Elvis, Effort, Education, Success and Neuroscience

Elvis Star Austin Butler Rushed to Hospital After His ‘Body Started Shutting Down’
Elvis star Austin Butler, 31, said that playing the King of Rock ‘n Roll was “the greatest ride of my life” - but it all caught up with him at the end.

Brooke Steinberg - New York Post, February 28, 2023; as presented on news.com.au wrote ‘Butler has been very committed to Elvis’ voice as he continues to talk like the late singer - with many saying still using the voice is “cringe”’.

Voice coach Irene Bartlett, who was hired to work with Butler in 2019, defended his ever-lasting Elvis accent, telling ABC Gold Coast that he spent years building a “connection” with Elvis’ personality and was fully committed to playing the part.’

“I feel sorry people are saying that, you know, it’s still acting [but] he’s actually taken [the voice] on board,” she said. “I don’t know how long that will last, or if it’s going to be there forever.” (1)

Commitment and Brain Plasticity
As noted in the media, Austin Butler totally committed himself to portraying Elvis, and even though the filming concluded some time ago, there are occasions when Mr Butler continues to present the voice of the late King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, with many still saying that his ongoing use of the voice of Elvis voice is “cringe”. From a brain plasticity and neuroscience perspective, the evidence is unambiguous; there is no need to label his behaviour as cringe, nor should anyone be critical of Mr Butler in relation to how he is currently expressing himself.

The Universality of Brain Plasticity
In terms of thinking, talking and actions, the universal fact is that neuroplasticity exists, and this means that that an individual’s thinking and action changes the brain. Neuroscience research also indicates, that the longer a particular process continues, the more neurological and neurobiological changes will occur, along with the presenting behaviours, and the longer all of this will remain in place.

Advancing Thinking, Behaviour and Educational Potential
John Arden, author of Rewire the Brain, writes that the act of thinking requires effort and this ‘action of effort’ leads to the situation which not only ‘shifts [a person’s] attention from perception to action,’ it can and does lead to changes in behaviours. From an educational perspective, this process is the very purpose of learning. The purpose of education, teaching and learning is to bring about changes in a student’s thinking, the aim of which is to develop, improve and advance skills, knowledge, and bring about the concomitant changes in learning behaviours, along with the associated advances in personal potential.

The Cascading Connecting Brain
From a neurological and behavioural perspective, the important point to note here is that this focussed effortful action of thinking, along with any supporting behaviours, is what activates the brain to commence and bring about cascading events. This is the start of individual neurons firing; collective neurons firing; the development of new neurons (neurogenesis); the development and establishment of neuronal assemblies; the development and establishment of new synapses (synaptogenesis); developing and bringing about additional synaptic connections; and the potential creation of new brain maps.

Synapses
The synapse, which is also known as the neuronal junction, is the location of transmission of electric nerve impulses between two nerve cells (neurons) or between a neuron and a gland or muscle cell (effector). A synaptic joining between a muscle cell and a neuron is known as a neuromuscular junction.

New Synapses
Synaptogenesis is the formation of new synapses. Once activated, these new synapses will only become stabilised and permanent if there is ongoing effortful neural stimulation (e.g., intentional cognition, and the physical pursuit of new skills and learning); all of which interacts with and through a synapse.

Action and Neurological Potential
Research undertaken by Daniel Kimble found that physical exercises, which also included involvement in what was known as a complex housing environment, led to the brain being neurologically enriched and becoming far more complex; this included additional synaptic connections. From this perspective Kimble observed and came to the estimation that the number of synapses per neuron ‘…could mean literally trillions more synapses… More synapses would certainly suggest an increased ability to transmit and store information, raising the possibility that environmental enrichment can increase the learning capacity of the brain [which also influences long-term potentiation]’.

Long-term Potentiation
Long-term potentiation is defined by Timothy Teylor ‘as an enduring alteration in synaptic efficacy or gain following repeated afferent activation.’ This is the use or lose principle in action.

