[SPECIALFAMILIESGUIDE] When things just go 'too fast in our heads; Research study in Poland

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robertnaseef wrote: Reprinted from the Philadelphia Inquirer by permission from Feb. 19, 2007 Inside Out | When things just

go 'too fast' in our heads By Dan Gottlieb I could never do two things at once very well. At first I thought it was a male thing, then wondered if it was my learning disability. I was exonerated in December, when Vanderbilt neuroscientists E. Dux and René Marois and colleagues reported in Neuron magazine that the human brain is incapable of doing two things efficiently at the same time. They call it dual-task interference. When we talk on the cell phone while driving, for example, the brain cannot process both sets of information simultaneously, so driving is less efficient and response time is delayed. Multi-taskers who aim for

efficiency may be misleading themselves; there is a bottleneck in the frontal cortex. Efficiency aside, we are overstimulating our brains and stressing our bodies. The faster our lives go, the more stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol get pumped into our blood. Prolonged exposure to these hormones increases our risk for hypertension, insomnia, cardiovascular problems, depression and anxiety disorders. Stress hormones trigger a flight-or-fight response. Attention and energy are mobilized. This can feel good, because our bodies and brains are being stimulated. That's why stimulant drugs are prescribed to help people focus. It's also why they are abused. But for most of us, the chemical of choice is our own

adrenaline. The other morning I came into my office after a poor night's sleep, feeling tired and concerned about whether I could function well during the day. When I turned on my computer and looked at my desk, there were about 10 things that needed my attention at the same time. A few minutes later, there were 20 more. I got through the day pretty well and felt good about my ability to do so. But what was happening inside? My body was tired and needed rest, yet my brain was able to ignore that need by pumping out stress hormones. It's almost as though our brain were trying to trick us into not feeling what we feel. Not everybody's brain is the same. My grandson Sam has some behavioral and developmental traits that place him on what is

known as the autism spectrum. His brain works a little differently from most. When Sam gets overstimulated, he has "meltdowns." As a toddler, he would bang his head on the floor. With therapy, these episodes have become less dangerous and more predictable. On a recent visit, Sam, now 6, had one of his meltdowns. I watched his breathing get rapid and his face redden. Then his body became rigid and he raged about himself and everyone else, insisting he be left alone before collapsing on the floor sobbing. A few minutes later, after allowing my daughter to hold him on her lap as he cried, Sam looked up and said: "Mommy, everything just went too fast inside my head today." How many of us could verbalize that feeling? Sam felt the pain of

being overstimulated. We don't. I don't know who is better off. Dr. Dan Gottlieb Reads from His Best Selling Book Letters To Sam at http://www.whyy.org/tv12/letterstosam.html Dr. Dan Gottlieb, psychologist and talk show host of 91FM's radio program, Voices In The Family reads excerpts from his emotionally charged and boldly personal book, Letters To Sam. When his grandson Sam was born, Dan began writing a series of letters that he hoped would one day help Sam handle his own life. What resulted was a book that teaches us all how to find life's meaning. Watch video excerpts from Dr. Dan's book, Letters to Sam. InsideOut" appears every other week. Clinical psychologist and family therapist Dan Gottlieb can also be heard Mondays at noon on WHYY-FM (90.9). E-mail him at DrDanGottliebaol. Dear

Parents, I am a brother of a 32 year old girl (Natalia) who has cerebral palsy. I was brought up in a very loving family where my parents tried to face all the difficulties together.I experienced that sometimes there are very hard moments for both of parents. Therefore, as a scientist, I decided to conduct non-profit research devoted to the theme of marital happiness of parents and its implications on fathers'participation in care and education of disabled child. I am daring to ask You

and Your spouse to devote Your precious time and to fill out a brief, completely anonymous questionnaire about father's participation in care and education of Your disabled child. It will help in establishing a new international program for parents to help them out in their everyday life. If You agree to take part in my research, please, visit the website: http://www.leonardo.inp.uni.opole.pl/fathers Your opinion is very important for me. Therefore, once again, I am daring to ask You to help me. Yours sincerely, Eugene Kaniok, MA Ed. Institute of Pedagogical Sciences Opole University website: http://www.inp.uni.opole.pl/page.php?id=english Address: ul. Oleska 48 45-052 Opole Poland ********************************************************************** If you think thus information may be of use to someone you know, please forward this e-mail or direct them to subscribe at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SPECIALFAMILIESGUIDE/ Best regards- Naseef http://alternativechoices.com/specialfamilies.htm Find out about "Voices from the Spectrum" and see photos of the essay writers at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1843107864/qid=1143312927/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-4430253-3063208?s=books & v=glance & n=283155 Check out "Special Children, Challenged Parents"

at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1557665354/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_2/104-2314304-1031948?ie=UTF8

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