topics: |  brain | neuro-science | humour | history

Hilariously informative.

=Excerpts==

the brain has:

1011 (100 bn) neurons [15]
150K km of nerves (~ 4 times around the earth) 45
each neuron - axon between 1mm and 1m long
	    - cell-body - about 0.03mm across (30 microns)
	    - at mag 104x appears like a tree with over
			5000 branches

[error p.72 "same num of synapses"]

each cell has 10 thousand (104)
  connections or synapses. Thus, the brain has  1015
  synapses. [M.Sur talk]
routes through synapses = circuit - more combinations
than atoms in the universe

Brain : Anatomy

Seen in profile, the human brain looks something like a BOXING GLOVE. The
temporal lobe is where the thumb would be.  The frontal cortex is the front
part, and the palm area is the parietal lobe, and the occipital lobe is near
the wrist at the back.  The cerebellum is the fleshy bottom part of the
palm, beneath the occipetal lobe.

PARIETAL :: c.1425, "pertaining to the walls of a cavity in the body," from
    L.L. parietalis "of walls," from L. paries (gen. parietis) "wall," of
    unknown origin.

OCCIPITAL :: 1541, from M.Fr. occipital, from M.L. occipitalis, from
	L. occiput (gen. occipitis) "back of the skull," from ob "against,
	behind" + caput "head."

CEREBELLUM :: 1565, from L. cerebellum, little brain, dim. of L. cerebrum
    "brain," from PIE *keres-, from base *ker- "top of the head."

Brain waves: EEG

EEG: invented by German Dr Hans Berger (1873-1941) - wanted to
     determine what people were thinking - five years
	measuring electrical brain activity via electrodes - including his
	children - reported many papers - but failed.  Ignored until Edgar
	Adrian (British, 1889-1977) showed that unusual wave patterns were
	indicators of brain disease [39]

EEG curves:
alpha-rhythms - dreamy thinking
  alpha rhythms 8–12 Hz arising from synchronous and coherent (in phase /
	constructive) electrical activity of thalamic pacemaker cells in the
	human brain. ]
beta rhythm - a bit faster, smaller peaks - paying attention
     freq: above 12 hz, associated with normal waking consciousness
theta rhythm - a bit slower - sleepy
  theta rhythm in hippocampus of numerous species of mammals including
	rodents, rabbits, dogs, cats, bats, and marsupials. Whether a theta
	rhythm exists in primates is controversial. Two types of theta rhythm:
	    * Type 1 theta occurs during active motor behaviors, especially
	      walking or running, and also during REM sleep.
	    * Type 2 theta occurs during states of still alertness.

delta rhythm - very slow - deep sleep - irregular large peaks
	1-4 hz - associated with deep [slow-wave] sleep, last stage (3) of
	non-REM sleep

[+mu rhythm = sensori-motor rhythm: 8 to 14 Hz.
	strongly suppressed during the performance of contralateral motor
	acts. Modulation of the μ rhythm is believed to reflect the
	electrical output of the synchronization of large portions of
	pyramidal neurons of the motor cortex which control the hand and arm
	movement when inactive. In [Pineda, J.A. (2005). The functional
	significance of mu rhythms: translating "seeing" and "hearing" into
	"doing". Brain Research Brain Res Rev. (1):57-68] it was proposed that
	mu rhythm could reflect visuomotor integrative processes, and would
	"translate seeing and hearing into doing."  Indeed, fluctuation on mu
	rhythm during the observation of a motor action is highly similar to
	the one seen during the direct performance of the action by the
	individual.

[+gamma wave : 40hz - can be between 26 and upwards of 70
	Hz;  continuously present during low voltage fast neocortical activity
	(LVFA), which occurs during the process of awakening and during
	active rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
	Transient periods of synchronized firing over the gamma waveband, of
	entire banks of neurons from different parts of the brain, have been
	proposed as a mechanism for bringing a distributed matrix of
	cognitive processes together to generate a coherent, concerted
	cognitive act, such as perception. For example, it has been suggested
	that gamma waves are associated with solving the binding problem
	[Buzsaki, György, Rhythms of the brain, OUP 2006, chapter=Cycle 9, The Gamma
	Buzz] [/books?id=yVz4d4d9ZzsC]

Smell sense

ANOSMIA: inability to smell
PAROSMIA: all food tastes disgusting 49

* Siblings given t-shirts to sniff.  Can identify those belonging to
  sibs. [Vanderbilt U]
* 16 out of 18 parents could identify their children by smell
* after someone walks across floorboards in dirty socks, can detect
  the places by lying on floor and sniffing the floor.

