Decline and Vitality in People

When I've had contact with people with cognitive dysfunctions, I've always noted that an obvious physical accompaniment, was the lack of movement at the head, as well as the hands and feet -- and when I pointed that out to the head of Alzheimer's research at the University of Washington, she stunned me by pronouncing that the head should not move -- or a person might get whiplash, and then proceeded to demonstrate to me that a person cannot move their head from a fixed, locked position -- characteristic of most of the people sitting in those nursing homes looking like statues -- so that it is difficult to detect signs of life, except by pulse and breathing.

Obviously, there is more to vitality than just the persistence of the vital signs -- which may be strong in individuals otherwise, and they can possibly live many years in that deteriorating (unresponsive) condition -- or as I like to point out to people, that if they only move their head, hands and feet -- at those axes of rotation rather than at the core which is mainly evolved and designed for stability and support, but which most experts direct their attention and efforts to moving -- the perception of that person, is of a very dynamic, responsive and alert individual, more aware than anybody else of what is going on.

Because of the penchant for specializing and fragmenting knowledge -- what is overlooked, is that the best way to maintain the health of the brain (function), is NOT only by mental exercises, but by actually moving the head to direct that circulation specifically to the brain -- just as one can build up muscle in that manner.  While the brain is characterized by its nerve tissue -- it is also the organ most sensitive and responsive to measures that specifically direct the flow to any any area of the body acting as a pump -- which is the alternation of the fulestl contraction with the fullest relaxation -- just as the heart does, but aiding the heart in optimizing the circulatory -- by pumping back to the heart from the extremities, which is the known weakness of the human body, and where organs deteriorate first -- as predictable markers of the aging (deterioration) process.

That to me seems to be the major difference between those who age poorly, and those who seem largely immune from those effects.  That is the obvious behavioral component that seems to distinguish decline and vitality in people.  That's why people shouldn't drive a car, when they can no longer turn their heads, and be aware of what is going on around them -- and communicate that fact to others.