BRIDGING THE GAP

The frontal lobe of the brain is what we use for focused consciousness attention. When we change
what is in our frontal lobe, we change our awareness of the environment around us by changing how
we perceive it and thus respond to it.

EDITORS NOTE

The Throne of
B Y

20

Our Divinity
J O E

D I S P E N Z A ,

D . C .

THE METAPHOR OF AN OPEN MIND NEVER MEANT SO

MUCH. THINK OF AWARENESS IN THIS VAST SEA OF
POTENTIALS AS IF YOU WERE WALKING IN THE DARK
WITH A FLASHLIGHT AND SHINING YOUR LIGHT ON THE
REALITY THAT HAS BEEN THERE ALL ALONG.

t was Wednesday night and I arrived home from a busy

day of seeing patients. I cooked a great spaghetti dinner
and I was alone. Almost alone, that is: My dog Skakus
and I were sitting by the fire on a midwinters eve under
an almost full moon in the eastern sky. James Taylor was
singing Sweet Baby James in the background and once
again I was amazed at how great my Italian sauce had
turned out. As I looked over at Skakus, I wondered if he
even heard JT sayin like it is or if he could even appreciate the
rhythm of Taylors classic, simple masterpiece, Carolina in my
Mind. What I mean is, I know that he can hear, but what stops
him from comprehending and assimilating these sounds from his
environment into meaning? Does he hear what I am hearing from
our shared environment? Or . . . does he even hear the music at
all? Was Skakus missing out?
One might argue that all species develop specialized
anatomy and physiology over generations in order to adapt to
environmental stimuli for survival. In other words, the slow
process of evolution over hundreds of thousands of years has
made Skakus, or any dog for that matter, far greater at his ability
to hear sounds. Thats evolution, isnt it? However, even though
his ability to hear a greater range of sounds is superior to mine
(he certainly has bigger ears than I do), he still may not be hearing
the music at all. Skakus has never had and may never have a need
for rock-and-roll. He only needs an acuity for fine sounds that is
an evolutionary, genetic requirement for guarding, hunting, and
assessing his environment from other predators. Its a dogs life.
So the question remains, Does he hear the music?
IT IS A DOGS LIFE
Skakus certainly has the machinery to hear. Or does he? The
ears are the receptors for receiving sound. If they are damaged,
no one can hear. Given the fact that Skakus ears are not
malfunctioning and sound is being transmitted, maybe Skakus
brain is processing the sound but he is not hearing the music
that I enjoy so much. Maybe his brain is just not wired for James
Taylor, Tina Turner, or even Scooby-Doo. It has not been a part
of his ancestral environmental stimuli that was genetically
imprinted into his bloodlines. It might just be too harmonious
for him to hear.
Skakus brain is conditioned to detect disruptions or changes
in his external world. He would hear the music being shut off
and, by the same means, he might hear it when it is initially
turned on. If I changed the volume of the music, that might get
his attention too. His brain, though, tunes out the music that I am

listening to, because it is not important enough for him to attend

to it. Its not a sound that his brain needs to hear consciously.
For example, you probably never pay attention to or hear the
phone ringing at your coworkers desk while you are working at
your computer, but you remarkably can hear your phone when
it rings. Your phone is important enough to get your attention,
and this suggests that something is happening. That something
is called attention or awareness or focus.
When I drive my car, I never consciously pay attention to
what it sounds like when it is running, except maybe when I
initially start it. Once Ive paid attention to the fact that it is now
running, my focus shuts off that particular cue, even though the
car is still running. I just dont think about it any longer. Even
though my brain is processing the sound of the car, my awareness
is no longer present with that particular sound; therefore, the
sound disappears. However, if the car starts to make sounds
that are not part of the typical noise of a running engine, I will
immediately retune my awareness to that different sound that
my engine is now making, and it magically reappears. The
sound while it was running perfectly had always existed. Are
we missing out?
IT IS A HUMAN LIFE
Our human brain processes 400 billion bits of information
every second; however, we are only aware of about 2000 of those
billions of bits of data. We are not aware of all of that information
because we literally are not attending to those stimuli. This does
not mean the brain is not processing that data. It means that
processing the stimuli and being aware of the stimuli are actually
independent functions. Skakus ears pick up the sounds and that
information is relayed to the brain. However, the brain tunes it
all out because his awareness is not present with those stimuli.
They do not exist for Skakus. The same is true for human beings
in reference to all that information we no longer attend to; we
might be missing out on great opportunities proportional to what
we think we know. What if all the information of the cosmos
already exists for our brains to process, and accessing it is as
simple as where we put our awareness? Genius is at hand and it
may already exist.
The metaphor of an open mind never meant so much. Think
of awareness in this vast sea of potentials as if you were walking in
the dark with a flashlight and shining your light on the reality that
has been there all along. The brightness of the beam is awareness,
and wherever we move our awareness is what we become aware
of. The light that we project is called focused concentration.

