An excerpt from the book "Escape from Freedom".
The entire text (I highly recommend!) is here: http://www.lib.ru/PSIHO/FROMM/fromm02.txt
But what does it mean to realize your personality?
Philosophers-idealists believed that personality can be realized by one
only by the efforts of the intellect. They considered it necessary to split
personality, in which the mind must suppress and patronize human nature.
However, such splitting disfigured not only the emotional life of a person,
but also his intelligence. The mind assigned by the overseer to his
prisoner - the nature of man, became in turn a prisoner, and, thus, both
sides of the human personality - reason and feeling - crippled each other. We
We believe that the realization of one's "I" is achieved not only by the efforts of thinking,
but also through the active manifestation of all his emotional possibilities. These
there are opportunities in every person, but they become real only in that
the extent to which they appear. In other words, positive freedom consists in
spontaneous activity of the entire integral personality of a person.
Here we come to one of the most difficult problems in psychology, the problem
spontaneity. Trying to treat this problem as it deserves,
would need another book. But the above allows in some
degree to understand what spontaneity is, arguing "from the contrary."
Spontaneous activity is not forced activity imposed on the individual
his isolation and impotence; it is not a robot activity due to
uncritical perception of patterns suggested from the outside. Spontaneous activity -
it is the free activity of the individual; its definition includes the literal
The meaning of the Latin word sponte is by itself, by one's own impulse.
By activity we do not mean "doing something"; this is about
creative activity, which can manifest itself in emotional,
intellectual and sensual life of man, as well as in his will.
The prerequisite for such spontaneity is the recognition of a holistic personality,
the elimination of the gap between "reason" and "nature", because spontaneous
activity is possible only if a person does not suppress
an essential part of his personality, if different spheres of his life have merged into
a single whole.
Although spontaneity is a rather rare phenomenon in our society, we still
not entirely devoid of it. To better explain what it is, I would like to
remind the reader of some of its manifestations in our lives.
First of all, we know individuals who live - or lived - spontaneously,
whose thoughts, feelings and actions were manifestations of their own personality, and
not automatic actions of robots. Most of them are artists. AT
essence, the artist can be defined as a person capable of
spontaneous self-expression. If we accept this definition, and Balzac is precisely
so defined the artist, then some philosophers and scientists also need to be named
artists, while others differ from them in the same way that an old-fashioned photographer differs from
real painter. There are other individuals endowed with the same
spontaneity, although lacking the ability - or perhaps only the skill
- to express oneself by objective means, as an artist does. However
the position of the artist is precarious, because his individuality, spontaneity
respected only if he succeeded; if he can't sell
his art, he remains an eccentric and "neurotic" for his contemporaries.
In this sense, the artist occupies the same position in history as
revolutionary: a successful revolutionary is a statesman, and
unfortunate - a criminal.
Another example of spontaneity is young children. They are able to feel and
actually think in their own way, this immediacy is expressed in the fact that
they talk in the way they behave. I'm sure the attraction
what children have for most adults (except for various kinds of
sentimental reasons), is due precisely to the spontaneity of children.
Immediacy deeply touches every person, if he has not already
so dead that he can no longer feel it. In essence, there is nothing
more attractive and convincing than spontaneity, whoever shows it: a child,
artist or any other person.
Most of us know at least some moments of our
own spontaneity, which become moments of genuine
happiness. It can be a fresh and direct perception of the landscape, or
insight after much thought, or extraordinary sensual pleasure,
or a rush of affection for another person. In these moments we will know what it means
spontaneous experience and what human life could be if these
experiences that we do not know how to cultivate were not so rare and
random.
Why does spontaneous activity solve the problem of freedom? We already
it was said that negative freedom turns the individual into an isolated
being - weak and frightened - whose attitude to the world is determined
alienation and distrust. Spontaneous activity is the only
way in which a person can overcome the fear of being alone without giving up
from the fullness of his "I", because the spontaneous realization of his essence again
unites him with the world - with people, nature and himself. Home,
the most important component of such spontaneity is love, but not dissolution
his "I" in another person and not possessing another person. Love must
to be a voluntary union with him, on the basis of the preservation of his own personality.
It is in this polarity that the dynamic character of love lies: it
grows out of the desire to overcome separateness and leads to unity, but does not
destroys individuality. Another component of spontaneity is work. But
not forced activity in order to get rid of loneliness and not
impact on nature, in which man, on the one hand, dominates
over her, and on the other - bows before her and is enslaved by the products
own labor. Labor should be creativity, connecting a person with
nature in the act of creation. What is true of love and work,
true of all spontaneous actions, whether sensuous
enjoyment or participation in the political life of society. Spontaneity,
affirming the individuality of the individual, at the same time connects it with people and
nature. The main contradiction inherent in freedom is the birth
individuality and the pain of loneliness - resolved by the spontaneity of all life
person.
