Body Brain Rejuvenation

10/12/2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9iTFg1FYQQ

On this episode of the podcast we talk with Vestibular Rehabilitation specialist Firat Kesgin about the intricacies of vestibular rehab, and just how complex...

10/12/2021

https://chriskresser.com/developing-a-positive-relationship-with-negative-emotions-with-robert-biswas-diener/?fbclid=IwAR2RKdGuVf88V-Qehq2pC9aCjdQVYSd4hshkFWXZ8kjUnT-b5rXzmiweMWE

In this episode of RHR, I talk with Robert Biswas-Diener about the importance of experiencing psychological, emotional, and physical discomfort in order to develop a better sense of self-awareness, emotional agility, growth, and happiness.

08/17/2021

Table: Whole Foods and Recipe Preparations Highest in Suggested Nutrients for Adjunctive TBI Therapy

In 2011, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a report entitled Nutrition and Traumatic Brain Injury: Improving Acute and Subacute Health Outcomes in Military Personnel. In the report, the committee cites the most promising connections between specific nutrients and TBI. Nutrients are suggested based on the evidence behind their ability to affect physiological processes involved in TBI. Those nutrients deemed most likely to be effective target four main mechanisms- decreasing brain swelling, decreasing inflammation and oxidation, decreasing cell death and increasing energy production.

Choline, creatine*, omega-3 fats, zinc, magnesium and Vitamin D were identified as the most promising nutritional interventions, although more research is warranted.

From: http://www.pt2go.co/tag/sport-concussion/

07/28/2021

Dropping of foot arch?

The cuboid bone of the foot is notorious for creating a loss of hip support when not moving properly. It tends to shut down the TFL muscle, resulting in a collapsing in at the knee and hip as well as a dropping of the arch.

06/16/2021

✌️branches of the nervous system

05/05/2021

Low Vagal Tone and Cognitive Impairment

If you asked me 5 years ago what the vagus nerve does, I would say: "it's a cranial nerve that helps us poop...oh and I think it is number 10 or something."

If you ask me now what the vagus nerve does, I would say: "ha, what does it NOT do??"

The vagus nerve has so many important health functions that when health starts to decline, assessing vagal nerve function (in my opinion) should be at the top of the checklist.

I have been lucky enough to chat with Dr. Stephen Porges a few times on the page regarding The Polyvagal Theory. The work and research he has done really provides a whole new perspective and insight on how important the vagal system is.

Although the vagus nerve starts out as very primitive and reflexive, as it becomes more mature, it becomes myelinated, taking on new roles and important communication patterns with the brain and body. Balance between our sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system is one important role.

"Vagal tone" is a term used to describe the activity of the vagus nerve. Low vagal tone has been associated with low heart rate variability, gastrointestinal disorders, increased inflammation and increased sympathetic activity. High vagal tone has been associated with the opposite....basically greater health and well being.

In conditions where stress is chronically high, pain is elevated and inflammation is running rampant, we loss the flexibility of the vagal system to communicate with the brain to calm things down. It also doesn't help that during these times, we can also lose control in important brain areas, such as the prefrontal cortex, to override these stressful events to bring things back to balance.

It makes sense then that when vagal tone is low, HRV is low and the prefrontal cortex is not firing on all cylinders, cognitive impairment can occur.

In fact, a study from 2012 titled Reduced Cardiac Vagal Modulation Impacts on Cognitive Performance in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome showed that there is an association between reduced cardiac vagal tone and cognitive impairment in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).

"Although reports on the extent of neuropsychological dysfunction in CFS vary considerably, our finding of slowed response speed concurs with the most consistent outcomes in the literature and suggests a generalized difficulty to concentrate and focus attention. Thus while patients with CFS were able to perform at a comparable level of accuracy to healthy control participants, this was achieved at the expense of response speed. The subjective ratings of greater effort required to perform these tasks also confirmed that performance accuracy came at a cost for these patients."

So how can we improve vagal tone to help build a better brain?

There are lots of ways to do this and clinically, there are a lot of cool, new devices to help improve vagus nerve function, but you don't have to have them to get started:

1. Humming, singing, chanting

2. Cold exposure

3. Meditation and focused breathing

4. Positive social interaction

Remember, the better the vagal tone, the better the brain!

Full post with links: https://thebrainchat.com/brain-chat-blog/f/low-vagal-tone-and-cognitive-impairment

03/22/2021

Functional Neuroanatomy for posture and gait control

This one is for all the posture nerds🤓

Functional Neuroanatomy for Posture and Gait Control

“Basic signal flow involved in postural control. Multisensory signals from the visual, vestibular, auditory, somatosensory (proprioceptive), and visceral receptors act on various sites in the central nervous system. These signals may provide cognitive and emotional references to the cerebral cortex and limbic system, respectively, so that the subject may elicit either voluntary movements or emotional motor behavior depending on the context. In each case, automatic process of postural control, such regulation of postural muscle tone and basic postural reflexes, by the brainstem and spinal cord is required. On the other hand, cognitive postural control is particularly important when the subject learns motor skills and behaves in unfamiliar circumstance.”

Full paper link: https://www.e-jmd.org/upload/jmd-16062.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1IUUsBsYHx72JWVx1UsD6Va-0AEcWfhbiNXwrBeva6mJxlfCaKJa8l1xQ

02/28/2021

Tattoos have quickly gained mainstream popularity in the last few years. In fact, 45 million Americans, including 36 percent in their late twenties, have at least one tattoo .

01/24/2021

I've posted before how every organ has certain muscles neurologically linked to it and can affect the function of those muscles -- kidneys affect the hip flexors, bladder affects the erectors, etc. Well, some organs are single organs, meaning we just have one of them, such as the liver. Others are paired, such as the kidneys. For single organs, they create problems bilaterally. Paired organs create problems on whichever side the organ is located.

01/19/2021

Shoulder pain, 1st rib pain, thoracic outlet syndrome, pectoralis minor pain, neck tension, low back pain and unstable ankles?

Any of this sound familiar: Shoulder pain, 1st rib pain, thoracic outlet syndrome, pectoralis minor pain, neck tension, low back pain and unstable ankles? Those are all symptoms that can arise due to issues with the central portion of the sacroiliac joint.

01/13/2021

A common cause of jaw pain is actually a type of nerve entrapment. The mandibular nerve is a branch of the trigeminal nerve and can get entrapped between the medial and lateral pterygoid muscles, causing pain down along the side of the jaw. Soft-tissue and cranial work can help.