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Hilz, M.J.; Devinsky, O.; Szczepanska, H.; et al. 2006. Right ventromedial prefrontal lesions result in paradoxical cardiovascular activation with emotional stimuli. Brain (2006), 129, 3343–3355. doi:10.1093/brain/awl299.

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Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels

Recognizing purpose, priorities, mental state. Overcoming road blocks.

She described that she was "cautiously optimistic that you could make some minor improvments", but that her expectations regarding recovery were mostly nonexistent. This changed when she and her mother witnessed her father using his hand for the first time in 12 years! Following that, he regained use of his arm, and became able to walk again, with the help of a walker.

"It was nice to have someone who knew what they were doing. I felt like the naturopath we were using was really very smart, but she did not have the skills to get him to where he could not be paralysed - but you know, she had done a lot for him."

She was most thankful because the work Dr. Hogue did allowed him to walk around the kitchen, telling jokes, and reminiscing about the past. These changes, were, again - completely unexpected. It meant so much to her.

You might be alright for a couple of weeks, but after a while your house would become very disgusting.

You might get bugs inside your house, and new stains in lots of places. The aroma would not be pleasant. Imagine the things you would no longer be comfortable doing?

That’s a devastating scenario we’ve played out. Well, your body is very similar.

Each cell in the entire body has its own waste products, which are transported to the outer membrane to be collected by blood and lympatic systems. The food we eat is partially used, and we need to get rid of some of it. Same with the liquids we drink.

Our body has multiple systems that eliminate waste:

1. The intestinal tract
2. The blood and lymphatic systems transport waste
3. The lungs
4. The kidneys
5. The skin

Bowel movements need to be large and frequent. As a general rule, for each time that you eat, 2 to 3 hours later you should be having a bowel movement. If you don’t, a process called bowel compaction begins.

This involves a neurological feedback loop between the internal and external anal sphincter muscles, which makes it perpetually harder to have a successful bowel movement depending upon how much resistance you give after you first feel the urge to have a bowel movement.

This involves the formation of mucous-filled and disease-ridden pockets in the intestinal tract. It also makes the food that you eat less useful and more wasteful, because it is so much harder to absorb the nutrients into your blood supply, because the wall of the intestinal tract has become hard and crusty.

The bowels can also be obstructed by inadequate dietary fiber intake, insufficient water, consumption of highly processed or chemical laden foods – especially those with heavily processed wheat, certain medications, unhealthy gut flora, and in other ways.

Blood

The blood and lymphatic systems can become overloaded with waste. When this happens, you are likely to experience fatigue, headaches, and water retention or edema – especially in the lower legs.

One thing that can contribute to this might include a weak heart – which could be the result of an unhealthy diet especially with too many saturated fats, a sedentary lifestyle, over-consumption of sodium without maintaining a healthy sodium-potassium balance, kidney failure, smoking, unhealthy lungs, use of stimulants, and a variety of other factors.

Other things that can contribute to overloaded blood and lymph include: consumption of toxins, things that place heavy demand on the liver (alcoholism, high stress, inadequate sleep, certain drugs, toxic or chemically-rich foods, etc…), a sedentary lifestyle, inadequate consumption of vegetables (particularly the bitter ones), and more.

Lungs

The lungs receive waste products from the blood system in the same exchange by which the blood becomes oxygenated. If you are a smoker, you have pretty much destroyed this waste-removal system. This also becomes a problem when you don’t exhale completely enough to remove the waste from the lungs.

Other possible issues could be inadequate or irregular cardiovascular exercise, frequent respiratory illness, or problems with the swallowing mechanism – to keep food out of the lungs.

Kidneys

The kidneys work very hard to filter the blood. When too much demand is placed on the kidneys, they fail, with downstream affects on the heart.

Eating too much meat, not consuming enough water, too many toxins in the blood which the kidneys must filter out, too much calcium and other heavy minerals that the body is trying to get rid of, certain drugs such as caffeine, and other factors – can place heavy demand on the kidneys.

Skin

The skin is our largest organ. It serves a variety of functions. Its primary mechanism for waste removal is sweat – which cleanses the blood and lymph, burns fat, and may improve intestinal motility.

Overview

I didn’t discuss everything that’s important for health. I was really just focusing on providing an overview of waste removal. Other things are very important – such as emotional state, the frequency of eating, the volume of food consumed, consumption of vital nutrients including a daily habit of raw vegetables and fruits – especially the dark leafy-green vegetables, exercise habits, and so forth...

I’ve touched briefly on why the waste systems of the body are important, and some of the choices we can make that will prevent these waste systems from performing their job.

This information is highly applicable to stroke recovery, because a properly functioning body is needed to feel and be healthy, and because lack of a clean environment inside the body leads to an unhealthy environment for the brain. In order to rebuild, the brain absolutely needs a clean and nutrient-rich environment. We call this the brain-body connection.

That’s it for now. Thanks for joining. Talk to you soon.

Consider momentarily the miracle of human development and birth.

