Nerves must 'shout louder' as we age

TwistedHelix

To understand what has gone wrong with our bodies, it's crucial to understand what constitutes 'normal' nerve-muscle communication and what happens during ageing, as this prof is doing...

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-03/uod-wyb030907.php

Dom.

Lyon · Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 2:45 pm Post subject:

Dom,
I like to see that kind of simple, valid, common sense research in which you can almost be certain of the results.

Thanks for leaving me an easy one to think about when entering the weekend!

Bob
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Wife diagnosed with RRMS in Feb. 2006.

ClancyPavillion · Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 6:31 pm Post subject:

So with this information, I want to conclude that working on our fast twitch muscles (through polymetric training etc) should make the nerves "distance" that they have to shout a lot shorter. Right? Therefore making them less likely not to "hear" us?

I hope this prof eventually does research of folks of the SAME age (elder)... between those who work on their fast twitch muscles and neuromuscular reeducation and those who do not.

Right after I gained back some feeling and control in my legs, one of my more progressive doctors suggested I get a "balance board" (looks like a flying saucer) in order to help reeducate my neuro pathways. I thought he MUST be a mad man... getting a woman with nearly NO balance on something called a "balance board" seemed like a cruel JOKE.

So... I started by having my husband hold me on there. Then I moved to holding a wall. Then one long stick. Then I could move the stick sideways like a tight-rope walker. Then I could twirl the stick like a baton. And now... despite often falling over just while STANDING... I find the BALANCE BOARD to be simple. (I'm still working on closing my eyes...) (8 months of daily work on it) The neurotransmitters finally found a new path!

Now if I can just get them to do so while I close my eyes standing on even ground in the shower. Smile

_________________
"Some women aren't meant to be tamed... we are meant to run free until we find someone just as wild to run with"

TwistedHelix · Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 8:13 am Post subject:

Hi ClancyP,

I noticed a bit of a contradiction in this article: in one sentence, the researcher talks about reduced firing rate of neurons, and then immediately talks about the muscles not listening. From this, I'm not really clear about whether one or both things are happening.
I would think it's probably more likely, (and more relevant to MS), to be the reduced firing rate of neurons. The strength and speed of a movement is directly related to the strength and speed of the electrical signal firing from the nerve to the muscle. For example, if you were gently holding an egg, and you could hear the pulses in the nerves controlling your finger muscles, you would hear "click...... click...... click", if you decided to squeeze hard and break the egg you would hear "CLICKCLICKCLICKCLICK". so you see, it's not exactly the "distance" that the nerves have to shout, more about how loud and fast they can shout.
Sometimes I think that MS sounds more like accelerated ageing in the brain than anything else.
Sounds to me like your progressive doc is a good one: he's used the phenomenon of "plasticity" to overcome your balance problems. This is where, if the bits of your brain which are used to control something are damaged for any reason, repeatedly trying to do the same movement forces your brain to make new connections and reinforce them with constant use. That's what a baby does -- strengthening the circuits which work, and discarding the ones which don't. All credit to you for sticking at it so successfully. Give it a couple more months and the job in the circus is yours Wink

Bob,

With the weekend coming up I didn't want to blow your own mental circuits with anything too taxing. Your wife needs you, and you need her to bake you a nice "congratulations on your 1000th post" cake. (Note to all readers: please send your complaints about outdated sexual stereotyping to: Mr R Lyon, somewhere in Michigan).

Dom.

Lyon · Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 8:33 am Post subject:

ClancyPavillion · Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 1:47 pm Post subject:

May Dom and Bob be sentenced to a week's worth of dinners that are undercooked on the inside and more burnt than the seventh circle of hell on the outside. Wink

But meanwhile, would someone please tell his wife to get back in the kitchen? Could of sworn I saw her with some shoes on too...
_________________
"Some women aren't meant to be tamed... we are meant to run free until we find someone just as wild to run with"

Lyon · Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 2:01 pm Post subject: