Registered Nurse Therapist – Neuro Rehab & Men’s Mental Health » Walking the path alongside patients. Studying fatigue experiences. Posts ≠ health advice.
Red Deer, Alberta
Joined September 2013
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Adam Henley, MSc, RN retweeted
Why can a healthy person run in a blackout or under optokinetic (OPK) stimulation, while someone with PPPD gets completely "glued to the floor"? 🏃♂️🔒
It’s all about how the brain prioritizes its balance inputs (Peterka’s equation: Wprop + Wvest + Wvis = 1.0).
🧠 The Healthy System (Flexible Bottom-Up Hierarchy)
- When you rely 70% on feet/joints (Wprop), 20% on inner ears (Wvest), and only 10% on vision (Wvis), you barely use sight for upright stability.
If you wear a blackout mask or OPK goggles, your brain drops vision to 0% (Wvis -> 0) and instantly shifts 100% of the burden to your feet and inner ears. Balance is untouched—you can run!
🌪️ The PPPD Patient (Pathological Visual Over-Dependency)
Distrusting her body’s natural sensors, her brain has inverted the hierarchy, relying on vision for 80% to 90% of its postural truth (Wvis -> 0.80-0.90).
Put a blackout mask on her, and you’ve "unplugged" 85% of her balance. Show her moving OPK visual flow, and it feels like an earthquake.
Unable to rely on her eyes, her brain senses "free-fall." It triggers an emergency High-Stiffness Co-Contraction—rigidly clamping her ankles, knees, and hips. Both feet are glued to the floor to maximize contact, but this severe tension floods her nervous system with "proprioceptive static," drowning out the very foot and joint signals she needs to feel the floor and take a step.
Swipe to see the full neurological breakdown of this mismatch.👇
#PPPD #VestibularDisorders #ChronicDizziness #NervousSystem #Neuroscience #PhysicalTherapy #BalanceDisorders #Proprioception #VestibularRehab #BrainHealth #NeuroRehab #DynamicBalance #MotorControl #VestibularDysfunction #ClinicalNeuroscience👇
Adam Henley, MSc, RN retweeted
Applications are now open for the Anthropic Residency, a paid, fixed-term research program for academics, technical founders, and staff-level engineers who want to make AI safe and beneficial for everyone. No ML background is required.
Apply by November 22: alignment.anthropic.com/2026…
There's a unique gift that flows from fatigue that we don't talk enough about.
In states of fatigue, the human brain experiences a shift in its 'default mode' towards daydreaming, light sleep, and rest. (We can directly observe this shift by the slowing of brain waves, showing more alpha and theta waves on EEG.)
But, without getting into the neuroscience of this shift, I wanted to share something really interesting. If we persist in working through fatigue, people typically experience a state of 'ego depletion' or a literal 'paralysis by analysis'.
We've all experienced this. Those moments where we feel less regulated, weak or unable to do things, and (most importantly) less to make strategic decisions.
Executive functions are consumed in fatigue, so things like speech and attention also quickly degrade. The constant decision to 'push through' creates more tiredness than the work itself.
A prominent study of hockey players looked at the effect of making decisions on the ice (such as frequent pass decisions) and found an increase in errors and physical weakness as the number of choices increased.
Here's the part you may not know:
This deleted state is also marked by a more creative, flexible and open-minded thinking style. So, as people work in the context of fatigue, they are more open to rethinking things.
This is key, because it suggests that we can shift brain states more efficiently in the context of fatigue.
AI changes everything! I could have never imagined teaching an integrated 'Sensation and Perception' and 'Computer Vision' course with labs, yet here we are.
Adam Henley, MSc, RN retweeted
I joined @GoogleDeepMind to develop a research program on the economics of AGI. Today, together with Andrew Koh (@andrewjkoh) and Shane Legg (@ShaneLegg), we are incredibly excited to release The Economics of Intelligence, the first in a series of projects from our group on how AGI will change the economy.
How do capability improvements transform the economy, and when? In this project, we define thresholds of economic capabilities, e.g., minimal AGI, based on how they transform the economy. We then track how the economy–market structure, employment, and wages–changes during the transition across capability regimes.
We have seen exponential increases in what AI agents can do but the broader economy seems almost remarkably unchanged. Part of the reason is that the solo AI agent is the wrong economic object; economic transformation is an equilibrium outcome where organizations compete. Looking at how intelligence functions within organizations, transformation will depend on when two key capability thresholds are crossed: competence (gains on individual skills, e.g., coding, math) and coordination (gains on ability of agents to cooperate and work together).
We show that what economic transformation looks like depends on whether AI becomes supercompetent, supercooperative, or both—the regime of artificial superintelligence (ASI). Tracking this transition shows why the real visible transformation may come from improvements in coordination—a capability most benchmarks don’t yet track. Past a certain threshold, AI capabilities can break the Coasian ceiling on firm size and lead to an economy that looks drastically different than the one we see today.
Two main takeaways:
1. To understand the path of transformation, we should be tracking agentic coordination more closely.
2. The impact of AI will likely show up in wages before market structure or employment.
We are really excited about this paper. Excited to hear people’s thoughts.
Link: institute.deepmind.com/essay…
When someone thinks "wouldn't it be nice to win the lottery", they have something in common with the patient achieving a miraculous recovery from stroke.
Wouldn't it be nice to speak clearly again, without having to struggle with speech everytime I talk?
Wouldn't it be nice to walk again, without having to worry about tripping on stairs or falling?