Within the mother, the ova makes a connection with the semen. From there, a great development takes place. In a predictable timeline and fashion, all of the organ systems develop:

• Lungs that bring oxygen into the body, and remove carbon and cellular waste;
• A heart with four chambers that pump continuously throughout all of life, and that sends a near-constant supply of oxygen and vital nutrients to the various cells and tissues of the body, and returns waste products to the lungs, urinary system, and lymphatic system;
• The brain is by far the most complex human development. Starting with the notochord in week 3 of embryonic life, the neural tube develops. During the next 5 weeks, the core structures for the unparalleled adult brain will have developed.
• The creation of life is truthfully a miracle. Its development is predictable, precise, very complex, and highly sustainable.

Now consider the grandeur of maintaining human life:

• The heart is an amazing muscle that pumps all day, everyday, for all of life. It changes speed and intensity based upon current needs and conditions.
• Complex channels exist that allow precise activation of neural and muscular tissues, while also removing and balancing chemical, pressure, and pH gradients. This is necessary for maintenance of life.
• A muscle is able to willfully create inverted pressure within the chest cavity which causes air from the external environment to move into the lungs.
• A multitude of tight balances are maintained automatically to ensure your muscles have enough power, and that your body can function correctly.
• All of your skeletal muscles work in concert to allow your 206 bones to defy gravity and to move you at will.

These life-sustaining forces occur automatically and without requiring any forethought. The wisdom, complexity, and grandeur of life itself is indisputable.

There is a common saying: “The wisdom that made the body is the wisdom that heals the body”.

Think about it, a force that is able to develop an ova and sperm into a fully-functional human baby! A force that is able to make life fully sustainable and fully reproducible. Wouldn’t a force like this be intelligent enough to also heal and repair itself?

In general, we know this is true for cuts, bruises, and broken bones. My vitalistic assertion is that your body can do so much more than that. It is perfectly capable of providing for you optimum health, vibrance, and vitality. Not only that, but in every case possible, the wisdom of your body will attempt to give you the best of what is available.

So when we find ourselves in a position of dis-ease, the question therefore becomes: “What prevented my body from achieving its goal to keep me healthy, happy, and vibrant?”

If we can find the answers to that question, then we can support the best of life that your body will give you, as long as you don’t get in the way of your own mechanism for health.

I have deep and abiding confidence in my body to repair and restore, to rebuild and recover. This confidence guides many of the decisions that I make. My confidence that everyone else has similar intelligence within guides many of the recommendations that I give.

Genetic conditions

When introduced to this philosophy, a lot of people ask, what about genetic conditions and autonomic disorders? If the human body were so highly intelligent, wouldn’t it be able to create a healthy baby every time? Wouldn’t it be able to prevent itself from attacking itself?

These are fair questions, but the fact that there are sometimes genetic mutations, birth defects, and autonomic disorders does not undermine the truth that creation of life requires a degree of intelligence that extends beyond human-reach.

There are known causes for many of these disorders. For example, Thalidomide was a birth-control drug prescribed years ago, which resulted in thousands of birth defects because one of the chemical constituents had the wrong chirality or handedness: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160208124237.htm. As another example, an abundance of folic acid is required during early stages of brain development (alluded to earlier) which take place before the mother is aware that she is pregnant. A deficiency of folic acid or its synthetic counterpart folate will result in a variably-serious condition called spina bifida.

In our day, we are exposed to an abundance of chemicals, stresses, environmental toxins, drugs, radiation, and other hazards that might explain the incidence of other conditions. Just like a plant needs water, nutrients, and sunlight; our bodies also require certain components.

Allopathy

To appreciate the importance of vitalism it’s also necessary to understand some other prominent philosophies about health. One of these philosophies is commonly termed allopathic medicine, which gets its name from the Greek “allos” – meaning opposite, and pathy – meaning “illness”.

The word-part allos or opposite, is based on a doctor’s response to a body action. For example

• If a person has a fever, an allopath would do whatever is possible to reduce the fever
• Diarrhea – an allopath would find a way to prevent the bowels from moving
• Low insulin – find a way to increase the insulin
• High blood pressure – find a way to lower it

Each of these treatment options I just mentioned seems reasonable at the surface. Each also involved doing the opposite of what the body has created.

Consider the common fever:

Viruses and bacteria cannot survive when body temperature exceeds 101 F: https://www.naturalnews.com/027149_fever_virus_flu.html#ixzz4Tl5DxPcD.

A fever is your body’s natural response to these invaders, but the common approach is to reduce the fever, and then administer medications designed to kill the invaders.

However, this does not come without a cost. Medications have side-effects, plus they kill part of your natural biome that is necessary for good health. Plus, drugs are not good at contending with viral infections. In actuality, a fever may be just what your body needs to get healthy again.

But I’m concerned about dehydration and brain damage. It’s a well-known fact that a fever above 107.8 can cause brain damage. However, research has shown that someone who is properly-hydrated will not experience brain injury, even with a high fever. Medical professionals also acknowledge that fevers resulting from a regular illness is very unlikely to ever cause brain damage. The main concern is actually fevers not caused by illness, such as heat stroke. See the link in the references:

https://www.verywellhealth.com/do-fevers-cause-brain-damage-770640

Let’s consider the other examples I raised:

