Showing posts with label brain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brain. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Today's interesting fact for the day has to do with the Octopus.
The octopus along with squid are considered to have the most complex brains in the mollusc phyla.
The octopus's brain seems to co-operate with neural ganglia in it's legs, the brain giving the leg ganglia general instructions and the leg ganglia determining how to do what the brain has asked, working more or less independently.
The alimentary canal (digestive tract) passes through the octopus's brain.
The octopus along with squid are considered to have the most complex brains in the mollusc phyla.
The octopus's brain seems to co-operate with neural ganglia in it's legs, the brain giving the leg ganglia general instructions and the leg ganglia determining how to do what the brain has asked, working more or less independently.
The alimentary canal (digestive tract) passes through the octopus's brain.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Been ill for the past week so haven't posted. Sorry folks, especially Nick.
Still, here we go again.
Today's interesting fact has to do with why we yawn.
There have been many theories as to why we yawn, from threatening possible enemies, to increasing the oxygen we get into our blood, to helping us to wake up. But lately someone looked at the roof of our mouths with specialist equipment and watched what happens to blood flow, temperature and air flow when we yawn.
The examination of the resultant data suggests that while some of the other suggestions may have some validity, perhaps the biggest reason we yawn is to cool our brains.
The soft palette at the top of our mouths are full of blood vessels that can be used to transfer warmth from the brain into our breath as we breathe out and then colder air coming into our lungs during the yawn then reduces the blood temperature further which then further cools the brain.
And this also explains why we get brain freezes when we accidentally place ice cold foods or drinks on that soft pallet.
Still, here we go again.
Today's interesting fact has to do with why we yawn.
There have been many theories as to why we yawn, from threatening possible enemies, to increasing the oxygen we get into our blood, to helping us to wake up. But lately someone looked at the roof of our mouths with specialist equipment and watched what happens to blood flow, temperature and air flow when we yawn.
The examination of the resultant data suggests that while some of the other suggestions may have some validity, perhaps the biggest reason we yawn is to cool our brains.
The soft palette at the top of our mouths are full of blood vessels that can be used to transfer warmth from the brain into our breath as we breathe out and then colder air coming into our lungs during the yawn then reduces the blood temperature further which then further cools the brain.
And this also explains why we get brain freezes when we accidentally place ice cold foods or drinks on that soft pallet.
Thursday, September 08, 2011
Today’s interesting fact has to do with the Dogs and their sense of smell.
A dog's primary method of viewing the world is its sense of smell.
Dogs have 300 million olfactory receptors whereas a human only has 6 million.
A dog’s olfactory cortex uses about 12.5% of a dog’s brain, whereas that of a human is less than one percent.
Dogs can tell if a how long a scent has been on the ground and can easily work out which way a scent trail goes.
In effect scents give dogs a sense of time.
When I was young, I read Tarzan novels.
Tarzan, because he was raised by an unidentified species of great ape (can't be gorillas because they had a language) he was supposed to be able to use and process scents as well as a dog could.
But to do that, he would have had to have a massive restructuring of his brain and nose.
A dog's primary method of viewing the world is its sense of smell.
Dogs have 300 million olfactory receptors whereas a human only has 6 million.
A dog’s olfactory cortex uses about 12.5% of a dog’s brain, whereas that of a human is less than one percent.
Dogs can tell if a how long a scent has been on the ground and can easily work out which way a scent trail goes.
In effect scents give dogs a sense of time.
When I was young, I read Tarzan novels.
Tarzan, because he was raised by an unidentified species of great ape (can't be gorillas because they had a language) he was supposed to be able to use and process scents as well as a dog could.
But to do that, he would have had to have a massive restructuring of his brain and nose.
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Today's interesting fact has to do with sleep and the brain.
In our busy modern lives, many of us find ourselves waking up tired.
There have been many proposed reasons for this lack of restful sleep.
It has been suggested that modern lighting has caused the problems, by resetting our body clocks.
It has been shown that bright blue light will reset our circadian rhythms.
Florescent and LED lights tend to be in the bluer range.
It has been suggested that looking at our bright computer screens and mobile telephones late at night does just this.
They have been studying the brain using MRI to determine what sections of the brain do various tasks and how they interact.
Several studies that have shown when we have a lack of sleep, sections of the brain can take a nap without our realising it.
These naps cause a reduction in ability, especially when doing repetitive tasks.
People will often do the 'wrong' things when these naps occur.
Drivers lose the ability to drive and have accidents, operators of machinery can mis-use their equipment, writers can type nonsense, and speakers can find they talk nonsense.
With a good night sleep, they find that the brain doesn't nap and accidents then are less likely to occur.
In our busy modern lives, many of us find ourselves waking up tired.
There have been many proposed reasons for this lack of restful sleep.
It has been suggested that modern lighting has caused the problems, by resetting our body clocks.
It has been shown that bright blue light will reset our circadian rhythms.
Florescent and LED lights tend to be in the bluer range.
It has been suggested that looking at our bright computer screens and mobile telephones late at night does just this.
They have been studying the brain using MRI to determine what sections of the brain do various tasks and how they interact.
Several studies that have shown when we have a lack of sleep, sections of the brain can take a nap without our realising it.
These naps cause a reduction in ability, especially when doing repetitive tasks.
People will often do the 'wrong' things when these naps occur.
Drivers lose the ability to drive and have accidents, operators of machinery can mis-use their equipment, writers can type nonsense, and speakers can find they talk nonsense.
With a good night sleep, they find that the brain doesn't nap and accidents then are less likely to occur.
Friday, January 07, 2011
Today's interesting fact has to do with our default level of feelings.
Everyone seems to have a default setting when it comes to being happy, sad, miserable, grumpy or what ever. An individual will leave that setting, become happier, sadder, depressed, etc but eventually they will return to their default setting. Most of our time is spent in that setting.
Researchers have for years been trying to determine when this setting becomes our default. All the recent research suggests that this setting is determined at around 3 years of age, and it usually remains the same throughout life. The only times it changes is due to physical trauma to the brain, viral or bacterial infections, or chemicals changing the function of the brain.
Everyone seems to have a default setting when it comes to being happy, sad, miserable, grumpy or what ever. An individual will leave that setting, become happier, sadder, depressed, etc but eventually they will return to their default setting. Most of our time is spent in that setting.
Researchers have for years been trying to determine when this setting becomes our default. All the recent research suggests that this setting is determined at around 3 years of age, and it usually remains the same throughout life. The only times it changes is due to physical trauma to the brain, viral or bacterial infections, or chemicals changing the function of the brain.
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