Nerve Cells

MAPPING SEIZURES [ THE NERVOUS SYSTEM ]

ByTeam HUMANITYUAPD November 9, 2022November 9, 2022

MAPPING SEIZURES [ DELICATE BALANCE – THE NERVOUS SYSTEM ] Seizures may occur in any part of the brain; their point of origin often can be mapped. Some occur as a result of lesions in specific domains. Nineteenth-century doctor John Hughlings Jackson, an aloof but meticulous researcher, posited that lesions would produce two effects. He based…

MIGRAINES [ THE BRAIN’S EQUILIBRIUM ]

ByTeam HUMANITYUAPD November 7, 2022November 7, 2022

MIGRAINES [ THE BRAIN’S EQUILIBRIUM ] THE DAMAGE caused by headaches is eye-popping. About 45 million Americans suffer them regularly, and about half of the sufferers find the pain severe and sometimes disabling. The result: lost time from work, play, the day to day stuff of life. Counting only the 30 million who suffer migraine…

HEADACHES ( THE BRAIN’S EQUILIBRIUM )

ByTeam HUMANITYUAPD November 6, 2022November 6, 2022

HEADACHES ( THE BRAIN’S EQUILIBRIUM ) HEADACHES In the waning days of the Civil War, Union general Ulysses S. Grant was suffering from a terrible headache. He stopped at a farmhouse in the rear of his army, which had been pressing the forces of Confederate general Robert E. Lee. “I spent the night in bathing my…

BALANCING ACT ( THE BRAIN’S EQUILIBRIUM )

ByTeam HUMANITYUAPD November 5, 2022November 5, 2022

BALANCING ACT ( THE BRAIN’S EQUILIBRIUM ) Some feedback mechanisms suppress actions in the brain and body. Others excite them. Their delicate balance keeps the body between extremes. To have too much or too little of one can throw the system out of whack. To take one example, the lack or overabundance of neurotransmitters such…

DELICATE BALANCE – THE BRAIN’S EQUILIBRIUM [ HOMEOSTASIS ]

ByTeam HUMANITYUAPD November 4, 2022November 4, 2022

DELICATE BALANCE – THE BRAIN’S EQUILIBRIUM [ HOMEOSTASIS ] THANKS TO THE autonomic nervous system, the human body pretty much takes care of itself without conscious effort. The weather changes but core temperature is maintained, food gets digested, cycles of sleeping and waking follow upon one another, and the body’s status remains fairly even from…

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM [ WORKING TOGETHER/SEEING THE BALL ( WHAT IS PLEASURE? ) ]

ByTeam HUMANITYUAPD November 1, 2022November 1, 2022

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM [ WORKING TOGETHER/SEEING THE BALL ( WHAT IS PLEASURE? )] WORKING TOGETHER How do all of these systems central and peripheral, somatic and autonomic and receptors work together in the symphony of the brain? From simple actions to complex ones, these systems must work in concert. Consider the “simple” act of catching…

GOOD FEELINGS / PLEASURE CENTERS [ THE NERVOUS SYSTEM ]

ByTeam HUMANITYUAPD October 31, 2022October 31, 2022

GOOD FEELINGS / PLEASURE CENTERS [ NERVOUS SYSTEM ] GOOD FEELINGS Pleasure also has its centers In the brain. A Tulane University neurologist stumbled across one such center in the 1950s when he tried to electrically stimulate the brains of schizophrenics to break them out of their passivity. His patients told him their implanted electrodes…

BIG PAIN [ MESSENGERS ( THE NERVOUS SYSTEM ) ]

ByTeam HUMANITYUAPD October 28, 2022October 28, 2022

BIG PAIN [ MESSENGERS ( THE NERVOUS SYSTEM ) ] It turns out, the brain has automatic defenses cued up for a quick response to more serious pain. The perception of pain warns the brain of actual or potential tissue damage. The brain’s recognition of pain sets in motion actions to reduce or remove it,…

PAIN GATEWAY [ MESSENGERS ( THE NERVOUS SYSTEM ) ]

ByTeam HUMANITYUAPD October 27, 2022July 5, 2023

PAIN GATEWAY [ MESSENGERS ( THE NERVOUS SYSTEM ) ] The nervous system does have natural responses that can ease minor pains, like the sting of a scrape or ache of a bump. When you were a child and trying to learn to roller-skate, perhaps you once fell and skinned your knee. To stop your…

SHOCK TO THE SYSTEMS [ THE NERVOUS SYSTEM ( HARMONY ) ]

ByTeam HUMANITYUAPD October 23, 2022October 23, 2022

SHOCK TO THE SYSTEMS [ THE NERVOUS SYSTEM ( HARMONY ) ] When you’re startled, the two branches work together, regulating the body without any conscious thought needing to be involved. Thanks to these automatic responses, the brain’s cortex is allowed to remain free to do other things-process sensory information, register emotion, pursue rational thoughts,…