PAIN: the deeper the pain receptor the weaker the signal.  No pain in
the brain itself.
* Pain signal speeds: prick on skin - 30 m/s. Burning or itching pain
  2 m/s [58]

* rubbing a banged shin with other hand (or lump of ice) - confounds
  signals [pain/pressure/temp]

REFLEXES - go to spinal cord and back (0.3s) instead of to cortex
(0.8sec)

cough / sneeze / dribble --> reflexes

dogs - if back is rubbed, uses hind legs to scratch its back - reflex
discovered by Charles Sherrington (British, 1857-1952 Nobelist)  63

Handedness / Chirality

* Dominant brain half:  babies don't have them (ambidextrous) - arises
  around age 2
* Right-handed people read, write (language) and work out maths
  (logic) with left-brain; drawings and music usually on the right
  brain; expts on putting Rt-brain to sleep --> can't sing
* LAZY-EYE: put finger 12cm (5in) in front of face until out of focus
  - wink each eye and see which view is retained ==> DOMINANT EYE.
  RH people --> usually right eye is dominant. [for me as well 06jul, 09oct]

EDUCATION: BF Skinner in the 60s invented a machine, Didak, that gave
you sentences you had to complete; if correct it gave you tougher
sentences. 85

Psychologist JOHN B WATSON (1878-1958) was poor in school, involved in
	crime, but at 16 started to study - had diff understanding teachers
	in the Univ --> expt on rats (behaviourism) - blocked off way to
	cheese with a glass barrier - and after some failures, rat would not
	approach the food. 87

BAD PUN 88
"Rats are just like us" :  "Squeak for yourself"

Watson eventually went into advertising, and his reward notions worked
- he became a millionaire guru.

Brain growth: Ontogenesis

BRAIN growth: neuron links formation
  6 months - brain doubles in size. can roll and smile.
  1 year - first word, learning to walk
  2 years - 270 words - can run
  3 years - 1000 words in short sentences. Feed yourself. Learning to
	draw.
  4 years - brain is 4x than at birth - asking lots of q's - 1500 words
  5 years - tell stories, hop, skip, 2000 words --> school/reading

Einstein didn't learn to talk until he was four. 93
Girls - speech cortex areas evelop earlier - learn to talk sooner

Gender differences 96

1. boys quicker at math: gifted boys use only right-brain, girls use
   both (maybe converting to words?)
2. boys better at guessing what 3D puzzles will look like
3. girls better fine finger motions - better at assembling the puzzles
4. boys - better sense of direction / building up route
5. girls - better at remembering landmarks

FEATS OF MEMORY p.104-109

SYNESTHESIA: Alexander Luria and Solomon Veniaminoff

Solomon Veniaminoff came to Luria's office in 1928, saying that he could
remember every single thing from the age of one on.  A disbelieving Luria
read out to him 30 numbers: 62, 30, 19, 41... After some time, Solomon
repeated them perfectly.  And he read them out backwards as well.

30 years later, he was still able to repeat the numbers.

The reason for his ability was the synesthesia, (did Luria call it a
"disease"? p. 109) - he experienced sounds as colours, and then rememberd
them visually.  The only way he could forget something was by imagining it
being written and then burning it.

Reciting 42K digits in Pi

In 1995, Horiyuki Goto recited PI from memory - to 42,195 digits over 17
  hours.

In 1967, Mehmed Ali Halici of Turkey recited 6,666 lines of religious text
over 18 hours.

Hans von Bulow, German Conductor, 1850-1894.  Phenomenal musical memory.
  Read the music of a new symphony on a train from Hamburg to Berlin.
  Conducted it from memory that very evening, without any errors.

Emotions 113

SIX principal emotions:
    1. Happiness/Joy,
    2. Sadness,
    3. Anger,
    4. Fear,
    5. Surprise,
    6. Disgust,  [no "anxiety" ? requires planning? - Stumbling on Happiness

DOPAMINE:

makes neurons more active and fire more signals.  Released under cues from
brain stem under emotional situations --> affects the limbic system -->
cortex can calm things down.

made by area of brain called Retirular Activating System  (RAS)

SEROTONIN:  Calms down neurons - released by neurons linking limbic systems
	    and cortex.

cartoon:  Dizzy dopamine (smiling) vs sensible seratonin (serious)

cartoon: eating cream buns:
	 dopamine: "go on grab another two"
	 seratonin: "that's enough - you've already had three"

Low seratonin situations --> bad temper / violent behaviour --> harder to
    control feelings.
people feel more cheerful when they chew things.