• Diarrhea: It could be that you have something very toxic inside of you, which your body needs to discard, and holding those toxins in could have other negative consequences.
• Low insulin: Actually, the problem is rarely that your body cannot make enough insulin (known as Type I diabetes). It’s much more common that your lifestyle has required your body to produce more insulin than what is healthy. In the end, this leads to disastrous long-term problems, all of which are preventable by changing lifestyle.
• Plus, inserting insulin directly into the body will cause a negative feedback reaction. This is how it works: chemical messengers in your blood will inform the hypothalamus that an adequate supply of insulin is present in the blood. The hypothalamus instructs the pancreas not to make more insulin. As this cycle continues over a prolonged period, the pancreas eventually becomes unable to create any volume of insulin, so that you have made yourself to be entirely dependent on insulin administered externally.
• Blood pressure: It’s well known that high blood pressure is dangerous, but are blood thinners really the best response to this problem? It’s also well known that most people can lower blood pressure by consuming more raw vegetables, eating appropriate fats including very little saturated fat, and with appropriate portion sizes and exercise.
• For short-term needs, there are herbs such as willow bark, which can reduce blood pressure; or essential oils such as wintergreen.
• The long-term goal should be to modify your lifestyle so that you can lower your blood pressure naturally.

In each of these cases, I have provided some rational to support the idea that it is best to support the body’s innate wisdom. The allopathic approach has been to assume that the body’s natural mechanisms are deficient, and to instead over-take the body’s ability to respond to its environment, but instead to manually perform the necessary steps for the body.

This type of approach is necessary in certain extreme circumstances, and were it not for the availability of advancements spurned by this model, many people – including myself – might not be alive right now.

Issues arise when we overtake the body’s natural maintenance of itself, at times when this really wasn’t necessary. My contention is that your body’s innate wisdom excels anything created by us, in its ability to maintain balance, repair, restore, and integrate with all other systems. Anything we make will compromise some of that innate wisdom.

Of course, this is to be considered within reason. Obviously, if you lose your arm for some reason, I think you’d be very glad to have a prosthetic in its place. And there are other similar types of scenarios.

That’s it for now. Thank you for joining. See you next time.

This is extremely common with strokes, but his brain stem was affected by the stroke in a way that affected his ability to stay very awake during the daytime.

Like many others, Jerry had a situation in which some of the drugs he was using didn’t interact well with each other. He also had a situation in which the side-effects for the drugs he was using happened to be a very comprehensive list of all the problems he was having.

But the biggest problem of all was that Jerry was taking an anti-seizure medication.

Seizures are a real medical risk, and in some cases it’s necessary to take this kind of drug.

Also note that your use of this information does not constitute us forming a doctor-patient relationship. If you need medical advice, please get help from a medical professional whom you trust.

Anti-seizure medications actually slow the speed of the entire brain. This seems to help the fast and un-meaningful brain activity that defines a seizure.

However, the problem is this:

The nerve connections responsible for waking up the entire brain do so by increasing the speed of the entire brain. So, in other words: Jerry was tired because of brain damage, and even more tired because of the anti-seizure medicine!

My methods really necessitate an awake brain. First, because an awake, alert, active brain is most likely to perform the type of metabolic activities I need it to perform. Second, because fast brain activity is absolutely necessary for neurological plasticity. If you’re unsure about plasticity, please check out my podcast on that topic.

I am not aware of any scientific literature on this, but am aware that many claim craniosacral therapy to stop seizures from happening. Again, I don’t have any scientific evidence to back this claim, except to say that my limited personal experience confirms to me that craniosacral therapy is effective at stopping seizures from happening. I have also heard reports about upper cervical specific chiropractic techniques such as the Blair technique, being effective in preventing more seizures from happening again.

In summary, while the drug may be absolutely necessary, it seems reasonable to explore alternative approaches. The reason this is important is because there is a very powerful likelihood that the anti-seizure medication will block brain self-healing.

For Jerry, the neurological activation I was providing didn’t cause any changes in his brain until after we successfully weaned him off the anti-seizure medication, as confirmed by neurological signs. We were very fortunate in this case, because Jerry didn’t end up having any seizures after he was off the drug. Please also note that he did receive craniosacral therapy, which might have been the reason for him not having any more seizures – but we don’t know for sure.

If you find that you are not able to reduce or omit the anti-seizure meds, but that you are interested in activating your loved-one’s brain as a self-help activity, to help it recover from the affects of the stroke; then I would suggest that you might be able to adjust the timing of taking the drug and/or performing the neurological exercises.

For example, if your loved one takes anti-seizure medication once first thing in the morning and once in the evening; then in this case it might be best to schedule the brain exercises in the early evening, before taking the evening dosage of the medication. This way, the anti-seizure drug will be having the least effect possible when you are trying to activate the brain. Of course, you may need to consult with your physician if you are planning to make any changes, including the timing of taking drugs.

Well, that’s it for now. Talk to you soon.

At the time his family engaged me, he was very much in a stupor. He hardly had any appetite at all, preferred to sit in his chair all day watching television, and was mostly quiet and uninteractive.

One of the first things that I noticed is that he was taking more than 30 medications each day. There were 5 times per day that he took his meds, and each instance involved 5 or 6 different pills.

I spoke with his primary physician, who agreed that we should look into this matter. Upon reviewing the full med list, with special interest in the reason the medication was prescribed in the first place, and the side effects – a relationship clearly emerged.

