the hypnotic state is more colorful? (though dreams are mostly in black and white) I thought about not wearing glasses, since without my glasses/contacts on the world is more colorful (and also, much fuzzier). It's a form of compensation, I guess.

(no subject)

Date: 2006-07-23 06:52 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Congratulations on your GREs! Incidentally, did the karaoke place you went to have Japanese music? The only one in Boston that I know of is in Boston Commons and is very American, and I think I want to force people to karaoke with me for my birthday. :D

(no subject)

Date: 2006-07-23 06:53 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sangoire.livejournal.com
::facepalm:: Livejournal logged me out without me noticing. Sorry for the accidental sketch!

I'm really excited about [livejournal.com profile] blind_go.

(no subject)

Date: 2006-07-23 12:50 pm (UTC)
troisroyaumes: Painting of a duck, with the hanzi for "summer" in the top left (Default)
From: [personal profile] troisroyaumes
Not a problem. ^_^ The karaoke place we go to is Korean so it does have Japanese and Chinese songs. Unfortunately, the Japanese lyrics are only shown in Japanese, but then again, since you're taking the language, it may not pose any problem to you. They have several anime OPs and EDs as well as most of the popular hits.

We take the 66 bus (the stop is on JFK and Eliot) to Allston to get to the karaoke place, which is at 16 Harvard Ave. (The actual stop you get off at is near the intersection of Harvard and Brighton Aves., just after the bus turns onto Harvard Ave.)

(no subject)

Date: 2006-07-23 09:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kitsune-jade.livejournal.com
Congratulations!!

(no subject)

Date: 2006-07-23 12:51 pm (UTC)
troisroyaumes: Painting of a duck, with the hanzi for "summer" in the top left (Default)
From: [personal profile] troisroyaumes
Thanks!

(no subject)

Date: 2006-07-24 02:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] klio911.livejournal.com
congrats on your GRE!

also, totally read thaty nyt article on propowhateverwhatever (haha, obv paying less attention than you). but still mad interesting.

also....all those notes are for something fictional that you wrote?? that's intense. but most of my fave writings have lots of really in-depth elements, so it's prob a good thing. :)

(no subject)

Date: 2006-07-24 04:37 pm (UTC)
troisroyaumes: Painting of a duck, with the hanzi for "summer" in the top left (Default)
From: [personal profile] troisroyaumes
Thanks! XD

Well, the challenge was to write something that might be written by a particular character, and I chose a psychology researcher, which required me to do at least some cursory research. -_-;;

(no subject)

Date: 2006-07-24 11:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] twelve.livejournal.com
That's quite nearly the same way I fic, except for parts 5 & 6: instead of editing, I mostly just add more stuff and then post directly afterwords, after I make sure I'm as satisfied as I can get (at that particular moment in life). :)

My high school's colors are orange & black. HOW I WISH FOR A SIMPLE LAVENDER AND WHITE. Clearly, my high school wins at losing. D:

And congrats at acing the GRE. :)

(no subject)

Date: 2006-07-25 12:26 pm (UTC)
troisroyaumes: Painting of a duck, with the hanzi for "summer" in the top left (Default)
From: [personal profile] troisroyaumes
I'm pretty erratic with my editing actually, and sometimes I don't really edit much at all, while other times I rewrite the entire fic. ^_^

Orange and black is a bit unfortunate. ;_; Hopefully you won't have many occasions to wear that combination of colors?

Thanks!

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