Hearing
Sight
• Most people listen using their right ear.
• Unregulated noise levels can increase stress levels and decrease
productivity.
• Your hearing continues to pick up sounds even while you’re
sleeping, but your brain blocks them out so you can rest.
• Sitting close to loudspeakers at concerts can damage your
hearing permanently – in just 7.5 minutes!
• Some people don’t hear the beat in music, a condition
known as “beat deafness.”
• A sleeping baby can tell when someone’s tone of voice
indicates they are sad or upset.
• Although you may find ear wax gross, your ears are selfcleaning:
Pores in your ear canal produce cerumen (earwax)
while miniscule hairs push it out along with dirt, out of
the ear canal. Earwax protects the ear from dust, dirt, and
friction, and should only be cleaned out of the canal by a
professional, if necessary.
• Your eyes focus on 50 different objects every second.
• Not everyone sees colours the same way: What one finds is
a beautiful red, may be seen as a bright fuchsia in others.
• It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.
• Your eyes can detect a candle flame 1.7 miles away.
• Video gamers have better eyesight, hand-eye coordination
and better visual attention.
• Reading in dim light does not damage your eyesight, it
merely strains the muscles making eyes feel tired quicker.
• Only 1/6 of your eyeball is visible.
• Men are more likely to be colour blind than women.
• The human eye can distinguish over one million colours.
• In some languages, including Japanese, Thai and Korean,
the same word is used to describe both blue and green.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE 6th SENSE
“Proprioception” is the sense of self-movement and
body position – sometimes described as the “sixth sense”
and it’s managed by tiny neurons located within muscles,
tendons, and joints.
If you can walk in the dark without falling over, it’s because
of proprioception; same goes for walking without tripping
as proprioceptors assist with stability and orientation.
The issue develops with aging as proprioceptive functions
decline, which have been associated with poor balance and
movements such as shuffling or dragging the feet, increasing
the likelihood of falls.
Good news is, there are exercises to restore proprioception,
such as “Exercises at the Kitchen Sink” prepared by
the Strategies and Actions for Independent Living program of
British Columbia. These exercises have been designed to
strengthen muscles, improve balance and endurance, and
restore proprioception to reduce the risks of falling which
drastically increase with age.
Exercises at the Kitchen Sink can be viewed on YouTube
or on DVD through your local library, or a booklet
downloaded online for free, HERE.
12 Read + hear more: www.silvergoldmagazine.ca