The Nolman valve

[Old brain]

The whole idea of the Nolman valve is yawning
pulls downward on the styloid processes of the temporal bones and this causes changes in the volume of the cranial vault. Since a liquid (water) does not compress, the pressure changes. The changes in pressure cause changes in the production and the absorption processes of the cerebrospinal fluid, thus accellerating the circulation of cerebrospinal fluid.

You can see more information about the Nolman valve by visiting my website here...

http://www.members.shaw.ca/hilaryking/Oldbrain1.htm

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Members don't see this ad.

 

[Old brain]

From Insights from Dr. Hines
talking about my theory...

"One provocative theory contends that the mechanics of a yawn actually serve to "clean the brain" by accelerating the normal cerebrospinal fluid movement and absorption process. All the pressures generated by pulling on neck muscles, the skull, and the brain itself can facilitate the spinal fluid movement. Although we produce about a pint of spinal fluid every day, we only have the capacity to hold about one fourth of this quantity--so there are obvious advantages to enhancing the normal circulation.

Interestingly, people with brain tumors often yawn excessively while schizophrenics yawn very little. Using the above explanation, the increased spinal fluid pressures generated in brain tumor patients may necessitate more yawning in an effort to decrease this pressure. Alternately, schizophrenics have larger than average ventricular spaces in their brains and an excess of neurotransmitters as well. If in fact they could voluntarily yawn more often, it's conceivable that the increased spinal fluid circulation generated might help to decrease symptoms. It's an interesting concept! "
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To see the article by Dr. Hines ...

http://www.hinesite2020.md/112700.html

 

[Old brain]

I brought this from another forum, I thought you might be interested in this patient's point of view...

dagaz
New Community Member Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Southern Alberta , Canada
Posts: 20

hi

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Well I had to tell you again, I agree with your theory, I have a CSFLEAK ( cranial) and every time I yawn I leak a lot more actually getting a large gush at the time of yawning... so I like your theory... great work
__________________




SPMS, CSFLeak, Mom to "D" with tethered cord, spina bifida oculta..

What ever! Life goes on!

Dag

 

[(nicedream)]

What's a CSFLEAK? I imagine cerebrospinal fluid leak, but where does it leak out of?

 

[Old brain]

Originally posted by (nicedream)
What's a CSFLEAK? I imagine cerebrospinal fluid leak, but where does it leak out of?

It can be anywhere for example when too large of a needle is used to take a sample of the csf.

In the case above, I believe it leaks out of the nose. A clear fluid that continues to leak or drip like water.

 

[Dr JPH]

Originally posted by Old brain
It can be anywhere for example when too large of a needle is used to take a sample of the csf.

In the case above, I believe it leaks out of the nose. A clear fluid that continues to leak or drip like water.

This sounds like it would be very bad. If fluid can leak out, infection can seep in.

 

[LukeWhite]

Do you have any references for the brain tumor/schizophrenia yawn frequency claim? Interesting, if true.

 

[(nicedream)]

Originally posted by Old brain
SPMS, CSFLeak, Mom to "D" with tethered cord, spina bifida oculta..

What ever! Life goes on!

Dag

What kind of forum did this come from, one for sick people? Whats "D" with tethered cord mean?

 

[Old brain]

Originally posted by JPHazelton
This sounds like it would be very bad. If fluid can leak out, infection can seep in.

You're right it does not sound good however the leak may be releasing excess csf pressure which has a whole range of symptoms itself. You sounded concerned so i looked a little deeper and found this...

http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1634

 

[Old brain]

Originally posted by lukealfredwhite
Do you have any references for the brain tumor/schizophrenia yawn frequency claim? Interesting, if true.

Yawning is a very obvious act in humans and other animals, yet it has not received much attention in either science or daily life. In a recent review of "evolution and facial action in reflex, social motive and paralanguage" yawning received no mention (Fridlund, 1991). To some extent, this lack of interest may be because yawning is rarely life-threatening; in fact, frequent or excessive yawning does accompany a wide range of pathological conditions, including frontal lobe tumors, epidemic encephalitis, supranuclear palsy, certain gastric diseases, brain stem lesions, some forms of epilepsy, motion sickness, narcotic withdrawal, and chorea (Barbizet, 1958; Comroe, 1974; Graybiel & Knepton, 1976; Heusner, 1946; O'Brien, 1976; Rudolph, Barnett, & Einhorn, 1977). ...

http://baillement.chez.tiscali.fr/baenninger-context.html

Here's one on contagious yawning.

