1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,440 Hi, and welcome to the In The Cortex podcast. 2 00:00:08,440 --> 00:00:09,440 We are your hosts. 3 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:10,760 I'm Paloma Garcia. 4 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:12,800 And I am Danny Paraconi. 5 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:16,400 And we're the founders of In The Cortex, an online community with programs that show 6 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:20,640 people the tools that they need to change their lives, their brain reorganization, no 7 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:23,040 medication, just movement. 8 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:27,240 When you get your brain out of survival mode and regulate your nervous system, you start 9 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:31,360 to live in the fun, logical part of the brain, the cortex. 10 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:35,680 Subscribe today and learn how to live your best in the cortex life. 11 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:37,840 And now, on to today's episode. 12 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:43,400 Okay, welcome back to another podcast from In The Cortex. 13 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:49,240 I am Danny, and I'm here with Paloma, and we are your founders of In The Cortex. 14 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:54,720 And we have a really exciting episode today talking about something that one of our, someone, 15 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:59,920 a follower asked us to talk about, and it was all about dyslexia. 16 00:00:59,920 --> 00:01:03,280 And so we're going to break this down from a brain perspective. 17 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,720 It's going to feel a little overwhelming because it is a lot of things. 18 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:07,880 A lot of information. 19 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:08,880 Yes. 20 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:12,240 So we're going to do our best to simplify it. 21 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:15,760 And if this is something that resonates with you, or if there's things that come up that 22 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:19,480 really hit home for you, just know that we're all learning together. 23 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:23,920 And we hope you can just tune into that space of being receptive and open to hearing this 24 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:24,920 information. 25 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:28,360 And the biggest part is that you understand that there's something you can do about it. 26 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:29,360 Exactly. 27 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:34,480 And that's our mission here at In The Cortex is to share the information and then how you 28 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:42,040 can help yourself live a more peaceful, harmonious, and easier life just in a nutshell. 29 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:45,640 So let's break it down, Paloma. 30 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:46,640 Let's break it down. 31 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:50,520 So let's just start really quickly with talking about what dyslexia even is. 32 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:55,000 Most of you have probably heard about it if you don't already know somebody that has dyslexia 33 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:57,320 because it's actually very common. 34 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:01,040 And it affects the way that people read, write, and spell. 35 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,600 So the ease of reading, writing, and spelling. 36 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:08,920 And it has a lot to do, of course it's classified as a learning disorder because what do we 37 00:02:08,920 --> 00:02:12,240 really do in school and when we're learning things, we're reading, writing, spelling, 38 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:13,960 and doing all that stuff. 39 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:19,600 And it really affects the way that we see words on the page and we're able to interpret 40 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:23,680 them visually and the way that we're able to interpret them as information. 41 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:28,200 So it's not just what do they look like on the page, but what do those letters on the 42 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:31,000 page together mean in my brain? 43 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,920 So it has a lot to do also with decoding and the way that we're interpreting language 44 00:02:34,920 --> 00:02:35,920 as well. 45 00:02:35,920 --> 00:02:42,760 And today what we want to really focus on is looking at which specific reflexes are related 46 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:47,120 to the challenges that dyslexia encompasses. 47 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:51,440 So just so we can get it to be very as straightforward as possible. 48 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:54,080 And always keep in mind that there's a lot of overlap with these things. 49 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:57,720 Yeah, it's not just black and white and it's not like you have this, so then you have that. 50 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:02,920 It's a lot of, there's really a symphony going on in my brain, let's say. 51 00:03:02,920 --> 00:03:09,000 And we want to read really quickly a text that explains primitive reflexes in case you're 52 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:13,880 newer to the podcast or in case you maybe kind of need a little bit of a refresher. 53 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:18,600 We know that that is always useful from the Child Development Center in London. 54 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:20,000 It's an amazing institution. 55 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:23,280 They do a lot of primitive reflex work as well. 56 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:25,800 And so this is what they have on their website. 57 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:31,660 We are born with a whole range of reflexes, a set of instinctive involuntary reactions 58 00:03:31,660 --> 00:03:33,520 to a certain stimulus. 59 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:39,040 These reflexes have evolved over millennia to aid our passage from the womb to protect 60 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:44,320 us from harm in our vulnerable early months and to provide rudimentary training for later 61 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:46,040 voluntary skills. 62 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:51,000 If it all goes according to nature's plan, all the fetal and primitive reflexes follow 63 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:52,240 a similar pattern. 64 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:57,120 They initiate in the uterus, become integrated into the neural system. 65 00:03:57,120 --> 00:04:03,880 This lays down the pattern for future controllable actions and responses, and then inhibits when 66 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:07,320 it's time to move on to the next developmental stage. 67 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:11,680 Usually all these reflexes should inhibit by the time the baby is one year old. 68 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:14,960 We'll take that with a grain of salt because some people it's one and a half, two, even 69 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:16,840 two and a half years old we've seen. 70 00:04:16,840 --> 00:04:18,880 So always take that with a grain of salt. 71 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:23,600 But it's important to realize that these early reflexes are located in the most primitive 72 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:26,280 area of the brain, the brainstem. 73 00:04:26,280 --> 00:04:28,760 And they operate involuntarily. 74 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:30,280 They're not voluntary. 75 00:04:30,280 --> 00:04:33,280 That means we simply cannot control them. 76 00:04:33,280 --> 00:04:38,160 As we develop the higher parts of the brain, the cortex, which is responsible for thinking 77 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:44,040 and reasoning, and the midbrain, the organization center of the motor and sensory systems, take 78 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:47,260 over the functions of the primitive reflexes. 79 00:04:47,260 --> 00:04:52,440 These functions are then transformed into responses and actions that can be consciously 80 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:54,080 controlled or modified. 81 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:58,080 So that's when they become conscious is when the primitive reflex, the primitive brain 82 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:04,280 finishes developing and we're operating from the cortex, the higher centers of the brain. 83 00:05:04,280 --> 00:05:10,240 If the primitive reflexes fail to inhibit, however, the more sophisticated neural structures 84 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:15,680 of the brain, that means the cortex, along with the postural reflexes cannot develop 85 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:16,840 properly. 86 00:05:16,840 --> 00:05:22,200 The normal development of motor and processing skills and the integration of left and right 87 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:24,560 sides of the brain are affected. 88 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:28,520 The child is stuck with immature responses to their environment. 89 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:30,120 So act your age. 90 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,960 My litter might literally be an impossibility for them. 91 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:39,120 So that's just a really, I love the way that they talk about how it's involuntary involuntary. 92 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:40,120 Right. 93 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:44,320 Because we think, you know, we look at behavior and we think that things that people do, we 94 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:46,760 react the way we act, that we can control it. 95 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:50,040 But that's where this gives us so much empathy, right? 96 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:53,680 For looking at our own brains and looking at other people's brains and saying, whoa, 97 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:54,800 that is not on purpose. 