A medication was taken to control blood pressure, but it had side-effects including being lethargic. A medication was later prescribed for the lethargy, but it had side-effects including hard stools. A medication was later given for hard stools, but it had side-effects including headaches. A medication was later given for headaches, but it had side-effects including memory loss. This pattern continued: More meds were given for digestive issues, sleep patterns, anxiety, liver function, triglycerides, and on and on and on…

The real problem in this case was that each time Anthony visited his physician (and usually he had 4 or 5 specialty doctors he was seeing concurrently), he would describe his latest ailment. But in each case, his latest ailment was a side-effect from the medication prescribed during a previous doctor visit. Then, a new drug was prescribed to handle the latest symptom.

Never did a physician review the list of current medications and say – “You know, what you’re explaining could actually be a side-effect of a drug you’re already taking.” Also, even though it was clearly documented that some of his prescriptions were recommended as safe to use for only a few months, he had actually been using those same medications for multiple decades.

We worked to slowly ease Anthony off those drugs which appeared to be prescribed to treat side-effects, and we applied techniques similar to what Dr. Fuhrman recommends for removing dependency on most drugs.

My role was to improve functionality lost with his stroke, but before I started specifically addressing the stroke, the extreme over-use of medications seemed to be the most important issue to address. At the end of this process, there were only two drugs that he still needed to take.

I hadn’t even started working on the stroke yet, and his family was reporting to me that his old personality was back, he was more responsive and interactive. He could hold conversations. He had more energy and vitality. He was stronger and more independent, and all this came just from getting him off all those medications that were really just chasing side-effects.

Experience informs me that this scenario is not as uncommon as you might think. It seems that many doctors are very good at prescribing new drugs, but not so good at un-prescribing drugs that are no longer needed, or in differentiating chief complaints from pre-existing side-effects.

So, if your loved one is a bit older – even if no stroke was involved – there’s a good chance that this type of scenario might be happening to them too – especially if they are taking more than 4 or 5 medications.

Drugs.com has a free tool that will allow you to see all the side-effects and interactions for all the drugs you or a loved one are currently using. This information can be invaluable to you.

Please note that your use of this information does not constitute us forming a doctor-patient relationship. If you need medical advice, please visit a medical practitioner whom you trust.

Thanks and talk to you soon.

1. in correction of abnormal posturing,
2. with the usefulness of the affected arm – in terms of voluntary motion, being able to grab, scratch, use fingers, etc…, and
3. as associated with positive changes in the brain, which may be observed through diagnostic imaging

Fast stretch of a tendon

Repeated over time with the correct frequency and intensity, this activity will begin to rebuild and remap that part of the brain. Over a period of 1 to 3 months, it is very likely that stimulation of this reflex at least 3 times per day for at least 6 days per week, will generate substantial changes in both the usefulness of the arm (being able to grab, scratch, use fingers, etc…) as well as associated positive changes in the brain as observed through diagnostic imaging. Please refer to Plasticity for additional insight into this process.

HEMIPARESIS

The tightness commonly experienced by a stroke survivor is referred to as hemiparesis. For ease of understanding, that word can be broken into its two sub-components ‘hemi’ and ‘paresis’. ‘Hemi’, meaning half. This refers to the fact that only the right or left half of the body is affected in this way. ‘Paresis’, meaning restricted movement or weakness.

Even though the word’s sub-components don’t suggest this, the side of the body that is restricted reverses when comparing the upper body to the lower body. In other words: if the right arm is curled, and if the lower body is also affected, then we can expect it to be the left leg that is restricted. Conversely, if the left arm was curled, it would be the right leg also affected*.

GOLGI TENDON REFLEX

This reflex is also known as the inverse myotatic reflex or as autogenic inhibition. Previously it was thought that this reflex was only initiated with sustained contraction placing tension on a tendon. However, it is now understood that the reflex is actually triggered in response to tension on the actual tendon.

When activated, the golgi tendon reflex powerfully relaxes the tight muscle while also driving neurological activity that will cause movement of the joint (opposite to the tightness) and powerfully alleviate pain.

Fast stretch on a tendon will increase its load before the muscle has adjusted in order to attenuate that load, and will thereby activate the golgi tendon reflex. This is important because it provides a direct method to activate a spinal cord reflex that will remove the tightness associated with spastic hemiparesis!

BRAIN RESPONSE

Because the tightness caused by a stroke is normally most prevalent in one arm, and because the restriction follows the distribution of the pyramidal distribution of the corticospinal tract, additional benefits in the brain will result from activation of the golgi tendon reflex in one arm.

To begin, it must be understood that the tightness was caused by nerve cell damage in the area of the brain that impacts the descending system, particularly the pyramidal tract. The 1b afferent fibers associated with this reflex are very fast, and will certainly impact the specific affected brain region on the correct brain hemisphere.

OUTCOME

Repeated over time with the correct frequency and intensity, this activity will begin to rebuild and remap that part of the brain. Over a period of 1 to 3 months, it is very likely that stimulation of this reflex at least 3 times per day for at least 6 days per week, will generate substantial changes in both the usefulness of the arm (being able to grab, scratch, use fingers, etc…) as well as associated positive changes in the brain as observed through diagnostic imaging. Note also that postural stabilization through the golgi-tendon reflex has been shown to improve plasticity in the brain overall (Windhorst, 2007). Please refer to Plasticity for additional insight into this process.

*While “stroke-like” posturing is sometimes observed on the same side of the body, top-to-bottom, this pattern is not caused by a stroke. Same-sided (ipsilateral) posturing is possible because the crossover (decussation), in the thoracic spine, of the pyramidal track nerve fibers – is not a complete crossover. Approximately 15% of the fibers remain ipsilateral.

