A New Movement in Parkinson’s

By: Adrienne Lindsey

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=new-movement-in-parkinson-2005-07

My Summary:

Parkinson’s disease is among the most prevalent of neurological disorders. It is estimated that at least four million people have it worldwide. It is also estimated that about 500,000 to one million people have the disease in North America, with about 50,000 cases being diagnosed each year. These numbers are expected to double by the year 2040 as the world’s elderly population grows. James Parkinson first described this neurodegenerative disease in the 1800s as “shaking palsy”.
Like other neurodegenerative diseases, Parkinson’s is on its way to surpassing cancer as the leading cause of death in the elderly. But the elderly are not the only ones affected by this debilitating disease. About fifty percent of cases are diagnosed or start before the age of forty. Although treatments such as drugs and brain stimulation for the disease do exist, researchers have not yet found a way to prevent or slow down the onset of Parkinson’s. However, in recent years scientists who study the role of proteins have linked some proteins to the genetic foundations of this disease. Such findings give hope that the cause of the disease can be identified.
Many people are familiar with the affects of Parkinson’s due to the efforts of celebrities in recent years that currently live with the disease. Parkinson’s is characterized by movement disorders. Tremor in hands, arm rigidity, impaired balance and coordination and slowness of movement are some of the disease’s chief symptoms. Some also have trouble walking, talking and sleeping among other things. Such impairments are a result of neurons dying. The cells that are hit the hardest are those that produce the neurotransmitter, dopamine. Initially the brain can function normally, but when half or more of the cells disappear the brain can no longer support them. In the case of Parkinson’s the damages to the brain that are seen through autopsies are protein masses also featured in Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s. Investigators debate on whether the protein clusters cause destruction or whether they try to protect and remove toxic molecules from the neurons.
In recent years scientists have come to believe that Parkinson’s develops when some form of injury to the substantia nigra triggers a cascade of cellular stresses. These stresses result in a wealth of misfolded proteins that congregate. Chaperones star eliminating proteins that cannot be refolded and when the production of poorly folded proteins overwhelms the body’s ability to process them neuronal death follows. Recently scientists have found that perhaps chaperone-type drugs can be developed to limit degeneration in people. Scientists also believe that gene therapy could possibly be used to trigger the production of needed chaperones. Although there is still so much to be learned about Parkinson’s disease, the cellular insights that have come about encourage researchers and give hope for the development of future treatments that could improve and help control this disorder.

My Response:
I was encouraged to read about all of the new research that had come about regarding Parkinson’s disease. Although I don’t know anyone personally who is affected by the disease, I have seen celebrities who have the disease and how it affects them. I was also astonished at the growth of this disease. 50,000 new cases a year is a little scary. I was surprised to hear that half of new Parkinson’s cases affect those forty and under. The fact that the number will double in the next twenty years also concerned me. It is good to know that efforts are being made to improve the lives of those with this disease.

Cure in the Mind

Summary:

A man referred to as “Mr. Wright” was dying from cancer of the lymph nodes. His neck, groin, chest, and abdomen were being occupied by orange-size tumors. Doctors had tried many treatments, none of which were successful. “Psychological Variables in Human Cancer”, a report by psychologist Bruno Klopfer of the University of California, Los Angeles had convinced Mr. Wright that Krebiozen, a newly discovered anticancer drug was the answer. Prior to receiving his first treatment, Mr. Wright was bedridden and gasping for each breath. Within just three days Mr. Wright was happily walking around and making jokes, and his tumors had shrunk to half their size. Ten days later he was released from the hospital. Others patients who received the same treatment of Krebiozen remained unaffected by the treatment.

During the next two months Mr. Wright was troubled by reported who questioned Krebiozen’s efficiency, and suffered a relapse. The doctors decided to test the placebo effect with Mr. Wright. They told him that a new doubly effective version of Krebiozen was arriving the next day, which thrilled Mr. Wright. This time after receiving the treatment, which contained absolutely no Krebiozen, Mr. Wright improved even more than he had after receiving the actual Krebiozen the first time. After a short while he left the hospital with no remaining symptoms. Over the next two months Mr. Wright remained perfectly healthy, until he read reports stating that Krebiozon was a worthless/useless treatment; he died within the next few days. Mr. Wright’s case is an example of the placebo effect, of how a patient’s expectations and beliefs can affect the course of their illnesses.

The psychological component of placebos can help to alleviate pain, depression, and anxiety as well as to lessen symptoms of certain diseases or as in Mr. Wright’s case shrink tumors. New research has shown that placebo effect does not only arise from a conscious belief, but also subconscious associations between recovery and the actual experience of being treated. If a patient has previously experienced a situation, for example: receiving a shot, that has made them feel better, a reenactment of the same situation could (with the placebo solution in the shot of course) have the same effect.

My Response:

I think it is really interesting that Mr. Wright’s adamant belief in the supposedly “anticancer” drug Krebiozen was enough to shrink the size of his tumor drastically. It reminds me when the Bible talks about having faith as small as a mustard seed. Mr. Wright truly believed that Krebiozen would cure him; it ended up that it was actually the drug but his belief in the drug that cured him. Within mere days of learning that Krebiozen was worthless Mr. Wright died-it was as if the rug had been pulled out from under him. In a similar way when we lack faith we fall flat on our faces, which reminds me of when Peter walked on the water with Jesus but as soon as he looked down he become afraid and began to sink. Faith is crucial to the Christian walk.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=placebo-effect-a-cure-in-the-mind