98 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:55,800 They can't control that. 99 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:56,800 Right. 100 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:00,280 And so that's where it's good to take a deep breath and say, okay, this is where I can 101 00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:05,240 help my brain get more organized and really, truly operate from the cortex, which is the 102 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:08,240 way that we're meant, quote, unquote, to operate in this. 103 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:09,240 Right. 104 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:11,120 That's at least that's the way that the world is set up. 105 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:12,120 Right. 106 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:14,000 The logic of the world. 107 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,120 And from that is everything is done through movement. 108 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:18,120 Right. 109 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:21,240 So we know when babies are in utero, we feel kicks, we feel movement. 110 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:24,840 We know babies are turning and twisting around or like, oh, look at that. 111 00:06:24,840 --> 00:06:26,080 And there's so much to it. 112 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:31,200 So this is where we want to help you understand that the way you naturally do something gives 113 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:34,280 so much information as to where your brain is at. 114 00:06:34,280 --> 00:06:36,760 And the cool part is the brain is so plastic. 115 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:42,280 It can take this information at any age in your life right now and it can help you do 116 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:43,400 it more efficiently. 117 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:48,120 So if you give it the right fuel, all of a sudden now your brain can now process it for 118 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:50,280 what it was meant to do. 119 00:06:50,280 --> 00:06:53,960 And that's why we love the work we do because there's so much hope. 120 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:58,680 There is so much chance to go back and rewrite your story. 121 00:06:58,680 --> 00:06:59,760 Start right now. 122 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:02,280 Our oldest participant is 90 years old. 123 00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:03,280 Yes. 124 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:08,000 So with all that being said, we're going to break down the reflexes that are really connected 125 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:10,520 to what we call dyslexia. 126 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:15,520 And we're not really big fans of labels here because it really kind of, if you get the 127 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:18,240 diagnosis that you have dyslexia use it, then go, okay, great. 128 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:19,240 Now what do I do about this? 129 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:22,640 Like, do I just always have a handicap when it comes to learning? 130 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:25,280 And then that internalizes for a lot of people that I'm stupid. 131 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:26,280 I'm dumb. 132 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:28,320 I just don't operate the way I need to. 133 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:29,320 Right. 134 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:32,080 And our take is no, that's not helping you. 135 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:34,840 How about we look at the reflexes? 136 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:39,240 When those reflexes aren't integrated, meaning lying dormant because they've done all the 137 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:40,640 things that they need to do. 138 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:46,640 So now they don't have to be keeping you in survival mode anymore. 139 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:51,120 And once they have done their job and they're lying dormant, now we can let that cortex 140 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:53,480 come online and do what it's designed to do. 141 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:57,000 And we live more volunteer, we live in that voluntary space, right? 142 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:58,000 Right. 143 00:07:58,000 --> 00:07:59,000 Where we can truly control. 144 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:00,000 Right. 145 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:01,880 And you can respond versus react. 146 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:05,720 Just really quick also to add, that's not saying that we're saying that dyslexia doesn't 147 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:06,720 exist. 148 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:08,480 We're saying that let's reframe it. 149 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:09,840 Let's look at it differently. 150 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:14,960 Let's look at it as what can we do about this, these challenges and difficulty that I'm 151 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:19,720 feeling or that my child is feeling or somebody that I know instead of let's put a name on 152 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:23,560 it and then make it feel like there's something wrong with me, right? 153 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:25,120 Cause that's not what this is about. 154 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:30,200 The whole point is that we can, there's so much we can do to make life so much easier. 155 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:31,200 Yes. 156 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:32,280 A hundred percent. 157 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:37,120 So, and this is what's so cool is that you have everything within you. 158 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:40,880 And this is what we teach you in our program is how to look at the movements and how to 159 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:45,880 make sense of them and then how to do them differently and more efficiently so that way 160 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:47,200 your brain's like, okay, cool. 161 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:49,560 I can now move on to the next level. 162 00:08:49,560 --> 00:08:50,560 Exactly. 163 00:08:50,560 --> 00:08:55,200 And I love this so much because as we were doing our research for this podcast, we really, 164 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:58,840 I was really connecting dots with so many people I know is like, oh my gosh, it's this, 165 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:00,120 it's this, this, this. 166 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:04,320 And while we think like from a very conscious standpoint, like, oh, I'm just not good at 167 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:08,400 this, we have to remember what society has created, right? 168 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:10,520 We've created this world of. 169 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:15,440 We go to school and we learn, we sit down and we learn in the space of taking information 170 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:18,400 and visually through our auditory senses. 171 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:21,320 We're just starting to bring in movement as a concept, right? 172 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:25,840 And like kids need to move to learn and think about all the learners out there because there 173 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:30,600 are so many different types of learning that are done through hands-on tactile, kinesthetic 174 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:31,920 approaches. 175 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:36,120 What happens to their brain when they're not getting the right information, the way that 176 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:39,760 suits their preference and helps them and take information? 177 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:45,240 So if you are resonating with a dyslexic profile and you're, you know, your decoding 178 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:50,560 is off or you're, you know, reversing things, that could just mean that your preference 179 00:09:50,560 --> 00:09:53,080 is not in auditory or in visual. 180 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:54,080 In learning. 181 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:55,080 Yeah. 182 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:56,080 Absolutely. 183 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,760 And Paloma and I have both experiences because we were talking about this too really quick 184 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:05,920 was when we were, you know, before brain, the before brain organization era, I was very 185 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:09,360 much the athletic movement person, very hands-on and kinesthetic. 186 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:14,440 Moving down at a desk and like having to intake information was painful and really hard for 187 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:15,440 me. 188 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:16,840 I had to work really, really hard. 189 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:21,840 And then Paloma, it was easier for her, but her brain in the movement world was really 190 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:22,840 challenging. 191 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:23,840 She was just like, not for me. 192 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:27,160 I'm going to be more of what would say like the nerdy kid and I was more of like the job 193 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:28,160 kid, right? 194 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:29,160 Yeah. 195 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:32,640 And so we certain our society start to like classify people as like, oh, that's just how 196 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:33,640 you are. 197 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:37,320 But have we ever thought of it as that's just the preference in which you learn and how 198 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:38,480 you intake information? 199 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:41,160 Like, that's kind of crazy, right? 200 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:42,600 So we're all smart. 201 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:43,640 We're all beautiful beings. 