The brain and the heart

Instinctively, we can figure that the brain and the heart are linked for many reasons.

We recently found out that subjects suffering from atrial fibrillation would potentially have a smaller brain, more specifically at the level of the frontal lobe.

Atrial fibrillation is a cardiac pathology that belongs to the family of arrhythmias. An arrhythmia is an abnormal cardiac frequency. We consider that 60-80 beats per minute is normal.

When the heart does not beat, as it should, it cannot pump blood throughout the body efficiently. All of the organs then can suffer.
We know that the frontal lobe is the one that differentiates the most human beings from other species. We also know that the frontal lobe is the one that initiates the postural response and that it commands movement. We know that the development of the frontal cortex, in terms of volume and connections between nerve cells, is the resultant of movement experiences between 0-6 years old.

In Posturology, we optimize the response of the frontal lobe by improving sensory information (by aligning the body and by offering it a balanced stance).

Furthermore, we make the individual move as to build these neurological networks, which are at the foundation of the frontal lobe.

So the question is: if Posturology is good for your joints and muscles, is it possible that it could be good for your heart?

How many ways can you say: pain?

It would be easy to think that, if we experience pain, it is because a tissue is suffering from a lesion. We can think of an injury, weak or tight muscles.

We now know that it’s not that simple, especially when pain becomes chronic. We speak of chronic pain when it’s been ongoing for more than 3-6 months.

If injuries hurt, it’s because they activate nociceptors. These are the receptors that respond to pain or excessive temperatures.

Recent studies allow us to understand that it’s possible to have pain while there is actually nothing wrong happening with the physical body.

Here are some examples that make you go hmmm:

– Researchers that have analyzed MRI’s of the spinal column of asymptomatic patients found that 80% of them had a disc protrusion or a hernia.
– Researchers have analyzed MRI’s of subjects that were asymptomatic and, in 34% of the cases, they presented with one or more than one tear of the rotator cuff muscles. When a population of individuals 60 years old and more were studied, this number was 60%.
– In the context of subjects presenting with arthrosis of the knee, it was found that 76% of them had lesions at the level of the menisci. They were asymptomatic.

Taking these facts into consideration, how is it that we are told that, to experience pain, something has to be broken?

Professor Lorimer Moseley, teacher of neurosciences and responsible for the department of physiotherapy at the University of South Australia, stipulates that pain is the sum of the environmental context. If it’s true that the pain signal is activated when we get hurt, it’s also true that our environment is a component of our perception of pain.

Professor Dr. Finn Bojen-Moller has even stated that it was fundamental that pain be felt before tissue is actually hurt. He actually sees pain as an alarm signal whose purpose is to maintain a certain level of integrity of the tissues of the organism.

The perspective illustrated is the perspective of practitioners that base their work exclusively on what is seemingly published in the literature. I don’t think that they are wrong. But I am not convinced they are absolutely right either.

What these professionals are saying is that the body can adapt to stress. It would be for that reason that there is no point in trying to reduce stress on the body by aligning it since it has a capacity to buffer it. Only thing is: adaptation does have its limits. Here is a recent study that states that the link between structural damage and pain: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26359154.

With this in mind, we dispose of the technology and exercises to align the bony pieces of an individual without them having to think about it 24/7. It can be an interesting option to reduce constraints on joints, decrease muscle stiffness and allow for optimal performance.

 

MRI Findings of Disc Degeneration are More Prevalent in Adults with Low Back Pain than in Asymptomatic Controls: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analy… – PubMed – NCBI

AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2015 Dec;36(12):2394-9. doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A4498. Epub 2015 Sep 10. Meta-Analysis; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Review

Exercise and stress

It probably isn’t the first time that you hear that exercise can reduce stress, right?

Peter Trick, a neuroscientist, wanted to find an anatomical connection in the body that could explain this phenomenon. He, indeed, found a very clear connection between certain parts of the brain that are responsible for physical activity and parts of the brain and parts of the emotional system that manage stress.

We know that the adrenal glands, situated above the kidneys, are responsible for the production of adrenalin when one of three situations arises:
– To fight;
– To flee;
– To freeze.

We used to believe that parts of the brain responsible for managing abstract thoughts were responsible for managing stress. We know now that it’s a little bit more complicated than that.

Trick has demonstrated that the motor cortex, which controls movement, has a direct effect on the adrenal glands. The area of the brain managing our abdominal muscles has a specific effect on that reality.

So then, if yoga and Pilates can help you in managing stress, imagine to what extent this could be more so the case if you are aligned. This is where posturology comes into play.

We always win when we calibrate posture.

Read… to live!

A fascinating study from Yale University could motivate you to read more!

3635 subjects of 50 years or older were studied over a period of 12 years.

We classified these subjects in 3 categories:

  • Those that do not read at all
  • Those that read 3.5 hours and less per week
  • Those who read 3.5 hours and more per week.

The results are mind blowing!

Individuals that read live 2 years more than individuals that do not read.

Individuals that read more than 3.5 hours per week see the likelihood of actually dying reduced by 23% versus the ones that do not read.

The individuals that read up to 3.5 hours per week have 17% less chances of dying as compared to the ones that do not read.

How so, do you ask?

We know that reading increases connectivity between different areas of the brain and we also know that reading increases empathy.

What the study does not stipulate is whether or not the subjects that were studied possessed good eye movement.

It would be interesting to calibrate posture of the individuals studied, which is known to improve eye eye coordination, amongst other factors.

We know that, to coordinate eyes, whether it is for pursuits or saccades (both are needed for reading), optimal connectivity between the brain hemispheres is great.

That is one of the objectives with posturology!