References used:

Appleton, B. (2009). Stretching and flexibility: Everything you ever wanted to know. MIT. Retrieved from https://web.mit.edu/tkd/stretch/stretching_toc.html#SEC4 on August 11, 2020.

Banks, R. (2018). Muscle spindles and tendon organs. Reference Module in Biomedical Sciences. Elsevier. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128012383994893 on August 10, 2020.

Blumer, R. (2010). Extraocular muscles: Proprioception and proprioceptors. Encyclopedia of the Eye. Elsevier. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123742032002761 on August 10, 2020.

Dominguez, M. (2019). Muscle spindles / golgi tendon organs. MedBullets. Retrieved from https://step1.medbullets.com/neurology/113039/muscle-spindles--golgi-tendon-organs on August 10, 2020.

Feher, J. (2012). Spinal reflexes. Quantitative Human Physiology: An Introduction. Elsevier. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123821638000360 on August 10, 2020.

Gabriel, D. A., Kamen, G., & Frost, G. (2006). Neural adaptations to resistive exercise: mechanisms and recommendations for training practices. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 36(2), 133–149. https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-200636020-00004

Hansen, D; Kennelly, S. (2017). Plyometric anatomy. Human Kinetics. Retrieved from https://us.humankinetics.com/blogs/excerpt/properties-of-muscle-and-tendon on August 10, 2020.

Jelvéus, A (2011). Soft tissue stretching in sports massage. Integrate Sports Massage Therapy. Churchill Livingston. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B978044310126700006X on August 10, 2020.

Hultborn H. (2006). Spinal reflexes, mechanisms and concepts: from Eccles to Lundberg and beyond. Progress in neurobiology, 78(3-5), 215–232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pneurobio.2006.04.001

Kotagiri, S.; Mathur, N.; Gayathri Balakavi, V., et al. (2019). The effectiveness of muscle energy technique and mobilization to improve shoulder range of motion in frozen shoulder. IAIM 6(10): 64-73.

MacKinnon (2018). Sensorimotor anatomy of gait, balance, and falls. Handbook of Clinical Neurology. Volume 159. Chapter 1. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B978044463916500001X on August 10, 2020.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123742360100045

Teach Me Anatomy. The descending tracts. Retrieved from https://teachmeanatomy.info/neuroanatomy/pathways/descending-tracts-motor/ on August 10, 2020.

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Scott, J.A. (2005). The golgi tendon organ. Peripheral neuropathy. 4^th ed. Volume 1. Chapter 7. Elsevier. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780721694917500107 on August 10, 2020.

Windhorst U. (2007). Muscle proprioceptive feedback and spinal networks. Brain research bulletin, 73(4-6), 155–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainresbull.2007.03.010

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The basic principle is that something which would be harmful to the body, actually produces the opposite effect when applied at a very low quantity. The basic principle behind this notion of placing the body in a state of challenge causes it to automatically take proactive measures to protect itself from the perceived threat.

It has been termed biological plasticity. Its application for homeopathic medicine is quite obvious, as well as the basic idea behind vaccinations, and there are other pharmaceutical applications for this principle. Other applications might include ion radiation, alcohol, cellular energy production, anti-aging, other types of radiation, physical fitness, and so forth…

The effects of hormesis include greater vitality, increased longevity in rodents, better metabolism, improved muscle performance and skin tone, and protection from oxidative damage.

Some simple things you can do to elicit hormesis would include: an occasional cold shower. This contends with the commonly-held belief that a draft of cold air might make one to become sick. Relatively short exposure to extreme temperature is good, along with intermittent fasting, high intensity interval training, off-centered exercises, and so forth…

The bottom line is that when you regularly put yourself into uncomfortable circumstances, this caused your body to line up its best protective mechanisms. It also ensures that your body synthesizes enough growth hormone.

This hormone is key strength, youthfulness, and vitality. However, it should never be taken as a supplement or drug, unless you have a clear and significant diagnosed deficiency, as a small amount too much of this hormone will lead to early demise.

So, find ways to make hormesis a part of your life by willingly subjecting yourself to that which is unpleasant or uncomfortable. It will pay off for you in a big way.

Talk to you next time.

Numerous significant contributors have played a role in this growing body of accelerated understanding during the past two decades since this amazing discovery was officially documented and recognized, especially in consideration of the concomitant rapid technological advancements – particularly in relation to diagnostic imaging. It would be impossible to give comprehensive recognition to each contributor, and no attempt here is made to that end.

NOTEWORTHY CONTRIBUTORS

Exceptionally noteworthy colleagues include Dr. Norman Doidge, and Dr. Frederick Carrick. Interestingly enough, both are from Canada. Dr. Carrick’s contribution to the field of plasticity is considerable and substantial. Dr. Doidge’s contribution to plasticity is immense and far reaching.

Many decades ago, Dr. Carrick began training other practitioners – using the latest research available at the time – on techniques to restore brain function. Since the beginning of his career, he has trained thousands of medical practitioners, been awarded additional graduate diplomas from prestigious schools such as Harvard University, conducted his own breakthrough peer-reviewed scientific research with contributions to numerous noteworthy journals, founded a network of schools that train medical professionals throughout the world, and is a professor at a US News top-ranked school. His most important contributions have included his advancements in recovery of comatose patients, his work on balance and gait, and his unique perspectives and techniques regarding brain function and methodology for recovery.

