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NEW BORN BRAIN – SUPPORT & SURVIVAL

NEW BORN BRAIN – SUPPORT & SURVIVAL Migrating neurons are helped along by glial cells. They support and nourish the neurons on their journeys. Some help regulate the neurons’ metabolism, and others coat the nerve cells’ axons with myelin, a fatty substance that provides electrical insulation and thus controls the speed of communication along neural…

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NEURON & UNDERSTANDING MIGRATION – NEW BRAIN

NEURON MIGRATION The most dynamic growth occurs in the cerebral cortex, the largest and outermost layer of the brain.During the first months of fetal development, when 250,000 new nerve cells are being created every minute, neurons begin to take on specialized tasks. First, they inch their way from where they were formed by cell division…

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A NEW BRAIN FROM THE WOMB TO CHILDHOOD

A NEW BRAIN FROM THE WOMB TO CHILDHOOD WHEN SPERM meets egg, the merger of a father’s and mother’s DNA triggers the start of a new life. Encoded in the tens of thousands of genes that make up a human being are a substantial fraction that will create the brain and central nervous system. You…

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THE THREE BRAINS – EVOLUTION ( MACLEAN )

THE THREE BRAINS – EVOLUTION [ MACLEAN ] THE THREE BRAINS Neuroscientist Paul MacLean suggested in 1967 that the human brain functions as three separate “brains,” each of which represents a stage in evolutionary development. He referred to the three-way unity as humanity’s triune brain. Through evolution’s penchant for preserving genetic code that proves useful…

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EVOLUTION – GROWING COMPLEXITY [ BRAIN DEVELOPMENT ]

EVOLUTION – GROWING COMPLEXITY [ BRAIN DEVELOPMENT ] GROWING COMPLEXITY If 2,000 neurons are sufficient for simple learning, imagine the explosion of complex behavior that accompanied the growth of neural complexity about 530 million years ago. Larger clumps of neurons in the diverse animal population that seemingly emerged overnight encouraged the flourishing of new animal…

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THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM [ THE NERVOUS SYSTEM ]

THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM  The nervous system isn’t the only method by which the brain controls the body and maintains homeostasis. The direct, electrochemical means by which the nervous system collects information from stimuli and then formulates responses is augmented by the endocrine system, which works with the nervous system to regulate the body’s cells. The…

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EPILEPSY / TYPES OF EPILEPTIC SEIZURES / CAUSES & TREATMENT

EPILEPSY On a summer day, storm clouds can suddenly gather and transform an afternoon of sunshine into a violent monster of rain, hail, lightning bolts, and the occasional twister. Sunlight and warmth get blotted out. So it is with the nervous system. The brain’s higher functions, working in harmony with the body, promote consciousness and…

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MAPPING SEIZURES [ THE NERVOUS SYSTEM ]

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…

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MIGRAINES [ THE BRAIN’S EQUILIBRIUM ]

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…

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HEADACHES ( THE BRAIN’S EQUILIBRIUM )

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…