Close your eyes and listen to you
Imagine you are in a very quiet place. Sit back struggle with their emotions. As many as
and close your eyes. What sounds or 50 per cent of people on the autism spectrum
sensations do you feel on the inside of your suffer from anxiety. Dr. Garfinkel is one of the
body? Is your heart beating fast or slow? Are scientists behind this research. She explains
you breathing deeply or shallowly? Do your that we can all learn to tune into how often
muscles feel tense or relaxed? How does our heart beats. By doing so, we can become
your stomach feel? Are there any sounds more in tune with our own emotions. Patients
coming from it? This ability to ‘listen to are also hailing the success of the treatment,
our bodies’ is called interoception. saying that it helps them to relax and feel
more in control of their bodies and emotions.
New research carried out by scientists
Ultimately, patients feel happier.
at Brighton and Sussex Medical School
is examining how the detection of Heartbeat counting is not the only
internal bodily sensations, such as your approach used. There are many others
heartbeat, can shape our decision making including controlled breathing, slow and
and emotional processing. The research is soft strokes on the skin and controlling the
particularly useful in helping people with body’s temperature by thinking of ‘feelings’
autism spectrum disorders (ASD), who can often of coolness or warmth.
The goats heard!
Historical records show that our ancestors benefited from the
When you think about it, none of this
should come as a surprise. There are lots
of similar examples in the animal
kingdom. We often think of animals
having a sixth sense about events in the
natural world but scientific theory
points us back to low frequency
vibrations. Some animals have been
thought to feel or hear infrasonic waves
passing through the Earth in the event
of natural disasters, which they then use
as an early warning system. A brilliant
example was the 2004 Indian Ocean
earthquake and tsunami, when birds,
elephants and other animals were
reported to have fled the area for higher
ground hours before the actual tsunami
hit the low-lying shores of the Indian
Ocean.
capability of animals and responded accordingly to save lives
and property. In fact, there are numerous stories of animals
predicting disasters – scientists working in Italy have conducted
one of the first ever scientific studies relating to infrasound and
animals. The team of researchers attached transmitters to goats
living around Mount Etna, on the Italian island of Sicily. They
then recorded the animals’ movements over several years and
compared the animals’ movement profiles with volcanic
activity. Incredibly, the herd of goats’ big moment arrived on
4 January 2012: at 10:20 p.m. At that precise moment Mount
Etna began to spew large amounts of lava and ash into the
air. The eruption took place six hours after the researchers
had recorded unusual activity among the goat herd. Over the
course of the study, which lasted two years, scientists could
predict a total of seven major eruptions based on the goats’
movements. In another Italian city called L’Aquila (woah!) in
2009, a major earthquake occurred in April of that year,
scientists noticed that five days beforehand, toads had stopped
spawning and abandoned their colony completely.
This evidence suggests we may have much to learn from our
animal friends about tapping into our senses and listening
beyond the obvious sounds we hear in the world around us. It
is well known that whales, giraffes, as well as elephants, all
migrate and communicate via ‘the unhearable’ infrasound. So,
if you feel anxious, stressed or fearful maybe you just need to
listen to your body – whether that’s by counting your
heartbeats, controlling your breathing or simply employing
the good old-fashioned counting of sheep. Research suggests
it will make you feel better. Why not give it a try?
Tuning in