Dr. Doidge is a psychiatrist who is best known for his book: The Brain the Changes Itself. With over a million copies sold, Dr. Doidge has helped countless people to understand what is possible in restoring the brain to its healthy state. He has received many honors – including literary honors, been featured on numerous video broadcasts, lectured at numerous well-known universities and prestigious organizations, and been featured by the best known news networks. In addition to helping make brain plasticity popular, Dr. Doidge has been involved with the creation of devices used to treat the brain, is a vibrant contributor to the body of scientific research, has devised methods for overcoming serious brain abnormalities, and has compiled an impressive volume of case studies regarding people whose brains have been healed through principles of neuroplasticity.

A PERSONAL INDULGENCE

It’s clear to see why both of these individuals have impacted the world in a positive and immeasurable way. I would now ask that you please forgive the personal indulgence. Both of these professionals are significant to me (Dr. Hogue), because Dr. Carrick was my professor almost two decades ago, and because I have been following and learning from Dr. Doidge for about 15 years.

BASIC PRINCIPLES

At least five components of brain plasticity are important for stroke recovery: NMDA receptor activation, physical exercise, psychological state, neurogenesis, and environment.

NDMA Receptor

The NMDA receptor is important for plasticity because this at least one of the mechanisms that is responsible for actually building the nerve connections. It’s important that we understand something about this receptor so that we can use that knowledge to intentionally build connections in the brain.

Closely connected to the NMDA receptor (and much more widely studied by researchers, because of its direct implications to pharmaceuticals) is the AMPA receptor. The AMPA receptor is what gets activated every time a nerve sends an electrical signal down its axon.

In order to get elicit activation of the NMDA receptor, the AMPA receptor needs to be elicited at a high intensity, frequency, and duration. When this is achieved, it causes a neuron to build a new connection to its target, at the rate of 1mm per day. The amazing thing about plasticity is that after the nerve cell has formed new connections to its targets, the changes are more or less permanent (with some exception)!

The reason it is necessary to get the neurons properly connected to one another is that information happens in real time. It is therefore necessary for the brain to work in conjunction with all of its parts, also in real time. Consider this excerpt from Doidge, 2007:

• When we read, the meaning of a word is stored or "mapped" in one sector of the brain; the visual appearance of the letters is stored in another, and its sound in yet another. Each sector is bound together in a network, so that when we encounter the word, we can see it, hear it, and understand it. Neurons from each sector have to be activated at the same time — coactivated — for us to see, hear, and understand at once.

When certain parts of the brain become damaged, it’s not possible for the damaged portions to respond to their environment in real time. This requires the brain to make decisions or to draw conclusions from incomplete or inaccurate information.

Physical Exercise

A strong brain-body connection dictates outcomes in each. The brain contains numerous mappings of nearly every part of the body (somatotopic maps). These maps constitute a direct connection with the brain for movement of each muscle, sensation sin each skin region and in muscles & tendons, visual fields, and sensations of joint position. These are necessary for normal function, as well as in the controlling of the position of each body part in space, and in coordinated form with all other body parts.

It’s fantastic to consider that the brain needs to understand the tone on each muscle, with all the necessary changes that must take place to achieve any desired goal that requires movement of the skeleton. This is done by constantly monitoring the tone on each muscle group (incorrect muscle tone balance will injure the joints), creating precise motor plans, and then executing and monitoring progress. This process if fascinating.

However, things don’t always work correctly. People sometimes bite their tongue, trip on the sidewalk, have difficulty buttoning a shirt, or become unable to resist gravity. These symptoms could be caused by a variety of brain regions that work together, failures in the position-sense chain, or external factors such as extreme fatigue or drugs.

Position sense also involves pressure on joints (most importantly, while standing, the ankles), the multitude of sensation information provided by the inner ears, and information revealed by eye sight. When these systems produce contradictory information, the result can be devastating and sickening. However, with exercise, it’s important for these systems to function well. But, in addition to the fact that exercise is inherently good for the brain (and the heart, lungs, lymphatic system, kidneys, etc…), there are also chemical constituents of exercise important for plasticity – as documented by Ratey, 2013, who further declared:

Working out before school gives these kids a boost in reading ability and in the rest of their subjects… Physical activity sparks biological changes that encourage brain cells to bind to one another. For the brain to learn, these connections must be made. They reflex the brain’s fundamental ability to adapt to challenges.

TO BE CONTINUED

Please watch for the following documents:

Hormesis

Psychological State That Drives Brain Activation

The Brain’s Environment

REFERENCES

Doidge, N. (2007). The brain that changes itself. The Viking Press.

Gabriel, D. A., Kamen, G., & Frost, G. (2006). Neural adaptations to resistive exercise: mechanisms and recommendations for training practices. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 36(2), 133–149. https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-200636020-00004

Kandel, E.R.; Schwartz, J.H.; Jessell, T.M.; et al. (2013). Principles of neural science. 4^th ed. McGraw Hill.

MGH Institute of Health Professions. (2020). Frederick Robert Carrick, DC, PhD, MS-HPEd. Retrieved from https://www.mghihp.edu/frederick-robert-carrick-dc-phd-ms-hped on August 11, 2020.

