A physical basis for fearlessness and the New Orleans Saints

by Thunderchild tm

Study shows why it is so scary to lose money
[Via Reuters Health eLine]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – People are afraid to lose money and an unusual study released on Monday explains why – the brain’s fear center controls the response to a gamble.

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The amygdala has a site of intense interest because it seems to be the crossroads from many emotional memories. It is interesting to see that some people with damaged amygdalas will actually bet in situations that few other people would. They had little fear.

I wonder if something similar, not damage but altered processing in the amygdala, allowed the coach for the New Orleans Saints, Sean Payton, to make some really awesome gambles in the Superbowl. In almost every one of his gambles, the odds were distinctly in his favor, yet most coaches would not have gambled.

In fact, the odds were substantially in his favor on the surprise onside kick. Statistics show that if you can succeed 37% of the time, you will be ahead. Yet surprise onside kicks work about 55% of the time. In fact, Payton felt they had a “60 or 70 percent chance.“

Yet, very few coaches would have done such a thing. Many, particularly in the Superbowl, get too conservative. Playing not to lose rather than to win. That is why so many Superbowls are so boring.

And Payton is even more of a gambler. He used $250,000 out of his own salary to bring in Gregg Williams as defensive coordinator. The defense that gave them enough confidence to go for it on 4th and short at the end of the first half. The defense that stopped the Colts, allowing the Saints to get the ball back and quickly get a field goal.

Instead of playing safe, so no one would second guess the calls, they went for it, with the attitude ‘we may never be here again so let’s go for broke.’ But, and this is key, every one of their gambles had a firm statistical basis, bringing some of the same approaches baseball does with situational probabilities.

This is the key difference between amygdala-damaged fearlessness and what the Saints did. Their fearless behavior was actually based on firm rational reasoning and really exposed the ultra-conservative nature of the NFL, at least in the Superbowl.

[Listening to: Tunnel of Love from the album "Private Investigations - The Best Of" by Dire Straits]

Just breathe

by szlea

Slow breathing may soothe pain
[Via Reuters Health eLine]

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – The simple practice of slow breathing may help people deal with the physical and emotional reactions to moderate pain, a small study suggests.

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One of the best things learned when I took karate in college was using slow breathing to relax and calm myself after a hard workout. Simply taking several deep breathes through my nose and exhaling through my mouth can often get me centered quite rapidly. Put me flat on my back while playing certain classical works (The New World Symphony, for instance) and I am ‘gone.’ I enter a zone where there is no pain, no discomfort, where the personal ‘I’ does not exist.

Learning to breathe like that was a great thing to learn and I have used it to help others when they are in pain. Simply concentrating on the nature of the breathe seems to focus the brain on things other than pain. Nice to se someone actually coming up with the physical explanation.

[Listening to: You Don't Believe from the album "The Best Of The Alan Parsons Project" by Alan Parsons Project]

Some useful concussion information

11:38 PM (PT) – Recognizing Sports Concussions: Keeping Youth Athletes Safe
[Via ResearchChannel On-Air Schedule]

[More]

I wrote about some of the recent information about concussions. This is a lot more information about the effects on young athletes and reflects much of the background for the recent law in Washington State dealing with student concussions, named for a student athlete who suffered brain damage after a concussion, Zachary Lystedt..

There is now a nationwide effort, called the Zachary Lystedt Brain Project to get similar legislation passed. Two states, Washington and Oregon, have such laws and there are coalitions in 42 others. The six states that are behind the curve are: Arkansas, Delaware, Louisiana, Nevada, North Dakota and Wyoming. Let’s hope they get started soon.

[Listening to: Smoke On the Water from the album "Machine Head" by Deep Purple]