Procrastination

Photo

Fri, 17 May 2013 07:54:05 -0400

reasonsmysoniscrying: “We said she couldn’t have more...

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:35:24 -0400

reasonsmysoniscrying:

“We said she couldn’t have more bacon.”

Submitted by: Lisa F.

Location: New Jersey, USA

Legitimate reason to cry.

new-ways-to-complain: conservativegirlonpolitics: That was the...

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:38:59 -0400

new-ways-to-complain:

conservativegirlonpolitics:

That was the most informative thing I have ever been told by a duck

And I have been told a lot of things by ducks.

colchrishadfield: Approaching orbital sunset, the harshest of...

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:03:43 -0400

colchrishadfield:

Approaching orbital sunset, the harshest of light, a blackness like endless velvet.

Space-haiku.*

*Almost.

I just got tickets for the Violent Femmes at Summerfest. Woot!

Mon, 13 May 2013 09:23:40 -0400

I just got tickets for the Violent Femmes at Summerfest. Woot!

buzzfeedfood: Guacamole, man. Holy guacamole!

Sat, 11 May 2013 20:41:38 -0400

buzzfeedfood:

Guacamole, man.

Holy guacamole!

I am enjoying the symmetry of my climb profile from this...

Wed, 01 May 2013 10:18:19 -0400

I am enjoying the symmetry of my climb profile from this morning’s grocery run.

neuromorphogenesis: The Neuroscience of Calming a...

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 09:48:53 -0400

neuromorphogenesis:

The Neuroscience of Calming a Baby

Every parent and caregiver knows from first hand experience that babies calm down when they are picked up, gently rocked, and carried around the room. New research published in the journal Current Biology on April 18, 2013 shows that this is a universal phenomenon. Infants experience an automatic calming reaction when they are being carried, whether they are mouse pups or human babies.

“From humans to mice, mammalian infants become calm and relaxed when they are carried by their mother,” says Kumi Kuroda of the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Saitama, Japan. Being held in a mother’s arms is the safest place for a baby to be, and the mother can have peace of mind knowing her baby is happy, content, and relaxed. The fact that babies are neurobiologically wired to stop crying when carried is a part of our evolutionary biology that helps our species survive.

This study is the first to show that the infant calming response to carrying is a coordinated set of central, motor, and cardiac regulations that is an evolutionarily preserved aspect of mother-infant interactions, the researchers say. It also helps to have a scientific explanation for the frustration many new parents struggle with… a calm and relaxed infant will often begin crying immediately when he or she is put down. When my daughter was young, swaddling her seemed to create a compact posture and sense of security that triggered an automatic relaxation response when she was put back down and helped break this cycle.

What triggers this calming response?

Kuroda and colleagues at RIKEN determined that the calming response is mediated by the parasympathetic nervous system and a region of the brain called the cerebellum (Latin: little brain). The researchers found that the calming response was dependent on tactile inputs and proprioception. Proprioception is the ability to sense and understand body movements and keep track of your body’s position in space. They also found that the parasympathetic nervous system helped lower heart rate as part of mediating the coordinated response to being carried.

Both human and mouse babies calm down and stop moving immediately after they are carried, and mouse pups stop emitting ultrasonic cries. Mouse pups also adopt the characteristic compact posture, with limbs flexed, seen in other mammals such as cats and lions.

The idea that the familiar calming dynamic was also playing out in mice occurred to Kuroda one day when she was cleaning the cages of her mouse colony in the laboratory. She says, “When I picked the pups up at the back skin very softly and swiftly as mouse mothers did, they immediately stopped moving and became compact. They appeared relaxed, but not totally floppy, and kept the limbs flexed. This calming response in mice appeared similar to me to soothing by maternal carrying in human babies.”

The Role of the Cerebellum in Calmness

The cerebellum is always on guard to protect your body from danger and prepare you for ‘fight-or-flight’ by keeping track of everything going on in your environment.

Among many other jobs, the cerebellum has a huge responsibility to maintain your safety and physical well being. This takes a lot of brain power and energy. Although the cerebellum is only 10% of brain volume it holds over 50% of your brain’s neurons. Neuroscientists are perplexed by everything that the cerebellum does. This study offers one more valuable clue.

Scientists have known for years that the cerebellum is directly linked to a feedback loop with the vagus nerve which keeps heart rate slow and gives you grace under pressure. As adults, we can calm ourselves by practicing mindfulness and Loving-Kindness Meditation which puts the cerebellum at peace and creates a parasympathetic response of well being. This appears to be the same response that occurs in infants when they are being carried.

