"quiet time' beneficial to wellbeing

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Thu Mar 31, 2016 7:05 pm

http://www.lifehack.org/377243/science- ... an-thought

Regenerated brain cells may be just a matter of silence.
A 2013 study on mice published in the journal Brain, Structure and Function used differed types of noise and silence and monitored the effect the sound and silence had on the brains of the mice. The silence was intended to be the control in the study but what they found was surprising. The scientists discovered that when the mice were exposed to two hours of silence per day they developed new cells in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is a region of the brain associated with memory, emotion and learning.

The growth of new cells in the brain does not necessarily translate to tangible health benefits. However, in this instance, researcher Imke Kirste says that the cells appeared to become functioning neurons.

Post by **tex** » Thu Mar 31, 2016 10:31 pm

Interestingly, the hippocampus is the only part of the brain that has been shown to be capable of regenerating new cells. Unlike the rest of the body where old cells are replaced by new cells on a regular schedule, all of the other brain cells are the same ones that we were born with — they are never replaced with new cells.

Tex

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Thu Mar 31, 2016 10:36 pm

mmm Very interesting...
with the intensity of our lifestyles compared to 40 years ago - this might explain the increase in conditions that affect memory, emotion and learning...

Post by **tex** » Thu Mar 31, 2016 10:45 pm

Yep. The total knowledge database continues to double at a faster and faster rate as time passes. We have to learn so much more than was required 40 years ago. We are stressing or bodies and our brains.

Tex

Marcia K · Post by **Marcia K** » Fri Apr 01, 2016 6:04 pm

When I am home alone I don't have anything turned on - radio, television, etc. I love the sound of silence. My husband, on the other hand always has the television on even when he is not watching it. When I walk I listen to the sounds of nature rather than having music pumped into my ears. To each his own but I can't imagine always needing something other than your thoughts going on in your head.

Martha · Post by **Martha** » Sun Apr 03, 2016 8:20 pm

I went to an Early Childhood Education conference this past Saturday. The keynote speaker presented two sessions on brain development. One thing that stuck out to me is that the adult brain can only focus for about 60 minutes at a time. (Children have a much shorter focus time.) After that, it just sort of checks out unless it gets a break, and then it can concentrate again. And if you don't get enough sleep, the brain doesn't retain the information. She told us, "you're hearing all this stuff, and if you don't consciously process it and get good sleep, it will be gone by 6 o'clock tomorrow morning." The brain just wipes it clean.

So all this overload of information and noise that is thrown at us just overwhelms our brains, and we can't possibly retain it all. And most people are sleep-deprived, which just adds to the problem.

It was all fascinating, and a little bit scary.

Martha

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Sun Apr 03, 2016 8:42 pm

Martha
with my combo of health issues, when i am poorly i need a minimum of 11 hours sleep/rest to get through the day, and have enough mental capacity to function

when i am doing ok - 9 hours sleep/rest is my minimum to function. and to optimise the 9 hours rest I do 1-2 hours of colouring in with relaxation audiobooks /podcasts etc before this.

albeit - children of today dont have to remember things as they can 'google it' on their tablets!