A tale of two neurons....

    I have always had a passion for the biological sciences, but when I experienced my first course in neuroscience, I knew I found my niche. My brain almost squealed with delight. I guess you could say I'm nuts about neurons. I even considered pursuing an advanced degree in neuroscience, but I just couldn't wrap my brain around it, so to speak.

    I couldn't see myself working in a lab all day. I'm more of a people person. But I sure did love the subject. I still do; it's like candy for my brain. But you don't have to be a nerd about neurons to appreciate how our nervous system works. It's a fascinating subject and it's really not that complicated, so I decided to share some of the basics with you. After all, why should the neuroscientists have all the fun?

     Neurons are nerve fibers that receive information from our environment and transmits it to our brain. These are sensory neurons. Our brain processes this information and responds by completing a specific action or movement. These are motor neurons. Sensory and motor neurons communicate to each other and to the neurons in our brain through a series of electrical impulses and chemical reactions, which is really pretty cool when you think about it.

     This reaction is a result from a stimulus in our environment. However, the stimulus must be strong enough to excite the sensory neurons to get the ball rolling. Once the sensory neurons start firing, a specific sensory and motor pathway is activated. Once this pathway has been established, stimulating the same chain of neurons over and over again strengthens and reinforces the pathway. A strong feedback loop is created, and less of a stimulus is required for the same neuronal pathway to be activated.

    This is a type of self education through experience, and explains why we can move through our environment without having to stop and figure out how we are going to move from sitting to standing, standing to walking, walking to running, jumping, playing, dancing....you get the idea. However, neuronal pathways and specific responses doesn't only apply to movement. It also applies in the context of feeling, sensing and thinking as well.

     We have to challenge our neurons and our nervous system to keep it fit and healthy. Engaging in a new physical activity, studying a foreign language, learning to play a musical instrument, reading a variety of literature, or writing yourself are just a few examples how to keep our neurons firing. Like I said, it is a fascinating subject, isn't it?      

Be healthy!
Cheryl Ilov, PT, GCFP

Evening prayers, insomnia, and world peace....

   When I was a little girl, evening prayers were part of our bedtime ritual. From as early as I could remember, my mother would kneel with me and my sisters at our bedside and lead us in prayer. "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." Well, I guess that explains my insomnia. If there was a chance that I may die before I wake, I wasn't about to fall asleep.

    Then we learned "Our Father, who art in Heaven...." When I asked my mother who "Art" was, she explained, "You know, like your father, who art in the mill." Oh, well, that made sense since our dad worked in the steel mill. She was really good at explaining things. I swear she had a glint in her eye when she said that. My mother often had a gleam in her eye, especially at bedtime.

    One night she looked visibly upset when she led us through our prayers. When we were finished, she told us we were adding one more prayer, "And let there be peace, all over the world." We recited those words and crawled into bed.

    It was obvious she was worried, and scared. I could hear her and my father talking in the next room, and I struggled to hear what they were saying. After all, if I wasn't going to take the chance of falling asleep, I might as well be productive. I couldn't make out their words, and in spite of my efforts I fell asleep.

    The next few days were pretty tense. Not only were my parents solemn and preoccupied, all of the adults were as well. Our teachers were so distracted that they forgot to yell at us, and they gathered together in clusters to whisper among themselves. You know, the kind of behavior that always got us in trouble.

    It took a few years for me to understand the tumultuous times in which we were living. Words like the "Cuban Missile Crisis" meant nothing to me except that it upset grownups. Once things began to return to normal, a young President was assassinated, and violence seemed to be all around us. "Let there be peace, all over the world."

    Here we are, many years later, and still living in tumultuous times. But, peace is a choice that each of us make; in our own lives, our thoughts, our hearts and our actions. It may not be the kind of peace that my Mom had in mind the evening she made up that prayer, but it's a start. And it gives me the peace to sleep at night.
                                       

Be healthy!
Cheryl Ilov, PT, GCFP