Anger

medium anger: adrenaline glands (above kidneys) squirting adrenaline
	hormone, which causes:
	   - lungs panting in air
	   - stored sugar pouring from liver into blood - for brain
	   - Fat being dissolved and sent to muscles to provide energy for
		   violent physical action
very angry: even more adrenaline
           - heart pumping so hard that beats become irregular
	   - blood vessel swell up in the eyes - they look red
	   - muscles locked
	   - blood goes to hands - ready to grip things

Fear

 Fear also pumps adrenaline, but in addition:
      - hair standing on end
      - shoulders drawn up, eyes closed, body bent, knees locked - all part
        of STARTLE REFLEX - by bending the body one is protecting the vital
	organs in case of impending physical hurt

extreme Fear:
	- face turns white (blood drains away from skin - so woulds will
		cause less bloodshed)
	- spit dries up
	- heart speeds up and beats louder

STRESS: when you feel fear but you can't run away,
   adrenaline glands making the hormone cortisone --> prepares muscles for
   action later; sugar pours into blood, brain feels more alert - nerves
   firing away - making one nervy and jittery ...

Depression 122

Brain condition that makes one miserable - makes you want to go to bed and
cry - scientists think it may be the result of a shortage of brain chemicals
like serotonin.

MAY BE HELPFUL: take a deep breath.  Let it out slowly and relax.
For some reason relaxing helps one feel better.

Secrets of happiness 123

Paul Costa and Robert Mc Rae (70s): interviewed lots of people. Main results:

1. if you enjoy meeting new people
2. don't expect too much from life.  that way good things come as a surprise
3. always look at the bright side of every situation [COMIC: man on sinking
   ship - thought bubble - "oh goodie! I love swimming!"]

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY EXPERIMENTS: p.126-128

A: JOINING IN: NYU Psychology Profs - late 1960s: Playing frisbee in the
   Grand Central Station.  Laughed and joked and got in the way.  After a
   while they threw the frisbee to a third scientist pretending to be a
   stranger.  She joined in the game.  Next, other people started feeling
   good and joined in too - in fact, it was difficult stopping the game.  In
   another version, the third person pretended to be grumpy and no one else
   got involved.

B: SOCIAL CUES (same NYU team): Three people in a room filling out forms.
   Smoke comes in through the window.  Two people (accomplices) ignore it.
   Third also ignores.

C: COERCION MAKES FEEL-GOOD: CONVINCING DECENTLY vs BY FORCE (Philip Zimbardo):
   Complete strangers being persuaded to eat fried grasshoppers.  a) by nice
   friendly scientist, b) by rudely ordering scientist.
   Not true: that people were more likely to eat when asked nicely;
   But those asked nicely felt worse - they said they ate them because they
   did not want to upset the nice scientist.  The one's ordered to eat, said
   they felt like trying the grasshoppers anyway.

Meninges 129

beneath skull, three layers of fluid-filled cushioning - aboout 150ml
clear CS fluid.

CONSCIOUSNESS: can be knocked unconscious and still perform simple
actions.

Bert Trautmmann: the Goalkeeping Subconscious

	Even in ordinary circumstances, to catch a ball requires you to be in
	complete command of your body and brain.  So how to make sense of
	stories like the following, where a skilled goalkeeper keeps on
	playing and saving goals in a League final when he is in agony from a
	broken neck, and can see only blurred silhouettes?

Manchester City goalkeeper Bert Trautmann was knocked unconscious in a
collision during 1956 FA cup final. He was in agony - couldn't turn his
head at all - and could barely see.

However, in the remaining 17 minutes of the game, Trautmann still managed a
few saves to help Man U win the game, and went on to become a legend both
in England and in Germany. 

		
		The near-fatal save.  Bernd Trautmann coming out to meet
		Peter Murphy's foot.  When he recovered consciousness, the
		world was "a blur of black and white.  I could only see silhouettes."
		
		But Trautmann went on to save several more attempts. 

  from Pain, Volume 124, Issues 1-2, sep 2006, p.234:
      On the first Saturday of May, 1956, in the North London Borough of
   Wembley, goalkeeper Bert Trautmann took an insane dive into the feet of
   opposing striker Peter Murphy and dislocated five vertebrae in his
   neck. It was the 74th minute of a 90-min game:

	I remember I was coming out to cut out a cross and Peter Murphy came
	in to challenge me. When we collided it was like two trains hitting each
	other – neither of us could stop and we crashed into each other at high
	speed. His thigh caught me in the neck and I was knocked unconscious. 

	The physio came on with the magic sponge and I came round a few
	minutes later but I couldn't recognise anybody or see properly. There
	were 15 minutes of the match remaining and, in those days, you were
	not allowed substitutions, so I had to continue playing.

	It was such a strange sensation. I wasn't seeing any colour -
	everything around me was grey and I couldn't see any of the players
	properly. I could only see silhouettes. It was like walking around in
	fog and trying to find my way.