Ratey, J.J.; Hagerman, E. (2013). Spark: The revolutionary new science of exercise and the brain. Little Brown and Company. New York.

The Nobel Foundation. The Nobel prize in physiology or medicine: 2000. Retrieved from https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2000/kandel/facts/ on August 11, 2020.

Windhorst U. (2007). Muscle proprioceptive feedback and spinal networks. Brain research bulletin, 73(4-6), 155–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainresbull.2007.03.010

Woolsey, T.A.; Hanaway, J.; Gado, M.H. (2017). The brain atlas. 4^th ed. Wiley

In an isolated island named Kitty Hawk on the East Coast of the United States, where there was soft sand and plenty of open spaces, the tail wing turned out to be the last addition needed to allow the Wright Brothers to be able to control their primitive airplane.

Following additional enhancements, they were ready to begin experimentation flying their Wright Flyer using engine power. The very first engine-automated flight lasted less than a minute, but was a major victory for these brothers – and a local even captured a photograph of this historic event.

The very next season they would continue to update, enhance, and test their airplane for the first time in their own home town. The locals near Dayton Ohio, who witnessed the spectacle were fully mesmerized, but the world at large was not ready to receive this message!

News reporters in that small town had seen the flights and reported on it. Other reporters had received word that the Wright Brothers successfully created a flying machine, but to those who had not witnessed it for themselves, this news seemed like a fairy tale.

These reporters who received the news but considered it fantasy, wouldn't think to injure their reputations by giving any attention to this notion.

The Wright Brothers, who thought they could help the United State's defense system, were not even successful in convincing the U.S. Army that they had achieved flight. The Army sent the brothers away without even entertaining the possibility of a demonstration.

After the Wright Brothers were finally ready to show their invention to the world, it took a full 5 years for people in the world to recognize and believe the news!

A Similar Movement Today

Eric Kandell is widely recognized for his substantial contributions to the field of brain science, particularly the biology of the brain with its chemical messaging systems and its ability to learn and change.

There have been countless individuals who first created the circumstances that made these discoveries possible, and also who contributed to the amazing science of healing and repairing the brain. Consider, for example, the neuroscience pioneers Norman Doidge and Frederick Carrick.

Even though two decades have passed since Kandell's most well recognized proof that brain plasticity is real, the world at large seems to unaware of the implications.

Of course, there have been exceedingly dramatic developments in the scientific and medical communities. However, a great deal of this is unknown by so many people the world over.

This is especially true in regards to stroke recovery. Medical facilities continue to utilize dated understanding in terms of long-term prognosis after a stroke.

It may not be completely possible to understand the precise reason such an important message isn't getting through to the primary people who rehabilitate stroke survivors. Nonetheless, we have a very important message to share:

The brain is able to rebuild itself more so than most professionals realize.

Recovery does not need to be expensive. The main requirements are commitment and work mixed with a little bit of the right knowledge.

The brain continues to rebuild itself months and years and decades after a stroke. Even if the stroke happened a long time ago, there is still something that can be done to help.

It might be possible to recover function, even if this seems like an impossibility.

Stroke Help Center is dedicated to teaching you simple exercises you can perform at home to make this happen!

Dr. Hogue has been rebuilding people's brains for 15 years, and has now created a self-study program that allows committed caregivers to make a BIG DIFFERENCE! YOU CAN make a difference in the life of someone you love, and that Stroke Help Center can show you how!

The Event That Changed It All For The Wright Brothers

The circumstances that finally allowed the Wright Brothers to receive proper recognition for their amazing accomplishment happened to revolve around a hot-air balloon expert in France named Alberto Santos-Dumont.

He had former experience building flying machines that might have been like a hot air balloon with a propeller. From that, he went on to create an engine-powered flying machine.

Because he was already famous for his work on balloons, he achieved instant national fame for his creation of a primitive airplane. The French also felt a great deal of patriotic pride, believing themselves to be first in flight.​

Two Americans claiming to have actually been first in flight attracted a great deal of attention. There were thousands who would gather to observe the demonstration in Paris.

This first flight lasted several minutes. Wilbur performed figure-eights and substantial altitude adjustments ranging from very high in the air to very near the ground. This event finally brought wordwide recognition to the Wright Brothers for their accomplishment.

On the other hand, Dumont's flying machine could only fly in a straight line and only for a number of seconds. He readily admitted what he considered to be a defeat. Since that time, the Wright Brother's creation has changed history in immeasurable ways.

This has been both a blessing and a curse. It’s clear why a strong, inner desire to help people is a blessing.

It was a curse because just about everyone I help ends up becoming a cherished friend, and I had to get some perspective in place in order to allow me to support my family, while serving these wonderful people I grew to love so much.

I was a very ambitious child, and scholastically very strong. My birthday was days after the state’s cutoff to begin kindergarten. So I was forced to remain at home one extra year.

Being the oldest member of my class was a sore spot for me. In third grade I convinced the school to allow me to test out of 3^rd grade. I spent about 3 hours in the principle’s office, taking a multiple-choice test covering everything that a 3rd-grader should know.