Dendritic Spine Advantages
In terms of dendritic spine development and its advantages, according to Wendy Suzuki, it is intensive work and action which leads to the process. Therefore, the type of intensive work that Mr Butler was undertaking, which potentially increased the dendritic spine density in other regions of Mr Butler’s brain, such as the hippocampus and the adjacent entorhinal cortex. The important point to note here is that this numerical dendritic spine advantage and associated axodendritic connection not only brings brain benefits; it also provides the neurophysiological means to increase the volume of neurotransmissions. All of this then helps to amplify the power of these transmissions by bringing brain and body (i.e., hólos) cognitive and behavioural operational benefits. This also involves axonal myelination.

Myelin
Myelin is a white fatty dielectric (electronically insulating) type of material that is mainly composed of lipids and lipoproteins that wrap around axons. These axons can also be referred to as neurological pathways or nerves. Myelin forms an insulating layer around these axons, the purpose of which is to provide the means for electrical impulses to transmit efficiently and with immense speed along these now myelinated axons.

Time, Effort, Energy and Speed
According to Daniel Coyle, ‘myelin is important because it provides us with a vivid new [neurological] model for understanding skill. Skill is a cellular insulation that wraps neural circuits and that grows in response to certain signals.’ The more time, effort and energy we put into our practice (which needs to be as accurate as possible); this course of action leads to more myelination. This process then leads to faster message transmission which then benefits cognition and skill development. All of this helps to develop, bring about and support the cognitive and behavioural changes that will now be taking place.

Biological and Neurological Cascading Reality
Added to this biological and neurological cascading reality, is the ongoing and continuous process of intense thinking, and the accompanying focussed and repetitive actions, as what was taking place with Mr Butler. The outcome was that the brain of Mr Butler changed; which then immutably led to the wanted changes in his behaviours that he was seeking, i.e., to be able to perform and present the voice and the persona of Elvis Presley.

Living Circuits
This process is further endorsed by Daniel Coyle, who was referring to the UCLA (University of California Los Angeles) neurologist Dr George Bartzokis. According to Coyle, citing Bartzokis ‘[a]ll skills, language, all music, all movements are made of living circuits, and all circuits grow according to certain rules.’

Success
These rules state that if one is to achieve success in any discipline, one must continually practice, practice, and then practice even more, which is precisely what Mr Butler continued to do for all of the time he was theatrically channelling Elvis Presley.  Clearly Mr Butler was following the performance and directorial rules that provided him with the brain-based and performance success he was seeking.

The Brain Remained in Place
However, once all of the practising, the rehearsals and the required precision performances came to an end; this did not mean the brain of Mr Butler suddenly changed, the brain remained in place. The brain of Mr Butler continued to have the neurons, the synapses the axonal myelinated pathways, the synaptic connections, the neuronal assemblies and the brain maps, all of which combined for Mr Butler to be able to present the voice and the entity of Elvis Presley.

Use it or Lose it
Norman Doidge found that neurological pathways are pruned when these neurological connections and pathways are no longer being used. According to Doidge this is known as the use it or lose it phenomenon, and also known as the learned nonuse phenomenon.

You’re Right, He’s left, He’s gone
Mr Butler stopped performing as Elvis Presley, but Mr Butler’s brain continued with this process or pruning, along with the fact that Mr Butler will endeavour to consciously continue to reduce and remove the trained, inner voice of Elvis from his speech. The brain-based reality is that this process of neurological pruning, along with Mr Butler’s ongoing conscious behavioural changes, will lead to a time where Mr Butler, will be able to declare: “Elvis has left the building.”

Dr Ragnar Purje is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at CQUniversity in the School of Education and the Arts, where he works with Professor Ken Purnell specialising in classroom behaviour management strategies. Dr Purje is the author of Responsibility Theory®.

References
1 Retrieved from https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/movies/elvis-star-austin-butler-was-rushed-to-hospital-after-his-body-started-shutting-down/news-story/a9f25ac7cb32724a0e5e04472dc9f3f9

Image by Ekaterina Bolovtsova