Sensation and Perception

Feelings and emotions arise from the nervous system and neuromodulators. They are contextual and culturally dependent. While they feel uncontrollable, we can influence them by changing our nervous system through neuroplasticity.

Actions are the “final common pathway” of the nervous system. Though short-lived, our experiences, thoughts, and feelings drive our actions and shape our impact on the world. The nervous system converts them into movement, speech, etc. Actions are also either reflexive or deliberate, requiring to...

Thoughts incorporate sensations, perceptions, and memories. They can be reflexive (automatic) or deliberate (requiring effort). Deliberate thought involves analyzing duration, path, and outcomes. Reflexive thinking dominates when resting or distracted, while deliberate thinking is required for le...

In addition to circadian (daily) rhythms, 90-minute ultradian rhythms govern our focus, perception, and sleep cycles. We can enhance learning and productivity by timing tasks around these rhythms and our personal energy levels across the day. The early parts of an ultradian cycle may feel straine...

• The nervous system translates external and internal signals into all our experiences. Understand its parts and functions.
• Perception depends on where we direct our attention. We can choose to perceive and influence our experiences.
• Feelings originate in temporary states of th...

The autonomic nervous system regulates transitions between wakefulness, sleep, and other states. It includes sympathetic (alertness) and parasympathetic (calmness) divisions. Over 24 hours, it fluctuates between more alert and focused and more calm and unfocused. Understanding and controlling thi...

• Sensation is divorced from perception. We constantly sense far more than we perceive or are aware of. Perception requires attention and is selective.
• Top-down control and deliberate thinking require effort and feel unnatural or strained because they activate epinephrine and norepinep...

Traumatic experiences induce neuroplasticity unconsciously through heightened arousal and the release of epinephrine and acetylcholine. This “highlights” whatever neurons are active during the event, reinforcing those connections. Deliberate neuroplasticity requires choosing a focus or skill to i...

• 90-minute ultradian rhythms govern our focus, energy and sleep-wake cycles. Schedule demanding tasks and rest periods around your rhythms.
• Neuroplasticity requires focus and rest. Learning and practice activate the process, but rewiring happens during sleep and rest.
• Master y...

Sleep is essential for health, longevity, emotional regulation, memory, and neuroplasticity. However, sleep quality and properly timing sleep are equally important as duration. Nonsleep deep rest, a state between wake and sleep, also facilitates neuroplasticity and renewal. By understanding one's...

How do they relate to one another? Sensation refers to the initial detection of stimuli in the external or internal world by our sensory receptors. Perception is how we interpret, focus on and make sense of sensations through higher brain processes like attention, experience, biases, etc. Awarene...

The nervous system includes the brain, spinal cord, and connections between them and throughout the body. It is a continuous feedback loop translating electrical signals into our experiences. Neurons are nerve cells that communicate through synapses, releasing chemicals (neuromodulators) that inf...