Episode 08: Pain, Brains and Reality
Episode 8 of M3CS’s Contemplative Science Podcast saw Antoine Lutz come on to the podcast to talk about his research on the neuroscience of contemplative practice.
For the full podcast, check out the episode here.
In this episode, we cover...
The main focus of his research: subjective realism.
What different methods of experimentation Antoine uses in his research.
How mindfulness can be shown to aid depression, addiction and pain.
Antoine Lutz is one of the world’s foremost pioneers of neuroscientific research on contemplative practices. Antoine is a director of research at the French Medical Research Institute (INSERM).
Here are some of the key insights from the conversation..
Our pain detection mechanisms are incredibly advanced.
”So sometimes it's useful to anticipate the pain, and it's good to be able to predict and avoid pain - but sometimes we're so good at predicting things, anticipating things, that it has become an unnecessary source of pain.”
Quantifying subjective data from trials is extremely challenging.
“It's very hard I think scientifically, because it's ultimately really about the subjectivity of consciousness and and we don't know yet how to operationalise that. Why? Because science is about object.”
The reason things appear as real is because it’s ‘useful.’
“If you take the example of the retina, if you look at what’s happening with your eyes it’s just ongoing change of sensory stimulation. But phenomenologically what appears is that when I move my head, I leave the world remaining stable and real - and actually it’s not what’s happening in my eyes.”
The best place to find the work of Antoine Lutz is here.
See you next week!