Addicted to Starvation: The Neurological Roots of Anorexia

Out of the United States population, up to 3.7 percent of girls and women suffer from anorexia. Twenty percent of these young girls and women will die because of it. This high death rate makes anorexia the most deadly mental illness found in young females. Anorexia is characterized by several behaviors: compulsive dieting (or not eating at all), compulsive exercise, obsession, constant pursuit of thinness and constant dissatisfaction with ones own body. Over the years, society continues to blame media, Hollywood, and even families for girls’ ongoing struggle with anorexia. But if it were just the pursuit of a better physique that influenced these women and girls to partake in anorexic behaviors, then why do they continue to afflict themselves with starvation long after their bodies have reached the point of emaciation? Furthermore, culture and environment alone, although capable of great influence, cannot account for an anorexics loss of the necessary survival instinct, that is, to eat as a reaction hunger.
Anorexia is not just a reaction to negative influence; it’s a full blown mental illness. The effects of anorexia go far beyond mere changes in appetite. In fact anorexia can be directly related to a disturbance in the brain’s reward circuitry that causes loss of enjoyment in life’s many pleasures such as: winning a game, vacation, sex, and most importantly eating. This disturbance in the brain’s reward circuitry not only can deprive an anorexic of feeling pleasure when eating, but can in turn generate pleasure when they are being starved. When the majority of population diets, their metabolic rate slows down and they feel tired, sluggish, even agitated. On the other hand, when an anorexic is in a state of dieting (starvation) their metabolic rate actually increases. They feel more alert, energetic, and just better overall. This particular characteristic of anorexia has lead many doctors and scientist to believe that anorexia is underlined by a seemingly dangerous drug addiction, in which case the drug is starvation itself. Like anorexia’s drug, that is, starvation, many drugs of abuse act on the brain’s reward circuitry. These drugs specifically affect a pleasure hub called the nucleus accumbens in order to increase the levels of a neurotransmitter called dopamine, which in turn rapidly promotes good feelings (in the case of abused drugs, causes a “high”). After several tests scientists were able to link activation of the brains reward system to the lack of appetite found in anorexics. This significant connection proves that an anorexic individual is completely capable of linking reward to hunger, therefore, becoming addicted to starvation the same way an individual may become addicted to a drug of abuse.
There are many reasons why one might turn to anorexia (media, pressure, family, depression, control), but there are several biological reasons why a certain individual person may be specifically prone to anorexia. The most common biological reason for being at risk for anorexia is chronic anxiety. About eighty to ninety percent of anorexics report suffering from chronic anxiety before becoming anorexic. Their anxiety brings about a sense of perfectionism which has the consequence of feeling as though one must live up to society’s standards, avoid mistakes, and avoid anything negative. The second reason for the onset of anorexia is hormones, specifically estrogen. Puberty tends to be the most prominent trigger of anorexia. Forty percent of newly reported cases of anorexia are found in teenage girls ages fifteen to nineteen. The final reason for the onset of anorexia is the deprivation of food. A person who has been exposed to starvation over a period of time, such as one who is fasting, or dieting, is susceptible to becoming anorexic as well. Even normal men with no former symptoms of anorexia, began showing anorexic like behavior after going through twenty-four weeks of eating nearly half their normal calorie intake. If anorexia in a normal male could be spawned by deprivation of calories, then there are millions more out there susceptible to this dangerous illness.

My Response:
Having known several persons who have struggled with anorexia, I have sadly witnessed its consequences. For example, one friend of mine is no longer capable of having children because of her inability to quit starving herself. She would constantly get better then relapse again. Until reading this article I didn’t understand why she couldn’t just eat, but it’s so much more than that. After reading this I realize how hard it must be for someone to stop a habit that makes them feel happiness when without it they feel no pleasure. I also realized how dangerous anorexia really is. Before I viewed it as a phase some people go through that you can quit at anytime. Now I see it is a lot like drug abuse, it’s physically and psychologically hard to quit and stay that way. Anorexia is a downward spiral that is close to impossible to get out of, and with so many who are susceptible to it, we must be careful.
Article: Addicted to Starvation

Can stress cause gray hair?

People tend to see gray hair at about thirty years of age of men and around thirty-five years of age for women. It can happen earlier or later in life. Is it possible for stress to cause gray hair?
Each person has about 100,000 follicles on their scalp. This is where gray hair is produced from. Hair is assembled from the bottom to the top by keratinocytes. When the cell dies, it becomes keratin. This protein accounts for the texture and strength of hair.
Summary:

Melanin is a pigment made by keratinocytes that gives hair one of two shades: Eumelanin, dark brown or black, and pheomelanin, which is blonde or red. Variations of these create a vast *****.. When hair loses melanin, it turns gray; however, when hair loses pigment, it is white.
Hair cells have a life of anywhere between two and seven years. After it dies and falls out, a new follicle must be made. Stem cells re-make the keratinocytes and melanocytes in the bottom of the hair follicle.
It is unsure if stress truly causes gray hair. Hormones from stress may cause the life of melanocytes to change, but its not proven yet. Stress may cause and inflammation of the hair follicle. This produces free radicals, which are unstable, cell damaging molecules. The creation of these can bleach the melanin, causing gray hair.
General practice physicians have seen that more stressed people tend to gray faster by two or three years on average. Tyler Cyment, Sinai Hospital in Boston, observes that graying is genetic, but lifestyle and stress levels can change the age of graying by five to ten years.

Response:

If graying is really related to stress level, that would be unfortunate. Sometimes people can control their stress level, while others cannot. If someone is constantly being thrown difficult and stressful situations, they could produce gray hair faster. It makes sense for someone to age by genetics. That is the way things are suppose to be. Stress is an outside force that could tamper with the genetic timing.
Thinking about this, it would make sense for Christians to gray later on average than non-Christians. Because of Christ, we do not have to be anxious about anything. Christ paid the price for our mistakes. As humans, we have someone who will take all our problems and give us a peace that surpasses all understanding. We can know that God has a perfect plan for our life and will take care of us. As Christians, our lives should be less stressful because of God's gift of peace.



http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fact-or-fiction-stress-causes-gray-hair

Can a person be scared to death?

Our bodies have a natural protective mechanism called the fight-or-flight response in which our autonomic nervous system responds to life-threatening situations by increasing heart rate, increasing blood flow to muscles, slowing digestion, and dilating pupils. These increase in order to give us the chance to out run or fight off danger.

The autonomic nervous system uses the hormone adrenaline to send signals to various parts of our body to active the response. This chemical is toxic in large amounts and can damage our internal organs. Almost all sudden deaths are caused by damage to the heart because almost no other organ would fail fast enough to cause sudden death.

When the heart is flooded with too much adrenaline, the chemical lands on the receptors of the cardiac muscle causing calcium channels in the membranes of the those cells to open. The calcium ions rush in and cause the heart to contract. Because there is an overwhelming amount of calcium, it keeps pouring in and the heart won’t be able to relax. The heart then goes into abnormal rhythms that are not compatible with life causing death. The most common of these deadly rhythms is ventricular fibrillation, which is when the ventricles vibrate in a way that impedes their ability to deliver blood to the body.

While someone who is predisposition to heart disease is most likely to suffer a risk, it can happen to someone at any age and even someone who is considered healthy. If doesn’t just have to be fear, it can be any strong emotion such as happiness or sadness. For example, after 9/11 there was an increase of sudden cardiac deaths in New Yorkers.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=scared-to-death-heart-attack

My response:

While I have heard the expression of being "scared to death", I never knew that it could actually happen. I have also heard of people dying of sadness after their spouse passed away. What I personally find the most interesting is that someone could be so happy that they would die. I find that to be incredible; yet, after learning about our hearts it makes perfect sense. Our hearts pumps vital oxygen to our brains which tells our bodies how to run. If our heart stops for just a few seconds and our brains do not receive oxygen, it could result in brain death, which is the legal definition of death that refers to the irreversible end of all brain activity, or death.

