06/20/05

Vision and Gaze

·           “Recalling existing information is largely a right-brain task, which means that when we’re trying to remember something we usually look to the left.

·           Conversely, we typically look to the right when trying to construct a description or a story, making use of the logical powers of the left brain.

·           To make matters even more interesting, looking upward suggests that a person is using images or visual memories.

·          Looking downward is associated with kinesthetic or emotional memories, while

·          Looking directly left or right usually means the person is processing auditory data.”

http://itotd.com/index.alt?ArticleID=211

“…The association between gaze direction and truthfulness [lying] is a tenuous one. Making up a new sentence doesn’t necessarily involve making up a new fact, after all.”

http://itotd.com/index.alt?ArticleID=211

“[14.3] Do I lean my head forward/back too much?

·           Often myopes tend to lean forward towards things to see them clearer.

·           Hyperopes tend to lean back or move things further away.

This sometimes necessitates looking up or down and causes your eyes to diverge or converge, leading to accommodation/vergence disruptions.

     Be aware of leaning your head forward or back. Often rapid change in vision occurs simply from correcting poor posture and head position.

     In rare cases the head is turned to one side.

http://web.singnet.com.sg/~hanwen/nvifaq.htm#NA14.3

convergence and divergence

”As Krimsky (1948) noted, ‘When looking upwards, the eyes tend to diverge . . . when they look down, the effort to converge is much easier.’”

http://www.combo.com/ergo/vangle2.htm

”The eyes also have a resting point with regard to convergence. With nothing to look at, the eyes converge to a distance called the ‘resting point of vergence.’

     Jaschinski-Kruza (1988) found that convergence plays a larger role in eye strain at computer workstations than accommodation. He found that those subjects with ‘far’ resting points of vergence experienced more eye strain working at a computer 20 inches away than those subjects with ‘close’ resting points of vergence. But even those subjects with close resting points of vergence had less eye strain viewing the monitor at 40 inches.

     As we might suspect, the resting point of vergence also changes with gaze angle (Heuer and Owens, 1989). Horizontally, that resting point averages about 45 inches.

·           Looking upward 30-degrees, the resting point of vergence goes out to about 53 inches [not good].

·           But with a 30-degree downward gaze angle, it moves inward to 35 inches.”

http://www.combo.com/ergo/vangle2.htm

other terms

*‘categories of gaze’, ‘positions of gaze’, ‘gaze angle’, ‘looking upward’

Brainwaves: SMR

Use the color red to improve vision exercises by increasing SMR, frontal lobe activity, hemispheric integration, and binocular vision?

**Red stereograms are easier to see?

**Do pencil push-up exercise with a  red pencil? (an exercise for convergence insufficiency)

Low SMR

*Excess of endorphins can cause low SMR?

Increasing SMR

*By sprinkling some salt on the tongue AFTER drinking 8 ounces of water? (also suggested for decreasing histamine levels)

SMR and Dehydration

*Repeatedly allowing food to dissolve on your tongue forces the body to attempt to extract sustenance (e.g. water) from it

“Dehydration: Effects: Thirst

Lack of Thirst Sense as a Cause of CFIDS:

·          Research Topics: CFIDS: Low Blood Volume: Theory

Lack of Thirst Sense and Lack of SMR Brainwaves:

·          Research Topics: Brainwaves: SMR (Sensorimotor Response) or Low Beta Brainwaves

Things which Shut off the Thirst Sense:

·           Nutrition: Sea Salt: Things to Consider: Drinking Water Alone”

Posture: Rounded Shoulders: Hitchhiker Exercise

It’s important to keep your thumbs extended while doing the hitchhiker exercise. The direction of your thumbs indicates the positioning of your shoulders.

06/05/05

Nutrition: Vitamins & Minerals: Multivitamins: Multivitamin Tablets

Dissolution tests:

Note: It appears that some tablets have been manufactured to ‘dissolve’ differently than others. Some tablets that appear to dissolve quickly may, in actuality, only be broken down into smaller, un-dissolved,  chunks.

"The United States Pharmacopeial Convention, Inc. (USP) has established manufacturing standards for vitamins and minerals with regard to quality, purity, potency, and the dissolution and disintegration properties of supplements. However, only a few manufacturers state on the label that their products meet the USP requirements.”

“It therefore has been suggested (Blonz, 1996) that consumers test questionable pills themselves, by placing them in half a glass of vinegar, to simulate the acidic environment of the stomach. According to USP,

·           calcium supplements should dissolve in 30 minutes,

·           magnesium supplements in 45 minutes;

·           for vitamin E tablets, a 45-minute disintegration is acceptable,

·           and for multivitamin and mineral combinations, a 60-minute dissolution.

However, for people with low stomach acid production, the in vitro dissolution tests may be of little value."

AN EVALUATION OF LIQUID VITAMIN-MINERAL SUPPLEMENT TECHNOLOGY by GERHARD N. SCHRAUZER, D.Sc. FACN, CNS

Nutrition: Food: Meals: Breakfast

·           “I think it is more important to eat some carbohydrates [preferably complex carbohydrates] at breakfast, because the brain needs fuel right away, and carbohydrate is the best source.”

·           “But it is a good idea to eat a combination of carbohydrates and protein at breakfast.”

·           “Maybe some fruit…”

·            “I like to have some fruit at breakfast, and some kind of soy food like scrambled tofu. If I am on the road, I might get some fish, something like smoked salmon. I like to eat dried fruit [might not be a good idea--contains lots of sugar (refined carbohydrates)]. I might occasionally have some cheese.”

·           “A lot of it--things like pancakes, waffles, sweet rolls--makes me feel terrible if I eat it.”

·           “Everybody is different, so I don't really think there are general rules here.”

·           “For people who are carbohydrate sensitive, a baked potato may not be the best choice.”

http://www.shareguide.com/Weil.html

Virtual Reality (VR)

*Playing computer games in third person mode (able to see your character) causes highway hypnosis and problems with mobility/ocular motility?

*Playing computer games in first person mode (looking through your character’s eyes) reduces eyestrain?

SMR and Perception of Color

The color red

*Can increase appetite (e.g. McDonalds restaurants)? Also increases thirst/SMR?

*Note: staring at the color red may increase blood pressure and risk of heart attack in people with hypertension/high blood pressure

*Change background color of Windows desktop, Internet Explorer to red?

*Darker color red maybe be helpful in reducing light sensitivity, but is less effective in increasing SMR?

*Color red increases SMR because it does not cause an overproduction of serotonin (absorbs blue, green light)?

Blue light rapidly increases serotonin (higher color temperature, increase in urinary melatonin excretion, overproduction of serotonin) and decreases SMR?

*color temperature, tint

*Blue light (higher color temperature) increases attention problems and theta/beta ratio:

“During alpha attenuation testing, significantly (p < 0.05) lower values for mean frequency in the theta-beta EEG bandwidth [higher values of beta/theta ratio are associated with attention problems and hyperactivity;Brainwaves: Theta/Beta Ratio] were also obtained under 3000 K conditions than 5000 K conditions, but that pattern persisted in measurement during the second half of light exposure (Session 2).”

Appl Human Sci.: Effect of illuminance and color temperature on lowering of physiological activity.

Nutrition: Salt

*Is it better to consume salt in small amounts (e.g. rehydration drinks) than in large amounts (e.g. salt tablets)?; salt homeostasis

Brainwaves: SMR

*Frontal lobes

**some food can stimulate SMR, memory, hemispheric communication