In every spontaneous activity, the individual merges with the world. But him
personality is not only preserved, it becomes stronger. For personality is strong
insofar as it is active. Possession of anything has no power
gives whether we are talking about material values or mental abilities to
feeling or thought. Assigning certain objects, manipulating them is also not
enhance personality; if we use something, it does not become ours
just because we use it. Ours is only what we are truly with
bound by their creative activity, whether it be another person or
inanimate object. Only the qualities that flow from our spontaneous
activity, give strength to the personality and thereby form the basis of its
usefulness. Inability to act spontaneously, to express one's true
thoughts and feelings and the resulting need to speak to others
and in front of himself in some role - under the mask of pseudo-personality - that's what
source of feelings of weakness and inferiority. Whether we realize it or not, we
we are not so ashamed of anything as the rejection of ourselves, but the highest pride, the highest
we experience happiness when we think, speak and feel authentically
on one's own.
It follows from this that it is the activity in itself that is important, and not its
result. Our society has the opposite belief. We produce
not to meet specific needs, but for an abstract purpose
sell your product; we are sure we can buy any material or
spiritual goods and these goods will become ours without any creative effort,
associated with them. In the same way, our personal qualities and the fruits of our efforts, we
We regard it as a commodity that can be sold for money, for prestige or
power. At the same time, the center of gravity shifts from satisfying the creative
activities on the cost of finished products; and man loses the only
satisfaction in which he could experience true happiness - pleasure
the process of creativity. Man, on the other hand, hunts for a ghost, for an illusory
happiness named Success, which every time leaves him disappointed,
as soon as it seems to him that he has finally achieved what he wanted.
If the individual realizes his "I" in spontaneous activity and thus
connects himself with the world, then he is no longer alone: the individual and the surrounding world
become part of a single whole: he takes his rightful place in this
world, and therefore doubts about himself and the meaning of life disappear.
These doubts arise from his isolation, from the constraint of life; if
a person can live not under compulsion, not automatically, but spontaneously, then
doubts disappear. A person realizes himself as an active creative person and
understands that life has only one meaning - life itself.
If a person overcomes doubt about himself and his place in
world, if by an act of spontaneous realization of his life he merges with the world, then
he gains strength as an individual, gains confidence. However, this
confidence differs from that which was characteristic of pre-individual
states, just as the new connection with the world is different from the original bonds.
The new confidence is not based on the protection of the individual by some higher external
by force; it does not ignore the tragic side of life. New Confidence
dynamic; it is based - instead of external protection - on spontaneous activity
the person himself; he acquires it constantly, at every moment of his spontaneous
life. It is the assurance that only freedom can give; and she doesn't need
in illusions, because it eliminated the conditions that caused the need for these
illusions.
Electromyography is a method of studying the neuromuscular system by recording the electrical potentials of the muscles. Electromyography is an informative method for diagnosing diseases of the spinal cord, nerves, muscles and neuromuscular transmission disorders. Using this method, it is possible to study the structure and function of the neuromotor apparatus, which consists of functional elements - motor units (MU), which include a motor neuron and the group of muscle fibers innervated by it. During motor reactions, several motor neurons are simultaneously excited, forming a functional association. On the electromyogram (EMG), potential fluctuations in the neuromuscular endings (motor plates) are recorded, which occur under the influence of impulses from the motor neurons of the medulla oblongata and spinal cord. The latter, in turn, receive excitation from the suprasegmental formations of the brain. Thus, the bioelectric potentials taken from the muscle can indirectly reflect changes in the functional state and suprasegmental structures.
In the clinic for electromyography, two methods are used to remove muscle biopotentials - using needle and skin electrodes. With the help of a surface electrode, it is possible to register only the total muscle activity, which represents the interference of action potentials of many hundreds and even thousands of fibers.
Global electromyography muscle biopotentials are removed by skin surface electrodes, which are metal plates or disks with an area of 0.1-1 cm 2, mounted in pairs in fixing pads. Before examination, they are covered with gauze pads moistened with isotonic sodium chloride solution or conductive paste. Used for fixing rubber bands or adhesive tape. It is customary to record the interference activity of voluntary muscle contraction at a paper tape speed of 5 cm/s. However, with global electromyography using surface electrodes, it is not possible to register fibrillation potentials and it is relatively more difficult to detect fasciculation potentials.
Normal and pathological characteristics of EMG during recording by surface electrodes. In the visual analysis of the global EMG, when it is taken, surface electrodes are used, which give a general description of the EMG curve, determine the frequency of the total electrical activity of the muscles, the maximum amplitude of oscillations, and classify the EMG to one or another type. There are four types of global EMG (according to Yu.S. Yusevich, 1972).
