Tag Archives: Brain

Is my brain really frozen?

Posted on March 4, 2013 by | 4 comments

Have you ever felt so thirsty on a hot summer day, you’ve chugged an ice cold drink or a Slurpee to quench your thirst? To your surprise, you must have felt a sense of pain instead of relief from your thirst. This pain phenomenon is known as a brain freeze. Although the pain is experienced in the head, the source of the pain occurs in the mouth.

Man holding a slurp by Missvain via Wikimedia Commons

A brain freeze occurs when one comsumes an ice-cold substance quickly. When ice cream or a Slurpee comes in contact with the roof of the mouth, a collection of nerves called the “sphenopalatine ganglion” experiences a drastic change in temperature. This causes the cerebral artery to dilate therefore allowing more blood to flow into the brain leaving you with the pain of a headache. As soon as the roof of the mouth warms up to normal a temperature, the pain from the brain freeze disappears.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School investigated the phenomena of brain freeze. They observed the relationship between cerebral blood flow and brain freeze by using a transcranial Doppler imager. In their experiment, one group of observed patients drank iced water while the other (control) group drank tepid water. The researchers found that sudden increases in blood flow to the brain cause pain because of the added pressure inside the skull.

No one knows the real reason why brain freezes occur. However, it has been suggested that the phenomenon is part of the brain’s defence system. The brain is sensitive to drastic changes in temperature. Therefore, it is possible that the anterior cerebral artery dilates to move warm blood inside the tissue and make sure the brain stays warm. Although this theory is not confirmed, it is likely a possible answer.

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A youtube video of two guys having a Slurpee drinking competition by kezmanandchaps via www.youtube.com

A brain freeze can be avoided by consuming cold substances slowly or by leaving it in the mouth long enough for the roof of the mouth to become used to the temperature. If you already have a brain freeze, there are a few things you can do to get rid of it more quickly: you can press your tongue against the roof of your mouth to warm it up, or you can drink something warm. With summer just around the corner, make sure to remember these tips in case you run into the unfortunate situation of experiencing a brain freeze from quenching your thirst on a hot summer day!

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Let’s Get Ready to Rumble!

Posted on February 11, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Whenever Michael Buffers announces “Let’s get ready to rumble!” I get a tingly feeling at the back of my neck because I know what’s about to go down, two men who have trained for months are about to go to battle in a ring with only some gloves on. Being a boxing fan nothing is more entertaining than seeing a boxer knocking out (KO) his opponent.

Ricardo Dominguez (left) and Rafael Ortiz in the midst of a battle. (ShawnC via Wikimedia)

But I never thought of the implications the boxers face, until I saw the debilitating state of one of the greatest boxers ever to live, Muhammad Ali. At the age of 42, in 1984 Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, doctors and scientists believe that the main culprit for the disease was possibly the repeated blows to the head he received during his reign in the ring.

Finding studies on this matter was not too difficult, it seems in the recent years it has been a field of intensive study.

“A knock-out in neuro-psychiatric terms corresponds to a cerebral concussion.”

In 2010, a study out of the Technical University of Munich conducted by Hans Forstl evaluated the health of boxers for the past 10 years. They discovered that getting knocked out resulted in persistent symptoms such as headaches, impaired hearing, nausea, unstable gait, and forgetfulness. A long career in boxing may result in boxer’s dementia (dementia pugilistica), which is strikingly similar to Alzheimer’s disease.

So what exactly happens to cause a knock-out?

A report by Popular Mechanics written by Marita Vera goes into technical aspect of the knock-out.

“The body contains dissolved sodium, potassium and calcium, collectively known as electrolytes, which are responsible for conducting impulses along neurons. Every time a fighter receives a blow to a nerve, potassium leaves the cell and calcium rushes in, destabilizing the electrolyte balance, while the brain does all it can to keep these levels in balance. With each successive blow, this balance becomes harder and harder to maintain, and more and more energy must be spent in the process. When the body reaches the point where the damage outweighs the body’s ability to repair itself, the brain shuts down, to conserve enough energy to fix the injured neurons at a later point.”

