Vagus Nerve Tone, or, Grace under Pressure
When was the last time that you had to perform gracefully in a high-pressure situation?
Researchers continue to confirm that daily habits of mindset and behavior can create a positive snowball effect through a feedback loop linked to stimulating your vagus nerve. This web article shows show you 8 habits that stimulate healthy vagal tone and allow you to harness the power of your vagus nerve to help you stay calm, cool, and collected in any storm.
The Exercise Paradox
Data from 98 studies around the globe shows that human populations coddled by modern conveniences and lifestyles have similar energy expenditures to those in less developed countries with more demanding lifestyles.
This also seems to be true for other animals, including primates, kangaroos and pandas, where captive populations are compared to wild animal energy expenditure.
Humans and other creatures seem to have several evolved strategies for keeping daily energy expenditure constrained.
While exercise has many benefits, increased exercise has minimal impact on weight loss. Click here to listen to the full mp3 article.
Apologies for the mechanical nature of the recording, no other format is available.
Myopia
As our urban kids spend less time outside, their eyes are growing abnormally from a lack of bright light. In this episode of Catalyst we look into the rise of myopia, and how scientists are finding a way to turn the tide on the epidemic.
Surprisingly, this also has implications for age related eyesight deterioration.
Movement and Health This ABC Catalyst video discusses appropriate exercise under professional supervision - before, during, or after cancer treatment, which seems to substantially improve the odds.
Prof Robert Newton says; "I believe that the greatest effectiveness of exercise is when you actually exercise either immediately before or after the actual session of receiving the chemotherapy.
Anna-Louise Bouvier says; Physical inactivity is now rated as the fourth leading cause of global mortality due to its link to cancer, diabetes and stroke.
And there is a whole lot of research looking at the influence of sitting on your mind and your mood [in that] we are seeing it is very strongly linked to depression and anxiety.
This is explained further in her presentation to the Happiness and Its Causes conference.
Diet and Health
It is estimated there are up to 500,000 Australians living, undiagnosed, with Type 2 diabetes.
Dr Mosley, whose work on health includes numerous investigations into weight loss, and popularising the 5:2 diet, appears on this edition of SBS's Insight to discuss his shock at being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and how he reversed it.
For decades, bacteria has been portrayed as an enemy of our bodies, but new research into microbiology is turning that assumption on its head. This one-hour Canadian documentary, The Diet Myth, from SBS TV, looks into how diet impacts our gut microbiome, and why some foods make us fat, while others nourish healthy bacteria.
This ABC Catalyst TV clip discusses modern gluten research, including variations in peoples gluten sensitivity and how modern bread production results in higher gluten levels.
Are you still skeptical of the impact of diet on health?
Then reading this real-life account from one of Marys patients may change your mind, and your well-being, forever. This text is as received, un-edited, and the personal experience and testimony of a local person diagnosed with a difficult case of rheumatoid arthritis.
The Brains Way of Healing This article is an excerpt from the book "The Brains Way of Healing" by Dr. Norman Doidge, published by Scribe.
Doidge is an expert on neuroplasticity, and this article appeared in The Australian newspaper.
It describes the work of a pain expert who was forced to take radical measures to help himself after a severe neck injury. The book is reviewed in the Guardian newspaper, and, Dr. Doige is interviewed, eventually, in this episode of the Brain Science Podcast.
Here is a quite long but interesting YouTube clip on the role of the brain in chronic pain.
More on the 5:2 diet
Channel 7's Sunday Night show has a short(ish) article, which, after the advert, gives a good summary of Dr. Michael Mosley's 5:2 diet journey.
In this short video he discusses the development of his 5:2 diet, and how it works on a remarkably wide range of conditions, especially when coupled with 'bursty' interval training.
Tetrachromacy
A fascinating BBC article on those few women who see far more colour than most people, and an attempt to convey tetrachromacy for the rest of us.
Here is a link to one tetrachromatic artist's work. Roll your mouse wheel to scroll down the page, and click the pictures and links across the top for more information.
Catalyst: Gut Reaction
We are what we eat. In this two part series, ABC television's Catalyst presents new research on how what we eat governs what lives inside us, and how those biota affect our wellbeing.
This food for thought is available here; Part One and
Part Two are quite large downloads. Each is almost 1/2 hour video.
Be sure to use the resize button on the bottom right of the catalyst screen to watch it in full size. Press your keyboard's "Esc" button to make it small again.
The brain is the driver of the body. The body nourishes the brain.
This article How the Brain Rewires Itself is from Time magazine and deals with brain neuroplasticity.
In this Article and Video, Dr Norman Doidge champions the new wave of scientific thinking on brain function known as neuroplasticity; the ability of the brain to change. He looks at the brain and explores ways to slow the ageing process and shows that by exercising the brain you will increase your brain fitness. The concept of neuroplasticity brings new hope for those suffering the effects of reduced brain function due to ageing or medical conditions such as a stroke.
In this hour long lecture, Dr. Doidge tells the remarkable story of how, in his last visit to Brisbane in 2008, he met a woman Jane Gapp whose daughter had the incurable condition Locked-In Syndrome. Reading Doidge's book compelled Gapp to persevere in her attempts to help her daughter recover, and she has since pulled her out of her "Locked-In" state.
This article by Dr Doidge is titled New Hope for Aging Creaking Yuppie Bodies.
In this edition of The Nature of Things David Suzuki explores the science of "neuroplasticity" and the best-selling book by psychiatrist and researcher Dr. Norman Doidge. It presents a strong case for reconsidering how we view the human mind.
Neuroscientist Daniel Wolpert starts from a surprising premise: the brain evolved, not to think or feel, but to control movement. In this entertaining, data-rich talk he gives us a glimpse into how the brain creates the grace and agility of human motion. Please note, this is quite a large presentation.
Recent work shows the relationship between Aerobic exercise and neurogenesis - the creation of new neurons.
Habit formation is the core of learning and gives us mental space. The Power of Habit - An Interview with Charles Duhrigg on ABC LifeMatters.
Buff and Brainy - Exercising the body can benefit the mind. This is part one of a two-part series on lifestyle and brain fitness.
Do you have you any idea how come this sentence breaks the rules but read it you still can?
These abilities demonstrate what's known as tacit knowledge - something as big and taken for granted as "air", "thought", or "language".
This article by S. Carpenter discusses the rapidly growing body of research that indicates that metaphors joining body and mind reflect a central fact about the way we think: the mind uses the body to make sense of abstract concepts.
Fish Oil and Blueberries have recently been shown to be very beneficial to your health.
These three articles from the Sydney Morning Herald discuss Vitamin D and health, mental disorder and genes.
There is also a Youtube video from ABC TV Catalyst at the bottom of this page.
Scientists find that Barefoot runners adjust their leg and foot movements so that they land more gently on the ground. This article from the Sydney Morning Herald discusses barefoot running, foot-gloves and traditional runners. Please note that this PDF article is quite large and the small font is best viewed at ~200% magnification.
Dr. Robert Burgess, feldenkrais practitioner, publishes an occasional newsletter. Here are the 2007 "Thorax" and 2010 "Posture Matters" editions.
This article from the Feldenkrais Movement Institute discusses how habitual actions mold the bones and muscular envelope.
Recently a doctor working in Holland found his patient with advanced Parkinsons could ride a bicycle very well.
Here is the New York Times Article and a YouTube clip of the same man:
