Science

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…

A GOOD CATCH [ THE NERVOUS SYSTEM ]

ByTeam HUMANITYUAPD November 3, 2022July 5, 2023

A GOOD CATCH [ THE NERVOUS SYSTEM ] When the ball hits the glove, mechanoreceptors in the hand register the arrival as pressure. Those in the ear, attuned to the vibrations of sound waves, record the thwack of ball hitting leather. (And if the leather in the palm is too thin, cell damage in the…

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…

DEGREES OF PAIN [ THE NERVOUS SYSTEM ]

ByTeam HUMANITYUAPD October 30, 2022October 30, 2022

DEGREES OF PAIN [ THE NERVOUS SYSTEM ] Similar pains don’t always register with the same intensity. Although nearly all humans-besides the very few who lack the ability to feel pain recognize extreme heat or a deep cut as painful, they can react differently. Some tolerate pain more easily, whereas others feel it more intensely….

PATHWAYS / GRAY MATTER [ MESSENGERS ( NERVOUS SYSTEM ) ]

ByTeam HUMANITYUAPD October 29, 2022October 29, 2022

PATHWAYS / GRAY MATTER [ MESSENGERS ( THE NERVOUS SYSTEM ) ] PATHWAYS Pain signals take rwo tracks on their way to the brain. The express line, like a nonstop train between cities, sends signals through the spinal cord and connects directly to the thalamus. While some pain signals are diverted along the way, those that…

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,…