Biomechanics Blog 5 - Posture and Body Mechanics

Posture and body mechanics are two things that most people don't pay enough attention to. If they are neglected for long enough, permanent damage and stress can be made to structures. One thing that can happen is lower back pain. This is probably the most common result because of the stress that is put on the lumbar vertebrae and the intervertebral discs in between. With bad body mechanics, you have the risk of bulging or herniating your discs which is another reason to position your body correctly when performing a task. A third reason a person needs to have good posture and body mechanics is because nerves can become impinged primarily in the thoracic area of the back causing increased pain. Another reason is that when you are lifting something incorrectly or performing some other task incorrectly, you can possibly pull or strain the muscles being used along with the tendons, ligaments, or joints all resulting in problems.

One method that can be used to teach better posture to a person is slouch-overcorrect technique. If someone has to sit a lot during the day and for long periods of time, this would be a good technique to use. For this technique, you take someone with bad posture and have them flex their trunk further down and hold for 1-2 seconds. Then, have them sit upright as straight as possible to increase the lumbar lordosis and extend the trunk and hold for 1-2 seconds. They should return to a neutral position after this and be in a more upright sitting position.

As a therapist, we can show the use of good body mechanics and posture while in intervention by not doing things that might harm our bodies. We can do things like not lifting things with our backs bent, raising the bed when working on bed mobility with a client, and sitting with good posture as an example to them among many other things to protect ourselves.

Neurobiology Blog 1 - Advertisements and Our Brain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9vFWA1rnWc

I saw this advertisement on Facebook in the past and thought that it was very inspirational and thought provoking. It is actually from Thailand and promotes Thai Life Insurance. The advertisement shows a man that does things everyday to help others like putting a plant under water, giving money to a little girl for education, sharing his food with a dog, helping a lady get her food cart over a curb, and leaving bananas on the door handle for his elderly neighbor. At the end, it shows how all the people and things that the man helped were all affected in a positive way and, even though he didn't become famous or rich, he had more love and meaning in his life.

I think that in relation to our brain this advertisement is involved with a few different parts that I'm going to discuss. First, the autonomic nervous system would be functioning to keep your bodily functions and organs regulated so that you could see, hear, and understand the content of the advertisement. Also, the parasympathetic nervous system would be used because there is nothing in the commercial that would cause fear or make a person want to move and get away from it so the body would be conserving energy and in a quiet state. Second, the occipital lobe is being used for vision to see the video, the parietal lobe for hearing the words and sounds, and the frontal lobe for keeping your attention in the video and understanding the meaning of it. Third, some mirror neurons were definitely working while I was watching this advertisement. I could feel how much love the man felt in his heart seeing the good that had come from his small deeds. It made my heart happy as well to see the kindness that he showed to others. Finally, I think that this advertisement would play off of the emotional response from the limbic system by showing the others that judged the man for his good deeds, but then seeing all the good and happiness that came out of them. This could show that even though you might not be rich or famous, you still can live a good life and do good and should consider buying life insurance through their company because your life is worth it.

This advertisement definitely will tug at your heart strings and make you think about how you should do more good for others. Who knows, you might even end up with some life insurance in Thailand :)

Biomechanics Blog 4 - "Man from the South"

In the excerpt “Man from the South”, if the American sailor boy had lost his little finger in the bet it would have changed his day to day life more than he thought it would. As a sailor, I know that he would need to have exceptional grip strength and fine motor control and losing his finger would have affected that. Sailors would need to be able to pull on ropes, steer boats, shoot guns, and pick up heavy objects that all rely heavily on hand and finger strength and movement.

Compared to the sailor, the wife of the man in the story looked like she had been through and lost in a few of the man’s bets. She only had one finger and her thumb remaining on her hand. This could cause difficulty with her occupations of cleaning (using a broom), cooking (taking a dish out of the oven), fixing her hair (using a brush and hair dryer), putting on makeup (holding powder and a makeup brush), picking up an object (a box from the ground), and many more. 

A major occupation that was most likely affected for the wife when she lost her fingers could be driving her car that the man tried to use in the bet. It would be hard for her to control the steering wheel with her left hand, that has just one finger and her thumb, if her right hand needed to turn on the blinker or if the car was a stick shift and she had to change gears. Something that could help her with driving the car could be a knob (adaptive equipment) attached to the steering wheel to make it easier for her to grasp to give her more control of the car. She would need eduction on how to effectively and safely use the knob, and she should practice using it before actually steering the car with it. This could help to increase her independence and safety while on the road. 

Effects of Glutamate (GIF edition)

Too much glutamate

Causes overexcitation of the receiving nerve cells 

causing damage or even death to the cells 

Too little glutamate

Causes difficulty concentrating or mental exhaustion

Purpose of glutamate

Responsible for sending signals between nerve cells 

that are important for learning, memory, and 

brain development