Neurotechnologies of the Self

Neurotechnologies of the Self

Jonna Brenninkmeijer Neurotechnologies of the Self Mind, Brain and Subjectivity

Jonna Brenninkmeijer University of Groningen Groningen, The Netherlands ISBN 978-1-137-53385-2 ISBN 978-1-137-53386-9 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-53386-9 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016941103 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 Th e author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identified as the author(s) of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Th is work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Th e use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Th e publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover illustration: Cover image Marc Woldering Printed on acid-free paper Th is Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature Th e registered company is Macmillan Publishers Ltd. London

Preface and Ac knowledgments Th is book explores how the use of neurotechnologies to understand or improve the self influences people s subjectivity. The figure on the cover of this book aims to illustrate this effect. When you take a close look at the picture, you will see that the person is made of brainwaves and neurons. When you take a closer look, you will see brain maps (qeegs: the round heads), and also computer chips. And when you look very closely, you can see family trees and mandalas. This assemblage of brain entities, technical elements, environmental influences, and spiritual accents nicely illustrates the main argument of this book: working on the self by working on the brain does not reduce the self to the brain, but extends the self. Especially in the case of neurofeedback, a brainwave therapy, the self is extended with a brain, and with various physiological, psychological, material, and sometimes spiritual entities that all start working upon the person s feelings, problems, and lives. This new self is not static or fixed, and therefore the figure on the cover has no clear borders. I would like to thank my partner Marc Woldering for designing this cover as well as for all his other forms of support during the periods that I worked on this book. I conducted the research for this book while working for the Theory and History research group at the University of Groningen. I am very thankful for all ideas, support, and critical comments of my supervisors Maarten Derksen and Trudy Dehue, as well as for all comments v

vi Preface and Acknowledgments and suggestions from my other colleagues: Douwe Draaisma, Stephan Schleim, Jess Cadwallader, Sarah de Rijcke, Adeena Mey, Berend Verhoeff, Felix Schirmann, and Hilde Tjeerdema. I have always appreciated the flexible and inspiring atmosphere of TG and I am glad that after two research positions elsewhere I am now part of this group again. For this book, I studied brain work in many facets. I went to several neurofeedback clinics, interviewed neurofeedback clients and practitioners, was an observer during experiment, and was invited to attend a neurofeedback course, therapy, and some meetings. Without the help of all clients and practitioners, it would have been impossible to write this book. I would especially like to thank Roland Verment who received me several times in his neurofeedback clinic sometimes with groups of students and answered many of my questions by e-mail. I would also like to thank the European Neuroscience and Society Network that together with the University of Groningen financed a short-term visit to London to conduct interviews, observations, and archival research. Parts of this book have already been published in academic journals: an early version of Chap. 4 (Taking Care of One s Brain ) was published in History of the Human Sciences (Brenninkmeijer, 2010); a great part of Chap. 6 (Neurofeedback as a Dance of Agency ) was published in BioSocieties (Brenninkmeijer, 2013); and part of Chap. 3 (Glancing Behind the Scenes, earlier published as Brainwaves and psyches) was also published in History of the Human Sciences (Brenninkmeijer, 2015). In all these peer review processes, I received relevant comments, and I am grateful to the anonymous reviewers and editors of these journals. Moreover, I am also very grateful to the anonymous reviewers and the editors of Palgrave Macmillan who helped me to rewrite my manuscript and to turn it into a book.

Preface and Acknowledgments vii References Brenninkmeijer, J. (2010). Taking care of one s brain: How manipulating the brain changes people s selves. History of the Human Sciences, 23 (1), 107 126. doi: 10.1177/0952695109352824. Brenninkmeijer, J. (2013). Neurofeedback as a dance of agency. BioSocieties, 8 (2), 144 163. doi: 10.1057/biosoc.2013.2. Brenninkmeijer, J. (2015). Brainwaves and psyches: A genealogy of an extended self. History of the Human Sciences, 28 (3), 115 133. doi: 10.1177/0952695 114566644.

Contents 1 Introduction 1 Brains and Selves 4 Multi-sited Ethnography 5 References 9 2 Brain Devices and the Marvel 11 Demonstration 17 Experimenting on the Self with Light and Sound 21 Electric and Magnetic Demonstrations 26 Neurofeedback as a Spiritual Science 33 Brain Devices and the Marvel 39 References 41 3 Glancing Behind the Scenes 45 The Ungraspable Psyche 47 Brain and Soul 51 Brain Brothers 54 Technopolis 58 Desirable Alpha 61 Brain Control 63 ix

x Contents The Mind Body Web 67 Conclusion 71 References 72 4 Taking Care of One s Brain 77 Technologies of the Self 81 Restore the Self by Restoring the Brain 85 The Process: Enacting the Mind Body Problem 87 Mono, Dual, Triad 91 Other Entities Moving Around 93 Cyborgs and Spirits 97 A New Ontology of the Self 98 The Brain We Do 100 References 104 5 Intermezzo: From Self to Others to Agents 109 Governing Oneself and Others 110 From Others to Agents: When the Brains Talk Back 112 6 Neurofeedback as a Dance of Agency 117 Dance of Agency 118 Searching for Feedback 120 Creating the Client 122 Motivating the Mind, Body, Brain 126 Choreography of the Dance 128 Collecting the Results 133 The Self as a Dance of Agency 136 Conclusion 137 References 138 7 Reflection and Conclusion 141 Does It Work? 143 Neurofeedback Tribe 145

Contents xi Emergence of the Extended Self 146 Whose Self, What Self 148 Slowing Down the Activity 150 Conclusion 152 References 154 Summary 157 References 162 Appendix: Users 163 Practitioners 163 Clients 164 Index 165

List of Figures Fig. 2.1 Neurofeedback racing game 15 Fig. 2.2 Neurofeedback practitioner s screen 16 Fig. 2.3 Advertisement for an electropathic belt 29 Fig. 2.4 Advertisement for an electropathic belt 30 Fig. 3.1 Human brainwaves (a raw EEG) recorded in a neurofeedback clinic 47 Fig. 4.1 One page of my qeeg 78 Fig. 6.1 Part of a qeeg report as presented to the client 130 xiii