One of the fastest growing fields of research in neuroscience around the world is the topic of “Neuroplasticity.” This is our brains ability to repair and “rewire” itself based on internal and external environmental demands. Our environments are what challenge our nervous system to adapt, improvise and recalibrate us to improve or diminish our health.
The portion of the brain known as the hypothalamus is the primary hub for observing and controlling our homeostatic feedback response to our internal and external environments. Specific environmental factors that it is responsible for are: blood chemistry,electrolytes, pH, white blood cell and immune response, glandular secretions, blood pressure, body temperature and thermogenesis, blood gas regulation (NO2, CO2, O2 and all others), the release of pituitary, adrenal, thyroid, sexual hormones and even plays a crucial role in neurotransmitter (dopamine, serotonin, epinephrine, etc..) regulation.
(Fig. 1 Review of the thermoregulatory cycle between the brain, muscles and vascular system)
Cryotherapy challenges the brains thermoregulatory systems and improves the communicational dynamics between the nervous and endocrine systems that regulate our bodies response to temperature. Much like resistance training exercise, which adds increase gravitational stress on the body beyond what we normally experience, pushing our nervous system and body to adapt and grow, allowing for muscular hypertrophy, improved function and response of the neuromusculoskeletal system and its tissues.Cryotherapy induces effects both locally (at the site of application) and at the level of the spinal cord via neurologic and vascular mechanisms (Nadler 2004).
Through a negative feedback signaling response from the skin to the hypothalamus, cryotherapy activates the bodies thermogenic metabolism of “Brown Fat” also known as Brown Adipose Tissue(BTA). As shown in the diagram below, the mechanism and response to cold begins with the release of Norepinephrine from the adrenal medulla as signaled from the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, catalyzing fat cells to release “fatty acyl-CoA.” Fatty-acyl-CoA is then shuttled into the mitochondria where beta-oxidation occurs, resulting in the production of ATP and heat as the byproduct.
(Fig. 2 Heat production from the brown adipose tissue is activated whenever the body is in need of extra heat, such as in cases of Cryotherapy)
The effects of changing the environmental temperature resulting in an adaptation response that promotes a host of benefits,is one way we can use our environment resulting in neuroplastic changes in the brain. The physical and psychological benefits derived from cryotherapy can also act as a form of catharsis that projects the mind and body into a new perspective or outlook towards old memories, problems or traumas. Challenging our environment to induce controlled adaptive responses can be a great way to exercise neurocognitive function and the neuro-adaptation responses throughout the body.
The neuroplastic applications of cryotherapy go beyond the homeostatic response between the brain and body. By placing ourselves in challenging situations and exercises, we can retrain our response to fear. For example, cryotherapy is a type of training that is often overlooked and avoided because of the fear associated with uncomfortable feeling of being submerged in ice-cold water. This fear response originates in a bundle of nuclei in the temporal lobe of the brain known as the Amygdala. This center is highly connected to the “memory center” of the brain known as the hippocampus as well as the prefrontal cortex where our higher thinking occurs. As the amygdala is activated, activity in the prefrontal cortex becomes inhibited, limiting the subject’s ability to think clearly, plan and organize thoughts. It also activates the memories associated with the stimuli in the hippocampus, resulting in difficulty to instill new patterns of thought or reactions to the memory. On functional imaging of the brain, research is indicating that the amygdala is highly overactive in those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. This hyper-excitability results in them becoming overly fearful of situations relating to old memories, adapting to new situations, as easily becoming agitated, scared, or easily angered through a lower threshold of stimuli. Further research regarding these benefits should be applied to better understand the mechanisms and applications of this therapy.
By challenging ourselves and placing ourselves in new scenarios at the proper frequency, we can adapt our brains response to fear and increase its threshold for incoming stimuli resulting in a new response. This minor deviation from our norm, if practiced properly over time, can allow for neuroplastic changes in the brain to stressful situations/stimuli, slowly dissociating ourselves from the seemly instinctual fear response and can potentially restructure the participant to no longer being qualified of the PTSD diagnosis. Further research regarding these benefits should be applied to better understand the mechanisms and applications of this therapy.
List of Cryotherapeutic Benefits:
• Improved Mental Toughness & Improved Pain Management: fMRI (functional MRI) analyses indicated that the WHM activates primary control centers for descending pain/cold stimuli modulation in the periaqueductal gray (PAG), possibly initiating a stress-induced analgesic response (Muzik 2018).
• Improved Neurovascular Dynamics & Communication
• Promotes improved Sympathetic vs. Parasympathetic regulation
• Anti-Inflammatory• Improve Hormonal Appetite Regulation (Ghrelin & Leptin)
• Improve Immune Function
• Increase Energy and ATP production
• Removes Metabolic waste from muscles and soft tissues while increasing nutrient delivery through vasoconstriction and vasodilation of arterial-venous network
• Improves Hormone Production & Hypothalamic-Pituitary dynamics
• Shows positive effects on the muscular enzyme’s creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase, and it should be considered a procedure that facilitates athletes’ recovery (Banfi 2012).
Author:
Founder of Neuroblast Radio
References:
1. Banfi, G., Lombardi, G., Colombini, A. et al. Sports Med (2010) 40: 509. https://doi.org/10.2165/11531940-000000000-00000
2. CANNON, B. “Brown Adipose Tissue: Function and Physiological Significance”. Physiological Reviews 84.1 (2004): 277-359. Web
3. Muzik, Otto, Kaice T. Reilly, and Vaibhav A. Diwadkar. "“Brain over body”–A study on the willful regulation of autonomic function during cold exposure." NeuroImage 172 (2018): 632-641.
4. Nadler, Scott F., Kurt Weingand, and Roger J. Kruse. "The physiologic basis and clinical applications of cryotherapy and thermotherapy for the pain practitioner." Pain physician 7.3 (2004): 395-400.
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