Moving/twitching/impulsive

[tomr]

Any other intp's find themselves pacing and wandering around their house a lot?

Also do you find fast pace/full spectrum lit environments uncomfortable at first?
Walking into radioshack/target the other day made me question why I do any shopping offline.

 

[Ex-User (5841)]

Pacing... I used to do it obsessively when I was 14-15. It's common in those with high schizotypy and in my case, has sense developed into other equally effective yet more socially acceptable behaviors. Foot tapping, knuckle cracking, eye and jaw movements, picking at my nails, etc. The whole mess has a rhythm to it.

 

[r4ch3l]

Yes, verified spaz. Been picking at my hands since I was a kid and tap on surfaces rhythmically, bounce my legs while sitting, spin around in chairs. All this gets escalated when I'm thinking really hard about something or overwhelmed by my environment. I remember the first time I heard idm music when i was around 15 and thought "Oh! there's music like the way I tap to my brain!"

I work from home for my main source of income and pace around a lot picking up random objects while thinking/procrastinating or while on the phone.

 

[QuickTwist]

HAHA! I am debating whether or not I do indeed have a case of a mental illness or if I am just a severe case of an INTP with an overactive mind. HAHA!

P.S. Medication can do this to a person as well. Lithium is very bad for you.

 

[nearfantastica]

I often find that I get restless when I'm thinking and I'll hop up and wander around the house. This only happens when it's the middle of the night and everyone else is sleeping, though. Otherwise I tend to drum with my hands a lot, tap my fingers, my feet. I also like to fidget with my guitar, not really playing anything in particular. The worst habit related to this topic by far is my tendency to chew the inside of my cheeks when I'm anxious/uncomfortable or thinking.

The whole cheek chewing thing is an unfortunate result of me ending my poor habit of chewing my fingernails. Funny how that works...

 

[Latte]

What function do these behaviors provide for y'all? Does it induce or strengthen a specific mindstate conducive to processing certain kind so of information? Is it detrimental in some ways not related to how other people see you?

I personally notice major differences in mindstate depending on what my body is doing, for better and worse.

I've long suspected that idosyncrasies like this are almost without exception not only external manifestations, but integrated aspects of cognitive processing in an individual.

Many esoteric psychonauts tend to consciously utilize external aids to cognition for steering and processing.

In cases where an individual has few neurological semi-hard "limiters" (like autism, adhd, etc), social aspects of life would normally cause people to supress developing ways of processing things that incorporate things that are "weird". In cases where alternatives are difficult to stumble upon or subconsciously develop, ways of processing that incorporate observably odd behavior might be the likeliest to emerge as standard for certain tasks / experential situations.

 

[Ex-User (5841)]

What function do these behaviors provide for y'all? Does it induce or strengthen a specific mindstate conducive to processing certain kind so of information? Is it detrimental in some ways not related to how other people see you?

I've long suspected that idosyncrasies like this are almost without exception not only external manifestations, but integrated aspects of cognitive processing in an individual.

I can't touch on all of that. But I know I can't concentrate without it. It has sort of a mental rhythmic anchoring function for me.

I'd guess it's related to divided attention (which I have none of) and impulse control.

"Frontal lobe" = code for prefrontal cortex? If so, then decreased dopamine transmission might be the cause. Those on the schizo-spectrum have excess dopamine pretty much everywhere else, which is why stimulants aren't used, lest the patient be arrested for running around the block stark naked claiming to be the progeny of Jesus and Napoleon.

So what prevents dopamine from accessing that region of the prefrontal cortex? It's probably structural. Which makes this interesting because of this.

It's also interesting that music increases dopamine transmission (direct .pdf download). Rhythm.

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3882sGkrNA

I think this ties it all together, actually

Or you know.... it could just be one method to access aspects of the ubermensch:

"The present study suggests that enhanced processing of elementary physical properties of incoming stimuli, as found previously in the visual modality, may also exist in the auditory modality."

 

[QuickTwist]

I found this the most interesting: "For example, variations in insular complexity could affect the regulation of well-known distractions in the process of meditation, such as daydreaming, mind-wandering, and projections into past or future. Moreover, given that meditators are masters in introspection, awareness, and emotional control, increased insular gyrification may reflect an integration of autonomic, affective, and cognitive processes."

This:"Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Schizophrenia is considered to be a disorder of cerebral connectivity associated with disturbances of cortical development. Disturbances in connectivity at an early period of cortical maturation can result in widespread defects in gyrification. Investigating the anatomic distribution of gyrification defects can provide important information about neurodevelopment in patients with schizophrenia." Makes sense and the conclusion: "CONCLUSION:
Our observations suggest that the disturbances in cortical gyrification seen in patients with schizophrenia might be related to a disrupted interaction between the paralimbic and the multimodal association cortex and thus might contribute to the pathogenesis of the illness." Makes me wonder what circumstances would make this happen.

