The Once a Week Brain

We freely admit we may not be getting enough sleep. We certainly don’t feel as creative as we used to. But then, back when this blog started a few months ago, we were very excited. The excitement has died down. And here’s a bit f rationalization: we’re glad it’s died down. Now we can let dedication to the subject at hand be our prime motivator.

Rationalization, but it’s out story and we’re sticking to it. While The Great Brain Robbery was once a twice-a-day blog, and then once a day, and then four times per week or so, we’re switching to once per week. We have not decided what that day is (yet—maybe it should be Tuesdays) but we’re hopeful that it will result in better-written posts. Or at least more thorough. More discerning?

In the meantime, here’ what’s we’ve been reading about lately:

• Wake Up: “6 Ways a Poor Night's Sleep Messes with You”
• Meditate: “Why You Should Meditate: Become a Multitasking Master”
• Eat Breakfast: “Eat More of These Four Things For A Stronger, Healthier Brain”
• Get Some Exercise: “35 Year Study Finds Exercise Reduces Risk of Dementia”
• Don’t Think Too Hard: “Mental fatigue impairs physical performance in humans”

We know you’ll forgive for this small change, since forgiveness is good for your brain anyway. Thanks for reading and keep looking forward to more!

 

Talking Away Those Brain-Stress Blues

A man, middle-aged, reasonably healthy, walks into his living room. He’s a cleared an area in front of his gas-fireplace, and sits down, crossing his legs. He sits with god posture, eyes closed, arms loose in his lap. He takes a long deep breath, lets it out slowly. Another deep breath, another soothing exhalation. The man appears relaxed, at ease, content.

Blood flow in his cerebral prefontal cortices slowly decreases. He takes another breath, opens his mouth, and says “womba.”

He exhales. Breathes in. “womba choo dee latta.”

His posture straightens just slightly. He inhales. “womba choo dee matta fen, fenno chum de ganafed. Arrana sanipe. Arrana sanipe dee matta fen, womba choo dee matta fen ro sanipe, sanipe dreepa, sanipe dreepa saaaaaa….” He inhales, exhales, his lips murmuring more nonsense syllables.

None of the words come from any known language. He does this for an hour.

~~~

Glossolalia is the technical term for speaking tongues, a phenomena seemingly reserved for Pentecostal church meetings and Haitian voodoo rituals. Actually, glossolalia occurs all over the world in a diversity of cultures, including Japan, Egypt, and India. Adherents claim to be speaking a divine or lost language, either by channeling a holy spirituality or as the result of a gift from a god or ancestor.

But there’s more glossolalia than just nonsense syllables and church devotion. In 2006 a group of scientists studied the brains of those who could, at will, speak in tongues, and found that brain activity was different than for a control group. Another study, performed in 2010, found that people who spoke in tongues had lowers levels of the so-called “stress” hormone cortisol. This evidence suggests glossolalia is not merely a psychology phenomenon, but a biological one.

The scientific case for meditation as a means to reduce stress is well established. But glossolalia is not meditation. Andrew Newberg of the 2006 study, speaking to Dick Hanson and the DANA Foundation for an article on glossolalia, points out that as far as the biology of the brain is concerned, “In some sense, [glossolalia] is the opposite of the concentrative process of meditation.”

While it’s easy to dismiss the subject of speaking in tongues as nothing more than pseudo-scientific gibberish, the results of these studies suggest there’s more here than meets the ear. We live in a hectic, non-stop, information-overloading world, so any technique that one discovers to reduce stress and increase relaxation has to be worth taking the time to explore.

(But maybe try this one alone.)