OU R H U MAN B RAI N PROCESSES 400 B I LLION B ITS OF

INFORMATION EVERY SECOND; HOWEVER, WE ARE ONLY AWARE OF
ABOUT 2000 OF THOSE BILLIONS OF BITS OF DATA. WE THEREFORE
ARE NOT AWARE OF ALL OF THAT INFORMATION BECAUSE WE
LITERALLY ARE NOT ATTENDING TO THOSE STIMULI.

The Frontal Lobe

Human
30% to 40%

The diameter of the visual field and

the scope of our vision are the knowledge
that we acquire through intellectual
memory. We have to know what we
are looking for. Consequently, until we
familiarize and educate ourselves to what
is potentially already out there, we will only
see what we already know. If we accept this
as truth, then how do we influence the
brain to go from a processing unit to a
conscious receiver of awareness of even
greater potential experiences? How do we
learn to listen to the music?

ou see, Skakus is
handicapped. It is not
because he has four legs
and we have two and
are upright. It is not
because we have opposing thumbs and he
has digits that lack
dexterity. And it is not because we have
language and he has not the proper skill
of advanced communication. It is not even
that we have a bigger brain than Skakus,
because elephants have bigger brains than

Chimpanzee
17%

human beings. It is because the frontal

lobes of our brains are proportionally
more enlarged and developed than his,
and for that matter, all species on this
planet. This is what truly differentiates
us from all of Gods creatures. It is the
most important piece of anatomy in the
human body.
THE NEW FRONTIER:
THE FRONTAL LOBE
The frontal lobe is the crowning
achievement of the human being. In fact,
it is the latest development of anatomy
in the human brain. The enlarged size of
our frontal lobe makes us unique from
all other species of animals; no other
area of anatomy so distinguishes us from
other lifeforms. For example, in rats the
frontal lobe is minuscule. In cats it makes
up 3.5 percent of their brain anatomy.
In chimpanzees the figure rises to 17
percent. In Homo sapiens, however, the
frontal lobe makes up 30 to 40 percent of
all the cerebral cortex. Since it is a newly
developed area in evolution, maybe we
are just learning how to use it and maybe

Cat
3.5%

Rat
?%

we have not used it to its true capacity.

Until recently, scientists knew
very little about the frontal lobe. They
considered it the quiet area because
most of the measurements of brain activity
using instrumentation gave them little
data as to what was really taking place
there. However, with the advancement of
technology, we now know more about its
true function. It is the seat of inspiration
of a human being.
Let's have a brief anatomy lesson. The
brain developed methodically in three
distinct patterns or evolutionary stages.
These three formations of the evolving
brain absolutely differ in structure,
chemistry, and function. The brain is
really quite an archaeological site. Time
has molded it into the biocomputer that
it is today.
The first part that developed is
called the reptilian brain. The second
part, the mammalian brain, formed and
evolved around the first. The third part,
new brain or neocortex, molded itself
around the first two (figure 1). Dr. Paul
McClean, the director of the Laboratory

of Brain Evolution and Behavior in

Bethesda, Maryland, has stated, The three
brains amount to three interconnected
biological computers, each having its
own intelligence, its own subjectivity,
its own sense of time and space, and its
own memory of functions. This hierarchy
has become a part of our biological
inheritance.
Geographically, the neocortex is
divided into four regions: the frontal lobe,
the parietal lobe, the temporal lobe, and
the occipital lobe (figure 2). The neocortex
is where conscious awareness exists. You
are comprehending the information on
this page by the use of your neocortex. It
is the seat of our identity, our personality,
and our conscious mind.

THE FUNCTIONING FRONTAL LOBE

he frontal lobe is the
area of the brain that
we use for concentration and focused attention. It is the executive
decision-maker. It decides on action, it
regulates behavior,

and it is responsible for firm intention.

If we were to use one word to describe
the frontal lobe, it is intention. It is the
intentional planner of our destinies.
Therefore, whatever we continuously
have on our minds whatever we
focus on becomes our future destiny,
because we inevitably will make choices
based on what we repetitively keep our
awareness on. Remember, the frontal lobe
is that part of the brain that decides on
action and regulates behavior because it is
the chief executive of our intentions.
Thomas Gualtieri, a neuropsychiatrist
from North Carolina, excellently describes
the frontal lobe as having the capacity
to formulate goals, to make plans for
their execution, to carry them out in an
effective way, and to change course and
improvise in the face of obstacles and
failure, and to do so successfully, in the
absence of external direction or structure.
The capacity for an individual to focus on
what they want and to achieve those
goals/dreams in spite of obstacles or
failure is what makes them an effective
personality. These traits are hardwired in
the construction of the frontal lobe and
its connections.

The frontal lobe takes information

from our environment and it effectively
learns from those external stimuli. It is
the problem-solver, the organizer, the
forward thinker, the critical thinker, and
the supervisor. It governs attention span,
it maintains persistence, and regulates
impulse control. Think of the frontal
lobe as an area of the brain we use when
we finally make up our mind about
something. When we are aligned to an
ideal in thought, deed, and word, we are
truly focused individuals that are quite
invincible. This is what makes human
beings great.

kakus does not hear the

music because his frontal
lobe is not developed
enough to integrate
the
relatively
new
sounds into meaning.
Hes wired for reaction,
not integration. He may
never in his lifetime develop the ability to
learn music, because he will never attend
to what hes not neurologically capable of.
His frontal lobe does not allow him to leap
in a nonlinear progression of thought.