Types of EMG in superficial lead (according to Yu.S. Yusevich, 1972):
1,2-type I; 3, 4 - subtype II A; 5 - subtype II B; 6 - type III, rhythmic fluctuations in tremor; 7 - type III, extrapyramidal rigidity; 8 - type IV, electrical "silence"
- Type I - an interference curve, which is a high-frequency (50 per 1 s) polymorphic activity that occurs during voluntary muscle contraction or when other muscles are strained;
- Type II - rare rhythmic activity (6-50 per 1 s), has two subtypes: Na (6-20 per 1 s) and IIb (21-50 per 1 s);
- Type III - increased frequent oscillations at rest, grouping them into rhythmic discharges, the appearance of flashes of rhythmic and non-rhythmic oscillations against the background of voluntary muscle contraction;
- Type IV electrical "silence" of the muscles during an attempt to voluntary muscle contraction.
Type I EMG is characteristic of normal muscle. During the maximum muscle contraction, the oscillation amplitude reaches 1-2 mV, depending on the strength of the muscle. Type I EMG can be observed not only during voluntary muscle contraction, but also during synergistic muscle tension.
Interference EMG of reduced amplitude is determined in primary muscle lesions. Type II EMG is characteristic of damage to the anterior horns of the spinal cord. Moreover, subtype IIb corresponds to a relatively less severe lesion than subtype Na. EMG subtype IIb is characterized by a greater amplitude of fluctuations, in some cases it reaches 3000-5000 μV. In the case of deep muscle damage, sharper fluctuations of the Ha subtype are noted, often with a reduced amplitude (50-150 μV).
This type of curve is observed when the majority of neurons of the anterior horns are affected and the number of functional muscle fibers.
EMG type II in the initial stages of damage to the anterior horns of the spinal cord may not be detected at rest, with the highest probability, it is masked by interference activity during maximum muscle contraction. In such cases, to identify the pathological process in the muscles, tonic tests (close synergies) are used.
Type III EMG is characteristic of various kinds of supraspinal disorders of motor activity. In case of pyramidal spastic paralysis, increased rest activity is recorded on EMG, with parkinsonian tremor, rhythmic bursts of activity are observed, corresponding in frequency to the rhythm of trembling, with hyperkinesis, irregular discharges of activity corresponding to violent movements of the body outside voluntary movements or superimposed on the normal process of muscle voluntary contraction.
EMG type IV indicates complete paralysis of the muscles. In peripheral paralysis, it may be due to complete atrophy of muscle fibers, in acute neuritic lesions, it may indicate a temporary functional block of transmission along the peripheral axon.
During global electromyography, a certain diagnostic interest is caused by the general dynamics of EMG in the process of performing a voluntary movement. So, with supraspinal lesions, one can observe an increase in the time between the order to start the movement and nerve discharges on the EMG. Myotonia is characterized by a significant continuation of EMG activity after the instruction to stop movement, consistent with the known myotonic delay observed clinically.
In myasthenia during maximum muscle effort, there is a rapid decrease in the amplitude and frequency of discharges on the EMG, corresponding to a myasthenic drop in muscle strength during its prolonged tension.
Local electromyography
To register the action potentials (AP) of muscle fibers or their groups, needle electrodes are used, which are inserted into the thickness of the muscle. They may be concentric. These are hollow needles with a diameter of 0.5 mm with an insulated wire inserted inside, a rod made of platinum or stainless steel. Bipolar needle electrodes inside the needle contain two identical metal rods isolated from one another with bare tips. Needle electrodes make it possible to register the potentials of motor units and even individual muscle fibers.
On EMG recorded in this way, it is possible to determine the duration, amplitude, shape and phase of AP. Electromyography using needle electrodes is the main method for diagnosing primary muscular and neuromuscular diseases.
Electrographic characteristics of the state of motor units (MU) in healthy people. PD MU parameters reflect the number, size, relative position and distribution density of muscle fibers in a given MU, its territory, and features of the propagation of potential fluctuations in the volumetric space.
The main parameters of PD DE are amplitude, shape and duration. The PD parameters of the MU differ, since an unequal number of muscle fibers is included in the MU. Therefore, to obtain information about the state of the MU of a given muscle, it is necessary to register at least 20 PD MU and present their average value and distribution histogram. The average duration of PD DE in different muscles in people of different ages is given in special tables.
The duration of PD DE normally varies depending on the muscle and the age of the subject within 5-13 ms, the amplitude is from 200 to 600 μV.
As a result of an increase in the degree of voluntary effort, an increasing number of PDs are activated, which makes it possible to register up to 6 PDs in one position of the retracted electrode. To register other PD DE, the electrode is moved in different directions according to the “cube” method to different depths of the muscle under study.
