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Dr Caroline Leaf and the brain control misstatement

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“Always give credit where credit’s due.”

Dr Leaf is a communication pathologist, and a self-titled cognitive neuroscientist. Yesterday, Dr Leaf made a couple of carefully worded statements on her social media feeds, which given the quality of her previous couple of neuroscience-based factoids, is a definite improvement.

First, she said that, “Your brain is being continuously rewired throughout your life …”. Yep, I can’t disagree with that one. The brain is a very dynamic tissue, constantly remodelling the synaptic wiring to process the information it receives on a daily basis. That’s why the brain is referred to as ‘plastic’, reflecting the property of plastic to be moulded into any shape.

Her next offering sounds really good too. It’s full of encouragement, positivity and hope … the classic feel-good quote: “You can bring your brain under your control, on the path to a better, healthier, stronger, safer and happier life.” Whether it’s true or not depends on how literally you interpret it.

If you loosely interpret it, then it sounds ok. Sure, we have some control over how we act, and if we live our life in the direction dictated by our values, then we will have a better, healthier, stronger, safer and happier life. Modern psychological theory and therapies confirm this [1].

However, what Dr Leaf actually said was, “You can bring your brain under your control”. Having some control over our actions is entirely different to bringing our brain under our control. We can control some of our actions, but we don’t control our brain any more than we ‘control’ our car.

When we say that we’re ‘controlling’ the car, what we actually mean is that we are controlling the speed and direction of the car. But there are thousands of electrical and mechanical actions that take place each second that are vital for the running of the car, and that we have absolutely no direct control over. It just takes one loose nut or faulty fuse to make the car steer wildly out of control, or stop functioning entirely, and then we’re not in control at all.

In the same way, various diseases or lesions in the brain show that brain is really in control, tic disorders for example. These can range from simple motor tics (sudden involuntary movements) to complex tic disorders, such as Tourette’s (best known for the involuntary tendencies to utter obscenities). Another common example are parasomnias – a group of disorders in which people perform complex behaviours during their sleep – sleep talking, sleep walking, or sleep eating.

The fact we don’t see all of the underlying processes in a fully functional brain simply provides the illusion of control. Our brain is driving, our stream of thought just steers it a little, but it doesn’t take much to upset that veneer of control we think we possess.

Ultimately, our brain is still responsible for our action. We don’t have a separate soul that is able to control our brain. Any decisions that we make are the result of our brain deciding on the most appropriate course of action and enacting it [2] (and see also ‘Dr Caroline Leaf, Dualism, and the Triune Being Hypothesis‘ for a more in-depth discussion on the subject of dualism). Therefore, we can’t ever bring our brain under control.

This is important because if we believe that we can bring our brain under control, then by simple logical extension, we can control everything our brain is responsible for – our emotions, our feelings, our thoughts, our memory, and every single action we make. This is Dr Leaf’s ultimate guiding philosophy, though it’s not how our neurobiology works. If we were to believe that we control our thoughts and feelings, we set up an unwinnable struggle against our very nature, like trying to fight the tides.

We are not in control of all our thoughts, feelings, emotions or all of our actions, and neither do we have to be. We just need to make room for our uncomfortable emotions, feelings and thoughts, and to move in the direction of those things we value.

So if you were to take Dr Leaf at her word, she still missed the mark with her post. It sounds ok in a very general sense, but closer inspection reveals a subtle but significant error.

Giving credit where credit’s due, Dr Leaf has tried to tighten up her social media statements. It’s commendable, but unfortunately she needs to bring her underlying philosophy closer to the accepted scientific position to further improve the quality of her teaching.

References

  1. Harris, R., Embracing Your Demons: an Overview of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Psychotherapy In Australia, 2006. 12(6): 1-8 http://www.actmindfully.com.au/upimages/Dr_Russ_Harris_-_A_Non-technical_Overview_of_ACT.pdf
  2. Haggard, P., Human volition: towards a neuroscience of will. Nat Rev Neurosci, 2008. 9(12): 934-46 doi: 10.1038/nrn2497

Dr Caroline Leaf and the genetic fluctuations falsehood

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While idling away on Facebook, as is my usual pass time, I came upon Dr Leaf’s Facebook feed. There were her usual self-indulgent holiday happy-snaps and another couple of Pinterest-style fluffy inspirational posts. Then this: “Our genetic makeup fluctuates by the minute based on what we are thinking and choosing”.

