How to access your right brain without a stroke

Below are two TED videos that explain the functions of the left and right brain. I've emailed them before and you should view them before reading further:

1) A concise explanation of the left and right brain. http://www.ted.com/talks/iain_mcgilchrist_the_divided_brain.html

2) A neuroscientist descibes her own brain function while having a stroke!http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

The message of both videos is that the right brain has a lot to offer: imagination, creativity, abstract thinking, happiness, living in the present. The left brain on the other hand can be argued as more important for survival. It gives context to the present. It recalls your past. It predicts your future given a choice your about to make. It also provides extreme focus for specific tasks. Due to its importance, the left brain is the ruler of both sides.  If your left brain is the heavy-handed type, you might not be using your right as much as you'd like!

So the question remains: How do you access the right brain to provide a richer life?


This thought was echoed by my buddy Nick who replied "A scientist telling an accountant to stop using the left brain...never thought I'd see the day. Let me know if you figure out how to access the right without having a stroke!"

Some recent and controversial research has already found clues to answer Nick's question...Psilocybin! Otherwise known as the active ingredient in magic mushrooms.

Clinical trials show that a single dose provides an enduring but positive personality change in the majority of patients. The drug increases an individual's sense of "openness". What's more, the positive personality shift can last more than a year! How does this relate to your right brain? Remarkably, this study shows that psilocybin can strengthen imagination, abstract thinking and creativity in general. All attributes associated with the right brain.

So it turns out mushrooms can really make you a "Fun Guy"....lame.

Scientists believe that psilocybin could have therapeutic uses in the future. For example, current studies are underway to see whether the hallucinogen might be useful in helping cancer patients cope with the depression and anxiety that often accompany the disease.

I want to emphasize that I am not trying to encourage drug use! The research needs to be replicated and studies on dosage, downsides, and long-term side effects are obviously needed.  But having said that, please take a look at the graph below:  

Mushrooms are one of the least harmful drugs out there. Also notice how our most dangerous drug is the most socially acceptable - Booze.


Before I'm officially labeled a hippy, I want you to answer the next question honestly. After knowing that heart disease, diabetes and obesity are North America's greatest killers, where do you place Salt, Sugar and Fat on this graph?
(or even wheat for that matter: http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/09/20/on-the-evils-of-wheat-why-it-is-so-addictive-and-how-shunning-it-will-make-you-skinny/)
I'm frequently reminded of the quote from Shakespeare's Hamlet "There is nothing either good nor bad, but thinking makes it so."

*For those of you wondering how this ties in with microbes. 
Mushrooms are fungi. Fungi are microbes.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!