202 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:47,880 And that's what we're trying to share is helping you find that light within you. 203 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:51,560 It's so important to understand how the brain is developing. 204 00:10:51,560 --> 00:10:55,760 So Paloma already mentioned the reflexes, the lower centers of the brain. 205 00:10:55,760 --> 00:11:03,040 They're doing really important jobs from utero to about two, two and a half years of life. 206 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:08,360 Then from that point forward, now we're in the space for about like until we're close 207 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:11,680 to eight years old, we're figuring out our dominance. 208 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:16,360 We're figuring out what side of the brain we prefer to use, what I we prefer to use. 209 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:21,360 And we start figuring out the dominance in which our brain is in taking information. 210 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:25,560 And there's so much research about like where you live in the world, how the information 211 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:28,760 is presented to you as a kid that affects this. 212 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:34,960 So it's important to know that if you are working with a child or someone younger and 213 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:39,680 they're still reversing letters and they're still not getting certain facts, well, maybe 214 00:11:39,680 --> 00:11:43,040 it's because their brain just isn't ready to do this yet. 215 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:47,920 And about eight years old is when the brain's ready to come online and start really picking 216 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:50,520 how to wait and take information. 217 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:52,480 So this is something really important to know. 218 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:56,520 And this is why our society again, as little backwards on why we're teaching kids to read 219 00:11:56,520 --> 00:12:00,760 and write at four or five years old, it's just we're not designed to do it. 220 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:03,480 So that's a plug for a different podcast. 221 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:09,840 Anyway, I had an explain to us, Paloma, the concept of some of the reflexes and how they 222 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,160 have a relapse with dyslexia. 223 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:13,160 Absolutely. 224 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:18,720 So dyslexia has a lot to do, of course, with the eyes and that's kind of, you know, natural 225 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:23,760 and a lot of people that actually start to show some learning challenges or learning 226 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:25,000 difficulties in the classroom. 227 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:29,520 The very first thing that they're going to be checked for is visual, right? 228 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:32,200 Visual challenges, visual impairment, whatever it might be. 229 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:39,720 That's usually what people, you know, professionals and teachers and doctors will look at first. 230 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:44,840 And it's important to take into account that auditory processing also plays hand in hand 231 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:48,960 with dyslexia because it's the way that we're processing the world. 232 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:55,200 So just think about this as we go through these reflexes for us to be able to interpret 233 00:12:55,200 --> 00:13:04,160 information from the page adequately or efficiently, our eyes, our visual, our auditory systems 234 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:10,240 and our vestibular systems all need to be working pretty efficiently because the eyes, 235 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:13,440 of course, are the ones that are processing the actual words, right? 236 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:18,360 The ears are also processing the sounds that made us understand what the words were, right? 237 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:21,600 So when we learned the language, that's where that came from, right? 238 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:25,640 So that's how we're putting knowledge and actually bringing together what the meaning 239 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:28,200 is in our vestibular system. 240 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:32,200 Believe it or not, has so much to do with it because that's the vestibular system is our 241 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:33,600 relationship with gravity. 242 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:34,760 It's our balance. 243 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:39,880 And so it tells us where we're balanced and where the center is of whatever we're looking 244 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:42,200 at, whatever we're hearing, whatever we're experiencing. 245 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:47,440 It's very important for, because we have two sides of our brain and two sides of our body, 246 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:52,400 for our body to always know what the center point is of anything that we're trying to 247 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:53,400 do, right? 248 00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:58,160 And operate because we need that point of convergence for anything that we're interpreting. 249 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:00,440 So that's just to set the stage. 250 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:04,560 So the moral, for example, is the reflex that is our infant startle reflex. 251 00:14:04,560 --> 00:14:09,440 And so the moral has a lot to do with the way that we process our sounds and the way 252 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:12,560 that we process lights and changes in light. 253 00:14:12,560 --> 00:14:17,760 And so if our moral is not integrated and still present at the age when we're trying 254 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:25,520 to read, it might be interpreting sounds that are way too loud or not loud enough. 255 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:29,280 And so that's, that's interfering with the way that we're processing what we have on 256 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:30,280 the page. 257 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:33,840 And once again, language and everything, all the other stimuli that are around us. 258 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:39,640 It also might be that if our moral is on, we're very, very sensitive to light. 259 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:43,280 So if we don't have the right lighting in our classroom where we're trying to learn to read, 260 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:46,640 then that's going to make it really, really hard for our eyes to actually be able to focus, 261 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:51,120 to literally focus, find the focal point of each word that we're reading or writing 262 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:55,400 or looking at the board and think about the type of lighting that most schools have. 263 00:14:55,400 --> 00:15:00,920 It's fluorescent lighting and fluorescent lighting is very, very abrasive to the eyes, 264 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:05,680 especially to a brain that is in survival mode, because you process that even more intensely, 265 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:06,680 right? 266 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:10,920 And so if you have people that have a moral reflex that is present and that is not integrated, 267 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:12,800 much prefer to be in like lower light. 268 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:16,800 You know, you'll go into their house and all the lights are dimmed or the room, you know, 269 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:18,840 the, the dark curtains are drawn down all the time. 270 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:21,640 And that's because it's just so overwhelming to their system. 271 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:24,800 And they figure out a compensation of like, I'm just going to get rid of the light. 272 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:25,960 100%. 273 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:31,840 And really quickly, when a baby has, we want the baby to have this moral reflex on and 274 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:35,240 it's literally activated by any time there's like a loud sound. 275 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:39,360 If you make a loud noise, you notice that a baby will naturally will fling open their 276 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:44,280 arms, their hands will open up and then they'll have a big gasp, a big breath of air. 277 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:48,360 And then they start crying, their skin turns red and it's like, the system is like ready 278 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:49,360 to go, right? 279 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:50,520 Oh, survival time. 280 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:53,720 And then once they realize there's no threat, they curl back into whatever sleepy businesses 281 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:54,720 they are. 282 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:58,900 So you see this activated time and time again in the first like two months of life. 283 00:15:58,900 --> 00:16:04,960 So imagine this, if a baby doesn't get to do that enough, it stays on and active because 284 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:09,120 the brain's like, I didn't go through the right period of getting this thing integrated. 285 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:15,020 So then these kids are in classrooms with activated, constantly activating this survival 286 00:16:15,020 --> 00:16:17,560 mechanism of it's time to go, it's time to survive. 287 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:23,160 And it's like, could you imagine, and we did, I used to have this on very later in life, 288 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:26,440 where everything felt like fight or flight mode. 289 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:27,440 A threat. 290 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:28,440 Absolutely. 291 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:31,440 Of course this is going to affect your learning, because you're like, threat where? 