After hours of trying to finish watching this video, I finally succeeded! (Two hours after my bed time!) I chose to watch the first video which begins with the description of how the brain works while a racecar driver is in action. How exactly is he able to remember every single turn?! Well, memories are stored in the tissue which lies on top of the brainstem, allowing him to remember his moves. The outer layer of the brain relays what his eyes see. Then there are two "ribbons" on top. The first relays touch, like the feeling of wind on his face or the pressure of his hands on the wheel. The second orchestrates movements, sending information to his hand telling him how to move it. The frontal lobe is necessary in order to think and plan a strategy to win the race.
It is important to note that every single region of the brain is constantly in contact telling the driver what to do. No single area can function by itself.
(This scenario with the driver reminded me of when Mrs. Perl gives us worksheet where we have to define the part of the brain and how it would function in a certain situation.)
The video went on to discuss the different tools to examine the brain. The CAT scan shows the location of the actual brain tissue. The PET scan shows pictures of the brain and which areas are most and least active. He focused mainly on the EEG. This was an amazing discovery because before this, we were not able to see the human brain unless we operated on it. A test was done with a woman whose brain activity was being recorded onto a TV screen. When the color on the screen was lighter it was more positive. The woman was asked to look straight at the screen. Then, the screen was able to show what her brain processed by looking at the screen. First, it showed how her eyes saw the picture and then shows more colors when her brain finally realized what she was looking at. (the picture of her own brain!)
This was very interesting to me. Like we discussed at our lovely review session tonight, shouldn't we already be able to tell what is going on in our own brains?! Well, apparently we can't. But, with the help of the EEG, psychologists were able take the pictures and turn them into 3D pictures and see the entire brain. I did not know this before! It changed human life completely and made much progress in finding new neurological diseases that were never heard of before. It also gave people the ability to see the brain before opperating. How cool! Good night! :)
That's really cool about the picturing the brain in stuff, but it still saddens me that we don't just know how our brains work. I understand not knowing math, but it is to bad that we cant just kind of know, instinctively, what is going on.
ReplyDeletelife would be easier.
if this were facebook I would be clicking "like"
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