Pathological phenomena on EMG with needle electrodes. In a healthy person at rest, electrical activity, as a rule, is absent; in pathological conditions, spontaneous activity is recorded. The main forms of spontaneous activity include fibrillation potentials (PF), positive sharp waves (POS) and fasciculation potentials.
a - Pf; b - POV; c - potentials of fasciculations; d - falling AP amplitude during the myotonic discharge (top - the beginning of the discharge, bottom - its end).
Fibrillation potentials are the electrical activity of a single muscle fiber that is not caused by a nerve impulse and recurs. In normal healthy muscle, PF is a typical sign of muscle denervation. They occur most often on the 15-21st day after nerve interruption. The average duration of individual oscillations is 1-2 ms, the amplitude is 50-100 μV.
Positive sharp waves, or positive spikes. Their appearance indicates gross muscle denervation and degeneration of muscle fibers. The average duration of the SOW is 2-15 ms, the amplitude is 100-4000 μV.
The fasciculation potentials have parameters close to those of the PD DE of the same muscle, but they occur during its complete relaxation.
The appearance of PF and SOV indicates a violation of the contact of muscle fibers with the axons of the motor nerves innervating them. This may be due to denervation, long-term impairment of neuromuscular transmission, or mechanical separation of the muscle fiber from that part of it that is in contact with the nerve. PF can also be observed in some metabolic disorders - thyrotoxicosis, metabolic disorders in the mitochondrial apparatus of muscles. Therefore, the identification of PF and POV has no direct relation to the diagnosis. However, monitoring the dynamics of severity and forms of spontaneous activity, as well as comparing spontaneous activity and dynamics of PD MU parameters almost always help to determine the nature of the pathological process.
In cases of denervation in the presence of injuries and inflammatory diseases of the peripheral nerves, a violation of the transmission of nerve impulses is manifested by the disappearance of PD DE. After 2-4 days from the onset of the disease, PF appear. As the denervation progresses, the frequency of detection of PF increases - from single PF in certain areas of the muscle to markedly pronounced, when several PF are recorded anywhere in the muscle. Against the background of a large number of fibrillation potentials, positive sharp waves also appear, the intensity and frequency of which in the discharge increase with the growth of denervation changes in muscle fibers. As the fibers denervate, the number of recorded IFs decreases, while the number and size of SOWs increase, with large-amplitude SOWs predominating. 18–20 months after the nerve dysfunction, only giant SOVs are recorded. In cases where the restoration of nerve function is planned, the severity of spontaneous activity decreases, which is a good prognostic sign preceding the onset of PD DU.
As PD DU increases, spontaneous activity decreases. However, it can be detected many months after clinical recovery. In inflammatory diseases of motor neurons or axons that proceed sluggishly, the first sign of the pathological process is the occurrence of PF, and then SOV, and only much later is a change in the structure of PD DE observed. In such cases, the stage of the denervation process can be assessed by the type of changes in PD and DE, and the severity of the disease can be assessed by the nature of PF and POV.
The appearance of fasciculation potentials indicates changes in the functional state of the motor neuron and indicates its involvement in the pathological process, as well as the level of damage to the spinal cord. Fasciculations can also occur in severe disorders of the axons of the motor nerves.
Stimulation electroneuromyography. Its purpose is to study the evoked responses of the muscle, that is, the electrical phenomena that occur in the muscle as a result of stimulation of the corresponding motor nerve. This makes it possible to investigate a significant number of phenomena in the peripheral neuromotor apparatus, of which the most common are the rate of excitation conduction along the motor nerves and the state of the neuromuscular transmission. To measure the speed of conduction of excitation along the motor nerve, the diverting and stimulating electrodes are placed above the muscle and nerve, respectively. First, the M-response to stimulation is recorded at the proximal point of the nerve. The moments of stimulus supply are synchronized with the launch of the horizontal layout of the oscilloscope, on the vertical plates of which an increased voltage of the AP muscle is applied. Thus, at the beginning of the received record, the moment of stimulus delivery in the form of an irritation artifact is noted, and after a certain period of time, the M-response, which usually has a two-phase negative-positive form, is noted. The interval from the onset of the stimulation artifact to the onset of deviation of the muscle AP from the isoelectric line determines the latent time of the M-response. This time corresponds to conduction along the nerve fibers with the highest conductivity. In addition to recording the latent response time from the proximal nerve stimulation point, the latent response time to stimulation of the same nerve at the distal point is measured and the excitation conduction velocity V is calculated using the formula:
where L is the distance between the centers of the points of application of the active stimulating electrode along the nerve; Tr latent response time in case of stimulation at the proximal point; Td is the latent response time for stimulation at the distal point. The normal speed of conduction along the peripheral nerves is 40-85 m/s.
