Plug for neuroplasticity

[shoshin]

Oliver Sacks has a nice piece in the New York Time on brain plasticity

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/01/opinion/01sacks.html

He talks about people with neurological damage who have adapted in remarkable ways, including a man who became blind as a child and navigates by doing things like feeling the air currents on his face and a woman who became paralyzed and found she had the ability to do her beloved crosswords entirely in her head (sort of like those people who play chess in their heads)

With the ongoing degeneration of MS, we face an uphill slog, but the article did motivate me to try harder in 2011.

sho

[shoshin]

Mary: I never would've thought of that use of neuroplasticity, but it sounds fascinating and made me smile.

If anyone wants another article on neuroplasticity, here's on from Newsweek.

http://www.newsweek.com/2011/01/03/can-you-build-a-better-brain.html

Sharon Begley says that a lot of brain training programs only make you better at the specific tasks they include and that your gains don't transfer to other situations. Three things that have promise for general brain improvement are

"The first is physical exercise. Simple aerobic exercise, such as walking 45 minutes a day three times a week, improves episodic memory and executive-control functions by about 20 percent... The second form of overall mental training is meditation, which can increase the thickness of regions that control attention and process sensory signals from the outside world... Finally, some videogames might improve general mental agility."

sho

[sllowe]

I'm looking forward to reading this. Article I read on brain plasticity in the past was from one of my free-mags and I found that so educational and motivating too.

Thanks Sho!

-Shell

[twopack]

Hey Sho.  I think this is related, at least in the sense that we only realize a very small fraction of what our brains are actually capable of.

I saw pieces of a program as I drifted off to sleep last night.  OK, it was much better than that made it sound.  In fact, it was really interesting but I was really really tired.  

The program revolved around a woman who teaches people how to experience orgasim sans any genital contact.  The only stimulation provided is a person's own private thoughts and fantasy.  The experience was described as more of a wide spread body experience involving the arms and legs rather than remaining largly focused in the genitals.  

The last segment I saw had researchers imaging her brain "in the act".  Unfortunately, I was asleep before the result was revealed.  The woman had chosen the term "think off" to identify the skill.  I guess you have to name things something, eh?

Actually, this idea isn't so far fetched.  If you've ever visited any of the spinal cord injury sites (yep, MS can be included in that category) you may know that paralyzed folks sometimes share quite openly about a variety of body functions.  They usually recommend visualization as an important part of a combination of techniques to assist them in re-establishing sexual responses.  Fantasy is a recognized aspect of all sexual resonse.  Therefore, the saying that the brain is the most important sexual organ.

This could be a very important development in the works for many people, including people with MS.  Many people here have voiced concerns about loss of sensation in and around areas that were previously very sensitive.  A specific program to develop this skill could restore an enjoyable aspect of life to MSers (and their partners) who thought it was lost forever.  Mix in hyperreflexia and ........ who knows!

Thanks for reminding me of something that may have slipped anyway otherwise.

Mary