Drive

Drive is a session that focuses on the neuroscience of drive and includes a guided meditation practice that is themed around drive in order to gain incorporate scientific understanding into experience. The session wraps up with a couple of questions offered to the listener in addition to a couple of quotes.

Transcript

Hello,

My name is Jay and I will be your guide for this session.

I've decided to title it Drive because I will be discussing a neuroscientific perspective of Drive and will invite you to participate in a meditation about Drive and getting an intuitive sense for it.

And then I'll wrap up with a couple of questions and a closing statement.

So,

Drive as I understand it is very much related to the dopaminergic system to include brain cells that primarily produce dopamine,

Dopamine as a neurotransmitter chemically and the receptors of dopamine transmission.

These components are abundant throughout the human brain from much more primitive structures implicated in vital functions like breathing and regulating and continuing heart rate all the way to voluntary movements and procedural movements.

So,

One of the main structures I want to talk about is the basal ganglia and the reason for this is because it has an interesting sort of like junction point where dopamine receptors,

There are two types of dopamine receptors within the basal ganglia and they've sort of,

You know,

Unanimously been labeled D1 and D2.

And so D1 receptors have a more direct pathway to downstream structures which then initiate movement,

Favored movement,

Like particularly useful movement towards this goal,

This reward.

And the D2 receptors have an indirect pathway to downstream structures that inhibit movement and so it's the inhibition of movement or the implementation of caution that is occurring in those downstream structures that are that are not in the D2 receptor pathway.

So there's sort of this go no go kind of system going on,

Whether it be in the attainment of a reward or the aversion of a negative outcome.

There's again this sort of very critical junction point that is going on there.

So focusing more so on the D1 side,

That would be characteristically,

You could describe that as drive,

Right?

It's the pursuit of something and maybe there are certain repetitive processes involved in pursuing this thing and so there's procedural learning that's occurring and each time a procedure is accomplished then there's a reinforcement through a spike in dopamine activity.

So end to end within the basal ganglia,

Dopamine 1 receptors become active in the presence of high concentrations of dopamine that initiates movement towards a goal,

Maybe sub goals right along the way of course.

You can always break it down,

Layer it,

Unlayer it.

Movement is occurring within the world and there's a continuous supply of dopamine to continue this movement towards this thing and so there's a continuous supply of dopamine to continue this movement towards this thing and there reaches a point where the process is either accomplished or failed and in the case of accomplishing this process there is a surge of dopamine in the reward period,

In the accomplishment of this task,

Of this process,

Of this goal and that is to reinforce that system.

The increase in dopamine activates the system even further in a way that leaves an imprint that then allows that action and that process,

The neurochemical one,

To be taken and correlated with the physical one and so it reinforces that system to become active under those circumstances and with that sharp increase in dopamine at the reward period there is a post-reward reflexive decrease in dopamine and a sense of loss in some sense can occur where it feels like there's nothing like especially I think in cases where the reward is not what you expected it to be which is another system,

Adaptive coding error,

So when that expectation is not met it's almost as if there's no reward which neurochemically I'm not entirely sure how expectation fits in.

Is there a sharper increase?

I believe that this is a discussion for a separate sort of reward-oriented session.

One of the papers included in this session is very relevant to this topic.

So there's a reflexive decrease and with that sort of motivational decrease as well because again the dopaminergic system is largely implicated in movement,

Motivation,

And goal orientation.

So to sort of wrap that all up that's chemically what's happening is not that the dopamine itself is rewarding inherently although in a sense it is because it's something that we seek.

We seek fulfillment.

We seek purpose for taking action in the world and there's a reason for that is because it's fulfilling.

It feels good in some sense even if it is work.

I'll invite you to sort of redefine your understanding and I guess even relationship with drive and dopamine and how it interacts with your way of being.

So at this time I'll invite you to either lower your gaze or close your eyes whichever feels more comfortable and I'll also invite you to simply observe this moment in its entirety.

I will invite you to begin to narrow your focus and to settle in to the space maybe even take a few deep breaths if that feels right.

The only moment that we ever truly experience is the one that we're in right now.

The only moment that we ever truly experience is the one that we're in.

In this moment is there a sense of anticipation for the next?

Are you possibly jumping at experience itself eagerly waiting the next moment?

If that's an observation in your current experience in this moment I'll invite you to sit back mentally and physically and to settle in to allow the flow of experience to occur.

It begins to sort of wash over like a wave if you've become lost in thought and that too could be considered a form of drive.

Once we become attached to a thought sort of identified with the thought as if it is us actually it can begin to drive us.

If you've ever imagined a potential scenario say maybe there's a risk involved with the work that you do and you imagine scenarios where things could go wrong your body feels the experience as if it were actually happening when it is an imagined scenario a visualization.

So there's a degree of attachment that comes with being driven by one's own thoughts.

Only once we can step outside of this attachment and allow thoughts to come and go to simply pass without being entertained without being sort of cling to and rode with once we can allow them to occur and understand or embrace rather an understanding that we are not our thoughts we simply have them and they are part of our experience and once we become attached to thoughts it becomes easier to simply observe effortlessly.

Once we become attached to thoughts or impulses it becomes effortful.

There's action or potential this time I'll invite you to take a couple of deep breaths you're welcome to raise your gaze or open your eyes when you're ready.

As I had mentioned previously drive and its relation to movement and motivations is clear really motivation like the feeling to distinguish between the two highlights overlap motivations and motivation one being the feeling and one being the thoughts associated with the feeling which sort of leads me to this seemingly central point for drive and that is I think captured very well by two quotes by two sort of philosophical giants if you will one much more traditional philosophy philosophy and the other a psychologist who clearly had a very very strong influence in philosophy sort of in a more general sense.

René Descartes said I think therefore I am and that seems to have stuck very well I think therefore I am which can be interpreted many ways of course it stands in dark contrast though to a quote by Carl Jung and a book as well that was surrounding this theme I know a well-known book the title of it Carl Jung's quote is you are what you do not what you say you'll do and the book was you are what you do and there's a strong acceptance of that notion as well and they seemingly conflict in terms of defining ourselves I believe that the gray area in between is the most important point that we could focus on it is a meeting point between the two thoughts and motivations intentions and movement action so I will leave you with this invitation to consider your own drive and its presence potentially in this meditation today was there any present and what things were salient what things stood out what are the things that are important to you in a reflexive way in a reactive way and what things are seemingly important to you in a more conscious way I would like to thank you for taking the time to be here wherever that may be in this moment I am grateful for your presence and I'm grateful to be able to be present I wish you well and