Blog

Taro Iwamoto draws on his background in athletic training, orthopedic.neurological rehabilitation, and martial arts, his extensive study to become licensed as a PTA, ATC, CSCS and COMS, as well as his experience in practice as an exercise specialist at Olympic Physical Therapy and discusses such issues related to movement, rehabilitation pain, mindfulness, and wellness.

One of my clients who recently had a cataract surgery told me that one thing that she noticed immediately after the surgery was that her hearing improved dramatically. She didn’t really realize that her hearing was affected by her vision until she had the surgery. Her story reminded me of how much we rely on our vision to interpret verbal contexts. I can relate this to my own experience as a foreigner. I’ve been in the States for 18 years and speak English fluently, but even now I sometimes have difficult time with phone conversations because I can’t see their body language or facial expression. My grandmother was excellent at communicating with the body language. She couldn't speak English at all, but she always made friends and seemed to have very good conversations without speaking at all. From neuroscience, I understand the parts of the brain communicate with each other. This story is one example. This makes me wonder how smart phone/computer is influencing our non-verbal communication skills and the brain's functions and development. Texting is becoming a very common communication method today. It's convenient and can save us a lot of time, but it can easily deliver wrong message.