Three brains

Concurrent therapy for the treatment of more than three brain metastases using paclitaxel and radiation has been explored in a phase III trial (144). The hypothesis here being that high-dose paclitaxel in combination with cranial radiation should improve local control while providing systemically active amounts of chemotherapy. Unfortunately, there was no statically significant improvement in survival seen. There is certainly a place to further explore the benefits and toxicides experienced with concurrent taxane-based therapy with radiation in metastatic disease. The role of the taxanes in concurrent chemoradiotherapy with sarcomas and pediatric tumors has not been explored at this time. 

The primitive brain is assessed for integrity of neural fold closure, relative size and demarcation of each of the three brain ventricles. 

Fig. 8. Representative primitive brain score assignment, (a) Normai appearance ot the primitive brain, (b) The hindbrain presents subtie reduction, approximateiy iess than 10% bo . (c) Aii three brain segments are smaiier than normai greater than 10% but iess than 50% (t)OA). (d) Aii three brain segments are smaii with the torebrain most affected, -50% smaiier than normai (arroWj. (e) An embryo with exencephaiy bracket), (f) Neurai foids have faiied to ciose in aii brain segments (exencephaiy, awokr).

In contrast to MAO-A mRNA, the distribution of MAO-B mRNA in the brain was very circumscribed. There were only three brain regions in which the amount of MAO-B mRNA exceeded the limits of detection the area postrema, the dorsal raphe, and the subfornical organ. The area postrema and the subfornical organ are both circumventricular organs that contain a wide... 

Gurdjieff constantly emphasized an idea that at first glance seems very strange we are three-brained beings. Yet this idea is central in the development of modern growth psychologies. 

When we think of the brain, we think of that physical organ in our head whose function is to think, to simulate reality. Thinking is a logical process, and we obviously have one thinking brain, so what could a three-brained being be.>... 

There is an Eastern parable of the horse, carriage, and driver that richly illustrates our nature as three-brained beings and the problems resulting from poor development of each and from imbalance. 

Any given person is liable to have one of the three brains developed fairly strongly while the other two are weak and/or badly distorted in their functioning. It is useful to characterize such a person by his dominant mode of evaluation, even though all three modes function to some extent. 

In addition to the unbalanced level of development of the three brains, another problem GurdjiefFpointed out occurs when one brain inappropriately does the work of another. 

The Fourth Way of spiritual development, which Gurdjieff represented, combines the other three ways, aiming at developing all three brains in a relatively equal and harmonious fashion. This is obviously desirable in and of itself, as well as setting the stage for the development of an entirely different kind of center for the self, the center that we call the Master in the parable. Various characteristics of Fourth Way work will be discussed in the remainder of this book, and some have been mentioned already, although not specifically identified as such. One of the primary tasks of self-observation, discussed in Chapter 17, is the personal observation of the different flavors of the three brains and of the wrong work of one brain for another. 

This open-minded attention must be more than just intellectual attention. Remember that we are three-brained beings. Thus the attention we should strive to pay to our world and our selves is an emotional attention and a body attention as well as an intellectual attention. Saying the name of what you are observing to yourself is fine—unless you mistakenly think you are through with the observational process since you ve named it. What feelings, if any, does it arouse in you. What effects, if any, does it have on the way you sense your body. Sometimes a given focus of observation only has one or two of these qualities, but we should strive to be open to all of them all of the time. 

Chapter 14 Balance and Imbalance in Three-Brained Beings... 

Although there is some modern evidence from neurophysiological research for the anatomical and functional distinctness of these three brains, it is their observable functional qualities that matter for our discussion. I shall continue to use the word brain, but don t be concerned with the anatomy of the physical brain. Gurdjieff used centers at times rather than brain, and also spoke of other centers and finer divisions of these centers, but that level of detail will not concern us here. 

Recent pharmacological interest in KYN metabolites with respect to CNS diseases has mainly focused on three brain-active molecules 3-HK and QUIN, two molecules with neurotoxic properties, and KYN A, a presumed neuroprotective metabolite. These will be discussed in more detail in the following sections. 

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