Grow Your Brain with Silence
![]() A 2013 study on mice published in the journal Brain, Structure and Function used differed types of noise and silence and monitored the effect the sound and silence had on the brains of the mice. The silence was intended to be the control in the study but what they found was surprising. The scientists discovered that when the mice were exposed to two hours of silence per day they developed new cells in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is a region of the brain associated with memory, emotion and learning. The growth of new cells in the brain does not necessarily translate to tangible health benefits. However, in this instance, researcher Imke Kirste says that the cells appeared to become functioning neurons.
"We saw that silence is really helping the new generated cells to differentiate into neurons, and integrate into the system." In this sense silence can quite literally grow your brain. A 2001 study defined a "default mode" of brain function that showed that even when the brain was "resting" it was perpetually active internalizing and evaluating information. Follow-up research found that the default mode is also used during the process of self-reflection. In 2013, in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, Joseph Moran et al. wrote, the brain's default mode network "is observed most closely during the psychological task of reflecting on one's personalities and characteristics (self-reflection), rather than during self-recognition, thinking of the self-concept, or thinking about self-esteem, for example." When the brain rests it is able to integrate internal and external information into "a conscious workspace," said Moran and colleagues. When you are not distracted by noise or goal-orientated tasks, there appears to be a quiet time that allows your conscious workspace to process things. During these periods of silence, your brain has the freedom it needs to discover its place in your internal and external world. A study that was published in 2002 in Psychological Science (Vol. 13, No. 9) examined the effects that the relocation of Munich's airport had on children's health and cognition. Gary W. Evans, a professor of human ecology at Cornell University notes that children who are exposed to noise develop a stress response that causes them to ignore the noise. What is of interest is that these children not only ignored harmful stimuli they also ignored stimuli that they should be paying attention to such as speech. "This study is among the strongest, probably the most definitive proof that noise – even at levels that do not produce any hearing damage – causes stress and is harmful to humans," Evans says.[3] Silence seems to have the opposite effect of the brain to noise. While noise may cause stress and tension silence releases tension in the brain and body. A study published in the journal Heart discovered that two minutes of silence can prove to be even more relaxing than listening to "relaxing" music. They based these findings of changes they noticed in blood pressure and blood circulation in the brain. Studies have also concluded that children exposed to households or classrooms near airplane flight paths, railways or highways have lower reading scores and are slower in their development of cognitive and language skills. However, It is possible for the brain to restore its finite cognitive resources. According to the attention restoration theory, silence can help recover some of its cognitive abilities lost through excess noise. QUANTUM HEALTH TIP: Amplify the effects of silence on the brain and body by using the Meditation Elixirs. hey expand perspective, stimulate higher functions, and improve intuition. |
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The Whites of the Eyes Are Critical for Socialization
When we talk to other people, we usually maintain eye contact with one another. We know exactly who is looking at whom and which unspoken messages the person is displaying using the "language of their eyes" or which object they are looking at. Whilst communicating this helps us humans to be able to identify the direction of the other person's gaze quickly and clearly. "We owe this to the formation of the whites of the eye. Humans might have evolved this distinguishing eye feature for conspecific communication," says Kano. "In doing so, humans have probably evolved a unique communicative style critical for their hallmark social activities." Kano is a junior group leader at the Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour (CASCB), a cluster of excellence at the University of Konstanz. This study goes back to research he conducted with Yuri Kawaguchi and Hanling Yeow at Kumamoto Sanctuary at the Kyoto University. But how did the researchers reach these groundbreaking findings? The results are based on experiments Kano's research team conducted with humans and chimpanzees--the closest relatives of humans. Both study groups were presented with images of humans and chimpanzees in computerized tasks. During the experiment, the task was to distinguish the gaze directions of humans and chimpanzees. Over a period of several months, the chimpanzees were presented with pictures of different perspectives of eyes of both species--two with a straight line of eye sight, one viewing to the side. If they pointed to the picture with the shifted eye, they received a reward. Kano explains, "We found that both humans and chimpanzees distinguished eye-gaze directions of humans better than those of chimpanzees, particularly in visually challenging conditions." The researchers also observed that participants of both species distinguished the eye-gaze directions of chimpanzees better when the contrast polarity of the chimpanzee eye was reversed compared to when it was normal; namely when the chimpanzee eye had human-like white sclera and a darker iris. Whiteness in the sclera thus facilitates the visibility of eye-gaze direction even across species. "Our findings thus support but also critically update the central premises of the gaze-signalling hypothesis," summarizes Kano. QUANTUM HEALTH TIP: Non-verbal commnication makes up most of what we say. Stress interferes with both the transmission and reception of thes non-verbal missives. Delete stress from your communications with the E1 Sress Relief Formula (now on sale--see below). |
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Music Therapy Speeds Healing
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"The application of audible sound to the full body or to a specific part of the body, from electronically-generated sound sources, or from musical sources, as therapeutic support, by a credentialed Sound Therapy practitioner." At Riuniti hospital in Ancona, Italy, neurosurgeon, Dr. Roberto Trignani performed an operation to remove a double tumour in the spinal cord of a ten-year-old boy, while molecular biologist and pianist, Emiliano Toso, played a grand piano in the operating theatre. Monitoring the boy's brain activity via an encephalogram, suggested that the boy perceived the music. Dr. Toso said, "We tried stopping then restarting the music, noticing the patient's response. Despite the fact that the boy was under total anaesthesia, his brain appeared to perceive the music and this was very exciting." Dr. Trignani, head of the neurosurgery unit of Riuniti Hospital, commented, "Everything went well, there were no complications and there was a magical atmosphere of complete harmony in the Operating Room". A brief overview of some of the biological mechanisms activated by full body immersion in music or in specific sound frequencies. Full body immersion in music or in specific sound frequencies (as distinct from listening with headphones), activates several beneficial biological mechanisms:
QUANTUM HEALTH TIP: Healing with sound is is yet another drug-free approach to healing, just as is healing with subtle energies. Observe the changes and improvements in the body by using our Life Energy Pack. |
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