Dr. Charles Bernick and his colleges from the Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health have compiled over a 100 boxers and mixed martial artists (MMA) fighters to conduct studies on their brain. Through M.R.I scans, they found a reduction in the size in the hippocampus and thalamus of the brains of fighter with more than six years in the ring. Dr. Bernick notes that “these parts of the brain deals with the function of memory and alertness.”

This video shows the work of Dr. Charles Bernick:

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Prevention?

Along with Dr. Bernick’s work, Sanna Neselius and her team out of Gothenburg, Sweden are working on bio-markers in the blood that indicates the severity of damage to ones brain.

“Preferably, we would like to find a simple blood test that provides the same information as our more advanced brain fluid examinations. The capability does not presently exist, but can perhaps become an option in the future with further and more extensive studies.”

Discovering what these boxers have put on the line, day in and day out has gained a great sense of respect from my part, hopefully through the power of science there will be better ways to prevent and protect these courageous men and women doing their jobs, while not taking anything away from the true essence of boxing.

-Alvinesh Singh

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Action Games: Tools for Improving the Mind?

Posted on February 4, 2013 by | 6 comments

Student playing Counterstrike Source
By ario_ via Flickr Creative Commons

Often, when we are asked to describe a “video gamer”, we think of a person lazing around in front of their computer or tv, wasting time playing games as their brain turns to mush. Personally, I enjoy playing video games once in a while, but I didn’t think much of them, other than for entertainment. That was until I took a psychology course at UBC and discovered that people who played action video games often had better spatial attention than the average non-gamer.

Busy Restaurant Scene
By kenudigit via Flickr Creative Commons

What is Spatial Attention?

Imagine that you’re at a restaurant with some friends; people nearby are chatting loudly, waiters and waitresses are hurrying back and forth with plates, phones are ringing, background music is playing and yet, you are able to ignore these distractions and focus on the conversation you are having with your friends. This is your spatial attention at work. You are shutting out the unnecessary sensory inputs and only engaging in the information relevant to your conversation.

Gamers vs. Non-Gamers

A study conducted at the University of Rochester by D. Bavelier and associates, found that VGPs (video game players) displayed greater suppression of irrelevant information than NVGPs (non video gamer players). Subjects were asked to press a button to indicate whether a specific shape was present or not in the  given visual stimuli, which included various shapes and moving distractors. As a result, the researchers concluded that VGPs expressed shorter reaction times, suggesting that they are more effective in filtering out irrelevant information. Furthermore, fMRI brain imaging showed that areas involved in spatial attention were less engaged in VGPs than in NVGPs. In other words, non video game players required more effort to ignore distractions, unlike video game players who seemed to do it almost automatically.

In an attempt to identify differences in cognitive functions between VGPs and NVGPs, researchers assessed numerous individuals in their attention, memory and executive control skills. Compared to non-gamers, it was found that those with gaming experience could track faster moving objects, had better visual short term memory, switched between tasks more quickly and were more effective in mentally rotating objects. Interestingly enough, the researchers also suggest that non-gamers could potentially improve their cognitive skills with increased video game experience.

Have 18 minutes to spare? (probably not..) But for those who are really interested, here is a video of cognitive researcher Daphne Bavelier giving a talk about the effect of video games on our brains. She addresses topics such as eyesight, attention, multi-tasking and much more. I found this quite interesting.

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Youtube video from user TEDtalksDirector

Although  video game players overall display better cognitive performance than non-video game players, it does not mean you should spend most of your time now playing video games in place of studying or other important tasks. However, the next time you decide to take a study break, consider playing an action game. With the right dose, you can de-stress and potentially improve your spatial attention at the same time!

