Wednesday 12 November 2008

"The womb provides almost constant vestibular stimulation to the developing foetus. The consequences of the constant vestibular stimulation a term baby experiences in utero, and the lack of such with a preterm baby are unclear, and there is little information to guide interventions with the vestibular system.

Vestibular stimulation is known to enhance behavioral states; for example, slow rhythmic rocking is soothing, and promotes quiet sleep. Fast arrhythmic vestibular stimulation increases activity and agitation. " This excerpt was taken from Pediatric Physical Therapy by Jan Stephen Tecklin

I am returning to the bizarre relationship between the green anole lizard, and kids with AD/HD. For some kids with auditory problems, they can use bone conduction headphones and frequency filtration stimulate the vestibular system in specific ways that improve the ability to maintain a calm alert state.

The vestible can also be stimulated in two ways, either through motor movement or sound. A child with AD/HD might compensate for the vestibles lack of sound stimulation by increased motor activity. Hyperactivity may be a symptom of an under-stimulated vestible.

Therefore, does vestibular stimulation speed up the rate of perception? Does the vestible conduct the brainwaves like an orchestra to determine the rate of perception? It most certainly could explain why a hyperactive child appears so manic. Is it possible then, that they are processing, and producing thoughts at a much faster rate?

When a soundwave hits a green anole lizard the energy causes the lizard's chest wall to vibrate in tune with the wave. I think of what it feels like when someone sneaks-up behind you and slap their hands together. We jump don't we? We don't even think about it, we just jump. Has the vestible engaged some-kind of primordial reflex that responds before any other part of the brain?

Anole lizards communicate using vertical movements of the head. Males experiencing high levels of visual background noise produced high speed displays, while males experiencing calmer conditions produced more relaxed displays of lower speed. So by increasing motor activity, is the lizard here-by stimulating the vestible to increase its rate of perception? With an increase in the rate of perception, the lizard would be able to process visual background interference at a faster rate.

Fear is an emotion. Emotions in evolutionary terms are involved with motivation. Fear produces strong motivation to act. Therefore a direct emotional connection to movement offers a clear evolutionary advantage. Under stressful conditions, such as a startle response, an animal would need an evolutionary edge in-order to process everything in the enviroment, and compute any percieved threat at a much faster rate than normal. When the adrenals are pumping, are we accelerating the rate of perception?

It's a sad fact of life but most people are engaging the adrenals through-out the day. Nature intended us to employ them only when we were in immediate danger. Some people have them cranked-up all day. We're all told stress is bad for us - it's bad for the systems in the body and also the mind. Where is all this extra fuel coming from that we need to support this increase in brain activity? What effect does the increase on the rate of perception have on metabolism, and vice-versa?

There's an old German proverb which says to never put anything bigger than your elbow in your ear. I'll be honest, I have almost an obsession with cleaning mine with cotton-buds, sometimes 3 times a day! I wonder though if the ear-wax not only serves as a natural agent for cleaning the ears, but also as a shock-absorber? Could cleaning my ears actually affect my rate of perception, and also my behaviours?

For an abstract on the head-bops of the anole lizard you can venture here:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2124473

Interested in AD/HD? This one's good:

http://www.listenandlearn.com.au/type/add.htm

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