Significant changes in the speed of conduction are detected in processes that affect the myelin sheath of the nerve, demyelinating polyneuropathies and injuries. This method is of great importance in the diagnosis of so-called tunnel syndromes (consequences (pressure of the nerves in the musculoskeletal channels): carpal, tarsal, cubital, etc.
The study of the speed of excitation is also of great prognostic value during repeated studies.
Analysis of the changes caused by the muscle response to nerve stimulation by series of pulses of different frequencies makes it possible to assess the state of neuromuscular transmission. With supramaximal stimulation of the motor nerve, each stimulus excites all of its fibers, which in turn causes excitation of all muscle fibers.
The amplitude of muscle AP is proportional to the number of excited muscle fibers. Therefore, a decrease in muscle AP reflects a change in the number of fibers that received the appropriate stimulus from the nerve.
To understand the patterns of physical activity, it is important to distinguish between its two different kind. These are spontaneous and induced physical activity. Both of these types have an important effect on well-being, but are not interchangeable. They are regulated by different mechanisms and they also need to be improved. different ways. Induced activity is that conscious physical activity which we are forced to do or have forced ourselves. For example, you are a manual worker and your activity is not due to desire, but to work. Or going to the gym when you yourself have collected and sent to train. Spontaneous motor activity is an unconscious process that determines your every minute physical activity and every second choice of how to move (or avoid movement). It's like breathing - you can take control, but it immediately returns to the habit as soon as you are distracted.
Definition of spontaneous physical (non-training) activity
Spontaneous motor activity is an important concept from the field of physiology, to put it simply, it is an activity in free time that is not imposed from the outside. In scientific language, spontaneous motor activity is understood as such forms of activity that are not caused directly by environmental factors, but are largely determined quantitatively and qualitatively by the species characteristics of the organism.
It is important that spontaneous activity is a constant value for a particular person! It naturally repeats itself throughout various periods of the life cycle (individual development, daily period, seasons of the year, etc.) and occupy a significant place in the total energy consumption of the body.
Spontaneous activity It's mostly an unconscious process! We can shake ourselves, jump, but instantly fall into immobility, focusing on work. Spontaneous activity is like breathing, at the interface between the conscious and the unconscious.
Spontaneous activity is often defined by a similar concept of non-training activity. (NEAT (Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis)). That is where most of the energy goes. This is everything that does not fall under the definition of formal training, say, some unconscious movements, or searching for your car in the parking lot. Training lasts an average of half an hour a day, and spontaneous motor activity and various non-training activities are observed 16-17 hours a day.
Spontaneous physical activity is a significant quantity! The reduction in expenditure on simple household activities may be imperceptible to a person, but very significant and amount to several hundred kcal. In studies, people on a starvation diet reduced energy expenditure on normal daily activities by as much as 582 kcal per day.
Spontaneous activity, as mentioned above, is evaluated empirically and cannot be controlled. Being inherently unpredictable, it can fluctuate over a wide range, 200 to 900 kilocalories per day or more. The presence of this type of activity may partly explain the fact that hyperactive people "eat a lot and do not gain weight." Only this is explained, as you already understood, not by "increased metabolism", but just by a high level of spontaneous activity.
Spontaneous physical activity- this is the unwillingness to sit for a long time, this is drive, this is the desire to move, the desire to jump, this is the love of life! High spontaneous physical activity is a very important indicator of health! If you have excellent physical activity, then it makes no sense for you to force yourself to move, because your body itself asks for it!
Factors affecting spontaneous activity.
1. The level of available energy.
Excessive physical activity, reducing calories below acceptable levels will lead to a deficit mode and reduce spontaneous activity. The more significant the decrease in physical activity and the level of energy consumption against the background of an energy deficit, the more noticeable weight gain in the subsequent period. It won't happen to me, you might think, but is it? The decrease in physical activity occurs subconsciously, it is part of the "hungry response" of the body. Your body can deceive you in a million ways in order to restore energy balance and stabilize weight.
It should also be noted that the level of spontaneous physical activity falls during a diet with a calorie deficit. Experiencing food restriction, the level of activity drops, the energy drops, the person becomes more inhibited, moves less and more slowly, sleeps longer, and trains sluggishly. In other words, the effectiveness of a calorie-restricted diet falls off mainly not because metabolism is reduced, but because other activities are reduced.
2. Induced (training) physical activity.
Surprisingly, in our body, both types of physical activity are connected. Restriction or imposition of physical activity is accompanied by a compensatory change in spontaneous motor activity. The biological meaning of spontaneous activity is to maintain the constancy of the daily volume of movements and energy consumption.
