Neuroscience facts that blew my mind

A recent visit to the Corpus Museum (very recommended) in the Netherlands, got me thinking about how my movement practice approach had evolved in the past decade. Less inclined to follow movement methods and more inclined to question them through physiology and pscychology, here I few points that influence my decisions in the moment of choosing programming, topics or simply warm ups for me and you dear students.

🫁 👃🏼Did you know that nasal breathing regulates emotions better than oral breathing?

In Eastern traditions, such as yoga, the influence of breathing on mental states is well understood. But in science, the influence of breathing on the brain is only now beginning to be studied in depth. When we breathe through our nose, we change the activity of the amygdala, an area of ​​the limbic system involved in processing emotions, especially fear and stress, but also the hippocampus, an area involved in maintaining memory (Zelano et al., 2016) and the first area to atrophy in Alzheimer's disease. Breathing through the mouth, in addition to having a system for filtering pathogens from the air, does not have as much influence on the emotional brain. One of the most surprising studies (Yackle et al., 2017) showed that breathing modulates a very deep area of ​​the brain called the locus coeruleus, an area relevant to attention and memory. Pilates education emphasises the in-nose/ out-mouth, but there as just a few exercises that actually require this pattern. It also depends on when do we hold on to conscious breathing, a very benefitial tool to control our nerve system, but harmful when it is used as white noise (distraction) or creates unnecessary tension.

🫀Did you know that we interpret reality based on the dialogue between the brain and the heart?

Heart rate variability (fluctuation in heartbeats) is not merely a physical indicator; it is directly associated with better cognitive ability, memory, and emotional regulation. We perceive the images that reach our eyes when the brain responds to the heartbeat (Park et al., 2014). Not everything we see is processed by the brain; we miss a large part of the information (a phenomenon known as attentional flicker), and it seems that this "flicker" is due to a lack of communication between the brain and the heart. Their latest scientific publications go further, telling us that the stronger our brain responds to the heartbeat, the more we think about ourselves (Babo-Rebelo et al., 2016). Learning about this could be an open question of how to modulate our ego. The heart adds the "subjective touch" to the brain, integrating your personal history and memories into what you see. Quoting Nazareth Castellanos, the incredible neuroscientist with whom I took a course called the brain as an ally : "we do not see things as they are, but as we are," and it is the heart that helps provide that filter.

👅Did you know that the gut influences the brain, and not the other way around?

How many times you thought you were deciding what to eat, but actually your gut had a say in this?

This finding was demonstrated in 2017 at the Max Planck Institute in Germany (Richter et al., 2017) and indicated that the brain integrates information received from the gut. This influence is not only electrical (due to the electromagnetic fields generated by the gut) but also chemical: the gut microbiota. This is perhaps the discovery of this century: the influence exerted by the microorganisms that inhabit our gut on the endocrine, immune, and nervous systems. Thanks to the study of the gut microbiota, we now know that our diet influences neurotransmitters (the substances neurons use to communicate), changes neuronal structure, and makes some brain areas more active than others. Through the gut microbiota, diet modulates our mind and the way we relate to others (Allen et al., 2017). More than ever I think in what am I going to eat before and after teaching. This impacts greatly in the quality of my reaction capacity, memory, free association of thoughts and energy to keep the gut silent and the brain sharp.

👤Did you know that body posture influences the nervous system?

Paying attention to body posture has clear benefits not only for our muscles but also for our mind. Antonio Damasio, one of the great neuroscientists of this century, says that our body knows what the mind hasn't yet realized. This neuroscientist coined the term "somatic marker" to highlight that our body's sensations influence our decision-making in 1996. These experiments conclude that greater interoception (being more aware of the sensations coming from our body) allows us to better regulate our emotions and make better decisions (Craig, 2009). Hence the importance of being aware of our body, its sensations, and its posture. It's not about aiming to be as straigth as a stick all the time, it's about noticing what you intend to express with your posture, or paying attention to it while you move through it. During sessions I continuously learn from the uniqueness and the similarities of human bodies. Expressions, emotional states and the body externalizing the source of my work.

💨Did you know that  structures of the brain involved in verbal memory and learning, like the hippocampus, get bigger with aerobic exercise.

The cognitive scientist Sian Beilock has written about how the body is an important part of the learning process: Research with fMRI scans shows that “moving your foot and understanding the word ‘kick’ are governed by similar areas of the motor cortex,” she explained. “It’s hard to separate the reading mind from the doing one.” We learn best when we’re moving, says Anne Mangen, a professor of literacy who studies embodied cognition at the National Center for Reading Education and Research in Norway, because “our bodies are designed to interact with the world which surrounds us.” The engagement of the body in movement imprints on our brains in a distinct way. It also shakes loose new connections, new possibilities. This is why our evolution and intelligence relies on how much we experience through our bodies. I believe that now more than ever is essential to keep aiming to learn differently topics that are complex and less interesting for young generations in less static ways. Some inspiring examples are the Forest schools. A type of educational institutions rooted in Scandinavia, they use outdoors as a primary classroom, focusing on child-led play, risk-taking, and holistic development. The model has adapted to varied climates and cultures worldwide and for adults would not be such a bad idea don't you think?

Which of these facts was one to remember for you? Would love to know :)