– Grace Lam

 

 

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Schizophrenia and the Biological Factors That Contribute To It

Posted on February 4, 2013 by | Leave a comment

 

Do you know that voice you hear in your head? The one you hear when you read? Or the one that has conversations of its own? We all have it. But now imagine that this voice isn’t your voice anymore. This voice has a life of its own. It tells you things you never thought of; it makes you believe that the people and the places you know are figments of your imagination; it makes you go crazy. This is the harsh reality of many schizophrenics.

A lot of us may have heard about schizophrenia, and a lot of us may know of it as simply meaning you’re crazy. The fancy definition of it is a “profound disruption of basic psychological processes.” Your reality is distorted; your thoughts and your behavior are disturbed. Symptoms of this include hallucination, disorganized speech, and catatonic behavior to name a few.

So how do you get it? Will a schizophrenic’s sneeze render you “crazy” as well? Well, no. As many of you may have guessed already, schizophrenia’s origins lie in biological factors, which include genetic factors, biochemical factors, and neuroanatomy.

Evidence for this conclusion lies in studies that show that the closer you are, biologically of course, in relationship to a person diagnosed with schizophrenia, the more likely you are to also develop the disorder. Furthermore, and this is perhaps some of the strongest proof, studies show that concordance rates are higher for identical twins in comparison to fraternal twins. This clearly shows us that genetics play a crucial role in the development of the disorder.

Neuroanatomy, in addition to genetics, is another biological factor that aids in the development of schizophrenia. With the help of neuroimaging techniques, researchers began to look for anatomical differences in people with the disorder. Early observations led them to discover the enlargements of ventricles – hollow areas lying deep within the core of the brain. The abnormal enlargement in some patients suggested a loss of brain tissue mass that could have occurred during prenatal development. However, this evidence is complicated and unreliable for many reasons. First, enlarged ventricles are only found in a few patients. Second, some individuals without the disorder are also found to have enlarged ventricles. Lastly, the enlargement of the ventricles can be caused by some types of antipsychotic drugs, prescribed for the treatment of schizophrenia. Neuroimaging studies provide evidence of a variety of brain abnormalities in schizophrenia. A variety of specific brain changes found in other studies suggest a clear relationship between biological changes in the brain and the progression of schizophrenia.

 

 

The neuroanatomy of schizophrenics differs from those that do not.
Photo Researchers, Inc.

In addition to biological factors, the third factor that contributes to the development of schizophrenia is the presence of excessive dopamine – this is known to be the  the dopamine hypothesis. The hypothesis explains why amphetamines, which increase dopamine levels, often aggravate the symptoms (Iverson, 2006). However, there is evidence that refutes this hypothesis, as many individuals do no respond well to dopamine blocking drugs. All in all, the accurate involvement of neurotransmitters in schizophrenia is yet to be determined.

This link discusses the dopamine hypothesis in detail while interviewing a patient

YouTube Preview Image by itswhatson

Research on schizophrenia and its cure continue today, in the 21st century. While we have made great progress, a lot remains to be discovered about this order that affects almost 51 million people in our world at one time. 

Harleen Kalra

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Living with Only Half a Brain?

Posted on January 27, 2013 by | Leave a comment

It is actually possible! There are many cases around the world where people are living with only half a brain. This ability for people to live with only half a brain is due to a brain phenomenon known as plasticity.  Plasticity is the capability of the brain to be modeled by experience. Experiences that we gain throughout our lifetime changes our brain, like modelling clay.

Brain development begins before birth and continues rapidly after. Connections in the brain are created through synapses which allow electrical signals to be transmitted from one area of the brain to another. These synapses are the changes that are responsible for the brain’s plasticity.

Brain development happens through synapses, which are responsible for creating connections. Image obtained via wikimedia commons author US Government.

There are two types of processes that model the brain: experience-expectant plasticity and experience-dependent plasticity.

Experience-expectant plasticity are experiences that every healthy individual expects to gain in their lifetime. For example, vision. With this type of plasticity comes a sensitive time period. If this experience is not met within this limited time period, the window closes and the skill can no longer be developed.