292 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:32,440 Who was? 293 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:33,440 Exactly. 294 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:35,240 And it's not conscious, right? 295 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:38,040 It's involuntary, involuntary. 296 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:39,360 It's not voluntary. 297 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:44,560 So our brain, you know, even though logically we know it's just a classroom, it's just a 298 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:45,920 letter on the page. 299 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:47,680 Our primitive brain is like, absolutely not. 300 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:48,880 This is life or death, bro. 301 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:49,880 Let's get out of this. 302 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:50,880 Right. 303 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:53,440 And so that's where we're tripping up our whole nervous system. 304 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:59,160 When all we need to do is, all we need to do quote unquote is read a letter, right? 305 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:00,640 But there's just so much more. 306 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:06,520 And that's why this stuff is so complex, because we can't see what's going on instead of somebody 307 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:07,520 else's brain. 308 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:11,640 And so I think it can be so frustrating for teachers, for parents to be like, you know, 309 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:16,120 they said this on the child institute, the development institute as well, their website. 310 00:17:16,120 --> 00:17:21,160 And then they say, act your age is not, is physically impossible, right? 311 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,160 And so that's where we're, we have those huge disconnects. 312 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:27,000 And we're like, what's going on with this person's mind? 313 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:28,720 Well that might be what it is, right? 314 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:29,720 It's involuntary. 315 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:30,720 100%. 316 00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:34,880 Then we have the 18 are the asymmetrical tonic neck reflex. 317 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:40,040 And so we're not going to get too much into what each reflex does in this podcast, because 318 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:42,800 we will be here for 17 days straight. 319 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:45,240 And that's just too long, you know, it's too long for podcasts. 320 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:47,400 I don't think it'll even be able to upload. 321 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:52,440 So if you want more information on each specific reflex, we have so much info on our Instagram 322 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:56,160 and we have the basics of brain reorganization, which is a program that is free. 323 00:17:56,160 --> 00:18:01,480 You can find it at the Lincoln bio of our Instagram page, and we also have podcast episodes 324 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:02,960 that have talked about this in the past. 325 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:07,360 So there's a lot of ways to get this information, but the asymmetrical tonic neck reflex has 326 00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:10,920 a lot to do with our balance as well, our vestibular system. 327 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:17,200 Remember that knowing left from right, because what it does is it, it's kind of like, it 328 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:21,760 creates like a, or it has like a wall in between the two hemispheres, right? 329 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:24,720 So we have our left hemisphere and our right hemisphere. 330 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:28,960 And in the middle, we have a little bundle of nerves that's called the corpus callosum 331 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:33,560 and the corpus callosum is there to connect the two hemispheres, right? 332 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:38,460 When our AT&R is not integrated, so it's still present. 333 00:18:38,460 --> 00:18:43,560 It's like it creates this huge massive wall in between the two hemispheres. 334 00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:44,960 So what does that mean? 335 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:50,840 It's going to be a lot, a lot, lot harder to do anything that involves crossing the 336 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:53,800 midline, any sort of cross laterality. 337 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:57,240 That's the number one thing you need to do when you're reading cross the midline, because 338 00:18:57,240 --> 00:18:59,200 you're going from left to right, right? 339 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:03,080 And so that's something that a lot of people will notice, right? 340 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:08,680 With kids that have the, the challenges with reading or dyslexia specifically is that they 341 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:12,040 have a really hard time going from left to right or they're lose their spot, right? 342 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:14,720 So they're reading, reading, reading, and then they're like, well, and you kind of 343 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:17,680 are like, why, why did they not read that word? 344 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:22,080 Well, their eyes literally just jumped from one page of the, of the part of the page to 345 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:23,200 the other, right? 346 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:26,400 And so that's something that's really important to not have. 347 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:29,080 So to have that reflex integrated, integrated. 348 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:33,840 This also because of that difference between the left and right hemisphere is going to have 349 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:35,760 ambiguity in their laterality, right? 350 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:40,680 So not necessarily knowing which hand is which, first of all, which one's the left and which 351 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:44,760 one's the right, and not knowing which hand to use to pick up a pencil. 352 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:49,160 You know, if you haven't really had that laterality, if your hemispheres aren't connected, it's 353 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:52,560 hard to really establish a dominant side, first of all. 354 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:55,760 And then on top of that, you're, you're confusing it all the time. 355 00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:57,600 That makes it even harder. 356 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:02,560 And when you're writing, when you'll see how, when, when children are writing, and this 357 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:06,400 goes hand in hand, this is dysgraphia more than dyslexia, but it always, it usually goes 358 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:13,080 hand in hand is when writing there, if they're turning their head to one side, then they're, 359 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:16,440 they have a complete collection of the other side of their body. 360 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:21,240 And so what that creates is also kind of like a disconnect between the hand and the eye. 361 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:23,840 And so the hand-eye coordination is going to be really hard. 362 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:27,760 And that of course, it's extremely important for when you're writing on a page. 363 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:28,760 Right. 364 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:32,760 And the 18 hours really looked at as the eye tracking reflex. 365 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:38,280 So that's what Paloma said is being able to get your eyes to track effortlessly across 366 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:40,120 without skipping a beat. 367 00:20:40,120 --> 00:20:44,280 And here's the thing, like so many times when this sort of stuff happens and so many of 368 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:47,640 our participants will be like, Oh my gosh, all of a sudden my son's hitting the baseball 369 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:54,160 at baseball practice or all of a sudden when I go in my teenagers learning how to drive 370 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:57,280 and they look over their shoulder, the car's not going with them anymore. 371 00:20:57,280 --> 00:20:58,280 Right. 372 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:02,320 Because that'll happen because whenever the head turns that hand, that arm will have 373 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:07,480 that natural reflex to want to straighten and then open because when a baby's doing 374 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:11,720 this, they're lying on their back with their head turned down the straight arm. 375 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:16,280 So think about how much extra you're having to work every time your head turns. 376 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:21,840 You want your head to independently rotate and move without your arms going with it. 377 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:26,120 As a baby, you want that connected, but not when you're older and not when we're trying 378 00:21:26,120 --> 00:21:29,160 to learn to read and write and do all the things. 379 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:31,440 So this is a massive reflex. 380 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:33,200 This one you could really see effortlessly. 381 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:36,560 If you want to check on your child really quick, you can just take your finger out in 382 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:40,160 front of their eyes and you can have them track smoothly from left to right. 383 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:46,260 Can their eyes stay on your finger without turning their head and can they keep their 384 00:21:46,260 --> 00:21:49,280 eyes in a smooth pursuit going left to right? 