Can a DVD Teach Emotions?

http://discovermagazine.com/2009/mar/04-can-a-dvd-teach-kids-with-autism-to-understand-emotions

Autism is on the rise. It may be from vaccinations or better diagnosing or a higher awareness, but whatever it is, more children have autism now. It had risen ten times in the past two decades. One of the very sad symptoms of autism is that the children have trouble comprehending emotions, especially complex ones, such as jealousy. Simon Baron-Cohen has created a DVD that strives to lessen this gap. He has created a DVD that actually tries to teach emotions.
His DVD, The Transporters, features animated trains with human faces. Actual human faces are used to help the children familiarize what happens in the movies with real life. Children with autism love trains and predictable, one-way movement. Trains are perfect for this because kids with autism like mechanical objects and linear movements. There are eight characters that all move slowly and predictably along the tracks. Simple story lines are incorporated, such as a surprise party or a train stuck on the tracks. The actors portray very clear facial expressions, such as surprise, and the movie names each emotion with a close up of the actor’s face. The movies are about fifteen minutes long and have interactive quizzes and questions, including a guide for the parents. Parent involvement is crucial to the success of the videos; the lessons have to be reinforced in the home.
The DVD was tested by taking three groups of twenty children. The first two groups were formed of highly functioning autistic children very close in age, skills, language, parent background and IQs. The third group consisted of children in the same age bracket that did not have autism. For four weeks Group one watched the videos while groups two and three did not. They were then tested on recognition of facial expressions they had seen in the DVD in new situations with new characters they had not yet seen. Group one improved dramatically and actually tested near the children without autism who had not watched the videos in their ability to recognize and understand emotions.
The videos are believed to work because of Baron-Cohen’s theory of systemizing. Everyone learns, and everyone has to have a way to understand things. People learn and understand things differently and understand on different levels. Autistic children tend to seem separate, lost in their own world. This is because they are extremely aware of things happening- hypersystemizing. Trying to understand the way these kids think is a big part of being able to connect with them and help them learn difficult things.
Some critics thought that the facial expressions were too subtle for autistic children to notice, especially with the eyes. Others mentioned that they thought the videos were unpredictable and hard to follow. This would be a very unfortunate flaw, because the whole video has to do with systematic thinking and movement, especially since it is such a big interest to autistic children.
There are many treatments or attempts of treatments for autism out there. The reality is, with more kids diagnosed with autism, more kids need help. This may be a small step in the right direction but sometimes a small step can be huge to a family. Even if the video doesn’t work a miracle- which it does not claim to do by the way- it is very promising and encouraging and not going to hurt any possible development.

My response: I have no idea why there are so many more autistic children now, but I think it is really great that there is now a DVD to try to help teach them emotions. The fact that he tries to understand the way they think is key. This program is designed to be interesting and interactive while being very helpful. It doesn’t simply repeat and emotion and name it. It is hard to think of not being able to understand emotions- something I can’t really wrap my mind around. That must be very frustrating and confusing. It would be very important for a parent or sibling to be able to connect with their autistic family member in any way, even if it is small thing. I do agree that with autistic or disabled kids that very small things can mean the world and really change things. Even if this DVD is not perfect, I believe that it is a step in the right direction and I hope more people will catch onto this. It is encouraging to see research and programs being developed in a growing area of need. The parents of autistic children would probably be very ready to try this, as it seems to be effective. I haven’t seen any of the videos but this is probably something worth trying over a medication or something with possible side effects. It’s a video. It’s spending time with your child. It just might work. It definitely sounds good to me.

Eyes on th Swine

We live in an age where the public believes someone, or thing, is always watching. Yet recently the Swine Flu has jumped into the human population. It made its first appearance in March and April, yet by late May officials were still trying to figure out where it came from.

The recent outbreaks of Swine Flu has tested systems that watch for human flu outbreaks, and proves a theory that pigs could be the “mixing vessels” of pandemic viruses. It has also pointed out how little progress has been made showing where and how such viruses evolve and predicting their transmissions to humans. Both would be great in preventing or warning of an approaching pandemic.

Though much funding and attention have been given to flu research, we are no closer to soundly finding animal diseases that could harm humans. For example in 2007 Jürgen A. Richt and his colleagues at the US Department of Agriculture’s National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa found an H2N3 virus thought to have potential in going to humans; no one was interested. They put their findings in a scientific journal concluding with “it would be prudent to establish vigilant surveillance in pigs and in workers who have occupational exposure.”

When speaking of the disease, surveillance means doctors and diagnostic labs report every instance of certain pathogens found. Every human flu case is “reportable” to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDCP tracks the incidence and movement of the illness. In both animals and humans voluntary lab testing only finds a small percentage of cases involving a doctor’s visit. Mandatory reporting and systemic sampling in swine herds are limited to a very small number of devastating illnesses.

Richt thinks veterinary labs could play a bigger part in animal screening by testing every sample for every pathogen. Richt says, “We need a better network to look in animal populations for emerging infectious agents with 21-st century technology.” A couple labs already have the technical ability to do this, says Richt. Microarray chips able to test pigs, cattle, and poultry could give small labs a large capacity to keep watch for microbial threats developing in livestock. Identifying animal flu strains is one thing, but finding whether or not they could pass to human is another thing altogether. “I'm a lot more pessimistic about being able to predict these things,” says Jeffery K. Taubenberger of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He wrote a book about two swine branches of the H1N1 family tree. Both had a common H1N1-type ancestor, but they evolved differently, and little changes have let them transfer to different host species. Scientists looking for clear patterns about whether a virus is switching hosts have failed so far.

Because of this, no one can explain why avian H5N1 has infected about 400 people worldwide, but has, thus far, failed to totally adapt to humans. They also don’t know where the original pandemic virus from 1918 came from or where H1N1, its descendant, is going. H1N1 might fizzle out or learn to pass between people more easily. It could later return powerful or weak.
Taubenberger thinks that if we keep watch over an entire rural ecosystem, we might find some deeper insights as to why and how the flu virus evolves.

Money and research directed toward pandemic preparations have dramatically improved human flu surveillance and response systems. Unfortunately, without closer monitoring of animal sources of flu strain, human surveillance must remain the ultimate first line of defense.

Response
I found it quite interesting that so much goes on behind the scenes with viruses such as the flu. I never had thought about how these viruses develop and change to be able to transfer from animal to human. I had also never heard that the new H1N1 (Swine Flu) outbreak is a descendant of a 1918 pandemic. It’s weird to think that we may come into contact with a flu virus, and later be challenged by the same virus after it has developed and become much stronger.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=eyes-on-the-swine

Musicophobia: When Your Favorite Song Gives You Seizures

Response: I think this was a very intersing article. It caught my eye because I couldn't understand how your favorite song could give you any seizures. It is so interesting how our brain works. It also amazed me how there were only four people before Stacey Gayle who had ever had the surgery and it was a complete success! It must have taken a great amount of courage and bravery to go through the surgery.

