ProfessorMac's Brain

Recreational Drumming and Music Making boost Brain Health, Wellness, and Social Skills

Drum circles help to reduce stress and stimulate the brain for optimal function in the workplace

“Music may be the Holy Grail of the Human Condition”

Stephen Dolle facilitates a drumming for wellness workshop at a private home in Orange County

  If there were ever a magic potion that made you smarter and more adaptable to the challenges around you – it may well be music. And at the core of music…

Nootropics Vitamins now able to boost Brain Performance

Nootropics boost Brain Function and Performance

Ordinarly, there’s more hype than substance when it comes to claims about vitamins. But as part of a presentation on brain health and Alternative Medicine this past September at Sovereign Health Orange County, I discussed the many modalities under Alternative Medicine and CAM(Complimentary and Alternative Medicine), and saw great promise in…

Another mass shooting blanks the U.S. current news, this time at a community college in Oregon. Like so many of the other shooters of these mass shootings, this shooter suffered from a learning disability, and likely related sensory processing disorder (SPD) and mental health challenges. But why are these individuals and their families advocating the ownership of guns and shooting at gun ranges…

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Methods in Addiction Treatment

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Methods in Addiction Treatment

by

Stephen M. Dolle

Accompanying Presentation for Sept. 9, 2015 Talk at Sovereign Health San Clemente

Topics covered in this Presentation on CAM in Addiction

Overview of Addiction

Medical Sequela in addiction

Prospects in Managing Health Complaints thru mHealth

Cognition and Addiction

Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)

Cognitiv…

Sound sensory processing dysfunction, also termed hyperacusis, sensory integration disorder, overstimulation, and others is common post TBI, in many neurological disorders, disorders such as autism & ADHD, and in PTSD and disorders of mental health.

These disorders have really only come to be understood in the past 10-15 years, and its education and advocacy to the general populace is very much…

Neuroscientist and percussionist Stephen Dolle says drums & drum beats can be used in practice drills to help NFL football teams with timing, on-field communications, and snap count, and overcome some of the effects of crowd noise at NFL football stadiums like the Seattle Seahawks, New Orleans Saints, and Kansas City Chiefs. There’s always been an advantage to playing at home. But this year,…

Athletic skills, like the skill necessary for everyday movement, are based on muscle memory! And we achieve muscle memory thru “rhythmic progressions” of the patterning needed in the activities we undertake.

New limits on NFL workouts this pre-season have now led to a rash of non-contact injuries. Why? Not enough rhythmic progressions to re-establish muscle memory of the required athletic…

Decibel meter apps are helpful in managing the ill effects of sound exposure in brain injury, hydrocephalus, ADHD, PTSD, and related sensory processing disorders. Sound Meter is best app on Android. The Pro version is $.99. Though either is good. SPLnFFT is said to be best app on iPhone. Many are accurate enough for these purposes. Plus, what you’re really interested in, is a comparative analysis…

Sports Science vs Brain Science of Basketball: Where’s the Shot Come From

Early Mayan Basletball

Early Mayan music and drumming

Basketball would seem to be the most unique team sport in America, with its sports science and brain science only partially explaining the extraordinary performances of players. Where does the basketball shot come from? It’s complicated. And there appears to be some other yet discovered science at play on the basketball court! When I examine…

Drum Circles as Workplace Wellness Programs aid Brain Function, Employee Engagement and Inclusion

This Orange County engineering firm wasn’t sure what they were getting into when they asked to have a drum circle workplace wellness program in their firm this past March. The results were much more than they anticipated. The twenty or so employees who attended became engaged, creative, and found a big boost in their energy. Even their office suit neighbors below found it rocking. It was exactly…

Tips on Making you Smarter and more Focused at Work and School

The brain and sensory system during cognition.

I am writing this post largely in response to the New York Times story on abuse of psychostimulant drugs like Adderall & Ritalin, which are used to treat ADHD and ADD learning disabilities. In recent years, however, college students and others under pressure to perform at work and meet deadlines, have leaned towards taking psychostimulant drugs to…

Design and Best Use of mHealth Apps

Chosing the right mHealth App can be confusing.

Chosing the right mHealth app can be confusing. Today, we see an array of health & mHealth mobile apps designed for consumers. But are you using them correctly, or are you wasting your precious time and money?

Whether it be for monitoring of exercise, fitness, or weight loss, or for more serious conditions like diabetes, sleep disorders, or shunt…

The United States Justice Department Civil Rights division has rejected my Jan. 2011 request for their intervention on an accessibility issue baring my use of the fitness facility at the Newport Coast YCMA of Orange County – due to excessively loud music and screaming out of their Zumba classroom. YMCA management first refused to make an accommodation or modification to their practices after my…

Do you Believe in Spirits? Wanna Play Drums with Them?

Animal Spirits surround Stephen Dolle at this 2009 Full Moon Drum Circle in Laguna Beach, CA.

Stephen Dolle is a drum circle facilitator and neuroscientist and believes in SPIRITS. In fact, he uses spirits to help him in his everyday life. And now he wants to call upon spirits to help bring rain to drought-ridden California. Stephen feels confident that “drumming for rain” just might bring rain to…

Neuroscientist puts Neurological Case Study online for Open Source Medical Care

My name is Stephen Dolle. I am a neuroscientist, inventor, and drum circle facilitator, and I have decided to put my case study online because of a 23-yr battle with the disorder, hydrocephalus. I have undergone 12 brain shunt operations and numerous shunt malfunctions to date. I have been deteriorating physically with debilitating cramping, stiffness, muscle pain, and hematuria for 5 years now…

The Good Bad News about PMS and Women’s Brains

A disorder of the brain will effect 1 in 3 people by age 60.

I am writing this blog about PMS and the brain as a response to psychologist, Robyn Stein Deluca, TED talk on PMS, or pre-menstrual syndrome. And I do so in honor of Brain Awareness Week 2015.

Let me share that I am shocked at Robyn’s unscientific approach to the syndrome of PMS, which is reported to be associated with a spectrum of…

Weather App helps Manage Barometric Pressure related Migraine Headache

Today’s migraine headache had become so disabiling, I was forced to take medication and lay down for a while. But had it not been for the Elecont HD weather app, I would have really been done for the day.

Migraine headache can get you out of your routine

Once I was lying down, I quickly clicked on the widget on my Samsung’s home screen, and could see I was in the midst of a very sharp fall in…