Saturday 29 June 2013

“…Or trigger a synapse and free us from our traps…”

Lyric by Robert Pollard, musical genius, Guided by Voices

One of the most amazing abilities of the brain is its adaptability; when, as in Parkinson’s, one part of the brain is misfiring, another part can step into the breach and compensate for the loss. However, this ability has to be actively unlocked and the key is to be open to learning new ways, refining old ones and emotionally accepting something has changed.

For example, reduced dopamine levels in Parkinson’s causes problems initiating movement, resulting in rigidity. This can be actively challenged by exercise and learning new ways to connect to your body (e.g. through yoga). Another example is your thinking can be diverted by therapy from the well-worn path of depressive negativity (which is based on a particular network of nerve cells firing) onto new, more positive and clearer, nerve cell networks.

We can thus actively modify, if not free ourselves from, the traps we set or those set for us.

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