Musicophobia: When Your Favorite Song Gives You Seizures by Nikhil Swaminathan

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=musicophobia-when-your-fa
Stacey Gayle is what we would consider a normal person who loved music. She had many CD’s in her car of her favorite artists and was a active member of her church choir. Everything was fine until Stacey Gayle started having seizures. The first one occurred in her bedroom on March 3, 2005. She was 22 and her mother took her to the hospital from her home in Queens New York. The doctors were able to stabilize her but they could find no reason for the seizure. Later, she went to her friend’s cookout where she blacked out and started to shake uncontrollably.
The Seizures seemed to be occurring randomly until Stacey Gayle noticed a pattern in the spring of 2006. One of the top songs at the time was “Temperature” by Sean Paul and was played at almost every social outing. Every time Stacey Gayle heard the song, she would begin to seize. However, Gayle was afraid that no one would believe her story and told no one but her neurologist, Alan Ettinger at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center. He offered her many medications but none of them seemed to offer any real help. In order to treat Gayle, Ettinger and a colleague decided to try something new in early 2007. They monitored her for four days to see if she would have a seizure and put a cap over her head to try to observe her brainwaves. Nothing happened and therefore forcing them to release her and her I pod. That night, Gayle listened to “Temperature” and seized over three times. The doctors were amazed that what she said was true.
Throughout the next year Gayle responded in similar ways when songs such as “Umbrella” by Rihanna and “Beautiful Girls” by Sean Kingston came on. The only music that didn’t cause a seizure was classical or jazz, of which Gayle did not particularly like. She had to drop out of school because of people’s phone going off in class. “I remember sitting outside of stores in the mall and crying because I can’t even go shopping or sit in a restaurant and eat” Says Gayle. Doctors began to wonder if they could help her in any way since medication was not working and keeping music away from her was impossible.
The first time anyone heard of musicogenic epilepsy- seizures caused by music- was in a 1937 paper. Ashesh Mehta, a neurosurgeon at LIJ Epilepsy Center says that the condition is “exceedingly” rare and only 150 cases have been reported. Researcher Dan Friedman says that the people are not seizing because of a specific tune “but an emotional reaction to it.”
Scientists still do not know what causes epilepsy although 2.5 million Americans have it. The activity in the brain is very chaotic although it looks as if it were controlled. The brain becomes “unstable when activity patterns sync up” meaning that the brain activity during a seizure is one of activity falling into step says Mehta. Charles Schroeder, a neurologist in Ney York, says “music generates a pattern of rhythmic activity that if the rhythm is similar to a negative pattern that your brain has a tendency toward, the seizures.” When medications will not help, the only way to get rid of seizures is through surgery. They must take out enough, not too much to damage the brain.
Ettinger began to look in this same direction he told Gayle that in order to stop the seizures, he suggested that Mehta remove all of the brain cells that acted throughout her episodes. Gayle at first refused but then called Mehta and decided to do the surgery. This surgery was one of which only four people had ever had before. After some tests, Mehta found that the area of the overexcited brain cells was located in the lower section behind her right ear. Mehta sent her to a nuerophyschologist who put parts of her brain to sleep and gave her speech and memory tests, the areas left would be the ones Mehta would cut out. Gayle went through a surgery in September then one in October. Since then she has been seizure free. She also has had no mental side effects of her surgery.

With a Wave of the Hand: How using gestures can make you smarter

Summary

Most people have noticed the frequent use of hand gestures during a conversation. You see a man at a hardware store looking ask an employee where the hammers are located while acting out the action of nailing with a hammer. Or you see a woman telling her friends about what her new dress looks like, showing them with her hands how it is shaped. Most people do this. But why do people do this? Is it because they want their listeners to fully understand what they are talking about, or could it possibly be another reason? More and more scientists actually think that the gestures serve the speaker. The belief is that the moving of your hands can help you think more clearly and better. This means that our physical body shapes abstract mental processes so that the speaker can deliver the words easier. Now scientists believe that hand movements may help the person learn, particularly on how students learn how to solve math problems at school.

University researchers did a study focused on how third and fourth graders solving math problems that required grouping. The students who were taught to make a "V" symbol with their index finger and middle finger, pointing to the two terms they were going to combine, learned how to solve the grouping problems better than those who didn't use the "V" gesture. The researchers believe that the use of their hands solidifies the method in the student's mind, such as speech does. This study has brought on a new school of thought, called Embodied Cognition. Embodied Cognition views the basic elements of thought as bodily representations with bases in perception, action, and emotion.

So next time your in a conversation with a friend and they are using hand gestures during the conversation, think about whether they are trying to describe something better, or they are trying to verbalize their thoughts in an easier way.

My Response

This article was very interesting to me because I have a close friend who uses hand gestures just about everytime he talks. It's amazing how deeply connected our brain is to the rest of our body. Even something like this is legitimate evidence for the intelligent design of a creator. Next time I am in a conversation I am definitely going to think about the person's motives in using hand gestures, that is wheter they are using them for me or for themselves.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=with-a-wave-of-the-hand

The Benefits of Bleeding

http://discovermagazine.com/1997/dec/thebenefitsofble1308/?searchterm=the%20benefits%20of%20bleeding

Before menopause, women suffer only about half as many heart attacks as men of similar age do. After menopause the statistics balance out because estrogen production drops sharply after menopause, the hormone might somehow help ward off heart disease. The monthly loss of blood may protect women from heart disease and men might benefit by blood donation. Dacid Meyers who is a cardiologist at Kansas University, became interested in a possible link between lossing blood and heart disease. In the survey he followed up on 3855 men and women and they were all over 40. he noted how manydonated blood in the past and how many went on to develop heart disease. He found that men who had donated blood at least once in the last 3 years were 30% less likely to have developed heart disease but he found no difference for women between donors and nondonors. The blood loss also reduces their stires of iron. Women have about half as much iron as men. Iron acts as a catalyst in cholesterol oxidation, transforming cholesterol into a more dangerous molecule. Cholesterol is kind of a mild irritant, but oxidized cholesterol is hust a really nasty irritant. The blood loss does indeed lower the risk of heart disease.

I thought the old women get heart attack easily because of the age before i read this article. If we become healther by doneting blood, we should donete our blood so we are gonna be healther and people who need blood for surgery can fine blood easily.

How Could Explosions cause Brain Injuries without Piercing the Skull?

