Thinking is not all in our head

I've been reading a book recommended to me by an occupational therapist about movement. Smart Moves, Why Learning is not all in your Head,(Carla Hannaford) examines how learning the physical sense of balance, leads to intellectual development.

Hannaford:

“Thinking and learning are not all in our head. On the contrary, the body plays an integral part in all our intellectual processes from our earliest moments, right through old age. It is our body’s senses that feed the brain environmental information with which to form an understanding of the world and from which to draw when creating new possibilities. And it is our movements that express knowledge and facilitate greater cognitive function as they increase in complexity. This is the conclusion which neuroscientific research supports in ever richer detail.”

Hannaford typically refers to movements that children perform naturally in play. Motions like running, jumping, spinning and swinging (with an intensity that would nauseate adults). This kind of play develops the vestibular system, specifically proprioception (body's sense of itself in space).

Our brains are making incredible calculations just by moving through space. Hannaford references a study that followed subjects from infancy to adulthood. This study discovered that competency in adulthood stemmed from three major factors in the early learning environment:

1. Rich sensory environments, both outdoors and indoors
2. Freedom to explore the environment with few restrictions
3. Available parents that acted as consultants when the child asked questions

Hannaford continues that,

"As we explore and experience our material world, initial sensory patterns are laid down on elaborate nerve networks. These initial sensory patterns become the core of our free-form information system that is updated and becomes more elegant with each new, novel experience."

I believe that it is no coincidence that the role of play (jumping, spinning etc.) essential to developing balance (vestibular) is related to the intellectual and emotional challenge of sensing the balance in our adult pursuits. The activites of running and jumping, throwing and catching a ball, riding a bicycle etc. all require the balance of many working systems within the body. They (child's play) are the ultimate big picture activities.

I recently interviewed a renowned biophysicist about what he does when he needs to do some difficult thinking on a problem he is working on. He told me that he leaves his lab and goes for a bike ride.