Transient hypofrontality

Don't you just love that term in the title? I have kind of a geeky appreciation of multi-syllabic terms with very specific meanings, and this one fits the bill very nicely. I'll get to what it means and why I'm writing about it in a moment. 

Yesterday I made the decision to not finish three books I was reading. One was fiction that I started out liking but realized as I went on that I just didn't care about anyone or anything in the story, probably because it took far too long to actually get to the conflict the story was a bout. I'm okay with a long build-up, but this left me flat. So I closed the book and felt relief. The other two were non-fiction. One I had started, was interested in, then realized I pretty much understood the main point and didn't need one thousand more examples. The other was a book that so annoyed me by the second chapter that it was either close the book or deal with elevated heart rates every time I opened it. Because this last is definitely a case of sour grapes, I won't even tell you what it is. All this to say, I started a new book yesterday and I'm so glad I did because it's fascinating. (Now, whether you, my readers, will be as glad is yet to be seen because I anticipate the need to write about it more than just today.) 

The book is The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain by Annie Murphy Paul, and I can finally get back to the phrase in the title. So, to define the term:

"Scientists have a term for the "void" [which is mentioned a paragraph earlier about the inability to think of anything when doing long-distance running] Murakami describes: 'transient hypofrontality.' Hypo means low or diminished, and frontality refers to the frontal region of the brain -- the part that plans, analyzed, and critiques, and that usually maintains firm control over our thoughts and behavior. When all of our resources are devoted to managing the demands of intense physical activity, however, the influence of the prefrontal cortex is temporarily reduced. In this loose hypofrontal mode, ideas and impressions mingle more freely; unusual and unexpected thoughts arise. Scientists speculate that the phenomenon of transient hypofrontality may underlie all kinds of altered states, from dreaming to drug trips -- but intense exercise may be the most reliable way to induce it. Low- and moderate-intensity exercise does not generate this disinhibiting effect. (Indeed, as we've seen, moderately intense physical activity actually enhances executive function.) Achieving transient hypofrontality generally requires exercising at one's 'ventilatory threshold' - the point at which breathing becomes labored, corresponding to about 80 percent of the exerciser's maximum heart rate - for about forty minutes or more." (p. 53)

I think I was most excited about reading this because I now have a very science-y term for what I have experienced. I have mentioned before about my year of running. At least I think I have, but I can't seem to find any blog posts which mention it. So, the short story. There was a period of life when we had toddler twins, a certain boy was deep in the midst of doing some very hard emotional work, and we had a young woman and her two children living with us full-time. Let's just say this is where I first received my trial by fire experience of dealing with PTSD flashbacks. It was not a calm or easy time. In fact it was so not calm or easy that I had started to develop panic attacks every now and then. It is not a period I look back on with a whole lot of fondness. While we were knee deep in the middle of it all, I had this sudden and urgent need to start running, as in running for exercise every morning. 

Now, if you know me at all, you know that I do not like to run. I am not good at it. I do not enjoy it. I will take just about any other form of exercise rather than running. Yet, I was overwhelmed with the need to do it. I ran nearly every morning for about a year. I did not run very far and I certainly did not run fast. (I am a laughably slow runner.) I did spend about forty-five minutes a day doing my very slow run. I hated it... and I didn't. I discovered that those forty-five minutes of sweating torture were the only forty-five minutes in my day where my brain could turn off. I may have not enjoyed the activity, but I desperately needed those moments of cognitive peace. I'm pretty sure it was what kept me marginally sane. I know it was a God-thing that I felt the urge, because it was so unlike anything I had every wanted to do before (or since) and was exactly what I needed. I had no idea there was even research on it. I think that is why it was such a light bulb moment when I read that paragraph I quoted for you today. I finally understood exactly what was happening.

I had always assumed that it was just the sheer effort to keep going while I was doing something I intensely disliked which gave me those moments of peace. (Yes, even focusing on some distasteful task was preferable at that point.) I am so interested to know that there was some actual neurological reason behind it all.

This also explains my continuing needs for that kind of cognitive break and why I make my riding lessons such a priority. The same thing is happening during that time as well. I know that some of you might not understand the sheer physicality involved in horseback riding, but it is there. I ride for about 40-50 minutes, I sometimes need to take a break to catch my breath, and I sweat... a lot... regardless of the weather. And during that time, all I think about is the task I am doing. It definitely feels like a cognitive reset and I do notice if I miss a week. I have also noticed that if life is particularly stressful I tend to push myself and ride even harder, even though it is not a conscious choice on my part. It just happens. Afterwards, even if my lesson hasn't been spectacular, I do feel emotionally better, more balanced... sort of like when your phone or computer starts acting up and you need to restart it. 

Now I have a pretty spectacular term to describe it all. If you feel as though your life is more stressful than you would like, go find a way to experience some transient hypofrontality, you'll be glad you did.