First, read Too Much Information. I'll wait here till you return .....................

There is, perhaps, an explanation.

Everybody has experienced a sense of "losing oneself" in an activity--whether a movie, sport, sex, or meditation. Now, researchers have caught the brain in the act of losing "self" as it shuts down introspection during a demanding sensory task. The researchers--led by Rafael Malach and Ilan Goldberg of the Weizmann Institute of Science reporting in the April 20, 2006, issue of Neuron--say their findings show that self-related function actually shuts down during such intense sensory tasks. Thus, an "observer" function in the brain does not appear to play an active part of in the production of our vivid sensory experiences. These findings go against common models of sensory experience that assume that there is some kind of "homunculus", or observer function in the brain that "looks at" sensory brain areas. Thus the finding, they said, has significance for understanding the basic nature of consciousness and perception. . .

During the tests, the researchers scanned the volunteers' brains using functional magnetic resonance imaging. In this widely used technique, harmless magnetic fields and radio waves are used to scan blood flow in brain regions, which indicates activity.

The researchers found that regions of the brain activated during sensory processing or self-reflective introspection were quite distinct and segregated. Sensory processing activated the sensory cortex and related structures, while introspection activated the prefrontal cortex, they found.

Importantly, the researchers found that activity in the self-related prefrontal cortex was silenced during intense sensory processing.

As a result, wrote the researchers, "We propose that the role of self-related cortex is not in enabling perceptual awareness, but rather in allowing the individual to reflect upon sensory experiences, to judge their possible significance to the self, and, not less importantly for consciousness research, to allow the individual to report about the occurrence of his or her sensory experience to the outside world.

"To conclude, the picture that emerges from the present results is that, during intense perceptual engagement, all neuronal resources are focused on sensory cortex, and the distracting self-related cortex is inactive. Thus, the term "losing yourself" receives here a clear neuronal correlate. This theme has a tantalizing echoing in Eastern philosophies such as Zen teachings, which emphasize the need to enter into a 'mindless,' selfless mental state to achieve a true sense of reality," they wrote.

I used to play basketball. Every Sunday morning just before dawn (the time varied with the season) about 15 of us would show up and run full court till we dropped. Few of us were actually any good at it, and we were all fathers and grandfathers, but we could run. I played point or off, good D, seldom getting under the basket except on breaks and drives, and ate a lot of basketballs when the space eaters stuffed me. . . except when I didn't think about it. Sometimes I'd forget myself, forget that I couldn't do that. Afterward, running back upcourt with a space eater who should have and usually did reject that weak stuff, I'd ask "what happened?" He'd say "I don't know, I fully expected to block that."

I always thought it odd that I didn't know how I did that, or even have a vivid recollection of the specific moves. Perhaps this explains such seeming lapses of consciousness. My little man went to sleep, stopped editing me and warning me about what I could and couldn't do. It's a common turn of phrase to say that "he's unconscious" when describing a player who can't seem to miss. Everything he throws up goes down. Perhaps it's correct. Part of his mind, the part that "allow[s] the individual to report about the occurrence of his or her sensory experience to the outside world", was in fact offline.

That may also be why it's so hard to explain to others what the hell you are doing when you're gone. You aren't watching yourself and so can't reliably report. It would be nice to be able to say that I had had an intense perceptual engagement and so all of my neuronal resources were focused on my sensory cortex, and my distracting self-related cortex was inactive, so I can't say. It's Zen doncha know. Want to take a shower?