class notes
The video below outlines the content for the class: Introducing the Impulsing Model. To register,* see below. This outline is also the basis for a new edition of The Conscious Stream.
The class focuses on proposing the presence of lightening-like impulse trails that are formed and converge in the nervous system’s circuitry. These trails, called impulsing, are then used to show the work done in four linked areas of an inner circuitry neuroscientists associate with four kinds of conscious work. Tracing impulsing in these areas shows how we:
- experience sensation
- form a record of each conscious instant (we experience in our conscious stream) … into a network of records
- derive thought from this record network, and
- generate (and release) tension patterns in the muscle, we call our feelings … also from this network. At best, the goal of this model is to show how we can promote healthy functioning, in the form of the fluent impulse activity. In fact, the model proposes that the balanced feelings that result, which we experience as emotional balance or well-being, is a reflection of healthy, fluent functioning.
The physical detail that corresponds to this conscious work is overviewed in another video (below): Introducing Impulsing – a simplified physical model–10-15-2010.
Overall, the goal of the class and model (a simplified description of impulse trail activity in the nervous system) is to give insight into how our everyday feelings evolve, to help us avoid unnecessary personal stress and to help support fluent activity with others … promoting emotional health for all of us.
In other words, this model introduces a new level of self-understanding. It’s based on a simplified physical understanding of how our own nervous system works. It proposes the work done, in terms we can relate to, as flashing impulse trails are formed and converge in the circuits of this system. In short, within the other systems it interfaces, nervous system activity supplements the work of the body’s other integrated systems.
* To register for: Introducing the Impulsing Model, at Columbia Gorge Community College, Hood River campus, Sept. 28 – Nov. 11, 2022, visit the community education page at cgcc.coursestorm.com.
Note: The class’s content will be updated on this site. And although all rights are reserved, it will be available free of charge.
model / class overview
introducing the impulsing model: 8-8-22
- This model proposes a middle ground between the complex character of the nervous system and conscious experience. It’s like the food pyramid model provides a middle ground between the body’s metabolism and the nutrition we experience. We use this middle ground to keep our nutrition balanced. The impulsing model provides a similar middle ground for the nervous system. In this model, we see the activity that determines the tension patterns we call our feelings. And we see how feelings reflect the efficiency of the system’s functioning.
- In both models, we can relate something complex to something familiar … to give us a way to improve the health we experience in these systems.
Abstract:
Introducing Impulsing: A Simplified View of How Our Nervous System Works
When I was growing up, we learned about the food pyramid, a simple model that provides a middle ground between the body’s complex chemical activity and something more familiar—the food that makes up our diet. With the food pyramid, we can maintain a balanced diet to support this part of our health and in terms we can relate to. About this time, I also learned the nervous system, the body’s central system, is responsible for consciousness, which includes feelings, and since I began equating my feelings to my quality of my life, I believed we also needed a middle ground to help support this part of our health too. In other words, I wanted—in fact I needed—a simplified model between the complex physical character of the nervous system and consciousness to support this part of our health in terms of emotional balance. And I wanted a reliable point of reference that I could believe in for guidance—something dependable. So I began what became a lifelong study, and now I’d like to propose a middle ground for the nervous system, the impulsing model, in terms we can relate to in our own experience.
When it comes to explaining a scientific theory or model, a respected scientist once said, “Most of the fundamental ideas of science are essentially simple and may as a rule may be expressed in a language comprehensible to anyone.” Let’s see if we can do that with this model! Here is the impulsing model, in three parts.
Part 1 proposes the presence of lightning-like impulse trails, or impulsing, circulating in the nervous system. It is the key concept. Impulsing begins when the system’s sensory groups absorb a pattern of energy, such as sound and light waves. This energy is then translated into another form of energy, the electrochemical energy we call impulses. And a dominant pattern of impulses propels an impulse trail through the system’s pathways. As sensory groups are monitoring conditions in the body and environment, they are forming impulse trails. And when trails are converging, they are resolving conditions in the body and environment. With this activity in mind, we can infer that the generalwork of the system is to monitor and resolve, and we can also infer that fluent monitoring and resolving work is a reflection of healthy activity.
Part 2 applies impulsing to four linked areas of the system that neuroscientists associate with four kinds of conscious work, as they contribute to the stream of consciousness we experience. In Part 2, we’ll follow impulsing and describe the work done, as each of these four linked areas are energized in turn. In Area 1, we see how we experience a sensation in us, as part of us. In Area 2 we see how we make a record of each conscious instant into a lifelong network of records. And as a trail’s energy sinks into related records made in the past, we see that it often leads to experiencing recognition and orientation in consciousness. In Area 3 we see how we derive thoughts from this network of records, and in Area 4 we see how impulsing generates the tension patterns that we call our feelings. Understanding the work in Area 4 is probably the most interesting because here we see that when tension is formed and then released, we experience this reversal of tension as a kind of balance—a balanced feeling. This provides a satisfying sense of emotional balance. Activity in these areas is a key to bring each area to life. Or, we can say that defining and tracing impulsing in these four areas is like defining and tracing electricity, as we describe the work it does as components of a radio are energized to form a stream of sound. In this case, we’ll define impulsing and trace activity in areas of the nervous system we call the conscious pathways to see how it forms a stream of consciousness.
In Part 3, we’ll see how we can use this model in everyday life as the middle ground for restoring and maintaining balance in the body’s nervous system. It’s like how we use the food pyramid as middle ground to restore and maintain balance in the body’s chemistry. In this case, we can use this model in two ways.
First, we can use the model to restore emotional balance. When we experience excessive or extended stress, we can refer to its concepts to see how this stress state occurred and then to identify the conscious work that restores the balance to relieve the stress. It’s like experiencing the symptoms of scurvy and then using an understanding of nutrition to provide Vitamin C in order to restore chemical balance in this system. Second, we can use the model to maintain emotional balance by developing a personal pattern of activities that meets the four base needs we experience. Maintaining emotional balance or balanced feelings is like having and using all the nutrients the body needs to develop and maintain an ongoing balanced diet so that malnourishment doesn’t come up in the first place.
Information on the class that adds detail to these concepts, will be available on this website: www.impulsing.net.
Thank you. Denise Ingebo, independent theorist in neuroscience
Introducing Impulsing – a simplified physical model – 10-15-20
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Denise Ingebo @ Denise-Ingebo
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Model Overview
Illustrations for podcast and class: Introducing Impulsing
Part 1: simplified structure and impulse activity
impulse trail forms
impulse trails converge
Part 2: Area 1 – experiencing sensation
Part 2: Area 2: forming record of each conscious instant …
Part 2: Area 3: deriving thought
Part 2: generating tension patterns … feelings 
To Join Our Team
for info on local team (primarily technical & office work) email a paragraph about your interest and background to … impulsing @ icloud. com … thank you!
Poster: Impulsing: electricity of the Nervous System
Book: The Conscious Stream: Review Edition
Denise Ingebo, Independent Theorist in Neuroscience
Impulsing: an early overview
Episode 1-draft Introduction
Introducing Impulsing Podcast May 5, 2022
All rights reserved.
Denise Ingebo
August 16, 2022