385 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:53,520 If you have a kid that you already know has a little bit of a challenge with visual things, 386 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:57,920 I would do something bigger than the finger because sometimes a finger might even be too 387 00:21:57,920 --> 00:21:59,480 small for them to focus on. 388 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:04,080 So if you take like a bigger racer or like, yeah, one of these like little Lego pieces, 389 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:10,960 put it on the top of the pen and of a pen and that'll make it easier to check it. 390 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:15,360 And don't, and if they do turn their head when they're tracking, you just ask, do you 391 00:22:15,360 --> 00:22:17,320 think you're moving your head right now? 392 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:19,600 And they'll be like, nope, you go, okay, great. 393 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:20,600 That's information. 394 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:25,240 Again, we're building compassion for understanding why we do what we do and we're not trying 395 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:28,440 just to correct it and let them know they're doing everything wrong. 396 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:29,440 We want them to understand. 397 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:31,080 Oh my gosh, this is a reflex. 398 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:32,080 Remember what is it? 399 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:33,080 It's involuntary. 400 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:34,840 They cannot override it. 401 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:39,920 It has to go, this is why we say through the movement, it has to be done through the root 402 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:42,560 so it's effortless and they don't have to think about it. 403 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:43,560 Exactly. 404 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:44,560 It's not about getting it right. 405 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:48,000 It's about what information is this giving me about this person's brain, right? 406 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:50,120 And it doesn't have to be a child, by the way. 407 00:22:50,120 --> 00:22:51,120 Okay. 408 00:22:51,120 --> 00:22:59,040 Then we have the spinal galant reflex is a reflex that is mostly there for the movement 409 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:07,040 of the fetus in the uterus to get out through the birth canal, but it also works as a conductor 410 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:08,280 for the sound vibration. 411 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:12,960 So remember sound, we hear it as sound and melody and, you know, the cadence of somebody's 412 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,640 voice, but it really is all just vibration. 413 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:17,800 And so that's from the time you're in the uterus. 414 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:23,840 It's important for your body to start to adapt and understand how to process these vibrations 415 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:25,160 as sound. 416 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:30,800 And so if the spinal galant reflex is retained, then we're going to have a lot of difficulty 417 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:33,600 with understanding and processing sounds. 418 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:34,800 So that's another thing, right? 419 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:39,740 With the auditory processing that goes hand in hand with the dyslexia. 420 00:23:39,740 --> 00:23:44,400 And it's also going to help synchronize the upper and lower body because it usually is 421 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:45,400 active. 422 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:47,800 Well, it is active in the lumbar area. 423 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:51,400 So it's kind of like we have the left and right midline and then we have the top and 424 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:52,560 bottom midline. 425 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:55,760 And so the spinal galant really helps with both of those. 426 00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:58,280 And this sounds like it doesn't have that much to do with reading. 427 00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:02,400 But once again, if you go back to what we said in the beginning, knowing where your center 428 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,400 is is extremely important for being able to read. 429 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:09,840 So if you don't even know where your own body center is, how are we supposed to find the 430 00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:13,640 center of the page and the word and the thing that you're trying to interpret, right? 431 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:14,640 It's so much. 432 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:19,280 And also this reflex looks like if, if it's on for a child, they have like ants in their 433 00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:20,280 pants. 434 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:23,800 That means they're always constantly wiggling and fidgeting and they can't sit still. 435 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:25,120 And then you tell them to pay attention. 436 00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:26,240 They're like, to what? 437 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:29,200 Because everything is overwhelming their system right now. 438 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:31,520 So they can't hold their focus on anything. 439 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:32,960 So how do you decode sounds? 440 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:38,280 How do you look at words on the page and, and, and when your brain is not able to process 441 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:40,360 out what's not important? 442 00:24:40,360 --> 00:24:45,800 So this child is always going to be, and usually like the dyslexic profile very much matches 443 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:47,800 the ADD ADHD profile. 444 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:50,800 Because there's a lot of connection there. 445 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:55,040 And again, let's look at the reflexes and how much of those reflexes are connected when 446 00:24:55,040 --> 00:24:57,800 you read what's connected to each reflex. 447 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:02,560 So instead of seeing them as just always being distracted, it's like, huh, what? 448 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:07,480 I will say schools, I figured a lot of this stuff out and they've figured out workarounds 449 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:09,160 to help with the compensation. 450 00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:13,520 So they put those vestibular cushions under their child so the child can wiggle or they 451 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:15,040 sit on balls, right? 452 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:16,040 We see this a lot now. 453 00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:20,400 Um, but the problem with that is if it's still involuntary, guess what that ball turns 454 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:22,400 into an even bigger distraction. 455 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:27,640 And then we're playing with the fidget spinners and all those things and whatever it is. 456 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:29,040 And then they become a distraction. 457 00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:32,360 So we're not again addressing the root. 458 00:25:32,360 --> 00:25:36,800 So the next reflex we're going to talk about is the tonic labyrinthine reflex, which we 459 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:38,680 call it the TLR. 460 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:44,800 This one is really like when the eyes begin to converge and look at one point together. 461 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:47,680 So it's the eye teaming, eye convergence. 462 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:53,320 And this comes from, so when a child starts to be able to get on their hands and knees, 463 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:57,320 this is such an important reflex just to be able to come out and do its job. 464 00:25:57,320 --> 00:26:01,760 Because if you avoid and never crawl, remember when the CDC took out crawling as a major 465 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:04,880 milestone, we all shook our heads, right? 466 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:09,200 Because the way you put your hands down on the floor literally will tell us what's going 467 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:11,400 on with this, this reflex right here. 468 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:15,640 So you can try this, go ahead, get on your hands and knees, look at what position your 469 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:18,040 hands naturally want to go to. 470 00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:22,880 So many people naturally want to put their hands out to the side. 471 00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:26,800 And it's a direct indication that your eyes cannot team. 472 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:30,800 And then imagining trying to look at one point on the page with both of your eyes is really 473 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:31,800 hard. 474 00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:33,600 That's something that I still struggle with. 475 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:35,240 I need to work on my TLR. 476 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:39,480 And I noticed that if I, when I don't crawl and I don't keep for a while, my eyes, I'll 477 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:42,920 see a picture of myself and make, oh my gosh, my eyes are not deeming. 478 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:44,520 I can do it right now. 479 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:50,280 If you want to check somebody's eye teaming, you can also do the same thing with the pen 480 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:51,560 or pencil. 481 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:56,800 And you're going to hold it out kind of like as far as a paper would be, right? 482 00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:57,800 From where you're reading. 