This article is talking about how people can get brain injuries without actually piercing/damaging their skull. An example used was soldiers. Soldiers can get brain injuries in war without actually getting hit by different pieces of shrapnel. They can get brain injuries from the force of pressure made by the shrapnel or other explosives. If an explosive went off in a close distance from the solider, but it didn’t actually physically hit the soldier, he could still have been hit by the waves of the explosive. The force of pressure could have gone straight through his skull and hit his brain. Scientist Willy Moss and his colleague Michael King proved this at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. They made a three-dimensional simulation of a soldier and had it stand less than 15 feet from an explosive. They used data on blast waves from explosives and properties of the human brain, cerebrospinal fluid, and skull to calculate this experiment. Once the explosive went off Moss stated, “There’s lots of oscillation. The skull is ringing. It’s not pleasant.” He states that the skull is actually flexed and the brain is rippled because the pressure of the blast is so intense. Any change in pressure than our normal atmospheric pressure can do this kind of damage. They then repeated the experiment using helmets that had webbing on the inside. This experiment showed that these helmets actually made more damage to the brain because the helmet trapped the pressure inside and focused the blast. They then tried the experiment with recent helmets with padding on the inside. Even though the pads feel soft, they actually stiffen during the blast causing not only the helmet to flex, but the skull to also. This flexure gets transmitted to your skull. Helmets are still needed though because fragments are still coming after you. This has been proven in the lab and will soon be tested in the field.
I think this article was interesting. When I thought of brain injuries, I thought they were made because of damage done to the skull. It’s interesting to see how waves of an explosive can be so powerful that they actually flex the skull. With all the new technology coming out, we could see how others injuries can come about in the body without the body actually being physically injured. It’s cool.

Five ways to protect yourself and others from swine flu

1. Wash Your Hands
Don’t touch your face. Keep your hands away from your eyes, nose and mouth, because they serve as pathways to viruses. If you must touch your face scrub your hands, including under your fingernails for twenty to thirty seconds. Wash them with hot soap and water because soap has surfactants in it, which is also used in detergent, which will damage fats that protects the virus.

2. Cover your nose and mouth
Sneezes and coughs contain flu viruses and is why they travel as far as three feet. Maintain at least an arm’s length between people with viral sings. To help others when you sneeze or cough cover your mouth and nose with a tissue. Then wash your hands.

3. Use sanitizer
Use alcohol-based sanitizer. About a quarter sized spot, and rub until the sanitizer evaporates completely. Alcohol inactivates viruses by destroying the structure of their proteins.

4. Consider a mask
Surgical masks could be helpful when needed, but they may not be very effective because they filter out water droplets containing the virus. They do little unless hand washing is also frequent. Use facemasks when it is impossible to avoid crowded areas or close contact with infected people, such as caring for a sick family member.

The article could have done a better job thickening the reasoning behind the protection of swine flu, however the just of the protection options are explained in manner that can be circulated and used in public places.

Stress Fractures

Sandra is a patient who claimed to have diabetes. When she saw Mark Siegel she was dressed as any normal person would. He tested her diabetes and glucose level, which was in the normal range. Sandra didn't complain about being thirsty, having tingling feet, or having blurred vision, which are the common factors of a diabetic. She didn't have regular doctor visits like she should have done, instead she had been giving herself insulin shots. Although she claimed she was diabetic, Siegel couldn't find any case of her being diabetic. Sandra made an appointment to see Seigel, but she missed it and the next one.

Sandra came back awhile later without an appointment and a different person. She was rude and dressed inappropiatly. Her glucose level was 250mg per deciliter. Normal glucose is 70-140. Sandra came back for another appointment as a total opposite as she was when Siegel first saw her. She claimed her name was Donald and that she was a male of twenty-two years, who was not a diabetic. Siegel decided to send "Donald" to a psychiatrist. Siegel was coming to the conclusion that Sandra was suffering form multiple personality disorder.

Sandra was admitted into the hospital. Siegel thought her different personalities and glucose level was due to her blood sugar. Sandra can't make the insulin she needs to increase her blood sugar. Sandra was there for two months and was reported to have shown forty different personalities. Siegel never did find the actual reason why Sandra was acting like different people. None of her personalities that claimed to be diabetic free were found to have a glucose level higher then 200. She was released from the hospital and is doing well. She has to have five insulin injections a day and still see Siegel and the psychiatrist. In conclusion, the one thing Siegel did find out about Sandra is that she is diabetic.

I thought this article was very interesting. I never knew that someone could have forty different personalities. I was dissappointed to find out that they couldn't find what was exactly wrong with her. It's strange how something so little can mess you up in such a big way.

http://www.discovermagazine.com/1996/may/stressfractures767

Head Attack

Head Attack
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=head-attack&SID=mail&sc=emailfriend

Summary:

How is your head able to to hurt your heart? Well for example during times of danger the body releases stress hormones, which pour into your blood for the flight or fight response. Stress is also just in everyday life, turning the body into overdrive causing a vicious cycle that can knock us out of our routine giving us more of a chance for arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat). Therefore causing a blockage and most likely later on a heart attack.

It also seems that emotional tension is a significant factor of physical factors. Even Type A personalities are more susceptible to heart attack because their behavior is characterized by ambition, competitiveness and impatience. The agression and hostility sometimes felt by Type As adds more levels of stress at a faster deterioration rate. Anger, depression, hoplessness, and the loss of a loved one can increase the risk of a person getting arrhythmia.

On the bright side, the frontal brain which is important in fibrillation is connected to nerve cell bodies of the sympathetic nervous system in the spinal cord. Meaning we can influence our heart function in a positive way. Another way to slow heart disease, depression and so on is with cognitive behavioral therapy. Along with eating healthy and exercising.

My reaction: I find this article to be a little bit of what I already knew. Of course the brain has some control over the heart, its other things like emotional stuff and stress that adds to the way of the heart... However it was interesting to see in what ways exactly the mind can cause something to happen with the heart, along with the other factors.

The Blind Climber Who “Sees” With His Tongue

Erik Weihenmayer was born with retinoschisis, a disease that is macular degenerative and affects the nerve in the eye. Weihenmayer was completely blind by age thirteen. He had a deep love for climbing and even after going blind he still climbed. In 2001 Weihenmayer was the first and only to date blind man to climb to the summit of Mount Everest.
Now Weihenmayer climbs with the help of a devise called a BrainPort. This tool allows for Weihenmayer to see things with his tongue. People who see with their eyes see things when light hits the retina making electrical impulses and the brain translates them into pictures. The BrainPort takes light and makes it into electrical impulses that stimulate the tongue instead of the retinas and the impulse is sent to the brain and the brain translates them into pictures. Visual inputs are sent from the tongue to the brain in much the same way they would be sent from the eyes of a seeing individual. The tongue is full of tactile nerve endings that can differentiate two points that are less than a millimeter apart.
The information the BrainPort sends to the user is two dimensional. The user sees lines and has to figure out location, dimension, and perspective. When Weihenmayer is climbing with the BrainPort he uses his hand as a scale because he knows its size and distance. He waves his hand in front of the rock that he is reaching for to judge the distance and size.
The BrainPort is a very incredible tool that gives sight to those who would otherwise not be able to see. With the BrainPort Weihenmayer is able to kick a soccer ball back and forth with his daughter from fifteen feet away. He is also able to identify the x’s and o’s in tic-tac-toe. The hard thing for Weihenmayer is to differentiate shadows from objects because the BrainPort is unable to distinguish between them.
Paul Bach-y-Rita a co-creator of the BrainPort believed that one sense could take the place of the other. Kind of like how a blind person can read by using their sense of touch. Bach-y Rita used this idea of substitution to develop the BrainPort. He said that, “We see with our brain and not our eyes.”
The defense advanced Research Agency is also looking into the BrainPort technology and they are funding research for devises that could benefit the military. They want a device that makes it possible for a diver to swim in a straight line in a dense fog at night. Many advancement have been made in this area and are greatly benefiting the blind and military.

