grow older better

Tag: brains

  • My Brain, My Eyes, and Cataract Surgery

    a whole lotta learnin’ goin’ on

    It has been one year since I had cataract surgery and so much has happened in this time with the communications between my brain and my eyes that I felt the need to write about it — I hope you all find it as intriguing as I did.

    I know that eyes and brains are intimately hooked up. I took a neuropsychology course in graduate school and I’m sure I learned about brains and vision in high school and college.

    ​

    I know the basics of how my brain and my eyes work together. And I know it’s complicated!

    But – knowing this and going through a relearning process post-cataract surgery are two different phenomena. My brain was not ready for the onslaught of new information that it was getting.

    [I contemplate the workings of my brain a lot — so I found it fascinating to be aware of what was going on.]

    A bit of my eye background….

    I am astigmatic — oops change that — I WAS astigmatic. I am also far-sighted. At one forgotten point in my life, my astigmatism was bad enough that I needed glasses most all of the time because my astigmatism issues were fixable with glasses.

    At another also now forgotten point in life, my driver’s license got marked with “needs corrective lenses” which didn’t surprise me because I was wearing glasses every minute of being awake.

    I did not like wearing glasses all the time and tried contact lenses, but mostly they didn’t work or they fell out or they were annoying — but I liked the idea of not having glasses on so I kept trying different contacts and finally gave up on those because the annoyance factor won out.

    Then I developed cataracts which happens to many as we age. Of course, the cataracts got worse as they are prone to do, and those, along with my astigmatism made it very difficult to drive at night. I’m a good driver and I did not wish to create problems for me or anyone else so I stopped driving at night and decided it was time for cataract surgery.

    [That in itself is yet another issue..why insurers balk at cataract surgery baffles me.]

    Back to my brain and eyes….

    Over years of driving – back and forth across the USA, across Canada, driving day and night in snow, sleet, rain, and all sorts of weather and driving conditions, my brain learned how to deal with changes in light, changes in weather, and frequently, a quick change in any or all of these things. My brain and eyes were perfectly in sync.

    For example, if I got to a tunnel my brain knew that it was going to take a nanosecond to adapt from light to dark and it knew how to do that, and I knew it knew how to do that and we were safe while going into tunnels. Ditto when skiing in bright sun bouncing off the snow and then going into a ski lodge — my brain and eyes figured it out and it never was an issue.

    Then came the cataract surgery — YEA — and pre-surgery, I decided that the lens that also corrected astigmatism would be best for me and my eyes!

    More YEA!

    My weaker eye [left] got done first, and the subsequent difference between my left and right was very discombobulating — even with my now one lens glasses on for the right eye — it was no fun to do much of anything. Two weeks later I had the right eye done and suddenly both eyes were perfect — and balanced.

    I was binocular, bionic — I could see. It was a fascinating experience and I was in constant amazement that I could see very far, further than I remembered I used to be able to do. It was one of those “I forgot how good my eyes used to be because I got so used to them not being too good” kind of moment!

    Every. Time. I. Looked. Anywhere.

    Then I started driving. It was weird, especially as I have been driving forever! This is when I really noticed that my brain had a lot of work to do and I was fascinated by the interchanges between my eyes, my conscious brain, and my subconscious brain. They were putting together a new reality.

    At first, I only did daytime driving because I quickly recognized that I needed time for the brain and eyes to adjust to the new norm. It was pretty quick learning as I was driving on very familiar roads and did not make any “road trips.”

    Then came a time where I again drove through a tunnel. A very short tunnel, one I have been through a lot — but still — a tunnel. The brain went: “Get ready for dark. Get ready for dark adaptation” — followed instantaneously by: “Wow — nothing happened, everything is fine.”

    By the third or fourth time through that tunnel that I realized there was no longer any “discussion” going on between my eyes and my brain about that situation.

    It was when I started driving distances, and at night , that I realized the brain and eyes were still trying to figure something out. The first night-time drive, where I was also in traffic, with headlights coming at me and behind me — the brain was like “Wow the eyes can see everything again. I have nothing to do.” No issues at all.  And my subconscious brain registered that fact.

    The conscious brain, though, was still asking itself questions and waiting for answers!

    Because I live in the Northwest we have rain — not a lot when I was newly driving again, but enough with some added oddball Spring weather — like thunderstorms, drizzle, and weather that puts you on alert that traffic, lighting, and road conditions might change — and the brain and eyes were coordinating easily about this — the conscious brain was still going: “We got to get ready for this” but it was then an immediate: “Nope, we don’t have to do anything.”

    After weeks of driving under different circumstances, my conscious brain began to relax and not be in the “we have to get ready for something” mode anymore. It had had many many years of dealing with astigmatism, eyeglasses, and the issues that came with both and now it no longer had those issues to contend with and was finally exiting learning mode.