Wouldn't it be nice to drive again, without completing visual attention training?
To recover from stroke, one must first possess an energy (a greater intelligence) that makes the word of care worthwhile. This is a lot like winning the lottery, as it is often affected by the nature of the stroke itself.
The most mirculous cures have been the patients with incredible will-power, motivation, and stubborness.
Systems of care break when the person who trusted in the affordability, access, or accuracy of care is let down.
And so, there is a space here to listen to the patient and their family. To act on feedback, and thank them for contributing to the development of systems of care.
This month, Nathan Felder singlehandedly elevated the consciousness of a nation that had sunk into an intellectual abyss.
I smile reading about people exploring the topic of meta-cognition in such a real format.
(The movie also remains a masterpiece... 4 days after I saw it.)
Also, much to the horror of my partner, I am kind of a fan of @per_asp3ra. He comes across as intensely protective of Elizabeth, perhaps to a fault.
Adam Henley, MSc, RN retweeted
‘He ran into the fire’: Military medic critically injured saving fellow soldiers in CFB Wainwright fire
globalnews.ca/news/12119428/…
Every province says this every election, and every province messes it up every election.
The idea is sound, but the ability to implement decentralized care remains the holy grail of health systems.
Opinion: The cure for B.C.’s hospital crisis isn’t more hospitals. It’s shifting resources to the community vancouversun.com/opinion/op-…
About 6 months ago, I upgraded my clinic EMR to support virtual care and group visits. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine there would be demand for a multi-session patient class.
And yet, here we are... I can't wait to share the announcement for an 8 week class designed to tackle body dysmorphia, chronic stress, and men's mental health from a neurobiological perspective.
Stillness requires a kind of receptivity and grace. To notice those parts distant or lost.
And yet, there is an ache to stillness. Lost friends. Delayed hopes. Old ideas and aspirations. Adrift in a world longing for meaning and purpose.
In stillness, we feel seen by nothingness, held even. Not by ourself, but by a deeper purpose, intuition and knowing.
Across the Ancient Greek, Latin and Aramaic languages, the word spirit literally means wind or breath.
Our ancestors understood winds to be incredibly powerful, forces of God and of vitality. And from wind came our concept of Spirit, forever changed by Christianity.
For this, we are called to pause and reflect. For winds sometimes arrive without explanation, and without cause. Winds more powerful than us. Changing things. Changing us.
Some would call this rather supernatural, hence an act of God.
Adam Henley, MSc, RN retweeted
Mayor Bruce Pugh of Wainwright spoke with Rosie Barton about the incident at CFB Wainwright that involved casualties. Information remains limited under Canadian Armed Forces protocols. The local hospital served as the initial triage point, and a fire escaped the base into the Municipal District, worsened by dry weather and wind. Neighbouring communities stepped in while local crews responded
Pugh said first responders “were witness to things that you would pray that you never see,” and that the fire chief’s brief description was simply that “it’s bad.” He added: “When you hear that, it’s sobering.”He noted the heavy aircraft traffic moving patients and bringing specialized personnel, and said the community’s immediate response has been strong. “Our hearts just go to them,” he said of those most directly affected. “The support and the love from people we don’t even know is going to be something that will be never forgotten in our little community.”
Understandably, the weight of the situation showed at moments, but he stayed composed throughout. He thanked people for the outreach and said the thoughts and prayers “really do mean something” as the town and base process what happened
This is such a significant loss that will be felt for years. The burn injuries and trauma will be most visible. But, many blast injuries are invisible and stick with soldiers for years.
Blast-induced traumatic brain injuries need professional attention and early assessment. To soliders affected by this horrific accident, please reach out to your medical cadre to be assessed for any neurological changes like headaches, dizziness/balance problems, or speech or thinking difficulties. Early intervention makes a huge difference, and can protect your livelihood.
Adam Henley, MSc, RN retweeted
Just an insane, tragic set of dominos resulting in an significant loss of life at CFB Wainwright.
globalnews.ca/news/12106709/…
Adam Henley, MSc, RN retweeted
Additional reports from CFB Wainwright suggest a Carl Gustaf (Carl G) 84 mm anti tank round may have struck a natural gas/pipeline during a live fire training exercise.
According to local accounts, the impact ignited a fire that intensified as winds picked up, spreading toward a munitions storage shed and reportedly triggering secondary detonations.
➟ Casualties are reportedly in the hundreds, with earlier accounts suggesting at least 100 affected. Official figures remain unavailable.
➟ Regional hospitals are reportedly operating under Code Orange, a mass casualty emergency protocol. The extent of these activations remains unconfirmed.
➟ STARS reportedly dispatched two air ambulance helicopters from Edmonton and Saskatoon.
➟ Two flights involving C-FSUG, a civilian Beechcraft King Air B200 operated by Alberta Central Airways and previously associated with Alberta Health Services medical transport, reportedly landed tonight. The aircraft typically accommodates 6 to 8 passengers plus crew. Its possible involvement in casualty evacuations remains unconfirmed.
Authorities have confirmed 7 fatalities and many injuries, while the specific cause, casualty figures, hospital alerts and secondary detonations await independent verification.
Additionally:
The reported number of personnel potentially affected within a relatively concentrated area is worth examining, particularly during a live fire exercise. If casualty estimates in the hundreds are accurate, further information about troop positioning, proximity to the incident and the circumstances of their exposure would help clarify what occurred.
🤖 Made with AI