The other type of plasticity is called experience-dependent plasticity. These are neural connections that are created through experience, which can occur throughout the lifetime. These experiences include riding a bike and learning a musical instrument.

The brain’s plasticity can be seen in Michelle Mack, who was born with only the right side of her brain. To compensate for the missing side, the right side of her brain was rewired to take over the functions of the left.

Human brain’s division into the right and left hemispheres. Image obtained via wikimedia commons author Gvdmoort.

Due to the sensitive time period, a child’s brain has a better chance than an adult’s brain to reorganize itself and recover from a brain injury or surgery. 

This sensitive period plasticity is demonstrated in a girl in North Carolina named Cameron Mott. At age 3, she was experiencing 10-15 seizures a day due to an inflammation of the right side of her brain. She underwent surgery to remove the inflamed side of her brain which paralyzed the left side of her body. Immediately after the surgery, she was put into intensive therapy to recover the left side. Due to the brain’s plasticity and her young age, the left side of her brain was able to take over the functions of the right side.

A segment called Today’s Health on the Today Show interviewed Cameron Mott and her family about Cameron’s extraordinary condition:

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The Today Show’s segment, YouTube video from username ichoosepeople.  

Scientists used to believe that the brain was hard-wired and could not undergo changes once the brain was developed. There was the belief that children with only one side of their brain would not be able to live but these real cases have shown the brain’s capability to change known as plasticity.

– Christine Wong

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Action Games: Tools for Improving the Mind?

Posted on January 20, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Student playing Counterstrike Source
By ario_ via Flickr Creative Commons

Often, when we are asked to describe a “video gamer”, we think of a person lazing around in front of their computer or tv, wasting time playing games as their brain turns to mush. Personally, I enjoy playing video games once in a while, but they were of no value to me other than for entertainment. That was until I took a psychology course at UBC and discovered that people who played action video games often had better spatial attention than the average non-gamer.

What is Spatial Attention?
Imagine that you’re at a restaurant with some friends; people nearby are chatting loudly, waiters and waitresses are hurrying back and forth with plates, cell phones are ringing, background music is playing and yet, you are able to ignore these distractions and focus on the conversation you are having with your friends. This is your spatial attention at work. You are shutting out the unnecessary sensory inputs and only engaging in the information relevant to your conversation.

Gamers vs. Non-Gamers

A study conducted at the University of Rochester by D. Bavelier and associates, found that VGPs (video game players) displayed greater suppression of irrelevant information than NVGPs (non video gamer players). Subjects were asked to press a button to indicate whether a specific shape was present or not in the  given visual stimuli (figure 1), which included various shapes and moving distractors. As a result, the researchers concluded that VGPs expressed shorter reaction times, suggesting that they are more effective in filtering out irrelevant information. Furthermore, fMRI brain imaging showed that areas involved in spatial attention were less engaged in VGPs than in NVGPs. In other words, non video game players required more effort to ignore distractions, unlike video game players who seemed to do it almost automatically. 

In an attempt to identify differences in cognitive performance between VGPs and NVGPs, researchers assessed numerous individuals in their attention, memory and executive control skills. Overall, it was found that experienced gamers could track faster moving objects, posessed better visual short term memory, were quicker at switching between tasks and were more effective in mentally rotating objects than non-gamers. Interestingly enough, the researchers also suggest that non-gamers could potentially improve their cognitive skills with increased video game experience.

Have 18 minutes to spare? (probably not..) But for those who are really interested, here is a video of cognitive researcher Daphne Bavelier giving a talk about the effect of video games on our brains. She addresses topics such as eyesight, attention, multi-tasking and much more. I found this quite interesting.

YouTube Preview Image

 

Although  video game players overall display better cognitive performance than non-video game players, it does not mean you should spend most of your time now playing video games in place of studying or other important tasks. However, the next time you decide to take a study break, consider playing an action game. With the right dose, you can de-stress and potentially improve your spatial attention at the same time!

– Grace Lam

 

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