Sublime

In 1994, in his presidential lecture for the Society for Psychophysi-ological Research, Stephen Porges introduced his Polyvagal Theory,

The theory functionally states that if you are confronted with a challenge, based on evolution, the most recent part of your nervous system will attempt to negotiate safety by using the face and vocalizations. If that doesn’t work,

The Polyvagal Theory posits that co-regulation through social behavior is a biological imperative—a need as hardwired into us as that for food or sleep.

Play is not done alone or in isolation but involves others and is a reciprocal, synchronous, and spontaneous act. Play also involves violations of expectancy, interruptions in the exchange of safety and connection that might trigger reflexive reactions of defense. However, these disruptions are quickly repaired through an exchange of cues of safety

Stephen Porges chose to work with autistic children, and has had suc-cess in improving the behavior of many of them.

When the alarm bell of the emotional brain keeps signaling that you are in danger, no amount of insight will silence it.

when there is a down-regulation of muscle tone in the face and head, the middle ear muscles lose their neural tone and become hypersensitive to the low-frequency sounds associated with predator. With this shift in middle ear function, it becomes difficult to extract the meaning of human voice, since it is necessary to hear relatively soft,