Any theories on this anyone?

I believe the music explanation has some validity but it trails off after a while.

 

[Ex-User (5841)]

"CONCLUSION:
Our observations suggest that the disturbances in cortical gyrification seen in patients with schizophrenia might be related to a disrupted interaction between the paralimbic and the multimodal association cortex and thus might contribute to the pathogenesis of the illness." Makes me wonder what circumstances would make this happen.

Any theories on this anyone?

Elevated *cortisol levels in early childhood, due to the confusion of stimuli I mentioned here, under the first quote. Confusion increases stress which elevates cortisol, causing brain damage.

In my case, for example, mom liked to blindside me with a slap to the head when I was doing something wrong.

(You don't have to read them all, I just scanned them).
*1. http://www.jneurosci.org/content/10/9/2897.full.pdf
*2. http://stroke.ahajournals.org/content/25/6/1105.full.pdf
*3. http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v1/n1/full/nn0598_69.html
*4. http://www.jneurosci.org/content/14/5/2893.full.pdf

What's interesting to me is the apparent way that the body seems to be compensating for these things. Those on the schizo spectrum have elevated dopamine (except in the prefrontal cortex, specifically the left side) and reduced cortisol ("except where?", is what I'd ask next... ). *EDIT: Wherever it is, I'll bet is has something to do with paranoia, which may not necessarily be in the brain. I'm looking at you, epinepherine.

I strongly believe that a large portion of mental illness is epigenetically inherited.

***I think I'm derailing a bit...

**EDIT: Cigarettes. Schizophrenics tend to smoke a lot $$$. And drink coffee a lot. Self-medication, just like any body focused repetitive behavior. Both increase dopamine, and caffeine increases acetylcholine and norepinepherine, which improve concentration, as well as increasing epinepherine and cortisol. The linked caffeine study also cites a study by Lucas and Pickar (1990) that showed that caffeine increased psychotic symptoms in schizophrenics in spite of antipsychotics (which reduce dopamine, not cortisol). Actually, the discussion in that study is pretty bitchin' as well. They use for the dopamine, and suffer from the cortisol.

$$$="Wow! What an article!"

 

[QuickTwist]

Not at all derailing. Your responses have way more validity than most. Trust your reasoning and don't second guess yourself.

 

[Ex-User (9062)]

When i don't have anything particular to do, like waiting for a process to be finished which does not require my participation, or telephoning i go back and forth the room.
I have agoraphobia, so i am not very fond of the places you mentioned.
When i do have to go there, i have noticed that i tap my hands, either on my torso, or on the side of my upper leg.
This is just a way for me to relax in a stressful setting.

 

[ethicalhacker]

I tend to pace in a repetitive pattern while thinking or listening to music.

 

[QuickTwist]

I cannot for the life of me sit in the same chair for more than 1 h. I will get up, walk around the house and do something else for 5-8 min. and think. Then I will go outside for another 2 min. then go back to where I was sitting if thats what I still want to do. Otherwise I will make conversation with my brother for anywhere from 5-20 min. and then do something else. ADHD and mania are crazy like that. Oh, I also like to drive to the gas station a lot but thats not really pacing but kinda is.

 

[r4ch3l]

What function do these behaviors provide for y'all? Does it induce or strengthen a specific mindstate conducive to processing certain kind so of information? Is it detrimental in some ways not related to how other people see you?

One of my earliest memories involves someone freaking out over my bloody hands so I know I've been picking and tapping for my whole life. It's always been there. It seems to center me and assist in processing/concentration. When I'm doing it and thinking really intensely I also visibly space out and have more trouble than usual with eye contact because I am trying to focus on what I am seeing in my mind.

I believe the stereotypy is a symptom of something bigger that is mostly detrimental but also an essential part of who I am because I have never existed without it.

 

[Polaris]

I have a tendency to rock backwards and forwards when concentrating on something; I also bite the skin around my fingernails, scratch my head, ears and neck. I scratch my legs until I bleed, and twitch around in bed until I fall asleep, depending on what is going on in my head.

My ENFP sister has had a habit of beating her head repeatedly into the pillow until she falls asleep ever since she was a baby. It is quite violent to watch; she lies on her stomach while pummeling her head quite forcefully face first into the pillow.

She went out on several dates with this university lecturer she had a severe crush on, and on the first night in bed when it was time to go to sleep, she forgot herself and started banging her head into the pillow.

Now just imagine, you have been dating this tall, beautiful, intelligent blonde for a few weeks. Your dream finally comes to a climax when you bring her to your bed. You make passionate love and talk until she goes quiet with drowsiness. You lull off in blissful happiness...

...and then suddenly there's a strange sort of disturbance; the whole bed is rocking. You turn your head, wondering what the f..k is going on, and there's your beloved beauty banging her pretty head into the pillow as if possessed by the devil himself.

Luckily he was more amused than horrified.....