This reveals the special physiological role of a spontaneous form of activity as a compensator for excess or lack of movements, a physiological regulator of the constancy of the daily volume of movements and the energy costs associated with this. It is important to note that there is a special mechanism for self-regulation of motor activity, maintaining the constancy of its daily volume by changing its spontaneous component.
The practical takeaway from this is: if you came to the gym to burn calories, then nothing may come of it, since the body will reduce your spontaneous activity and you will not notice it. The need for physical activity can be increased by gradually increasing physical activity, only up to a certain limit of their duration and intensity. After reaching this limit, the need for movement decreases sharply.
3. Factors of the microenvironment.
Unfavorable climatic conditions and seasons of the year have a noticeable effect on the motor activity of children. In winter, there is a decrease in activity.
4. Psychological state.
Under conditions of free choice, people with a high self-esteem of the need for movements produce a significantly larger amount of work compared to people, this self-esteem is low. The power of arbitrarily chosen physical activity under conditions of free choice is higher for men, while the duration of work is longer for women. At the same time, the volume of arbitrarily dosed work for men and women does not differ.
If you have a breakdown, depression, chronic stress (“deficit mode”), then you will involuntarily slow down your spontaneous activity. You will communicate less, leave the house, use the remote control and courier services more often.
5. The need for movement.
People with high spontaneous activity have a pronounced “need for physical activity” and, regardless of the situation, they will find a way out for it: they will go for a walk, go to friends, “have a rage”. At the same time, they do not need to force themselves to do this, they move absolutely spontaneously.
The need for physical activity is reflected in the emotions of a person and this is very important for the motivation of physical activity. The spontaneous activity of a person increases or decreases.
A decrease in the need for physical activity is a sensitive indicator of exceeding the optimal dose of loads and the loss of their health-improving significance. Very often, a decrease in physical activity is an early sign of an approaching depression (regardless of your trips to the gym).
6. Source of pleasure.
I.P. Pavlov owns the term "muscular joy", which he used to refer to the pleasant sensations associated with muscular work. Modern science has proven that the motor analyzer receives information about the level of motor activity and then transmits it for analysis to the central nervous system. This information is a source of emotional impact, it is a source of positive or negative emotions, a source of satisfaction.
7. Constant value.
The need for motor activity is one of the most important factors in regulating the constancy of daily energy metabolism. The volume of motor activity during the day is a constant value for a particular person. This allows us to characterize the need for motor activity as a typical individual sign. It is predetermined genetically, but can be modeled by environmental factors, including social ones. There are people with low and high need for movement.
The constancy of motor activity is maintained due to spontaneous activity. The final formation of the "motor type" of a person occurs approximately by the age of 30. By old age, the need for movement does not change, with age only the “dose” of muscle effort necessary to satisfy this need decreases. In any case, the absence of a significant age-related decrease in the subjective need for physical activity is of great importance for the participation of older people in active health-improving activities. An increase in the volume of habitual motor activity is accompanied by an increase in the need for movement.
7. Spontaneous activity is the key to maintaining a stable weight.
Research findings clearly show that energy expenditure decreases with weight loss, and metabolism slows down more than would be expected simply from weight loss. And the difference is noticeable even in those who keep the weight for more than a year. But a decrease in metabolic rate is not the main culprit that many successful losers gain everything back, because the metabolic rate is reduced by only about 150 kcal per day. The main reason why energy expenditure decreases more than expected based on weight loss is a decrease in physical activity. This does not mean that we train less, since formal training activity is within our conscious control. But this means that we unconsciously reduce NEAT, non-exercise, informal, spontaneous activity.
It also means that we use energy more efficiently by doing our usual activities - we spend fewer calories on the same activities. In fact, the increased efficiency reduces the cost of physical activity by as much as 35%. We generally move less and move more efficiently while using less energy. Combined with a reduction in resting metabolism, this results in a reduction in expenditure of more than 400 kcal per day compared to a person of the same height, weight, sex and body composition. That is why there are plateaus when losing weight, and therefore it is easier to gain the lost weight again.
Another study confirmed that NEAT and physical activity decrease with weight loss and that it is the reduction in non-exercise activity that is the main factor responsible for the decrease in energy expenditure. The obese participants in the study lost 23.2% of their original weight. Their daily total energy expenditure was 75.7% of what they had calculated, and almost all of this decrease was due to a decrease in activity, and not a drop in metabolic rate. Those. energy consumption for normal daily activities has decreased by as much as 582 kcal per day!
It was also found that a change (decrease) in the level of activity can predict weight gain. The study, which lasted a year, involved women. They were divided into two groups: maintaining the result (rollback in weight was less than 3%) and the group that gained weight (more than 10%). It turned out that 77% of the weight gained is the result of a decrease in daily physical activity.