483 00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:01,880 Then extend your arm or kind of go arms length away from that. 484 00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:04,080 And you're going to ask them to focus on one part, right? 485 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:05,920 So here, Danny's focusing on the yellow part. 486 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:08,960 I'm going to be focused on the blue part of my, of my pen right here. 487 00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:09,960 Follow it. 488 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:12,320 And you're slowly going to bring it in closer. 489 00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:15,000 Can you see my eyes, Danny? 490 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:16,000 Here. 491 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:21,040 It's easier when someone else does it for you, but yeah, you can see that you're right 492 00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:22,040 and then out. 493 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:24,080 And my eyes like that hurt my eyes. 494 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:31,160 And I'm bringing it back in and usually you can see that one eye will go in a little bit 495 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:33,040 slower and one will go a little bit faster. 496 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:34,480 I don't know which one was which. 497 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:35,480 Yeah. 498 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:36,480 First year, right? 499 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:38,520 When wasn't going in as much and then your left eye. 500 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:40,440 So you were picking, you're like, one eye can do it together. 501 00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:41,440 I can't. 502 00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:42,440 So they're not doing it as a team. 503 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:43,440 There you go. 504 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:44,440 It's one or the other. 505 00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:45,440 Yeah. 506 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:46,920 So then these people will close one eye. 507 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:49,760 They'll tilt their head, they'll cover their eye when they're working. 508 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:53,880 And then again, they're not able to just process the information for what it is. 509 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:56,040 It's getting skewed. 510 00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:57,040 Everything's getting skewed. 511 00:27:57,040 --> 00:28:01,640 Plus, if you're looking, if your one eye is looking, so this is where it's also very 512 00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:02,640 interesting. 513 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:08,280 Of course, the visual system, which we're going to talk about in a little bit just right 514 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:09,600 after the reflexes. 515 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:14,280 But if one eye is looking at one part of the word and the other eye is looking at the 516 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:17,320 other part of the word, you have to fill in the middle. 517 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:18,320 You know what I mean? 518 00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:20,080 Like there's also like your two eyes. 519 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:25,480 It's just again, just more things for your brain to be processing all at the same time 520 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:28,520 when you're supposed to be reading a word and like immediately knowing exactly what 521 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:29,520 it says. 522 00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:34,600 And it's just once again, where those expectations of like, act your age, reading at age level 523 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:37,680 or grade level, whatever it is, all in quotation marks. 524 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:40,240 That's where we're like, how about reading a brain level? 525 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:44,000 Not at a, oh, what good slogan. 526 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:45,000 That was really good. 527 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:46,000 Read at your brain level. 528 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:47,000 Reading a brain level. 529 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:48,000 Forget about age. 530 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:49,000 Forget about your brain level. 531 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:51,120 Let's read it brain level. 532 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:52,120 Seriously. 533 00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:53,120 Okay. 534 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:54,120 That was really good. 535 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:55,120 That was really good. 536 00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:56,120 Yeah. 537 00:28:56,120 --> 00:28:58,800 So the last reflex then is the symmetrical tonic neck reflex. 538 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:04,760 And this is when you're able to readjust from one distance to another effortlessly. 539 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:09,120 So if you're looking down at your paper, you look up to the whiteboard or you come down 540 00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:14,200 to the whiteboard or I literally see this in my child copying from one piece of paper 541 00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:17,680 to the next where you're literally just turning your head and looking from one piece to the 542 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:18,680 next. 543 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:21,120 And this is the natural ability to do so. 544 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:22,120 Yes. 545 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:26,360 If you were not given the opportunity to get this reflex integrated, of course this is 546 00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:27,360 going to be hard. 547 00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:29,480 Of course you're going to mix up your letters and your words. 548 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:33,920 And of course you're going to look like you have a challenge when it comes to all sorts 549 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:34,920 of learning. 550 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:35,920 All of these learning things. 551 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:39,160 And this is something really interesting that was in the book, the reflexive learning 552 00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:40,160 and behavior. 553 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:43,520 If you're a podcast listener, you know we reference this book all the time. 554 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:46,720 It's our absolute fave. 555 00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:51,040 And there's a part where she's talking about Trevor Roper who is a researcher. 556 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:56,040 And that is somebody who was looking at all the visual components of learning and kind 557 00:29:56,040 --> 00:30:01,200 of looking at the up close vision versus far away. 558 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:05,280 And so the people that are myopic, that means that you can see up close and much harder 559 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:07,960 for you to see far away. 560 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:13,400 Just happen to have a tendency for more activities that are done up close. 561 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:17,320 Like writing, like writing, like art, like drawing. 562 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:21,960 And the people that have the opposite have much more of a tendency to go toward much 563 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:24,200 more out there things. 564 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:27,080 So sports and things that are further away. 565 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:31,380 They like to look at telescopes and they like to do the different things that are further 566 00:30:31,380 --> 00:30:33,280 away because that's what's easiest for them. 567 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:36,040 So these are also things that we check up to personality. 568 00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:39,480 But a lot of the time, and that's what you were saying in the beginning of the podcast, 569 00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:42,080 it's not just our personality, it's our brain. 570 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:45,880 And so you might be somebody who's just decided, Oh, you know, I'm more bookish. 571 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:49,080 I'm really not into sports, but it's just because your brain couldn't do it. 572 00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:53,600 So once you give your brain that ability, then you can explore also a different facet 573 00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:56,320 of who you are as a person, which is also really cool. 574 00:30:56,320 --> 00:30:57,840 Oh, I love that. 575 00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:02,360 And think about too, when you're on your hands and knees, this distance of where your hands 576 00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:07,160 are to where your head's at is such a big deal because this is your reading distance. 577 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:10,320 This is how you're interpreting information in front of you. 578 00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:14,360 So that's really setting the stage for how are you going to be able to process this information 579 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:17,680 when you're at that space when it's time to do it. 580 00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:18,680 Okay. 581 00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:20,760 That was just addressing the reflexes. 582 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:21,760 Okay. 583 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:24,280 So reflexes, we have to remember this. 584 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:29,440 They are always interweaving with all the other sensory systems happening. 585 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:33,680 Plus, we've got our lower brain, which is our creeping and our crawling. 586 00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:34,680 Yeah. 587 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:35,680 The pons in mid-brain. 