Dr Caroline Leaf is a South African born and trained, US based, communication pathologist. She also claims that she’s a cognitive neuroscientist. Given the quality of the posts on her social media pages recently, no one could ever take such a claim seriously.

To make sure we’re all clear about what she just said, I’m going to say it again: “Our genetic makeup fluctuates by the minute based on what we are thinking and choosing”. It was an astonishing, if not bewildering statement, especially coming from someone with a PhD level education. If Dr Leaf were a medical doctor and publically made a statement like that, her registration would be reconsidered.

The core of the statement, which pushes it so far beyond the boundaries of rational scientific thinking, is the phrase “Our genetic makeup fluctuates by the minute.”

DNA in our cells is like an old audio cassette tape. Audio cassette tape is a long magnetic stripe, storing the code which the tape player decodes as sound. DNA is a chemical string which has a sequence of “bases” off to the side. The full DNA molecule is made of two matching strings joined by chemical bonds between the bases (hence the name, “base pairs”). Depending on what the cell needs, it runs the DNA through a decoder to either copy it, or to ‘play’ it (i.e. using the information stored in the code to build new proteins).

Like the tape in an audio cassette, the code of the DNA is incredibly stable. The rate of DNA mutation is about 1 in 30 million base pairs [1]. DNA doesn’t ‘fluctuate’, (“rise and fall irregularly in number or amount” [2]). It’s not the stock market. The number of genes in each cell of my body does not rise or fall depending on whether I’m having a good hair day.

The other part of Dr Leaf’s statement, that our DNA “fluctuates … based on what we are thinking and choosing” is also scientific nonsense. The only way that your thoughts and choices are capable of inducing genetic mutations is if those thoughts or choices involve cigarette smoking or standing next to industrial sources of ionising radiation.

I think Dr Leaf is trying to say that our thoughts and choices can change our gene expression, which is the construction of new proteins from the instructions in the DNA code. However, gene expression has nothing to do with our thoughts and choices. IVF embryos are expressing genes like crazy as they grow from one cell to an embryo in just a petri dish. It doesn’t think or choose.

More often than not, our thoughts and our choices are the result of gene expression, not the cause of it. We don’t have any specific control over the process either. The process of genetic expression is dependant on a complex series of promoters and tags on the DNA, which are controlled by other proteins and DNA within the cell, not thought or choice.

The truth is that gene expression occurs moment-by-moment, regardless of what we think or don’t think, do or don’t do. Gene expression is simply DNA being read. Our genetic makeup, the DNA code, is stable. It does not fluctuate. There is no part of Dr Leaf’s statement that is scientifically accurate.

Ultimately, Dr Leaf continues on her pursuit of pseudoscience, an affront to the people who trust her to tell them the truth, and the God of all truth that she purportedly represents.

References

  1. Xue, Y., et al., Human Y chromosome base-substitution mutation rate measured by direct sequencing in a deep-rooting pedigree. Curr Biol, 2009. 19(17): 1453-7 doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2009.07.032
  2. Oxford Dictionary of English – 3rd Edition, 2010, Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK.

Dr Caroline Leaf and Picking Cherries

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When it comes to fruit, I’m a bit picky. Cherries are one of my least favourite. It makes things difficult at times. I’m no good with Black Forest cake or with traditional Christmas goodies like Christmas pudding or rumballs. I guess that’s a good thing, one less thing to be tempted by.

Some fruit can be picked a little unripe, because it will still ripen after it’s picked. Cherries are a bit more delicate. Apparently when it comes to picking cherries, the key is to pick only the ripest fruit and leave the rest on the tree.

In science, “cherry picking” is a colloquial expression for the practice of selectively picking or presenting only the information that agrees with your personal theory, ignoring the rest. Richard Somerville put it well: “Choosing to make selective choices among competing evidence, so as to emphasize those results that support a given position, while ignoring or dismissing any findings that do not support it, is a practice known as ‘cherry picking’ and is a hallmark of poor science or pseudo-science.” (Testimony before the US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power, March 8, 2011).

You can see cherry picking everywhere if you know what to look for. It’s usually done by advertising and PR firms to make a product sound all sciencey or mediciney, something like, “Research shows that …”. Then deep in the fine print is a reference to a single scientific paper. When you actually look at the article in question, the “research” is weak or horribly biased.

Cherry picking is also common amongst organisations with a barrow to push, or websites like Natural Wellness Care (http://www.naturalwellnesscare.com/stress-statistics.html), which push a bunch of statistics to magnify a problem so they can sell or promote their “solution”.

