Life is interesting

Life is interesting. There is so much to read, learn, see, do, and experience. Regardless of when I die, there will not be enough time to check everything off my want-to-do list. Especially my want-to-read list. It seems to grow exponentially year by year. As I learn, my enthusiasm to share spills out and people in my sphere will be greeted with, "Wanna hear something interesting?"

There is no planned schedule of posts for this blog. But when something interesting comes my way, you can bet it will find its way here.

Where to start? This is like standing in the middle of a buffet with an empty, grumbling stomach.

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In the book, "The Brain That Changes Itself" by Norman Doidge, M.D., I learned about another sense - one that was not listed among the original five that Aristotle described. It is the sense of balance.

It is technically called the vestibular apparatus, but most of us know it by our inner ear. It works with the brain to sense, maintain, and regain balance and a sense of where the body is positioned in space.

There is a story in the book about a lady whose vestibular apparatus is permanently damaged (with only 2% function left) when she was given too many antibiotics after a surgery. Because of it, she falls very easily, and has to hold onto a wall to walk. Sometimes, even after she has fallen, she still feels like she is falling. Once when the lights went out, she immediately fell to the floor because she couldn't use her eyes as a crutch to tell her she was upright. Even zigzags in a carpet can make her topple over because her brain tells her she is standing crooked when she's not.

She went to see a biophysicist who puts a construction worker's hat on her head. Inside is an accelerometer that can tell the position of her head. It is hooked up to a plastic device that goes in her mouth. As she tilts her head forward, the front of her tongue feels like champagne bubbles are popping. As she tilts backwards, the "bubbles" pop on the back of her tongue. With this device, her brain is reprogrammed to learn balance in other ways.

The first time she tried the hat, she wore it for only a minute. After removing it, there was a residual effect of 20 seconds that she experienced no dizziness. The second time, on for 2 minutes, the residual effect lasted 40 seconds. The third time, with it on for 20 minutes, the residual effect lasted one hour! Over a period of several months, she was able to wean off of it and lead a normal life.

Now you've heard something interesting.