I’ve updated the post to reflect your comments. Thank you for letting me know that I was using an outdated model. Olivia

I found this useful summary article from Scientific American http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=one-world-many-minds.

Olivia

I suppose a good place to start might be to look in a university library for a textbook like “Comparative Vertebrate Neuroanatomy: Evolution and Adaptation” by Butler & Hodos (Wiley-Liss).

I have an unfair advantage. I get to mingle regularly with scientists who do comparative neuroanatomy, because I do some of that myself (mostly invertebrates though).

I know return you to your regularly scheduled presentation discussion.

The “common brain model” you describe here is better called a “neuro myth.” It’s Paul MacLean’s “triune brain” hypothesis, and there are a lot of problems with it.

For instance, it suggests that the entire reptile brain is essentially the mammalian hind brain. This is not supported by modern neuroanatomy. To give an example, in MacLean’s model, the limbic system is characterized as a “lower mammalian” part of the brain. There is evidence, however, that reptiles have a limbic system (Bruce and Neary, 1995; Lanuza et al., 1998).

Of course, this does not make the advice contained in this post any less valid. Presenters should be much more interested in their behaviour than their neuroanatomy.

References

Bruce LL, Neary TJ. 1995. The limbic system of tetrapods: A comparative analysis of cortical and amygdalar populations. Brain, Behavior and Evolution 46(4-5): 224-234.

Lanuza E, Belekhova M, Martinez-Marcos A, Font C, Martinez-Garcia F. 1998. Identification of the reptilian basolateral amygdala: an anatomical investigation of the afferents to the posterior dorsal ventricular ridge of the lizard Podarcis hispanica. European Journal of Neuroscience 10(11): 3517-3534.

What I was meaning to say (but didn’t) was that there are different types of visualization and some are more effective than others for long term reduction of nerves. I’ve now written a post about this The truth about visualization for public speaking success.

Olivia

Of course you can’t be successful as a presenter if you don’t have your preplanning done, have your presentation prepared and have practiced it. Wouldn’t it be great if it were that easy.

Your post was about nervousness and I was referring to how to use visualization to combat nervousness and an emotional highjack. Obviously, I didn’t explain myself well.

That’s because while you’re busy visualising your presentation going wonderfully well your mind may go “But maybe it won’t go so wonderfully…”

Visualising success also doesn’t have you prepare for when things go wrong. Imagine a sports team only visualising success! They’d be in big trouble with an opponent mounting an aggressive defence. It’s useful to think about what could go wrong and prepare accordingly.

I realise I’ve got quote a lot to say about visualisation – I’ll write a full post on it soon.
Olivia