588 00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:40,760 So when you're doing specific movements like creeping, like on your belly where you're 589 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:44,640 moving from point A to point B, that when you're doing that movement, it's bringing 590 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:48,640 in the reflexes that are during that time period to work together. 591 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:53,320 And then when you go into your crawling phase, when you hit about six months, then you're 592 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:56,800 bringing in all the reflexes that are geared towards your crawling and all your mid-brain 593 00:31:56,800 --> 00:31:57,800 functions. 594 00:31:57,800 --> 00:31:59,240 So this is why it's so important. 595 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:01,760 You can't just see primitive reflex integration. 596 00:32:01,760 --> 00:32:03,520 You can't just go creep and crawl. 597 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:08,280 You have to do both pieces of it because it will affect our auditory system. 598 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:13,600 It'll affect our visual system, affect our vestibular, our proprioceptive, all the systems 599 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:14,920 that are finally working together. 600 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:16,520 So it's so much. 601 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:20,520 We think babies don't do anything in that first year, but holy cow. 602 00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:21,600 Holy cannoli. 603 00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:22,760 It's so much. 604 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:26,960 And just really quickly to illustrate, we're not going to get too deep into the auditory 605 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:32,800 and the visual systems, but this I think is really interesting is the way that we process 606 00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:40,960 sounds that the auditory part of the brain is in the left hemisphere. 607 00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:47,400 And that means that when we process audit sounds through our right ear, we are doing 608 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:51,920 a much more efficient job because our right ear goes directly into the left hemisphere 609 00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:52,920 to process. 610 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:55,840 And then we're able to understand what that sound was. 611 00:32:55,840 --> 00:33:01,080 When we listen through our left ear is listening, not hearing, listen through our left ear. 612 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:04,720 We have to go into the right hemisphere because that's the way our brain is wired. 613 00:33:04,720 --> 00:33:06,680 Right left side is the right hemisphere. 614 00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:07,960 And then we have to jump over. 615 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:13,080 Remember, if you have that retained AT&R, that's going to be hard to jump over this 616 00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:17,520 brick wall and then get to the left side to the auditory processing. 617 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:19,440 And then we're able to understand what it means, right? 618 00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:25,040 Or to process that sound for further and more and more, more like the higher centers. 619 00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:31,360 And so when we're learning to process sounds, we are kind of like fine tuning the balance 620 00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:35,740 between the left and the right ears and which is going to be our dominance. 621 00:33:35,740 --> 00:33:41,360 And it has been established that people that have a right ear dominance have a much easier 622 00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:46,880 time of interpreting sounds, of hearing, of auditory processing sounds. 623 00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:49,760 And of course that goes hand in hand with reading, right? 624 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:53,320 Because what you're hearing then becomes what you know, what you learn. 625 00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:55,480 And then what you read goes hand in hand with that. 626 00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:57,400 Remember, we talked about that in the beginning. 627 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:04,520 So if you have a little bit more of a tendency to go to the left ear, then this might be once 628 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:09,320 again adding another piece onto all the stuff that your brain has to process. 629 00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:12,760 So without going too much into the detail of that, I want everybody who's listening to 630 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:17,360 the podcast right now to do a quick little test, which is stand in front of a wall, look 631 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:22,880 at the wall and imagine that on the other side of the wall is the best juiciest piece 632 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:24,600 of gossip you've ever heard in your life. 633 00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:25,600 Okay. 634 00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:27,720 You're like, Oh my God, I need to hear this so good. 635 00:34:27,720 --> 00:34:32,840 So now I want you to slowly get closer to the wall and put your ear up to the wall to 636 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:35,400 listen to that juicy gossip. 637 00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:37,280 Which ear did you favor? 638 00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:39,160 Was it the right or the left? 639 00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:40,160 And now think about it. 640 00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:43,400 And what does that tell you about your brain with what you just heard? 641 00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:45,120 That is your dominant ear. 642 00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:48,840 You can do this for all of your senses, right? 643 00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:53,800 So you can figure out what is your dominant ear when it comes to hearing and then also 644 00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:55,320 what is your dominant eye? 645 00:34:55,320 --> 00:35:00,520 The eye is not as key, but having them work together is super important. 646 00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:03,960 So if you want to put your eye through a telescope, like which eye do you close? 647 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:05,080 Which eye do you keep open? 648 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:06,360 Which is your dominant? 649 00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:10,000 So I know I have a left dominant eye and I have a right dominant ear. 650 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:15,880 And what's so crazy is when we dive into all of this, I always like to talk about my son 651 00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:19,560 because he's such an amazing sport and he understands this stuff because we talk about 652 00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:21,760 it and he's not even eight yet. 653 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:26,960 But he has a dominant left ear and he, we didn't check his eyes, but I'm not sure about 654 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:27,960 that. 655 00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:30,760 But anyways, he's a dominant left ear, but I also know he doesn't have his symmetrical 656 00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:33,520 tonic neck reflex integrated all the way. 657 00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:35,680 And so this is the piece. 658 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:37,320 Here's the information. 659 00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:40,320 I just talked to his teachers and you know, they're amazing. 660 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:41,320 They're so sweet. 661 00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:44,680 And they're like, Danny, I think we should talk about maybe a learning disability. 662 00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:46,600 Do you think Axel has one? 663 00:35:46,600 --> 00:35:48,400 And I just confident like, okay, cute. 664 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:51,680 Thanks for your feedback, but I'm not going to take that because then that puts this pressure 665 00:35:51,680 --> 00:35:52,680 on me. 666 00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:53,680 Oh, great. 667 00:35:53,680 --> 00:35:54,680 Now what? 668 00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:57,920 And on him and on him and oh, something's wrong. 669 00:35:57,920 --> 00:36:02,320 So instead of me spiraling, which I would have done before all this work, I just go, 670 00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:03,320 you know what? 671 00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:06,800 I'm glad that other people can see this, but I'm going to give you a different take because 672 00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:11,840 this is what our goal is, is to normalize that we're all different, but normalize that 673 00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:18,080 you can do something about it to ease whatever challenge you're facing in your day. 674 00:36:18,080 --> 00:36:22,000 So for Axel, and this goes for a lot of people. 675 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:26,000 And we say this every time, if you have retained primitive reflexes as a child and you don't 676 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:30,400 do anything about it, they turn into retained primitive reflexes as an teenager and as an 677 00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:32,680 adult and so on and so on. 678 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:35,640 And how many times have you seen adults that just can act right? 679 00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:37,240 You're like, okay, what is it? 680 00:36:37,240 --> 00:36:38,240 Right? 681 00:36:38,240 --> 00:36:39,240 There's a lot of things. 682 00:36:39,240 --> 00:36:40,240 But anyways. 683 00:36:40,240 --> 00:36:44,480 So Axel, it's like, okay, instead of him just being diagnosed as a learning disability, 684 00:36:44,480 --> 00:36:48,200 what if we looked at it and say, oh my gosh, he's working so much harder than he needs 685 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:54,880 to because he has a left ear dominance, which we now know he has to process things differently 686 00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:57,720 and he has retained primitive reflexes. 