We have long recognised that the mind and body are linked and that one influences the other. However, we used to think that the mind - body link was a "top down" one. We now see that things are rather different. It is as if the mind acts as a “User interface” rather than an Operating System. The operating traffic goes two ways - from body to mind just as much as mind to body. Embodied cognition is a field of study, seen by some as a ‘silent revolution’ that explores the link between body and mind and this presentation reviews the relevance of this to rehabilitation.

1. Embodied Cognition
A role in rehabilitation?
Derek Jones PhD MBA
Anatomical Concepts (UK) Ltd
Fixxl Ltd

2. Cognition
is
what?

3. The brain does not
issue commands - it
hosts “conversations”
“A brain
without a body
cannot think”

4. Brain is Servant
Not
Master of the
Body

5. Mens
sana
corpore
sano
in
345 AD
Historical view of the
Mind and Body as
separate entities

6. I think ….
therefore I am

7. interconnected electrical and
chemical communication systems
binding brain, heart, muscles,
organ systems, senses and more

8. Musculosketal System
Our bones, joints and ligaments
are not just passive mechanical
structures - they reduce the
cognitive load
We don’t walk like Lions
because ….

9. States of the body
modify states of the
mind and vice versa
A Basic idea..
Your State ..
Your thoughts,
feelings, emotions
DETERMINE what
behaviours are possible
for you
Your movement,
position, posture,
environment

10. Cortex
Thalamus
Amygdala
Our Response is..
• Instantaneous
• Doesn’t involve “thinking”
• Influenced by Early Learning
• Emotionally DrivenBehaviour - Physiology - Immunology
Perception of Stress

11. The Brain is not the
only cognitive
resource we have to
solve problems
Radical idea..

12. ANS Balance
❖ High Effort
❖ Fight of Flight
❖ Adrenaline
❖ Low Effort
❖ Relaxation
❖ Acetylcholine
Sympathetic Pathway
Signals flow from our brain to the
heart, adrenal glands, blood vessels
etc speeding up these body
systems. Shaped by our
perception
Parasympathetic Pathway
Opposite effect to the Sympathetic
and acts to slow down or “cool down
the heart and other organs
“Accelerator” “Brakes”

13. Hormonal System
Positive Emotion
Well/Being
Success
Negative Emotion
Submission
Despair
Many hormones - “Molecules of Emotion” are produced
including DHEA (Precursor to Testosterone and Oestrogen)
and the body’s main stress hormone Cortisol
DHEA Cortisol
Imbalance is linked with
many chronic diseases

14. Hormonal
Long term
Short Term
ANS
Physiology
High
Performance
Low
Performance
High Arousal - Effort
Low Arousal - Relaxation
Fight Flight
Positive
Emotion
Negative
Emotion

15. Ha-ka “To ignite the breath”

16. Ha Ka - To ignite
the breath
The Whole Body Speaks

17. Your State ..
Your thoughts,
feelings, emotions
DETERMINE what
behaviours are possible
for you
Better State - Better Behaviours - Better Results
If you want to lead someone - go “there” first

18. Aimee
Mullins

19. Functional Proprioceptive Stimulation

21. Faced with “Change or
Die advice”
Seven out of Eight
would rather die than
change

22. Finding a Flow State

23. Finding a Better State
• Fuel - nutrition
• Move - it affects how we think
• Breathe - ignite the breath or relax
• Listen - we entrain to strong rhythm
• Risk - moving beyond our current experience

24. Derek Jones PhD MBA
Anatomical Concepts (UK) Ltd
Fixxl Ltd

25. Higaonna Sensei - age 74

26. Controller
Central Nervous System
Mechanical System
Musculoskeletal System
Sensory System
Sensory Receptors
Task environment
External
Physical
Stimuli
Sensory
Feedback
Motor
Commands
Internal
Physical
Stimuli
Information Self-Structuring
Body Dynamics/morphology
Mechanical
Feedback
Movement