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The BRAIN and the SPINAL CORD
The brain and spinal cord together are known as the "central nervous system" (CNS).
They are derived, embryologically,
from the same layer of cells that gives rise to skin: the ectoderm.
This seems
appropriate, since the skin and CNS, together with the various sense organs deal
with the task of sensing and interpreting the external world.
The brain is a biological computer of remarkable capacity
to which the human spirit is fused
in a poorly understood way. The brain is
divided into three parts:
The Forebrain, the Midbrain and the Hindbrain.
The
Forebrain is the thinking part of the brain: the cortex, with gray matter
containing
ten billion neurons — individual brain cells. This is the
"hardware" of the system,
the neural space in which information can
reside.
As knowledge is gained, neurons develop more connections
between each other and evidently
exchange information through these new
"hard wires."
The Midbrain is a relay station between the body and the cortex with its ten billion neurons.
The Hindbrain is made up of the pons and
cerebellum, which are responsible for coordination of
the musculoskeletal system
and the medulla where breathing and heartbeat is regulated.
The CNS is divided into the motor system and the sensory system. These systems
exist side
by side. The motor system is designed to carry out movement of the
body.
The sensory system is designed to sense the reality around the body.
Somewhere in between the motor and sensory systems cognition (thinking) occurs
to
direct the motor activity in appropriate response to sensations received.
The automatic functions of the body such as digestion,
heartbeat, breathing, etc.,
are handled by the autonomic nervous system, the
ANS.
The ANS is divided into the sympathetic and the parasympathetic systems.
The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is designed to survive the body in
emergency
and is responsible for the fight or flight response in all its
variations.
The parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) is designed to survive the body in non emergency situations.
It handles the "vegetative functions," such as eating, digesting, pumping blood, sexing, etc.
Part of what you are conscious of, in any given moment, is a dynamic interplay between these various systems.
Because survival of the
species is dependent on the overall survival of consciousness, nature considers
the safety of the CNS to be of paramount importance.
Nature has evolved a strong housing for the CNS, the skull and vertebral column.
The brain
and spinal cord are suspended in a liquid medium and surrounded by three
layers of protective coating, the pia mater, the arachnoids and the dura mater.
The
latter is a tough, tear-resistant covering.
The brain requires a lot of energy and therefore receives fully 25% of the blood volume pumped by the heart at rest.
It requires constant cleansing and has its own unique system of cleansing itself, called the "ventricular system."
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is created by
filtration of the blood in the lateral ventricles, cavities in the left and
right hemispheres of the forebrain. The CSF flows through these ventricles and
into the third ventricle, bathing and cleansing the midbrain, then to the fourth
ventricle, bathing and cleansing the hindbrain and finally into the space
surrounding the spinal cord,
bathing and cleansing the spinal cord, where it is
reabsorbed into the blood.
The fuel used for energy by the brain is limited to only two: glucose and oxygen.
Although there are many nutrients necessary for proper brain function, only glucose and oxygen are used for energy.
To many substances,
especially those made up of large molecular size and weight, there is a barrier
to admission,
a kind of wrapping, around the blood vessels which supply the
brain, called the "blood brain barrier."
In a healthy condition, the
blood brain barrier admits only those substances to the brain tissue, including
glucose
and oxygen, which the brain can utilize for its nutritional or energy
needs.
The neurons of the brain are surrounded by helper cells,
responsible for keeping them
clean and well nourished. These are called "glial"
cells.
The brain of Einstein, although unremarkable in terms of numbers of
neurons, was found to contain twice
the usual number of glial cells, so they are
apparently very important to clear thinking.
These cells are, in turn, supported by the capillary bed through which the brain is perfused with blood.
The health of the arteriolar system supplying this
capillary bed is the weak point in brain health.
Along with the arteriolar
system supplying the capillary bed, which supports the heart, this system in the
brain is
the most critically important capillary bed in the body. With age, poor
diet and lack of regular exercise,
this arteriolar system becomes blocked and
susceptible to "infarction" (loss of blood supply).
When this happens,
it is called a "stroke" and, depending on the the area
or areas of the
brain infracted, one loses this or that mental function.
There is an area on the left parietal lobe of the cortex called "Broca's speech area.
If the vessel to this area is blocked, one losses one's ability to speak.
Prevention of this kind of event
lies in proper diet over a lifetime, a balanced diet of carbs, protein and fat,
along with the liberal intake of antioxidants.
Take care of it or lose it.
The brain loses ten percent of its neurons every ten years,
due to age. This can be more
than made up for by increased interconnectivity
between the remaining neurons.
Mental capacity does not have to decrease with age, but it will unless these new interconnections are made.
These connections are created by using the mind through learning.
If you stop learning, you lose your mind with age, little by little.
I heard of a study which followed a
group of 100 very bright and inquisitive men from age seventy to age eighty.
(Careful here = I'm an octogenarian too = webmaster speaking)
In
this group of men, intelligence at eighty was measurably greater than it had
been at seventy,
evidently because these men pursued knowledge even in those
advanced years.
Use it or lose it.
A final word about the brain relates to illness. The brain
is in charge of the body more
than any other organ. It also houses at least part
of the psyche.
It is not surprising that the brain can produce
effects in the body which mimic physical illness for purposes known
only to the
unconscious reaches of the psyche — often to distract your attention away from
emotions it wishes
to repress and keep away from your awareness.
Making the distinction between a physically based illness
and a psychosomatic illness
is never complete until this possibility is
carefully considered.
Most backaches, stomachaches, headaches, etc., are, in part, psychosomatic illnesses.
Treating them only physically misses the real opportunity.
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