Dr Caroline Leaf is a communication pathologist and a self-titled cognitive neuroscientist. Cherry picking is one of her favourite tricks. Her teaching from the pulpit is littered with the phrase, “Research says …”, without ever mentioning where the research came from. You just have to take her word for it.

Dr Leaf cherry picks extensively through her published work. There are too many examples to list them all, but her use of the quantum physics term, “quantum Zeno effect” is a prime example [1: p108, 2: ch13].

Another great example of cherry picking is Dr Leaf’s theory of the “Heart as a mini-brain” [2: ch11, 3: p40]. Dr Leaf exclusively relies on the information published by a group called HeartMath (http://www.heartmath.org), who themselves cherry pick extensively. HeartMath list reams of citations as evidence that the heart is a little brain, but even a basic understanding of routine clinical tests like an ECG shows that their ground breaking discoveries are little more than pseudoscience [see also Ref 2: ch11].

Dr Leaf then selectively uses certain studies from HeartMath to back up various claims she makes. A case in point is her claim that, “An ingenuous experiment set up by the HeartMath Foundation determined that genuine positive emotion, as reflected by a measure called ‘heart rate variability’, directed with intentionality towards someone actually changed the way the double helix DNA strand coils and uncoils. And this goes for both positive and negative emotions and intentions.” [1: p111]

This is cherry picking in its purest form. Despite the study being over 20 years old, and so badly designed that even alternative scientific journals wouldn’t publish it, Dr Leaf claimed it as proof that emotions and intentions can alter DNA [Chapter 13 of my book, Ref 2 outlines why the study is so poor].

In her social media feed today, Dr Leaf quoted Peace Pilgrim, a silver haired mystic who walked across America for 28 years, owning nothing but the clothes on her back, all in the name of peace. The quote Dr Leaf republished was, “If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought.” This was taken from a radio talk that Peace Pilgrim gave in 1964 (http://www.peacepilgrim.com/steps1.htm). Peace Pilgrim’s quote is interesting, even inspirational, but not scientific. Inspiring quotes from half a century ago are fine, but only if you’re a motivational speaker or a B-grade life coach.

Dr Leaf says she’s a cognitive neuroscientist. Real cognitive neuroscientists don’t cherry pick whichever quotes or studies fit with their prevailing theory. They look for the truth by synthesising all the evidence into an accurate theory.

Dr Leaf may be trying to inspire people, but if she claims to be a scientist of any form, she has to adhere to a higher standard. She has to make sure that the words she uses are not just inspiring, but accurate as well, because facts and fruit are not the same. If you want a good Black Forest cake, then cherry pick all you want, but if you want the truth, consider all the facts first.

Like to read more about Dr Leaf’s teaching and how it compares to current science? Download the free eBook HOLD THAT THOUGHT, Reappraising The Work Of Dr Caroline Leaf

References

  1. Leaf, C.M., Switch On Your Brain : The Key to Peak Happiness, Thinking, and Health. 2013, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan:
  2. Pitt, C.E., Hold That Thought: Reappraising the work of Dr Caroline Leaf, 2014 Pitt Medical Trust, Brisbane, Australia, URL http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/466848
  3. Leaf, C., Who Switched Off My Brain? Controlling toxic thoughts and emotions. 2nd ed. 2009, Inprov, Ltd, Southlake, TX, USA:

Hold That Thought – Reappraising the work of Dr Caroline Leaf

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Hold That Thought Cover

It’s been more than a few late nights in the making, but sixteen months and 68,000 words on, the early release of my new book is now available on line through Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/466848.  Apple iBook, Kindle, and a number of other platforms will come online soon.

Dr Caroline Leaf is a South African communication pathologist and self-titled cognitive neuroscientist, now based in the USA.  This book is an in-depth look at the current scientific understanding of thought, stress, free will and choice, as well as a thorough critique of Dr Leaf’s foundational teachings and the evidence she provides as proof of her hypotheses.

In the coming few days, I will make the text of the book available on this blog as well.  If you have any questions, send them in.  I’m happy to put up a FAQ page.  And as always, I’m happy to answer any legitimate criticism of my work, so long as it’s constructive and evidence based, not personal.

And as always, Dr Leaf herself is welcome to comment.  Indeed, I would value her feedback, and I’m sure any comment she wishes to make would be welcome by the Christian community as a whole.