Response:
I think that the BrainPort is a great devise that helps those who would otherwise not be able to see anything. It is amazing how the tongue is used to help a blind man see. The idea that the brain uses visual inputs from the tongue and creates an image from them shows how intricate the brain is. I think that it is amazing that people can use their tongue to see when they have lost the use of their eyes.

http://discovermagazine.com/2008/jul/23-the-blind-climber-who-sees-through-his-tongue/?searchterm=the%20blind%20climber

What causes insomnia?

Summary:

During some time during most people's lives, they will deal with trouble sleeping, usually due to stress or pain. Some of these sleep problems turn into insomnia, which is the inability to fall asleep or to have uninterrupted sleep. Some researchers say that a persons attitude about sleep makes them vulnerable to insomnia.


In 2002, The National Sleep Foundation surveyed over a thousand adults and thirty-five percent said that they had problems sleeping within the last year. Of the thirty-five percent, fifteen percent took sleep medication a few times a month. Age does not seem to be a factor, but other research shows that insomnia increases with age.


Many people believe that depression and anxiety cause insomnia. A study that was done shows the risk of developing depression was 39.8 times higher for insomniacs. Another study done shows that too much sleep can cause depression. Combining these two studies, we can say that insomniacs who are depressed get to much sleep. However, it is known that insomniacs don't get enough sleep, so this statement can't be true.


Evidence is showing that insomniacs are actually getting as much sleep as they need, and maybe more. They spend more time in bed that non-insomniacs. They just underestimate the amount of sleep that they get. One cause of insomnia is voluntarily extending your sleep.


So why would someone spend more time in bed that they actually need? It depends on your attitude towards sleep. Charles M. Morin found that insomniacs have stronger beliefs about the affects of insomnia on mental and physical health. Their mood changes more often and they have a lack of energy. People with sleep-onset insomnia (trouble falling asleep) think about worries and problems prior to sleep and think about what happened throughout the day. One night of bad sleep may make someone stay in bed later or take a longer nap. This could make the insomnia chronic.


It is often said that a person needs eight hour of sleep at night. However, sleep is an individual thing and some people may need more or less than eight hours of sleep.


Even after a good night's sleep, a person is still likely to be drowsy early in the morning. However, if you have trouble staying awake throughout the day, then it most likely means you aren't getting good enough sleep. Taking ten minute naps will most likely refresh you, but longer naps will make you have problems sleeping at night. However, if you're tired and can't fall asleep during the day, it's probably fatigue instead of sleepiness. If a person experiences this kind of tiredness with insomnia, this suggests thath a person is getting more sleep than necessary.


There is therapy that can change attitudes about sleep. Insomniacs should practice "sleep hygiene". Sleep restriction could also help. These treatments are more effective and last longer than medication.

My Reaction:
I really liked this article. I never realized that if you have insomnia you could actually be getting more sleep than you really need. I also never realized that too much sleep could cause depression. I think it's really interesting how not every person needs eight hours of sleep a night and that it varies from person to person. I think it's really cool that they have found ways to help insomnia other than medication.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-causes-insomnia

Head Attack

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=head-attack

Summary:
Many patients who enter a hospital with a suspected heart attack have experienced the effects the mind can have on the body. Although these patients felt the same symptoms as a heart attack, a physical cause will not be found. The cause is psychosomatic; however, that does not make them insignificant. There could be many causes for these physical attacks, but the one that stands out is stress. Studies show that every year in the U.S. 1.5 million people have heart attacks, and for more than 200,000, it results in death. It is unclear how many of these are related to stress; however, in a study of how people were feeling and what they were doing soon before a heart attack, a very common factor was emotional stress.
Stress has a great effect on the physical body. When the brain senses danger, it causes the body to prepare for a "fight of flight" reaction. The heart pumps harder and faster and blood vessels constrict. This is a good temporary reaction, and it protects us in dangerous situations. When this happens on a daily basis, however, it can have damaging effects. Everyday events, such as runnning late, can cause our bodies to remain under constant stress. This causes our bodies to "keep working in overdrive", which can lead to problems such as hypertension, arrythmia (irregular heartbeat), or a heart attack.
The method in which a person handles problems can influence that person's risk of a heart attack. Individuals who are typically ambitious, competitive, and impatient are known as having a "Type A personality." These individuals are at a higher risk for having heart attacks than those who do not have those traits. This information was gathered from a study done by Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman of people with Type A personalities. Having a Type A personality does not necessarily increase an individual's lifetime risk, but it increases the likelihood that he will have one soon. Another study done by Bruce C. Jonas and James F. Lando shows that strong emotions, such as anger and depression, also increase the risk of a heart attack.
According to multiple studies, the human mind can highly impact the heart. James A. Blumenthal suggests that relaxation techniques are helpful and can reduce the risk of a heart attack. Another good method is "cognitive behavioral therapy." This is when people concentrate on positive events more than negative events. Relationships are also important in reducing stress levels. Other people can help minimize stress. Two other ways to reduce stress are eating healthy foods and exercising on a regular basis. Both have been proven to improve the stress levels of individuals. Through different studies, specialists have shown that as much as physical health can affect our state of mind, our thoughts and emotions can have a powerful effect on our bodies.


My Reaction:
I have definitely experienced some of the effects stress can have on the physical body. I think it's important that we pay attention to the amount of stress in our lives so we can work on reducing it, therefore lowering the risk of health problems, such as a heart attack. Understanding the significance of stress could potentially prevent many people from having a heart attack, because we can learn techniques to help reduce our stress levels. I hope that as more research is done, more treatments can be found that will help more people live longer, healthier lives.

How we find our identities.

It is a well known fact that teenagers are usually very self conscious. Many wondered why that
might be. A scientist by the name of Sarah Blakemore did a study on this and noticed how when thinking of one's self, a teen tends to think of what other people think of them. She discovered the part of the brain used when thinking of one's identity is the medial prefrontal cortex. (MPFC) In people this part of the brain develops last. This would explain why many teens have a self conscious demeanor. Our feeling of self develops from what others think of us, and what we see in ourselves.

