Speaker(s):
Presentation: The mainstream scientific community has long struggled to adopt concepts that cannot be readily observed or measured. Yet, modern advances in the neurosciences have revealed that two powerful drivers of behavior and mental health operate at levels below human consciousness. A direct challenge to “I think, therefore I am”. The vast majority of information sensed by our bodies does not reach the level of conscious awareness. However, subconscious mechanisms have a major impact on our behavior, particularly emotion. Similarly, epigenetics operate “below the surface” and with dynamism that challenges most of what was once considered to be static effects of genetic predispositions on our behavior and mental health. Further understanding of both subconscious mechanisms and epigenetics will fundamentally transform the field of mental health.
Objectives:
- Describe the subconscious mechanisms of human behavior.
- Examine the methods of measuring subconscious brain activity.
- Review the impact of beneficial and maladaptive subconscious processing on emotion and decision making.
- Provide a brief introduction into the field of epigenetics.
- Define the relevance and risk of epigenetic discoveries in contemporary health and wellness.