Neurology Medicine

Posts Tagged ‘brain’

Yawning, a sign of boredom, social inappropriateness gesture or just a touch with our primitive instincts.

The yawn is a gesture uncontrollable urges us to open your mouth as possible, while we do the contraction involving inhalation, in most cases a large number of muscles, not only face but also on the trunk, as the stretching of the arms, back or neck.

Although it may seem, is not only a human action, since most vertebrates include it in their behavior patterns.

But despite this always raises the question of why the yawn to try to give explanation to this fact, there have been several theories :

Yawning as a way to achieve an increase in blood oxygen

One theory suggests that this practice serves to make, given the existence of excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the body generates the need for a deep breath to give more oxygen to the body portion.

But despite having his logic, this theory does not explain most of the yawns are given in a state of weariness, boredom or lack of sleep.
Yawning as a way to maintain alertness

The latest scientific research published in the journal “Evolutionary Psychology” and carried out by psychologists at the University of Albany in New York, suggests that yawning acts as a defense mechanism of our body to get us to stay alert to avoid the arrival of dream.

This would be achieved because yawning cools the blood vessels in the nasal cavity that send blood to the brain. This will keep the brain clear.
Other theories of yawning

In addition to the above exposed there are other hypotheses that have been shuffled to give a convincing explanation for this phenomenon, among them the idea that it is a gesture inherited from earlier times which allows us to show its teeth as a form of intimidation.

Other research argues that the act of yawning is a simple mechanism notice would indicate that we must change the activity or rest of the currently do.
Why is yawning contagious?

Apart from its role in our lives, there is another even greater mystery is the contagion of yawning gesture.

We’ve all had the feeling hopeless to imitate an animal person and even when yawning. To explain this behavior there are two theories:

The spread is due to safety reasons: if within a group of individuals begins to bite sleep, yawning will make you stay awake and alert to potential hazards that may exist.

The spread is based on survival instincts: if we see someone yawn, your brain interprets psychologically we are stealing the air and our bodies decide to imitate the behavior the largest collection possible if the existence of that need.

The truth is that despite the everyday gesture, science still has not managed to give a conclusive explanation and today it remains one of those mysteries that have not been able to resolve.

In fact, in some societies, is still considered an improper gesture and tend to hide it by hand or trying to keep the momentum going.

Testable only thing is that it is a common gesture that affects not only every individual of the human species but a large number of animals, besides being completely unavoidable, especially in situations of fatigue or boredom.

Although the brain only weighs 2% of body mass, consumes over 20% of oxygen and nutrients that we take during the day.

Inside the brain are concentrated about 10,000 billion neurons , and memory, among other powers of the brain, which works because these neurons are connected by tiny electrical impulses.

It seems that at age 27 is when the brain begins to deteriorate. Thus, scientists have demonstrated the University of Virginia in the United States. It is believed that the increased alertness of humans enjoy over 22 years of age and about 5 years later is when the brain begins to lose skills, the thoughts are slower, costs more to reason and remember worse. That does not mean we are going to suffer dementia or something, but we do need to start taking care of our brain young.

The ongoing fear of growing old before their time

According to studies, remember the 5% of what we hear, 20% of what we see and 90% of what we do. Not currently be more awkward than before, but we live in a world too machining in which almost everything we wrote. So when something is strictly dependent on our memory is easy to fall into oblivion. Back when the machines were limited to a few companies, almost all had to memorize it. And even more so in small towns. Maybe that’s why people in a small population, there are hundreds of seniors who are able to converse with amazing agility and brilliance that many young people want for themselves.
The brain is almost like an internet network

Recent scientific advances have discovered that the brain is constantly processing and which is developed over the years a network as if it were computer connections. At birth, a minimum of connections which are increasing and becoming more complicated as a birthday. The brain is moving from the simple to the complex, with one caveat, if you do not care, nurture and maintain each of these connections our mind goes numb. Hence we have to keep it active, because the more work the younger minds will continue.

Encode and store to recover after

Apparently, the act of remembering something does not cost us any work, at least at the stage of youth. But until we put in words what is remembered, the brain sets in motion an elaborate protocol: Identifies the petition seeks the answer in the right place, connects this response with other data if needed and remembers what verbalized.

This circuit acts mechanically and apparently unintentionally, may be altered by many circumstances, one being age.

Keep in mind that some cognitive impairment of the mind is inevitable with the passage of time. But if genetics with us and take care of our brains, as we do with other parts of our body, we can enjoy a young and agile mind for a long time.

Overview of the different systems of memory available to the human brain.

Human memory has been one of the aspects that have brought them from head to contemporary psychologists. Memory now understand the phenomenon of the human mind brain that allows us to encode, store and retrieve information.

The first dilemma came when trying to delimit, since what information we can remember (or forget), not only based on events, but also in semantic content, sensory, emotional meanings …. In addition, throughout the study of different people who have had different brain injuries , has been discovered that certain types of injuries affect the memory of some of these features and not the other.

Given this evidence, psychology began to consider that there is a single memory system, but according to the type of information that is stored, leading to either system memory (each located in a different brain area) .

Memory Types

The three main memory systems are sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory .

Sensory memory is one that stores information about the stimuli captured by the sensory organs after stimulation ceases. This type of memory, operating unconsciously, has a “short life” since all stimulation is stored for a median time of 12.5 “.

The types most studied sensory memory are “iconic memory” (referring to the visual stimulation) and “memory Ecoles” (referring to the auditory stimulation).

The short-term memory is one in which it holds any information that we just happened and where it is assimilated and categorized.

George A. Millner (1956), attempted to define the ability of this type of memory. In his famous article called ” magic number “, a formula that we are able to store between 5 and 9 stimuli simultaneously for 10 seconds. The relevance is given to such stimulation is what will decide if transferred to long-term memory or fall into oblivion.

The procedure to be considered relevant information can be either unconscious (which the body itself gives importance to such information) or conscious (self-repeating information over and over again, to enter with greater severity).

The long-term memory is one that contains all kinds of information and events that occurred that have passed the MCP filter.

The long-term memory is divided into declarative memory (or explicit) that is about knowledge and own experiences and non-declarative memory (or implicit), which deals with knowledge about the performance of certain skills or cognitive strategies. Declarative memory is dependent on the hippocampus (brain structure found in the medial temporal lobe) and may be activated consciously, while non-declarative memory usually activated unconsciously.

Declarative memory is divided into semantic memory, which refers to the meanings and signifiers of words and encouragement we receive, as well as episodic memory, which is the record of the experiences of each person.

The declarative memory is divided into procedural memory, which refers to the memory of motor skills and executive functions to perform a certain task and perceptual memory (or perceptual representation system), which improves the identification of words and objects by processing and representation of information regarding its form and structure.

Memory is fallible, make mistakes and may even sworn to the suffering of degenerative diseases whose hero is forgotten.

Memory can be defined as brain function, through synapses or connections between neurons allows us to recall facts, objects, sounds and sensations past.

Punset Eduard says: “Without memory there is life” since the last unites memory with this offering the subject a sense of continuity in time. But not only that, it also allows us to imagine the future based on various elements that are associated stored causing a reality that has occurred.

Sensory memory stores its data in different parts of the brain and are unified by the hippocampus .

“Do not store them in the head that you fit in a pocket.” Albert Einstein

Daniel Schacter, a psychologist at the University of hardward, is author of The Seven Sins of Memory, which explains why the memory is not totally reliable since it depends on several factors, including care provided at the time lived. If we look at several things at once is more likely to fall into oblivion.

The brain must select the data most important to save, to make room for what’s important. This is an adaptive need “You need to forget some things to move forward in life,” says Schacter.

Although memory has a very high storage capacity, connections that neurons make less available the more ancient they are. It is also harder to remember the more memories accumulate

Memory errors

The misattribution is to remember a certain aspect but take it out of context and invented a story that can mix elements lived in different situations.

Also influence knowledge in memory, feelings and beliefs today. That is why Punset gives importance to unlearn, as it allows access to new possibilities.

Memory fails, mainly when evoking the details, but essentially keeps well.

Memories can also be induced and stolen. It is possible to believe a person who remembers something lived in reality and also that of winning the role of a fact that has only been a spectator.

If you want to remember is to pay attention to the information at the time of capture it. A good trick is to repeat, out loud, the contextualising data to preserve or at the site has been acquired.

Memory is a faculty that can be lost due to age or illness, however, recent studies indicate the possibility of exercising, maintaining and even increasing through either physical training, manual or intellectual. In this sense, can be found in the Red j ames memory to maintain the necessary activity of neurons.
Mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s

According to studies recently carried out by Spanish researchers, the loss of short-term memory and mild cognitive impairment , characterized by missing objects, forgetfulness of scheduled tasks and the difficulty in finding the right word to communicate, could herald the condition of Alzheimer’s disease.

The number of Alzheimer patients has increased as people enjoy more years of life. Its early onset is due to heredity, at least 1% of cases, and shares the brain lesions that characterize the most common form of the disease whose onset is presented in most cases, after 65.
Research

Scientific studies to guide their efforts to detect the disease even before symptoms manifest. Thus, in Mexico, have begun clinical trials with drugs and vaccines in a range of people with a family history of the disease or carry the gene that predisposes to this disorder.

The great difficulty which is prevention research is that it is costly and time demonstrating that a product prevents disease do patients with obvious symptoms.

On the other hand, advances in imaging the brain and its processes enables a better understanding of the factors and functioning of this organ, suggesting a promising future to compensate when the most serious disease of memory.

Oblivion, often want and need, sometimes becomes a burden make it difficult reaching function in most trivial tasks.

The Child Neurology is a specialty of medicine that deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases affecting the central nervous system (brain, cerebellum, brainstem, spinal) and peripheral (nerves and muscles) during all stages of life from conception – through the newborn, infant, preschool, school-to adolescence.

The Child Neurologist cares and is attentive to any deviation or alteration that the child present in their development, both from the cognitive perspective (learning, psychological) as a motor, in order to make an early diagnosis and timely treatment.

The child’s brain is a developing brain as the various manifestations of neurological diseases will be different according to age is presented.
The first objective will be to define whether it is a normal variation or a manifestation of disease. Read the rest of this entry »