Applied Neuroscience

Why we target the brain and nervous system

You Are Your Brain

"Everything you have ever felt or done in your life was due to brain function. At the most basic level, the intricate firing rates and patterns of your brain both determine who you have been and, more importantly, who you will become. All human change represents changes in that individual's nervous system. All that we are is brain-derived."

- Dr. Eric Cobb

Brain Concept #1 The Nervous System, is the GOVERNING system.

The brain is the Governing system that allows the body to move through and interact in the world. At any given time, the brain is deciding how much strength to give the body, because in a life threatening situation we physically have the ability to rip ourselves apart if it means that we will “survive the danger.”

Think about stories where someone gets super human strength, and can lift a car to save their child. In these unique circumstances the brain “releases the breaks” and we get incredible strength to get through the event. This however, comes at a cost of tearing tissues and potentially fracturing our own bones. So the majority of the time we are working at a conservative 20-30% of our maximum strength. Even in exercise when we are doing 70% of our perceived rate of exertion to our 1 Rep Max, we are really only accessing about 40% of our physical strength.

Brain Concept #2 - Neurons Need Fuel And Activation To Stay Healthy

Activation

Regular and frequent stimulation.

Fuel

On the most basic level, neurons need glucose and oxygen (aka breathing and food).

Neurons make up the Nervous System, and their main job is to turn on and off other neurons around them. In order for neurons to stay healthy, they need activation - regular and frequent stimulation, and fuel - breathing and food. Without sufficient activation and/or resources, neurons start to go dormant and the resources go to the neurons that are getting the activation. In a nutshell this concept is the crux of neural plasticity.

Brain Concept #3 - Neural Plasticity - Your brain is a skill based organ

Your brain is a skill based organ. Whatever you practice, your brain will become better at, and whatever you don’t practice, your brain will start to lose aka Transneuronal Degeneration (TNG for short).

  • Some Important Neural Plasticity Concepts:

  • Use it or lose it

  • Use it and improve it

  • Specificity Matters

  • Repetition Matters

  • Intensity Matters

  • Time Matters

  • Salience Matters

  • and Metabolism Matters

Brain Concept #4 - The Brain’s Number One Job Is Survival

The majority of brain function is wired towards Survival. Every moment your brain is taking in information, and trying to answer the question, “Is it safe?”

#4 The basic feeding pattern of the brain is bottom to top, back to front

#5 Your brain’s number one job is survival

#6 The brain keeps us alive through pattern recognition aka prediction

input, interpret/decide, output

The brain receives inputs from the different input systems. Those systems send signals to the brain (CNS) and the brain’s job is to interpret the information, integrate it, and then make a decision about what to do with that information. The brain then creates a motor output.

3 Input Systems

Extroception - The 5 Senses (monitors outside your body)

Sight/Vision - color, light contrast, line orientation movement, depth, etc Touch - warm, cool, sharp, dull, soft, firm, rough, pressure, fine detail etc Smell, Taste, Sound

Proprioception - 3D Map of the Body

Joint location, force, stretch, chemical changes, warm, cool, vibration, helps tell your brain where your body parts are in relationship to other body parts

Interoception - The Physiologic Input System

Visceral inputs, chemical changes, sensual touch, pressure, warm and cool, muscle contraction via C fibers, vestibular inputs

Interpret, Decide, Integrate

Made up of the central nervous system. The brain has to interpret the signals coming in, decide what do with that information, and then create a motor output.

Motor Outputs

Motor outputs include voluntary movement, pupil dilation, circulation, respiration rate, blood pressure, gut motility, thoughts, emotions, reflexes, Behavior, etc.

It's important to remember that it’s a loop system.

Inputs come in to the brain, and the brain then has to decide, what the information means and what to do about it. Then the brain creates a motor output, and the motor output is sending inputs back to the brain to make sure that it was carried out correctly.

So ANY interference in this feedback loop impacts the ENTIRE feedback loop.

How well your eyes work, whether or not you can feel the difference between sharp and dull, how well you hear, taste and smell, how well you can interpret the information accurately and carry out the appropriate motor output, ALL of this impacts how well you think, how well you move, how well you balance, how strong you are, how you feel, how you respond during stress etc.

So having a coach who can help you target the brain could be the secret to helping you move better, think better, feel better, and become the best version of yourself


The Threat Neuromatrix

The threat bucket

Pain and other protective outputs

Your brain's number one job is survival

90% of the brain is wired for answering, "How dangerous is this?" Stress is the number one offender. It is the one thing that decreases performance, creates pain and stiffness, and it is the number one contributor to degeneration and disease.

The Bucket Effect

Think of your nervous system as a bucket that catches threat like water. As the threats continue to pour in, the level raises higher until it finally reaches its threshold (metaphorically a spout). At this point symptoms and undesired effects from those threats start to leak out of the spout causing a number of obvious side effects from the threat response: 

  • Flexed Forward "Rounded" Posture

  • Increased Tension and Weakness

  • Pain

  • "Tunnel Vision"

  • Diminished Coordination and Mobility

  • Increased Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar

  • Compromised Immune System

  • Poor Balance

  • Vertigo, Motion Sickness, or Dizziness

Systems That Can Cause Stress: 

These systems provide input to the brain and can cause stress if they aren't performing well.

The Visual System - More than just focus and clarity 

The Inner Ear/Vestibular System - Our balance center that tells us which way is up and which way we are going

The Proprioceptive System - The locator and mover of our body parts

The Fuel System - Both breathing and food processing

If any of these systems are not performing well it can be perceived as a threat and physical/mental performance can go down. You don't even need to have an actual injury to experience pain, immobility, or any of the other side effects!

Why Does Our No-Fail System Work?

Prediction.

Our brains keep us alive through pattern recognition (aka Prediction). By correcting deficits in any of the above systems we improve the input the brain is receiving. This makes it easier for our brain to predict how we are moving and correct movement in real-time based off the information it's receiving. Just like a GPS our brain communicates with these different systems in order to help us do what we want to do and go where we want to go with the most efficient course possible.

Much like a GPS if the satellites (or in this case input systems) are giving conflicting information it makes it harder for us to figure out where we are going so we slow down. Basically, our brain "puts on the brakes" with our movement through pain, weakness, or tension because the information it is receiving is unreliable.

When we address the deficits in these systems the results are instantaneous and dramatic! Performance and mobility increase significantly and pain, tension, and weakness vanish!

 

Our Perspective

How we approach health, fitness and training