Indeed, this is exactly what he and his colleagues discovered. People with more schizotypal traits were less likely to show contagious yawning.

http://www.chomp.org/HealthNews/reuters/NewsStory031420034.htm


Believe it or not, yawning may be a sign of disease. Although rarely the first sign, excessive yawning has been observed among people with multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also called Lou Gehrig?s disease), following radiation injury (as during radiation therapy), and among people treated for Parkinson's disease. Rarely, it may even signal the onset of migraine headache. On the other hand, yawning seems to occur less frequently among people with schizophrenia. The reasons for yawning more or less often in certain diseases are unknown.

http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtI.../373860.html?d=dmtHMSContent&k=wellx408x35323

I've seen more on these but I can't find them right now. I didn't make it up.

 

[Old brain]

Originally posted by (nicedream)
What kind of forum did this come from, one for sick people? Whats "D" with tethered cord mean?

It's a neurology forum, some are very sick. It's a very nice community.

braintalk.org

I think D is her daughter and tethered cord is related to spina bifida occulta

http://www.hsc.missouri.edu/~neuromedicine/tetheredcord.shtml

 

[Old brain]

http://www.cranialsubluxations.com/interior_view_of_base_of_skull.htm

fair use, educational

A rare view of the Nolman valve!

Its just a drawing but it shows how the muscles pull on the styloid process of the temporal bones, notice the way the occipital and temporal bones are joined from this view.

I believe its the stylohyoid muscles that attach to the styloid process and I think they have also drawn the digastric muscles which connect to the digastric groove near the articulation the mastoid process of the temporal bones and the occipital bone.

 

[Old brain]

Maybe the Nolman valve is the key to understanding the unknown precise mechanism involved with Eagle syndrome
(eagle syndrome involves elongated styloid process)...

http://www.dental.mu.edu/oralpath/spresent/eaglesyn/

When we yawn, we put stress on the styloid processes? according to my theory we do.
Eagle syndrome is one of the the mysterious things that can go wrong that the Nolman valve could help to understand. According to the link it affects 27% of the people, and 27% of people is a lot.

Eagle syndrome is a good reason the Nolman valve is worth study.

 

[Old brain]

A similar poll on a neurology forum was started on the Nolman valve, to read it and see the results click here...

http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2480

thank you for participating

 

[Old brain]

Arnold Chiari Malformations is another disorder affected by the Nolman valve.

The cause and progression of Arnold Chiari Malformations is unknown.

Arnold Chiari Malformations is a herniation of the brain through the foramen magnum.

To understand ACM better we need to better understand the pressures put on the brain. The Nolman valve may help us to understand mysterious transient fluctuations in pressure that we generally are not otherwise even aware of.

The Nolman valve may be the key component or the missing link to understanding the cause and progression of Arnold Chiari Malformations.

 

[Old brain]

Try NASA

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I thought I would bring the Nolman valve to the attention of the explorers at NASA.

I sent the following email to them about space sickness, if they test and prove the theory, it would be a documented innovative neurological discovery with implications in multiple neurological disorders...

Subject: Space sickness, ICP, CSF circulation and the Nolman valve.
To: [email protected]




I visited your website here...

http://www-nesb.larc.nasa.gov/NNWG/...ARC/arc82_1.htm



It is my theory that yawning not only helps to
equalize the air pressures allowing our ears to "pop"
but that it also helps to circulate and equalize the
pressures of our cerebrospinal fluid.

I think that a lot of the symptoms of "space sickness"
are caused by and related to cerebrospinal fluid
pressure.

If you could measure the cerebrospinal fluid pressure
changes before/during/after a yawn I think you will
get more answers to space sickness, how yawning
affects cerebrospinal fluid pressure and why some
people get sick more than others.

It is my theory that yawning cleans the brain, that it
accellerates the circulation of cerebrospinal fluid.
It does this during the deepest part of the breath,
the airpassageway expands and pulls downward on the
hyoid bone. The hyoid bone is attached to the styloid
process of each temporal bone by muscles and
ligaments. The pulling of the styloid process
(thorn-like protrusions) of the temporal bones causes
a slight movement or flexion of the temporal bones
which alters the volume of the cranial vault and the
pressure of the csf within.

To see my theory click here...

http://www.members.shaw.ca/hilaryking/Oldbrain1.htm

I think your equipment may have the ability to prove
my theory and may be able to teach more about the
fluctuation of intracranial pressure as it relates to
space sickness. Please test it if you can.