My response:
I thought this article was very interesting because this issue is a problem many teens have today, and it explains it very well. It was very well written and helps the reader understand how the brain works without being confusing. Altogether, an impressive article.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-teenagers-find-themselves

How Down syndrome works against cancer

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/43950/title/How_Down_syndrome_works_against__cancer

How Down syndrome works against cancer

Down syndrome is a result from an extra chromosome. Researchers of cancer believe that the extra chromosome carries a cancer suppressing gene that reduces the possibility of a person with Down syndrome to acquire cancer. A tumor grows rapidly from a blood vessel by mimicking a process called angiogenesis. The researchers believe the extra chromosome makes extra protein for an anticancer effect, which works against the production of angiogenesis. The chromosome has an Endostatin, which also stops the production of angiogenesis. The article said, “A recent study found that people with Down syndrome are only about one-tenth as likely to get a solid-tumor cancer as are people without the syndrome. “ The researchers have done tests on mice and even on fetal tissues. The results came out that those who were injected with Down syndrome had twice as many protein encoded by RCAN1 than normal tissues. “The RCAN1 protein dampens vessel growth by inhibiting the actions of vascular endothelial growth factor, preventing it from instigating a cascade of vessel-growth orders”, says study coauthor Sandra Ryeom of Harvard Medical School. The RCAN1 could be a factor that helps keep cancer away.

Response:
I’ve never really thought about people with Down syndrome not having cancer. It is really a blessing to them, because they already have a major life problem and wouldn’t be able to understand what is happening to them. It is a big help to researchers to study their proteins and maybe in time find a cure for cancer. Maybe by studying Down syndrome it might help find a cure for Down syndrome itself.

The Big Similarities & Quirky Differences between Our Left and Right Brains

While the brain may initially seem like a mass of squishy tissue that can be easily taken apart, it holds the ability to control the body and send out thousands of impulses at once at speeds up to 250 mph. While it was originally thought that humans were uniquely right- or left-brained, but it has more recently been discovered that more animals are also this way, such as parrots, toads, zebra fish, and bees. Lesley Rogers, a biologist at the University of New England in Australia, performed an experiment on chicks while they were still on the eggs. Since most chick embryos have their right eye facing the egg wall, Rogers found if someone shines a light on the egg for an amount of time, the chick will have a more lateralized brain than a chick on whom no light was shone. Other similar experiments were performed on humans and songbirds which, for the sake of time and space, I will not mention here. However, it was discovered that: it is likely while one hemisphere is busy performing a task, the other side relaxes; the front of the brain is usually less synchronized than the back; and the left side deciphers what words and sounds mean, and the right side recognizes the emotion and tone of the words.
While all this seems like it will work out perfectly for ever and ever, amen, there are failures as are always present in our world. There are disorders in which the two hemispheres of the brain are not in sync with each other, such as in dyslexia or Alzheimer's. Nevertheless, it is possible to remove one side and be able to survive with only the other (a lot of physical therapy is needed, no doubt).

My Response
I found this article intriguing because I know the thoughts about how right vs. left brained people think, and I knew there were some differences between the thought patterns of men and women, but beyond this was unknown territory. I learned while the brain is in some ways symmetrical, there are distinct differences not only between each hemisphere but between the front and back as well.

The human brain is directly affected by its immediete surroundings. Scientists have been studying the affects of open spaces or tight surroundings on the brain and people's emotions. Human beings who have alot of space and are not confined to a tight area appear to feel more secure and are less affected by brain activity. On the other hand, people who are in an enclosed space are have a more exaggerated response to brain activity. when scientists had test subjects read traumatic or extreme things, those who were feeling confined or trapped had a much more intense and extreme response, whereas those at a normal state of mind were nearly unaffected.

In another test, the patients were asked questions regarding the health threats of french fries and chocolate, and brown rice and yogurt. The subjects who were in a mental state of relaxation due to the openeness reasoned that the unhealthiness was the same. Those who where primed thought that the chocolate and french fries had more. Lastly, both sets of test subjects where asked questions about their homes. Those who were primed were anxious, but the others were relaxed and unaffected.

Response:
This article was really interesting because of the way that your mental state actually affects how you react physically. It just proves further that what you think about has a profound affect on who you are, what you do, and who you become. It was also interesting to read just how much the sense of security is involved in the descisions we make and how we react to certain things.
. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=arranging-for-serenity&page=1

Does Sleep Make You Smarter?

When we sleep, our brains are active. During the cycles of sleep, our brains process the information we have learned during the day, it makes our memories stronger and eliminates the least important details of the day, and help to solve problems that complex us during the day.

In 2006, Robert Stickold performed an experiment to prove that sleep stabilizes memories. They had the volunteers memorize words in an A-B pattern. Then they let half of the volunteers sleep and kept the other half awake all night. In the morning, they taught them words in an A-C pattern. The group that was able to sleep remembered far more of the A-B pairs than the group that had obtained no sleep.

Besides stabilization, our brains also may be deciding what of the day's information is important to remember and what can be discarded. One study that was conducted tested the memory of neutral objects against a neutral background against emotionally evocative objects. The memory of the neutral objects decreased by 10% only twelve hours later, and the memory of the emotional objects improved in twelve hours. During sleep our memories are recalling and reviewing our memories, which makes them stronger. This also increases the possibility of long-term retention.

Studies have also shown that the popular phrase "sleep on it" may actually be true. In 2007, Jeffery Ellenbogen conducted a study that proved we learn during our sleep. He did a cognitive study use premise pairs that built on each other. They had to learn which pairs to choose (purple ring over brown, brown ring over green, etc). After twenty minutes, the volunteers had still not noticed the hidden theme that one object is superior to another. Twelve hours later, after sleep, they picked the correct superior pair 70% of the time. Therefore, the brain needs longer time to process and piece together information.

My response:

This article was very interesting, but i think that it still lacked some details. Some of these details might not be known yet, but I was curious about some things. How does the brain know what is important? What causes these reactions? The amazement I have for God's creation of the brain has increased since reading this article. Its incredible that our brain can process information to the point of solving problems while we are not even awake.


http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-snoozing-makes-you-smarter

Hiccups

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=this-old-body
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-causes-hiccups

The information in this article summary is from the second half of the article "The Evolutionary Origins of Hiccups and Hernias" and the full response of William A. Whitelaw in "What Causes Hiccups?".


Hiccups vary from short annoyances to long-term, problematic conditions. Persistent or dramatic hiccups can be caused by various disorders. Some causes include expansion of the stomach and movement of stomach acid into the esophagus, disease or irritation in the thorax, irritation of the phrenic nerve, and neurological lesions. Any hiccup, whether from a severe, prolonged problem or a short annoyance, results from a spasm or sudden, strong, contraction of the muscles in the throat and chest. The "hic" sound comes when, after the contraction begins, one sharply inspires air as the epiglottis closes.
Since hiccups are rarely isolated events, but rather occur consistently for quite some time, there is believed to be a "central pattern generator" somewhere in the brain. This means that, like those for breathing, coughing, and walking, there is a neuronal circuit that generates hiccups. The CPG for hiccups is a conditional oscillator because while it sends a reoccurring signal to cause a hiccup, it sends this signal only under certain conditions.
Observations of hiccups in a variety of animals and in the fetus body suggest that the CPG for hiccups comes from a previous stage of evolution. One bodily activity in animals similar to the hiccup in the humans is the tadpoles' use of gill ventilation. The tadpole, with both lungs and gills, cannot suck air into its lungs. The tadpole uses the pressure pump action of the mouth to fill the lungs and to push water through the gills. When breathing air, the tadpole closes its nose, mouth, and passage to the gills in order to compress the mouth cavity and force air into the lungs. It breathes water by closing the glottis and forcing the water out the gills. When pushing water through gills, tadpoles must keep water from the lungs. Therefore, while the tadpole inspires, the glottis closes. This is essentially the same action happening in the human body during a hiccup.
Along with connecting humans to an amphibian history, hiccups demonstrate a connection to a history shared with fish. Major nerves used by humans in breathing are inherited from fish. The phrenic nerves travel from the base of the skull in humans, through the chest cavity, and through the diaphragm. Anything interrupting these nerves can inhibit breathing. If these nerves are irritated hiccups can result. The unfortunate design of humans' phrenic nerves comes from fish who have gills closer to the neck instead of a diaphragm a good distance below it. Humans' shared history with animals like tadpoles and fish seems to reveal once useful and necessary mechanisms that now cause unnecessary, annoying, and even problematic issues.

