I Am Scared Of Snakes

It is one of my biggest fears.  I am scared of snakes.  Now, I'm not talking about a little fear or being scared just a little.  I mean, it is full on panic and anxiety mode for me.

I barely can see a picture of a snake on TV or online without going into panic and anxiety mode.  I have known people who thought I was being over dramatic or I should just get over this.   Believe me, I would love to not freak out so badly.

I'm writing this because we have a black snake that keeps showing up in our yard.  Yes, I know they are good snakes, but when you're frightened as badly as I am by a snake, there is no such thing as a good snake.

The other day I walked out the door and almost stepped on it.  Today, I was trying to do some pool pump maintenance and there it was again.  The other day, I saw it from the upstairs window out in the yard near my earthboxes.

When I see it, I try to run away as quickly as I can.  It is hard for me to catch my breath for hours after this.  I get to the point where I can barely speak.  Today I was shaking so badly for so long that I just went and lied down on my bed.

I get images in my mind of snakes and that scares me.  I have had moments at night where I have dreamed of snakes in the bed and I have literally had to get up, turn all the lights on and pull the covers completely off the bed.

Right now, I'm still trying to calm down.  My heart felt like it was beating so hard and it still hasn't calmed down completely.

I do not know why I am so scared of snakes.  I know I am not alone.

The only thing I want is for snakes to leave me alone.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

032016

Walking Through Muck

I remember a long time ago a therapist gave me an example about difficult moments in life.  She told me that sometimes we have to walk through the muck and the mud to get to higher ground.  In many ways, this is the case.

Unfortunately when you're walking through the muck and mud, it isn't easy.  Each step can take a great amount of energy to pull your foot up out of the muck and place it down again.  Each step you take can leave you wondering if it is really worth.

You may wonder if you have the strength or the energy to get to take the next step.  You may think that just taking a step is useless and question if this is even the right thing.  Often, you can't even see the higher ground, so you just have to convince yourself to take another step.

God only knows that I've had more than my share of muck and mud to travel through in my life.  Sometimes, I just don't know if I can keep going.  Sometimes I don't know if it is worth it.  Sometimes I just don't have the energy to take one more blessed step.

It is the little things that sustain me.  It is the people who are truly close to me that matters.  It is me convincing myself that I need to take another step and then another and then another.  No matter if the steps are difficult and they seem futile.  I must take another step.

Just to convince yourself that you need to take another step is sometimes far too difficult to comprehend.  It is a challenge when we stare at all we can see in our life and it appears empty and foggy and disconnected.

As I have and am walking through the muck, I am urging myself to be okay with where I am.  I'm asking of myself to just accept where things are, rather than fighting the mud I now stand in.  For fighting will only drain my energy and my resolve.

I know of no other way to deal with this at the moment.  I know of no other way to find the higher ground.  I know of nothing else to do, but keep trying to take one step at a time and hope that at some point, the muck will give way to higher ground.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

031616

Neuroscience In The News On April 4

These are articles that I found of interest relating to news about Neuroscience.  In this issue, I have highlighted articles about the how dance may help Huntington's Disease and the role of altruism and brain activity.  Last but not least is how a bird dances to a beat and the insights that are learned from this for neuroscience.

Please check out the article links below and feel free to comment with other information related to these subjects.  I enjoy learning as much as I can about the brain and passing this information on to everyone else that shares these passions.

This is for the week beginning April 4, 2016.

Please come back each week and hopefully I will have some more highlights.  Feel free to share with me ones that you have found and I may highlight those as well.

Feel free to check out the highlighted articles from March 14, 2016

Can Dance Help Huntington's Disease?

Huntington's disease is an inherited disease that causes the progressive degeneration of nerve cells in the brain. It has a broad impact on a person's functional abilities and usually results in movement, thinking and psychiatric disorders.

Dennis, of Amherst, says dance can help in the maintenance of balance and posture, coordination of voluntary movements, motor learning, cognition and emotional well being.

Article Link:

• Umass Professor Believes Dance Can Help Huntington's Disease
• Paul A. Dennis, Assistant Professor of Dance, University of Massachusetts

Altruism and Brain Activity

However, subjects who showed the greatest activity in areas of the brain linked to pain perception, emotion and imitating others gave away an average of 75% of their funds. The researchers say this behavior can be referred to as "prosocial resonance" - a type of mirroring impulse that they believe is a key driver for altruism.

Based on their results, the researchers suggest we may be hard-wired for altruism. What is more, they believe the results indicate that it may be possible to make people less selfish and more generous toward others.

"This is potentially groundbreaking," says Christov-Moore. Senior author Marco Iacoboni, a psychiatry professor at UCLA

Article Link:

• Altruism Could Be Increased By Reducing Specific Brain Activity
• Leonardo Christov-Moore, University Of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
• Source:  Medical News Today

The Beasts That Keep The Beat

For Irena Schulz, one of those moments happened on an otherwise ordinary day in August, 2007.  Schulz was someone who already had a deep appreciation for the intelligence and myriad talents of birds. She had even seen some parrots sway and bob to music. But Spudic’s claims seemed a bit hyperbolic. “We were humoring him, saying, ‘Sure, sure,’” Schulz recalls. Later that evening, she and her husband popped Spudic’s CD into the computer in their living room. “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” by The Backstreet Boys started playing. Immediately, Snowball, who was perched on Schulz’s arm, began kicking up his feet and bouncing his head with great zeal — and precision.

Make sure you check out the video posted in the story.

Article Link:

• The Beasts That Keep The Beat, New Insights From Neuroscience
• John Iversen and Aniruddh Patel at Neurosciences Institute, La Jolla CA.
• Source:  Quanta Magazine