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When examining adolescents and adults with and without obesity, it was found that physical activity in obese individuals is always less than in people who are not obese. In addition, this survey drew attention to the lower calorie intake per day in obese individuals, suggesting that obesity in some individuals is the result of reduced physical activity rather than excess calorie intake.
The relationship between reduced physical activity and obesity does not yet allow, however, to consider physical inactivity as the cause of obesity. It is possible that hypodynamia is not the primary etiological factor, but a consequence of obesity. Really, obesity limits spontaneous physical activity.
A study of initially thin individuals who developed obesity after overfeeding showed that an increase in body weight and body fat content is associated with a decrease in spontaneous activity and the desire to do physical work. Based on the data available today, we can assume that the relationship between physical inactivity and obesity in most cases is explained, in all likelihood, by the fact that excessive fullness secondarily determines the restriction of voluntary physical activity.
8. In deficit mode, spontaneous activity drops sharply.
As the Belarusians say, "Agul's nonsense and abyyakavasts yes zhitstsya." What we call “metabolic slowdown” is a whole complex of adaptive measures of the body (a whole series of changes in the level of hormones and neurotransmitters) that it resorts to under certain conditions, one might say, in order to survive. And to achieve this goal, the body reduces all types of activity, trying to save expended energy. As for the main exchange, according to statistics, it can really decrease by only 10% of its value, which is not significant.
What to do?
Step 1. Assess your spontaneous activity.
Now there are quite a few people who really evaluate their daily physical activity, an ordinary pedometer opens people's eyes to obvious things: they move little, even if they think that they are spinning like a top all day (not all, but very, very many). Therefore, accurately calculate how many hours you sit or lie down during the day. I'm sure the exact figure will shock you unpleasantly. By the way, a decrease in motor activity also reduces heat production, so in such a situation people often begin to freeze, even for no particular reason.
Step 2. Get out of the deficit.
Deficiency mode can be caused by a number of different reasons, from nutritional to psychological. Read on the site about the hormone leptin.
Step 3. Create a supportive environment.
Anything you can do throughout the day to increase your activity greatly improves your chances of maintaining weight in the long run. Even little things like parking your car a little farther from your destination and taking the stairs instead of the elevator add up and make a big difference. I will write about the supporting environment separately. For now, I will say that the closer, safer and easier the opportunity for physical activity, the more often you will walk and exercise.
Park far away from work and when driving to the store. Instead of taking calls while sitting, stand when talking on the phone. Climb the stairs instead of standing on the escalator. No need to drive a car to the nearest store - take a walk!
Step 4. Play.
Creative and spontaneous physical activity can replace any healthy type of physical activity for adults, scientists say. Karol Thorgan talks about additional calorie burning if the activity is accompanied by brain activity. Flying a kite, dancing and climbing, adults can add a playful touch to any exercise. For example, a person weighing 68 kg burns 322 calories per hour of dancing.
By solving specific movement challenges, they can improve brain function, boost creativity, relieve stress, and speed up the socialization process. "Gambling is inherent in our minds and is just as beneficial as sleep," says the author of the study.
Too often, adults consider games to be the lot of children, calling them a waste of time. "Play allows adults to enjoy the action and not take it too seriously," Thorgan says. “The game does not set goals, it does not determine winners or losers. It's a great way to enjoy routine work."
Materials used:
http://shantramora.livejournal.com/158667.html
"Endocrinology and Metabolism", F. Felig, D. Baxter
http://www.ctmed.ru/medicine/asmu/pathophis/need/need3.html
Most codes need some level of stability to be effective The work of Burns and others established beyond a reasonable doubt that the activity of the central nervous system is so stable Nervous tissue generates electrical potentials spontaneously heart, such a pulsation is caused by slow potentials, and the occurrence of these latter depends on certain constants of the chemical environment in which the pulsating 1 can is located (Fig. IV-5).
Figure IV-5. Cerebral Symphony (Verzeano et al, 1970).
A series of carefully conducted studies in the laboratory of Burns (1958) gave a comprehensive answer to the question, which for a long time remained fantastic: can the brain remain active even if it is completely isolated (neuronally) from other nervous tissue? The results of these experiments, as is often the case, did not fully confirm either the notion that brain activity is "spontaneous" or the notion of the brain as a resting tabula rasa on which sensory experience is recorded. Berne discovered that even in an unanaesthetized animal, an isolated strip of cortex remains inactive until at least a short time no electrical stimulation will be applied; other data (Echlin et al., 1952; Gerard and Joung, 1937; Henry and Scoville, 1952; Ingvar, 1955; Libet and Gerard, 1939) indicate that spontaneous activity also exists in such preparations. In any case, even if one accepts Burns' cautious conclusion, several strong electrical stimuli applied to the surface of the cortex set off a series of bursts of neuronal activity that usually continues for many minutes (or even hours) after the stimulation has ceased.
