More than a pain in the neck

Stiffness in the neck and bad posture can have a major impact on our general health, even on our blood pressure, says New Scientist. Researchers at the University of Leeds in the U.K., studying brain signals in mice, noticed that stimulation of a mouse's neck muscles stimulated the brain area that regulates autonomic nerve functions, such as those relating to heart rate. That means there is a previously unknown neural connection between these muscles and the brainstem. The findings, says neuroscientist Ian Edwards, could expalin why blood pressure and heart rate sometimes change when the neck muscles are injuried - through whiplash, for example. Similarly, it's possible that hours spent hunched over a computer may raise blood pressure. "The pathway exists for bad posture to really have an effect," Edwards says.