Brian Nolman



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I don't know if I will get an answer or if they will even read it, but I gave it a shot anyway. If they prove it, they might find a way to reduce space sickness out and about the planet, but here on earth it will benefit those with cerebrospinal fluid pressure disorders.

 

[Old brain]

The smiling neurotransmitters experiment

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Some of the muscles used during yawning are the muscles of a smile this little experiment shows how the cerebrospinal fluid is put in motion and also how it carries neurotransmitters to receptor sites.

I thought this little smiling neurotransmitters experiment would go well here with the Nolman valve since it is actually a component of it.




"In the smiling neurotransmitter experiment I said the actiivation of the of the neurotransmitters has effects that are short lasting.

Heres a summary of my experiment...

Take out your happy scale and pick a number between 0 and 9 to measure your current state of happiness.

you got your number? good

now form your face into a big smile, force the muscles and hold a big genuine smile for three seconds.

ok let go of your face and bring out your happy scale again and check how your brain feels between 0 and 9 again.

If your like most people you'll feel a couple of numbers happier.

This is why it happens: You move the muscles of the face, which moves the bones of the skull where the muscles attach, slightly, that moves the cerebrospinal fluid in the near proximaty of the bones. The cerebrospinal fluid contains neurotransmitters, hormones, and other things which activate the neurons which makes the happyness sub system of the brain work producing an elevated feeling of happiness. The feeling is temporary, short lasting, which leads me to believe that the effect of neurotransmitters firing cells and causing chain reactions is only momentarily.

Because in the experiment you are not particularly thinking happy thoughts you would likely not be producing many happy neurotransmitters. You were using or activating the ones that were already there, in the cerebrospinal fluid by moving the csf and allowing the neurotransmitters to shuttle and find receptor sites to activate the cells."

with this...

"If you are just reading through this and you didn't bother to try the smiling neurotransmitters experiment I ask you to go back and try it.(it only takes a few seconds of your time) It will give you a better understanding of your own neurotransmitters in action and you will have a more direct idea of what I'm talking about in this post.

Remember I mentioned that the muscles of the smile move the bones a minute amount which causes changes of pressure therefore movement of cerebrospinal fluid in three different ways:
1 by altering the size of the foramen along the articulations of the bones which allow passage of nerves that contain cerebrospinal fluid in their outer layers.
2 by changing the pressure and causing movement of the cerebrospinal fluid directly between the bones inner surface and the surface of the brain.
3 by changing the pressure of the cerebrospinal fluid within the nerves of the bones joints (sutures have nerves themselves)

The muscles of the smile moves the cerebrospinal fluid which contains neurotransmitters, some become activated by this and activate the happy sub system. The effect of neurotransmitters being activated or activating nerve cells is short lasting.

The muscles of the smile are a small part of the cerebrospinal fluid circulation systems.

Yawning is a much larger part."

Try the experiment let me know if you feel happier
__________________

http://www.members.shaw.ca/hilaryking/Oldbrain1.htm

 

[Goofyone]

If your like most people you'll feel a couple of numbers happier.

This is why it happens: You move the muscles of the face, which moves the bones of the skull where the muscles attach, slightly, that moves the cerebrospinal fluid in the near proximaty of the bones. The cerebrospinal fluid contains neurotransmitters, hormones, and other things which activate the neurons which makes the happyness sub system of the brain work producing an elevated feeling of happiness. The feeling is temporary, short lasting, which leads me to believe that the effect of neurotransmitters firing cells and causing chain reactions is only momentarily.

Sounds interesting. Anything is possible, but it seems to me that this is more like a pavlovian response. We smile when we are happy--so we associate the two. When you do one it lends to the other. I do this kind of stuff all the time. For example when you walk tall with your shoulders back and your chest out and give firm handshakes, etc. They're all physical signs of confidence. If I actually force myself to do these behaviors, I start actually FEELING more confident. On top of that, if you look at a bunch of pictures of happy people you'll start to feel happy too, and it doesn't have anything to do with CSF circulation because it wouldn't stem from smiling.

Props to you for your tenaciousness in proving the valve theory. Good luck.

 

[Cowboy DO]

Not you again... haven't we been through this?

 

[Old brain]

Hi

Sometimes if you open your jaw wide and hold it still while you take a slow deep breath, you will hear a click sound (in your head) while inhaling.

Thats not your jaw making that "click" because its still, thats the Nolman valve opening.