UNTIL RECENTLY, SCIENTISTS KNEW VERY LITTLE ABOUT THE FRONTAL

LOBE. THEY CONSIDERED IT THE QUIET AREA BECAUSE MOST OF THE
MEASUREMENTS OF BRAIN ACTIVITY USING INSTRUMENTATION GAVE
THEM LITTLE DATA AS TO WHAT WAS REALLY TAKING PLACE THERE.

Figure 1

A. Reptilian

B. Mammalian

C. Neocortex

D. Cross section through

midline of the entire brain

HOWEVER, WITH THE ADVANCEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY, WE

NOW KNOW MORE ABOUT ITS TRUE FUNCTION. IT IS THE SEAT OF
INSPIRATION OF A HUMAN BEING.

Figure 2
Parietal
Lobe

Frontal Lobe

Temporal Lobe
Occipital
Lobe
Visual Cortex

The proportion of the human beings

frontal lobe to the rest of the neocortex is
three times as great as the frontal-lobe-toneocortex ratio in a dog. Therefore, we
gain more meaning from the environment
through our five senses because the size
of our frontal lobe allows us to be more
adaptable, skilled, and integrated. To
Skakus, the music is just continuous or
discontinuous.
OUR FRONTAL LOBES GREATEST
ABILITY
Then what is it that gives us the
unique ability to make the music appear
or disappear at will? Or by free will attend
to anything else, for that matter? Why do
we have this gift of selective awareness
and resultantly selective focus? How do
we make our reality appear and disappear
at will just by moving our conscious
awareness? The answer is, once again,
the frontal lobe.
Whenever we learn something
and we are integrating a thought into a
long-term memory bank in our brain,
something special happens. When we put
all of our attention on the task at hand,
the frontal lobe of a human being literally
turns the volume down to the external
world, to the feedback loop of our bodies,

and to relative time. When the frontal lobe

is in full function, the internal process of
concentration becomes so important
to attend to that all of our conscious
attention and awareness moves away from
the stimuli of the external world and, as
a result, the external world disappears.
It is the common saga of the teenager
humming to Pearl Jam in his head, and
his mother struggling to get his attention
to take the garbage out. She literally is not
there. For him, she does not exist.
At the moment that we are truly
concentrated and truly committed to a
concept, it neurologically becomes a part
of our being. This is an intricate rewiring
and pruning process that reshapes us
from the inside out. The brain re-forms
itself to include those thought processes
as a new fabric of our being. What might
take Skakus thousands of years to learn
and adapt to may literally take moments
for us. Our enlarged frontal lobe affords
us this immediate skill.
There is one requirement, however,
for this luxury. It requires absolute singleminded focus. Think of it like this: If we
are to give life to a concept that our brains
can depend on, we cannot do it in the
already-wired section of the brain that is
connected to other thought patterns or our
identity. In other words, you cant be in a
section of your brain concerned about the
shopping list for dinner or the ill health of
your cat if you are interested in planning
or creating your next vacation. Your
attention would become divided and the
wiring would just get more complicated.
There must be virgin territory for a new
wiring network. All of our associations to
our identity have to be put aside for the
proper long-term wiring.
The executive frontal lobe wants
to make whole new combinations of
patterns built upon the knowledge of old
ones. When our awareness is linked to
these old ways of thinking and being, we
will only choose to experience from the
same awareness of our own memory. In

other words, we are shining the flashlight

in the same place and we are missing out
on whats really taking place. We are
only seeing more of the same. When we
turn down the volume to the old wired
patterns stored in the rest of the neocortex
and we take bits and pieces of information
from memory to build bigger ideas, we are
truly bridging to new ground in our brains
and in our life. The frontal lobe is the
great architect that loves the freedom to
create a bigger model of ideas based on
concepts it has proven useful from the
integration of past experiences.
Brain researchers have now proven,
through the use of sophisticated technology,
that truly focused individuals can calm
down all the areas of the neocortex are
associated only with the awareness of the
body and the environment. Therefore, the
illusionary separation of an individual
from the environment becomes a loose,
thin membrane when one is truly focused.
That is, one stops using the part of the
brain that is the associative memory
bank that reaffirms us to people, places,
things, time, and past events. We literally
become one with an idea. The throne
of our divinity is the frontal lobe and
its sword is focused concentration. The
free will of the human being allows us
the privilege to choose where we put our
awareness. As we now know, our reality
is where awareness is.

RECOMMENDED READING
Robertson, Ian. Mind Sculpture:
Unlocking Your Brains Untapped Potential.
Bantam Books.
Amon, Daniel G., Change you Brain,
Change your Life. Three Rivers Press.
Restak, Richard M. The Brain: The
Final Frontier. Doubleday.