Kristian Moltke Martiny, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at CFS, just starting his research project
Purpose
The main question of my PhD dissertation was: how do we help persons living with the brain damage, cerebral palsy (CP)? This question is as complex and difficult to answer as any healthcare question. I argued that we need to ‘open up’ how we do (cognitive) science in order to understand what it means for persons to live with CP and then figure out how we should help them. Based on this method of open-minded cognitive science I used phenomenological interview to co-generate data on the neurophysiological, psychological and social aspects of living with CP.
From this theoretical work, I then developed, together with the Elsass Institute, an embodied-based model of intervention for CP, focusing on the experience of self-control as a way to help people with CP. In addition, I took part in developing a theatre performance at the Royal Danish Theater, Humane Liquidation, and a documentary film, Natural Disorder, so as to both communicate what it means to live with CP to a broader audience and to empower persons with CP, their families and friends.
The objective in my postdoc project is to continue with two fundamental ideas in my PhD project: 1) focus on the psycho-social aspects of CP, and 2) work with societal impact, which means working with communication, cultivation and implementation of the research in a social context.
Problem
I continue with these two ideas as a way to overcome two problems within the current research on CP:
Lack of psycho-social understanding of CP
Research on CP (and brain-damage in general) is largely focused on the neurophysiological and motor aspects of living with CP, whereas the more personal, psychological and social aspects are overlooked. Such neurophysiological research is necessary, but far from sufficient, and professional development in habilitation of CP requires an understanding of the ‘whole’, ‘unique’ and ‘complex’ person. As a supplement to the neurophysiological aspects of CP, knowledge of the psycho-social aspects is therefore necessary.
Research without societal impact
Typically, when researchers produce knowledge there is a danger for it to become self-referential and only beneficial for the researchers and the research environment. This is also the case in research on CP, but here it is vital that the research provides impact for those living with CP. Thus, the research needs to be relevant for other stakeholders (relatives, therapists, doctors and other professionals) than only researchers.
How to Open Up Cognitive Science?
With the specific case of investigating the psycho-social aspects of living with CP, I will continue to open up cognitive science. The Open Science movement has already made a substantial entry into cognitive science. This is especially seen with the newly launched Open MIND project, which is a collective experiment in open access publishing in cognitive science (Metzinger & Windt 2015). However, this idea of opening up the minds of scientists isn’t new, but a fundamental premise in phenomenologically inspired embodied cognition. Scholars such as Neisser (1980), Varela (1996), Gallagher & Marcel (1999), Desbordes & Negi (2013), all argue for more open-minded, embodied and pragmatic ways to study and do cognitive science.
The question is nonetheless: how do we ‘open up’ and embody our research methodology, research output and research communication? How do we, in a justifiable way, go beyond research as a process of mere hypothesis testing, deduction, argumentation, article writing and conference presentation?
In my postdoc project I will use the phenomenological interview as a way to embody my research methodology and investigate the psycho-social aspects of living with CP. I will continue my collaboration with professionals at the Elsass Institute (therapists, psychologists and doctors) and my work with the social services (The National Board of Social Services, The Danish Disability Council, The Danish Union for Cerebral Palsy, and The Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation) as a way to further develop the embodied-based model of intervention for CP. I will also once again use theatre to embody and open up social experiments in cognitive science, as a way to investigate the social understanding of CP, and use audiovisual media to communicate the research in a more embodied way than seen in classical publications.
Kristian Moltke Martiny/19-05-2016