on ‘Balance: In Search of the Lost Sense’ by Scott McCredie
Written on April 3, 2008
“Gravity is a harsh mistress” is one of my favorite quotes from The Tick and in Balance: In Search of the Lost Sense by Scott McCredie (Little, Brown, 2007) the intricacies of the human relationship with gravity are examined, from motion sickness to the balance feats of acrobats such as The Flying Wallendas. Topics include the role of balance in human evolution, spatial distortions that trouble pilots, the soothing effects of vestibular stimulation by rocking, and how balance exercise could help prevent falls in old age. Balance disorders also seem to be associated with certain cognitive difficulties, and there is some work suggesting that dyslexia can be treated by a program of balance exercises.
Books cited in this book include: The Brain’s Sense of Movement (Perspectives in Cognitive Neuroscience) by Alain Berthoz (Harvard, 2002) and Play as if Your Life Depends on It: Functional Exercise and Living for Homo sapiens by Frank Forencich (Go Animal Publishing, 2003)
This book has a website.
Related links:
Dr. Frank Belgau‘s work on balance exercises to improve cognitive functions
BrainPort Technologies – the sensory substitution method developed by Dr. Paul Bach-y-Rita
“Vibrating insoles help people regain balance” (Sandra Blakeslee, New York Times, 1/17/06)
Filed in: cognitive science.