	I can't remember what happened during the rest of the match. I know
	now that I made one or two more good saves but it must just have been
	my subconscious taking over; everything was a blur of black and
	white. - Guardian 2006

    According to legend, Trautmann did not experience pain during
    the final minutes of the cup final and continued to be pain free until
    the following morning.

    Unfortunately it turns out that Trautmann's injury was never pain
    free. In a recent article for (The Guardian, 2006, Trautmann
    explains his experience during the final moments of the game:

	"I collapsed two or three more times in those last 15 minutes. I was
	in absolute agony and I was having to support my neck with my right
	hand. I couldn’t move my head at all - if I wanted to look at
	anything, I had to turn my whole body around with my hand on my
	neck."

    As well as being disappointed, however, perhaps we should also be
    concerned that a good story remained untouched by the facts for so long.

link: http://www.onthisfootballday.com/football-history/may-5-when-men-were-men.php
	[watch video highlights, shows Trautmann getting injured at 0:46 and
	a further save by him at 0:59.  Commentary: 
	"Trautmann pounces like a cat. his neck is injured... But Trautmann's same as
	ever.  Injured or not he is determined to pull his weight. " ]


Trautmann being led off the field after his injury.  The extent of damage - 
five neck vertebrae were dislocated - became known only the following day. 

Fast bowling in cricket

		(not in book)

The Guardian 2002


Anil Kumble bowling. 

The same article also has Michael Vaughan describing how he plays fast
balls. 

	It's down to your eyes. As the ball leaves the bowler's hand you have
	to pick it up against the sight-screen as quickly as possible and try
	to judge the angle and speed of the ball. I can sometimes tell by the
	bowler's action and the way that the ball comes out of his hand where
	it's going to pitch.

	This all happens subconsciously. ... This is where all the hours in the nets and
	instinct takes over.

Note how Lee talks of "doing it without thinking" and Vaughan talks of
"instinct." 


1997: Vicky 10 year british girl - banged her head and started writing
backwards and upside down.  She could read her own writing.  A year
later she got excited watching a football game and banged her head
again - and the day after she was writing normally again. 132

HEADACHES: caused by excessive blood (stress-induced) stretching the
blood vessels ... [HIGHS??] - frowning makes it worse by squeezing
more bloodvessels.  Best to relax 134

Phineas Gage

Phineas Gage: railway foreman from Vermont, 1848:
while dyamiting a new path for a railway, an iron bar
went through Phineas' head.  He was knocked out, but quickly came
around and even managed to walk to the doctor's.  The hole was big
enough for the doc to put his fingers inside PG's skull.

He was ill a few weeks, but then he lived.  But his personality had
changed from lively happy go-lucky to moody, foul-mouthed, rude, and
often drunk.  But his wits were sharp - earned money by exhibiting the
iron rod running through his head.  Sold his body to several med
schools for experimentation after he died.

Postmortem: Frontal Cortex was damaged. but not vital for life.  The
iron bar can be seen at Harvard Med School museum.

link: Phineas Gage, Neuroscience’s Most Famous Patient
	Sam Kean in Slate, May 6 2014


SLEEP: Staying awake for two weeks can kill you. 140

SOMNILOQUIST: talking in your sleep (SOMNAMBULIST - walking)

Other reviews

 Martin O'Brien in http://popularscience.co.uk/kreviews/rev13.htm

Just think for a moment about opening someone's skull and poking around in
their brains. Slight reaction along the lines of "yuck!"?
... that gives Nick Arnold a superb excuse to revolt and fascinate in equal
measures. There's something ideally Horrible Science about looking into the
brain, as evidenced by the display of equipment for brain surgery and even a
short DIY brain surgery course.

Don't worry, though, if you are a squeamish adult - the majority of the book
isn't about dissection but about the remarkable wonders the brain is capable
of, and the relatively current theories on what's going on in there - with
plenty of "we're not quite sure", because that's way it is with brains.

If that "relatively current" sounds like faint praise, it's just a fact of
life. Whatever you write down about the brain, something about it is liable
to be proved wrong a few years later. The only decidedly out of date bit in
Arnold's book is the assertion that all your brain cells are in place when
you are born. To quote Matt Ridley in his Nature via Nurture, "now it is
certain that all primates, including human beings, can grow new cortical
neurons in response to rich experience." There are also a couple of missed
opportunities. We hear about horrible headache cures, along the cutting a
hole in the head line, but not how modern painkillers work. And though
there's a rather vague memory technique, it would have been nice to give
readers the chance to amaze friends and relatives by memorising numbers using
the much more specific and effective number rhyme chain method.

But hey, let's not be too hard on the man. It is a good book, it makes you
think about what's going on in your skull (which is, of course going on in
your skull...) and it's a topic that isn't covered enough at the moment. As
usual the cartoons help a lot and are particularly (and appropriately) yucky.

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