Interestingly, the only time during the day that the cerebellum is allowed to let down it’s guard and go offline is during REM sleep when your body is paralyzed to prevent you from acting out your dreams. It makes sense that being picked up and carried would send automatic signals that allow the cerebellum to relax and create healthy vagal tone which would lower heart rates in infants.

Conclusion

The researchers believe that these findings could have broad implications for parenting and contribute to preventing child abuse. “This infant response reduces the maternal burden of carrying and is beneficial for both the mother and the infant,” explains Kuroda. She goes on to say, “Such proper understanding of infants would reduce frustration of parents and be beneficial, because unsoothable crying is a major risk factor for child abuse.”

“A scientific understanding of this infant response will save parents from misreading the restart of crying as the intention of the infant to control the parents, as some parenting theories—such as the ‘cry it out’ type of strategy—suggest,” Kuroda says. “Rather, this phenomenon should be interpreted as a natural consequence of the infant sensorimotor systems.” If parents understand that properly, perhaps they will be less frustrated by the crying, Kuroda says. And that puts those children at lower risk of abuse.

The authors conclude that, “Although our study was done on mothers, we believe that this is not specific to moms and can be used by any primary caregiver.”

themyskira: Hannah Gadsby on rape culture (x)

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:39:17 -0400

themyskira:

Hannah Gadsby on rape culture (x)

unknownauthor10: anonynaila: subvertcliche: mello-dramatic: Everyone who reblogs this will get...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 20:13:59 -0400

unknownauthor10:

anonynaila:

subvertcliche:

mello-dramatic:

Everyone who reblogs this will get the title of a book to read based on their bio/posts.

Everyone. I mean it.

THIS IS THE BEST POST

I HAVE EVER SEEN

EVER

they really do mean everyone

Good. I need new things to read.

I just rode 6.8 miles!

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:48:13 -0400

Finally getting out on my bike more. This makes me happy.

I just rode 6.8 miles! Check it out on #strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/50264418

colchrishadfield: Catching the Moon rising takes patience, but...

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 11:26:37 -0400

colchrishadfield:

Catching the Moon rising takes patience, but is worth it.

I'm not even sure what if anything is happening downtown. I know there is a benefit show @ the high noon. A lot of the people who coordinated the downtown marches are dead (Ben Masel) or really sick at this point.

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 10:26:47 -0400

I don’t know what’s going on today either. I just assume, it being 4/20 and Madison, there will be SOMEthing going on. Or perhaps I’m being nostalgic for my 22 year old self smoking pot on the Capitol steps. Which obviously I wouldn’t do in front of my 9 year olds.

Damn. If i weren’t so tired (and on call for 16 hours...

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 10:10:43 -0400

Damn. If i weren’t so tired (and on call for 16 hours tonight) i would take the kids downtown.

hellogiggles: ITEM OF THE DAY: BENTGO STACKABLE LUNCH BOXESby...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:02:40 -0400

hellogiggles:

ITEM OF THE DAY: BENTGO STACKABLE LUNCH BOXES
by Rebecca Fernandez
http://bit.ly/ZChhvF

And onto my wish list it goes… I wonder if it would fit in my Doctor Who lunchbox.

Photo

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:48:09 -0400

May 26. Can’t work/be on call. Cause it’s my...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:41:27 -0400

May 26. Can’t work/be on call. Cause it’s my children’s birthday. Not at all because of Arrested Development. Nope.

inscienceandcatgames: popculturebrain: Entertainment Weekly...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:24:06 -0400

inscienceandcatgames:

popculturebrain:

Entertainment Weekly made a poster for Patton Oswalt’s ‘Star Wars 7’

Make it so JJ.

hellonurse: Nice

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:11:16 -0400

hellonurse:

Nice

whedonesqued: amypop: Patton Oswalt pitched a Wash backstory...

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 01:13:31 -0400

whedonesqued:

amypop:

Patton Oswalt pitched a Wash backstory so compelling to Joss Whedon that he let him write it as a Firefly comic book, and now he’s given a completely plausible pitch to connect the Star Wars and Marvel universes. (Plus he was brilliant as Constable Bob onJustifiedand looks like he will be super awesome on Parks and Recreation this week.)

I hope he just continues to use his powers for good and not evil.

He was also great in ~~that~~ those two Dollhouse episodes.

(This is a completely improvised filibuster, by the way.)