The next day, someone from the office appeared at my classroom and asked me to step out. She then directed me to my new 4th-grade classroom. That was the first time I skipped a grade. I also skipped 5^th grade (well, sort of – it’s a long story), and had completed my high school graduation requirements by the end of my 11^th grade year, while also having completed two full semesters of college which was taken concurrently that year.

Undergraduate college was a breeze for me, and I actually completed a traditional bachelor’s degree in 2 years. A community college would only allow me to register for a certain number of credit hours in a given term. To get around that, I was actually attending 3 different colleges for most of those 2 years.

I later completed my doctorate degree at a chiropractic school, 2 years of post-doctorate training in a cutting-edge and scientifically-leading field called clinical neuroscience. And I studied at Harvard University for 2 years, in which I designed computer software that restores brain function.

I was in a serious accident when I was 13, in which I sustained a very serious traumatic brain injury. Even though the brain injury did not interfere with my scholastic abilities, it impacted me deeply, and I was driven to find answers and solutions.

For the past 15 years I have been helping people with all manner of neurological conditions mostly including: spinal nerve root injuries, learning disorders, autism, and strokes.

Recently I decided to dedicate myself to strokes only (however it’s possible that I will later expand this to traumatic brain injuries too, since they affect the brain so similarly). The primary reason for this is:

First, because it gives me so much fulfillment to see the impossible come true time and time again!

Second, because there are approximately 800,000 strokes every year, in the United States. About 140,000 of those die from the stroke, but this leaves 660,000 people I can help. That’s enough to keep me busy for the remainder of my life.

I can anticipate that you might have some questions. You may wonder if I work in a hospital, or if not in a hospital – exactly how I get involved with the process.

Actually, you have an excellent point. A stroke is most likely to be treated at a hospital. After the patient is discharged from the hospital, the patient is likely to be taken directly to a long-term acute-care (LTAC) facility. The patient will remain there while highly-skilled professionals will do everything they can to rehabilitate the stroke. This will usually last for months, until the LTAC has determined that all the rehabilitation that is possible HAS BEEN ACHIEVED.

At this point, the family will be instructed regarding home lifestyle modifications, and the patient will be sent home – expecting a substantially limited life from that point on.

This is where I come into the picture. They know that your loved one’s brain is stuck in dysfunction, and that nothing more can be done to restore beyond what they’ve done. They also know that there is only a very short window of potential recovery following a stroke – maybe 3 to 6 months, and they confidently assure you that the window of opportunity has now passed; that the period of hope for recovery is spent.

But these misconceptions have been solidly disproven by neuroscience for more than 2 decades. This is the reason Eric Kandel won the Nobel Prize in 2000. I’m not talking about some eccentric group that thinks the world is actually shaped like a pizza dish. I’m talking about thousands of dedicated neuroscientists, medical doctors, and other professionals who have dedicated their lives to brain recovery – including me.

I’ve decided that the best way I can help is by providing a stroke self-help subscription for caregivers of stroke survivors.

The brain is extremely complex, as is brain treatment. But what I’ve done is I’ve simplified the process, so much so that just about anyone can do it. The cost for access to my subscription is $225 per month.

However, in the very first month you can obtain the information you need to make a serious impact for good in the life of the stroke survivor whom you love.

If you subscribe for only one month, and that subscription leads to your loved one getting his arm function back, I would be totally thrilled with that! You may cancel any time, without penalty.

And what a good feeling it would give me to know that I was the catalyst that allowed these changes to happen! My assumption is that you will want to keep the subscription, partly because you’re so thankful for what I’ve done and you just want to show your support; and partly because you know that I will continue to deliver new and exciting content to the member’s area each month – which you know you don’t want to miss.

But it also makes me feel good to know that maybe $225 is all you could afford. Maybe you even had to borrow money to gain access to my subscription. This is another reason I feel so good about this subscription. For you who can only afford to stay for one month, I am able to deliver to you the information that you need to permanently impact change for your loved one! How wonderful is that!

And think about the cost. The medical treatment has already costed thousands upon thousands of dollars, much of which was likely covered by insurance. However, they’ve already told you that they can’t facilitate any further recovery. So you can’t even pay them for what I’m offering. There’s no price.

There are, of course, other scientists, medical doctors, and professionals who know something about rehabilitating your loved one’s brain. But the first issue is, how can you know in advance if they have the same types of skills, knowledge, and experience that I have? In other words, how do you know it will work?

The second issue is price. Will insurance cover it? The LTAC has already declared with full authority that no further recovery is possible. Even though we know this is wrong, the insurance company is likely to deny the treatment.

We’re talking about 3 to 6 months of therapy, 2 hours per day, 6 days per week. The average hourly rate for this level of service is around $300 per hour. My rough estimate is that this could cost $43,000 to $86,000.

In the real world, these services would need to be more affordable than that, and so they would come up with some creative ways to reduce the cost. This kind of care would require a huge lifestyle commitment, and while the total cost might not be quite that high, I am reasonably certain that the cost would be at least $20,000.

The subscription I am offering will allow you to get the same results as the $20,000 service, if you are willing to dedicate 2 hours of your time each day, 5 to 6 days per week, for at least 3 months.

If you can make that kind of tine commitment for your loved one...

Think about it – not $86,000, not $43,000, not even $20,000. You can restore function to your loved one for as little as $225.

You can even cancel after the first month, if you need to

Thanks for tuning into this podcast. It was a pleasure introducing myself. Talk to you soon.