    Over Spring, Summer, Fall and now Winter, my eyes, brain and I have driven in many different conditions. Fog, heavy rain, heavy traffic, highway traffic, traffic circles, road construction, to places I had never been, etc.  I saw that we are fine! We are cool! We are coordinated! We are good to go!

    My brain had obviously been going back and retrieving what it used to know from pre-glasses and early-glasses learnings — those memories are still there in spite of years of inaction or not needing to be accessed.

    Most of the time we don’t pay attention to the connection between our eyes and brain. I certainly never did. And then: WOW did I pay attention!!

    It has been fun! It has certainly has been interesting! And – it has been very educational!

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  • Keeping The Brain Sharp As We Age

    puzzles and brainsDoing puzzles has been seen as an activity to keep our brains sharp – but a new study shows that puzzles might be enough.

    Listening to classical music and doing crosswords is not enough for the over 60s to stay sharp and they must learn new skills, a study found.

    Instead people should be doing a course to learn something new, such as digital photography or quilting, to improve their long term memories.

    As a crossword puzzle addict since I was a preteen, and a jigsaw addict since I don’t know when, I will never give them up as I feel they keep me sharp. But I do understand the research. Puzzles, at least for me, are not novel….I have gotten really good at guessing what words are the answers or what pieces go where…so they aren’t really taxing my brain – but I do feel they are useful for something.

    Yet I also keep learning new things – so maybe my brain is working hard from all that.  I take online courses, learn new technology,  and try new ways of doing old things like my photography.

    For the upcoming year, I am creating online courses and will let you know about those and about courses others have created….

    Here’s to our brains increasing in 2014!

     

    onward to 2014

  • Obesity Is Linked To Changes In The Brain

    human_brain

    What are we doing to our brains?

    Our bodies?

     

    The hypothalamus is a small almond sized structure situated just above the brain stem and controls body temperature, hunger, thirst, fatigue, sleep, and circadian cycles. These are functions in the category of homeostasis – or balance.  Look what we are doing!

    Obesity appears to be strongly linked to structural changes in the brains of rats and humans, according to new research.
     
    During a study of high-fat diets in the brains of mice and rats bred to become obese, researchers found evidence of early and lasting injury to a specific part of the hypothalamus.

    Then using brain imaging, the researchers also found signs of similar damage in the same area of the brain in obese humans.
    No one has found a cause and effect – but interesting questions are being asked and further studies will be designed.

    If obesity changes what is basically the hunger thermostat – it might explain a lot about why people keep eating even when they know it may not be good for their health.

    And this study was done on rats and adults so another question would be what happens to young children who are gaining so much weight? If their brains are also changed in not-so-good-ways by the weight, what else might that affect developmentally?

    More questions that need answers!  But while we wait for more answers, please eat healthier foods and grow older better!!

     

    Thoughts? Comments?

  • Brains and Multitasking Written Products

    In my book, You Can Totally Screw Up As A Mom And Still Raise Great Kids, I say this:

    I had a conversation one day with the mother of a one-year-old who was saying that her daughter's language development had seemed to stall – but that she was running all over the place. That happens – pieces of the development puzzle often compete with each other. Some adults, the saying goes, can't "think and chew gum at the same time." Well – in adults we see it as funny – in kids – it's part of the pattern of language and physical development.

    The body needs a lot of energy for language and for running – or in broader terms for cognitive development and physical development. At this point in your child’s life, it may be that the amount of energy required for one of these activities is so great, that one is all your child can do at a time. 

    After the walking/running is under control – language will zoom ahead. It hadn't stopped developing – it was still undergoing the process but we weren't seeing it – or hearing it. 

    Well – I seem to be like the child. I finished the book and fiddled with it: working on the cover and formatting to get it up for sale: You Can Totally Screw Up As A Mom And Still Raise Great Kids [on Amazon for your Kindle] and at Barnes and Noble for your Nook.

    Then my fingers and brain seemed to be controlled by another ebook just waiting to be written and that one is It's Not Always Baby Fat! which is about our childhood obesity epidemic.

    It too is now published:  It's Not Always Baby Fat! [for your Kindle] or [for your Nook.]

    BUT

    it seemed my brain, fingers and time can only go toward "so much" writing and then no more – and so my blog posting stopped! Just like the one-year-old's language development had stopped when she started running.

    I could switch from writing one book to the other – but until recently [a lull in the brain?] I could not switch from book to blog…

    Is it normal brain functioning? Or aging? Or just my quirk?

    Or is it a simply a good lesson to learn!

    That what we think of as childhood development is not always only in childhood – sometimes the same normal processes are at work in adults!

    Do you ever have tings like this happen?  Please share your thoughts.