Our busy minds create a rhythm of their own, literally. And knowing that may help Alzheimers sufferers...

Credit: Stacy Jannis, William Dempsey and Rebekah Fredenburg; Jannis Productions

The wood is warm under my fingers, soft and moist in the afternoon sun. Shup-shup-shup-shup-shup and a flying pause as my fingers hop across the fence post and onto the next slat, shup-shup-shup-shup-shup and fly. I breathe in as my hand makes the jump.

The air is thick with the heat and wet of the morning’s rain. It holds weight. Caresses my arms as I move through it. My mind wanders as I listen to the rhythm my hand is making and I try to order my steps in time with my breath and the beat of my fingers on the fence. Shup-shup-step-shup-shup-shup-step-fly-breathe. I’m trying too hard now. It’s throwing the whole thing off. But with some more work, this could be something. As if my rhythm is part of a song I can’t hear.
~An excerpt from Sleep of Reason

THE REAL SCIENCE:
Alzheimers and Light Therapy: Our busy minds create a rhythm of their own, literally. In fact, the mind's axons fire in different prescribed rhythms depending on the action they intend to produce. And as we are constantly in the middle of plural actions, our heads are constantly creating their own rhythm section as part of the physical process of our being. In people with Alzheimer's, scientists have found their axons can't fire at one particular frequency, and that the action tied to that frequency is the calling forth of the cleanup crew for the brain. Even more fascinating was the way they figured it out, and how they hope to use the information to help.

http://www.radiolab.org/story/bringing-gamma-back/

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