687 00:36:57,720 --> 00:37:01,960 And the cool part is, is yes, you can do stuff to help with your dominance. 688 00:37:01,960 --> 00:37:05,480 But the more important thing that you can do right now is you can go integrate your symmetrical 689 00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:06,480 tonic neck reflex. 690 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:12,240 You can do all your other reflexes and we can keep working on all of our other good 691 00:37:12,240 --> 00:37:13,240 stuff. 692 00:37:13,240 --> 00:37:16,120 So then he has hope and then he's not sitting there going, great, now I'm just going to 693 00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:20,200 be stupid and not, you know, ever able to achieve things. 694 00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:24,200 And now we can help him understand, well, what kind of learning helps? 695 00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:25,760 What preference do you have for learning? 696 00:37:25,760 --> 00:37:27,120 How do you prefer to learn? 697 00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:28,760 And I already know about Axel. 698 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:32,600 He likes to move movements, his language of learning. 699 00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:36,440 So let's get this kid moving and let's not put him in a traditional classroom. 700 00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:37,440 Because he won't thrive. 701 00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:41,680 He needs to do something that is out of the box because that's how he's going to find 702 00:37:41,680 --> 00:37:43,040 his true potential. 703 00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:47,000 So that's just something that we want to make sure you all understand is that we're, we're 704 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:48,720 all about options and hope. 705 00:37:48,720 --> 00:37:52,880 And then when it comes to the visual system, learners, this is a really interesting one 706 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:57,760 and also the way to check if you're left or right eye dominant, by the way, is also to 707 00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:01,360 just kind of imagine that you're looking at something, you're looking at the gossip, 708 00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:04,880 you're not listening to it at this time, but it's kind of far away. 709 00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:06,680 And so which eye do you go to cover? 710 00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:11,080 If you really want to focus on, on what you do, if I tell you to cover one eye to be able 711 00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:13,560 to really focus on something you're seeing, which one do you cover? 712 00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:16,480 And so the one that's uncovered is your dominant eye. 713 00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:20,960 And this is just a tiny little tidbit and then we'll, we'll end the episode. 714 00:38:20,960 --> 00:38:25,400 Learners with left eye dominance will initially want to look at the right side of the page 715 00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:27,760 first and then move to the left. 716 00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:32,360 So in the Western world where we read from left to right, this makes it just that much 717 00:38:32,360 --> 00:38:37,520 harder because the dominant eye is the one that sets the stage for reading. 718 00:38:37,520 --> 00:38:40,480 Even though of course they're both teaming or what ideally they're both teaming, they're 719 00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:42,360 both looking at the same spot. 720 00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:45,440 The one that's leading it is the dominant eye. 721 00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:49,920 And so if the reflexes are getting in the way as well, that's just extra work for the 722 00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:50,920 eyes. 723 00:38:50,920 --> 00:38:54,680 So if you're somebody with the left eye dominance, just take that into account as well as like 724 00:38:54,680 --> 00:38:58,320 a little bit extra stuff that's going on in your brain that might be making it a little 725 00:38:58,320 --> 00:38:59,320 bit harder. 726 00:38:59,320 --> 00:39:00,320 Yeah. 727 00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:02,280 And so that's what this is all about. 728 00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:05,720 So you can look at it as there's just more to it. 729 00:39:05,720 --> 00:39:07,040 There's more to the story. 730 00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:10,600 And when, you know, you go get a diagnosis and they tell you have dyslexia, you just 731 00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:16,200 go, Oh, okay, this means that there's reflexes on that means that I can go integrate them. 732 00:39:16,200 --> 00:39:20,600 That means I have a different dominance profile and I need to take information in differently. 733 00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:24,480 And it's just the more, you know, about you, you can help navigate and make your life just 734 00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:25,560 so much easier. 735 00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:26,800 So much easier. 736 00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:28,920 And that's what we're here to do it in the cortex. 737 00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:34,560 Which is normalize all of this and help you understand that there's simple, simple movements. 738 00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:39,840 There are simple movements you can do daily that my four year old does alongside me. 739 00:39:39,840 --> 00:39:40,840 So they're simple. 740 00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:45,400 We have 90 year olds that are doing it and you do it daily and then your brain's like, 741 00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:46,400 okay, cool. 742 00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:49,840 Now I know I can see the world for what it is versus distorting it and tweaking it and 743 00:39:49,840 --> 00:39:51,480 making everything skewed. 744 00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:54,960 So if you have questions about anything we talked about today, please send us an email 745 00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:57,200 at hello it in the cortex.com. 746 00:39:57,200 --> 00:40:02,760 We have a super amazing program coming out April 1st with Dr. Greer Kirschenbaum and 747 00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:07,040 she is a neuroscientist in a doula and we're doing a parenting program with her and it's 748 00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:08,640 going to be rather amazing. 749 00:40:08,640 --> 00:40:12,200 So please sign up and we have a special logo for that. 750 00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:13,680 So stay tuned for that. 751 00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:14,680 Oh yeah. 752 00:40:14,680 --> 00:40:17,080 Buy one get one. 753 00:40:17,080 --> 00:40:18,800 So do it with a friend. 754 00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:23,080 Bring in the accountability and the excitement and motivation that comes with doing something 755 00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:24,080 together with your friend. 756 00:40:24,080 --> 00:40:27,920 It's for your own sake, it's for your family's sake and for your kids' sake whether you 757 00:40:27,920 --> 00:40:31,200 have them or not yet. 758 00:40:31,200 --> 00:40:33,760 Which is the case for me of course. 759 00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:36,120 And are we going to do it again? 760 00:40:36,120 --> 00:40:38,440 Let's just talk about our social media shall we? 761 00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:40,360 There we go. 762 00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:46,200 Our social media in the cortex underscore us is the Instagram the gram for all the baddies 763 00:40:46,200 --> 00:40:50,960 out there who like to abbreviate in underscore the underscore cortex. 764 00:40:50,960 --> 00:40:52,200 That's our tick tock. 765 00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:58,760 And the cortex underscore us is also our FB or our Facebook and our YouTube channel is 766 00:40:58,760 --> 00:41:01,040 in the cortex underscore us as well. 767 00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:03,360 I believe I don't actually know that right now. 768 00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:04,360 Yes it is. 769 00:41:04,360 --> 00:41:05,360 Okay. 770 00:41:05,360 --> 00:41:09,560 And website in the cortex.com and just always reach out. 771 00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:11,000 We're super excited for the program. 772 00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:17,720 Make sure you secure your spot for the program before March 29 because we there's going to 773 00:41:17,720 --> 00:41:19,200 be a lot of stuff to like look over. 774 00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:21,200 So we want you to have some time before we get started. 775 00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:23,960 And that's really when we're closing off the the signups. 776 00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:27,720 Of course if you have extenuating circumstances and you messages afterward we'll see what 777 00:41:27,720 --> 00:41:32,040 we can do but we really want to get everybody in there so that on April 1st Monday, April 778 00:41:32,040 --> 00:41:36,560 1st we're starting with everybody and it's going to be just the coolest thing ever. 779 00:41:36,560 --> 00:41:37,640 So yeah. 780 00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:41,800 And please share and subscribe and tell your friends. 781 00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:46,400 Read it and read it and let everybody know that life can get easier. 782 00:41:46,400 --> 00:41:47,400 Yes, it's that simple. 783 00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:50,560 You just have to do some movements and then all of a sudden your life just gets easier 784 00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:55,280 and we live this and we just want the world to know about this because we see so many 785 00:41:55,280 --> 00:42:00,280 people that are feeling challenges and these are tools that will help you get further along 786 00:42:00,280 --> 00:42:04,200 on your journey to really just really enjoy this experience of being human. 787 00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:05,200 Right. 788 00:42:05,200 --> 00:42:09,280 So it's all about sharing with all your friends. 789 00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:10,280 Thank you all for listening. 790 00:42:10,280 --> 00:42:13,720 We appreciate you and you have an amazing rest of your week. 791 00:42:13,720 --> 00:42:14,720 Thank you. 792 00:42:14,720 --> 00:42:20,720 Bye.