Periodic excitation waves can also be obtained in a diffusely organized nervous tissue when it is electrically stimulated. They are similar to the excitatory waves that occur in the unanesthetized cerebral cortex in response to several rare stimuli. Effects lasting many hours have been observed after brief stimulation of intact anemones (Batham and Pantin, 1950). Recently, a luminescent response has been described in marine "pansies" (a type of colored coral): after a series of stimulations, these colonies began to luminesce spontaneously, and not only in response to stimulation. To explain this phenomenon, one should turn to the mechanism of slow changes in the state of the nervous tissue (an elementary form of memory associated with slow potentials?) These changes are due to the influence of the environment and depend, of course, on the previous activity of the organism. But they also have their own internal laws and their own rhythm of activity, which causes repeated changes in the states of the nervous tissue, which makes them only partially dependent on environmental influences at any given time.
In short, it is generally accepted that groups of neurons of the type found in the cerebral cortex, in the absence of continuous sensory input, are in a state of rest. However, these groups of neurons can easily enter a state of excitation and exhibit prolonged activity. So, we can assume that during "rest" they are in a state below the threshold of continuous self-excitation. An intact mammal has a mechanism that maintains central nervous system excitation above this resting level. Such a mechanism is the spontaneous discharge of receptors.
R. Granite (1955) spoke in detail about how he “was seized by the idea that spontaneous activity is an integral part of the work sensory systems". He traced the history of this issue from the early observations of Lord E. Adrian and I. Zotterman (1926), E. Adrian and B. Matthews (1927a, b), performed on muscles and preparations of the optic nerve, to his own versatile experimental studies. Moreover, his data support the suggestion that this "spontaneous" activity of the sense organs makes them one of the most important "energizers" or energizers of the brain. Now we can add to this that, probably, this spontaneous activity is the basis, the level at which and in relation to which neural coding is carried out. Berne also presented data supporting this assumption (1968). With the help of microelectrodes, he found that about 1/3 of the large number of brain cells he examined during the entire time he was recording from them showed a stability of the average frequency of their discharges. These neurons responded to stimulation either by increasing the frequency of discharges or by inhibiting them. Each time this was followed by a period during which the activity of the neuron changed reciprocally. As a result, the changes in the average frequency of neuron discharges caused by stimulation were compensated. Thus, these cells create a powerful stable base on which the main characteristic of encoding and recoding depends: spatial excitation structures can arise due to an increase in spontaneous activity in one place and its simultaneous inhibition in another.
The brain exhibits constant internal activity that remains independent of external stimuli or tasks. This high level of constant activity in the brain is described as a spontaneous way to take a break from your dominant activity. Rest of the brain is a rather paradoxical term, as it means the opposite of what the term itself says: the brain is never at rest, and if it is at rest, it is dead, brain death occurs. Such spontaneous activity must be distinguished from tasks caused by stimuli or tasks from outside the brain itself. Neuroscience has long studied the issue of stimuli causing brain activity, since this activity is available for study and can be directly investigated using special stimuli or tasks of subjects in the scanner. These are major topics in, for example, cognitive, affective, and social neuroscience that use stimuli or tasks to explore the appropriate brain activity caused by a particular task.
However, in recent times, spontaneous brain activity has come under the spotlight of scientists. Why is this important, and how does it affect our brain activity? At present, we do not know the answers to these questions. Scientists suggest that spontaneous brain activity is one of the main factors in our understanding of the brain and determines important mental functions such as consciousness and psychopathological symptoms in mental disorders. Of particular interest is the question of how exactly spontaneous influences affect brain activity.
Why is it so important how different stimuli affect our brain at rest? This shows, first of all, that spontaneous or resting brain activity has an active meaning or influence that external stimuli or tasks can cause activity in the brain. Our brain is not just a mechanical device that responds to external stimuli or tasks. Instead, our brain is a dynamic organ that exhibits its own spontaneous activity whereby it can influence and manipulate its own processing of external stimuli or tasks.
You may be wondering why such a purely neural feature of the brain, such as the non-additive interaction of rest and stimulus, is so important. This has major implications for our understanding of how the brain can create mental states such as consciousness, depression, and the like. Outwardly, it would seem that an insignificant stimulus - something seen or heard that caused a person to have certain memories or unconscious associations with the past - may not be realized, but at the same time cause him a state of joy, or, conversely, sadness. Our brain never rests completely, it works hard all the time, analyzing the information coming into it from the outside world, and the results of its work determine our emotions, feelings and mood.