The discussions in the two articles I read are presented in a clear and extreme evolutionary perspective. The arguments and information in the articles have challenged me to think of an adequate response correctly defending my faith and belief in creationism. I believe God created each species of animal as unique from other species and humans as different from all other animals. Different living species, as this article discusses, have evident similarities in both structure and function. While this may seem to point to evolution, I believe this fact shows that the essentially same structure or action used to help one living thing can create problems for another. This structure or action did not evolve from one creature to another, but is rather used in a different way producing different effects. I believe the authors of these articles stress ways similar structures and actions in animals and humans cause problems for humans. However, they neglect to discuss potential problems similar elements could cause in the animals. The articles discuss the mechanisms and structures involved in hiccups which are logical and useful in amphibians and fish, while cumbersome in humans. I find myself wondering if there are structures or mechanisms afflicting an animal species while similar structures or mechanism cause no such harm in humans.
The idea that an element similarly found in two different beings could cause harm to one and help another seems to reflect a larger connotation involving various aspects of life. For example, just as the same mechanism that helps tadpoles breathe causes unwanted hiccups, the same mouth that speaks kind, uplifting words can tear someone down with unkind, harmful words. Our creator choose to use similar elements in different species of his creation. The mechanisms useful for the tadpole and the nerve logical for the fish are both seen in the humans with seemingly less use and logic. Our creator also choose to give each person the ability to use his or her mind, mouth, and tongue to speak both kind and harmful words. The same mouth used kindly can be seen at a different time used harmfully. While our hiccups are not a matter of free will and personal choices, they can be seen, like unkind words, as an unbeneficial use of a mechanism that can be beneficial in other circumstances.

The Brain

The human brain appears to be two separate brains glued together. When the corpus callosum is cut, people wonder why we have two hemispheres in the first place.
Many scientists believe that human symmetry is linked withy our “evolutionary history”. They believe that there was one common ancestor that caused symmetry in most living organisms. Other truths hold that symmetry is imperative for survival. With muscles and bones on each side of the body, animals and people can move more efficiently and quickly. Symmetry also allows for one side of the body to pick up the slack if the other is weak. Many prey animals use the different sides of their brain to do different things. For example, a chicken uses the left part of their brain to look for food and the right to look for predators. They can do this because each hemisphere controls one side of the body.
There are other indications of why we have two hemispheres. Many people prefer to use one side of their body over the other and are considered left brained if they are more logical and right brained if they are more emotional.
Even though the brain has two seemingly identical hemispheres, each half is not responsible for the same functions. The way the two halves are connected to each other is also different in different regions of the brain. The front halves have looser connections between them than the back, because the front is responsible for thought and ideas and the back is in control of sight and hearing. These functions call that the two sides work together, so the connections between them must be stronger. The brain’s two sides work very well together. For example, the left side of the brain interprets sounds and words in a conversation, and the right side interprets the way the sounds and words were presented. This is why it is so remarkable that that a young child can survive with only one hemisphere. An adult cannot because they cannot break the habit of using both sides of their brain and a child can. Our symmetry seems to be at the very core of our existence.

http://http://discovermagazine.com/2009/may/15-big-similarities-and-quirky-differences-between-our-left-and-right-brains

I thought this article was very interesting and thought is was cool about how well the two hemispheres can work together. The only thing that I didn’t agree with was the whole evolutionary history thing. How can scientists look at something as complex as the human brain and not realize that it was designed?

Why Babies don't Talk like Audults

We often don't ask ourselves why babies don't speak like all adults. It is commonly believed that children learn to talk by imitating what they hear from other, older people. However, the theory that babies simply copy and regurgitate what the hear does not explain why young children are not as articulate as adults. Babies and toddlers often talk in one or two word phrases like, "Me want cookie" or "kittie"; most adults speak in complex, grammatically correct sentences, making it unlikely that babies copy exactly what they hear, because if they did, they too would speak in complex, multi-word sentences. Over the years, scientists have produced two possible theories hoping to explain why young toddlers speak in short phrases if they are in fact coping what they hear. One such theory is called the mental developmental hypothesis which says that babies speak in "baby talk" because their brains are immature and cannot process complex adult speech.This hypothesis states that babies don't speak more complicated sentences until their brains are ready and more mature. The second theory, the stages-of-language hypothesis, says that the levels of progress in child speech are necessary stages in language development. Basically, children will not speak in multi-word, complex sentences until they have first mastered small, basic phrases and sentences and have learned a certain number of words. The main difference between the mental development hypothesis and the stages-of-language hypothesis is that with the mental development theory, the patterns in learning how to talk are directly related to the child's level of mental development and maturity, while with the stages-of-language theory, learning a language should not depend on the child's level of mental development, but on time.
In 2007, researchers studied adopted children from non-English speaking countries and found that even older children with more mature brains than babies first spoke in single words and short phrases.Compared to children born in the United States, the children adopted from non-English speaking countries started putting words into complex sentences around the same as native born children, and this was once their vocabularies reached the same size. Scientists do, however, acknowledge that there is a period when children are younger that makes learning a new language easier compared to older adults trying to learn a new language. This discovery-that is is not whether your brain is more mature but how many words you know- explains why babies do not talk as articulately as adults. It is not because their brains are immature but that babies have just begun learning words and need time to build their vocabularies.
I never really wondered why babies and toddlers don't talk like adults, and I found this article very interesting because it attempted to explain why this is. I think the fact that non-English speaking adopted children and American born children both starting speaking when their vocabularies were the same size shows that there is truth in the stages-of-language hypotheses. Like anything people do, whether learning a language or learning a sport, one can't move onto the next stage before first mastering the first stage. I do, however, believe that learning how to speak and how quickly it happens has something to do with babies' brains and how developed they are, and I also believe that there is a critical learning period that makes learning to speak or read easier for children than for adults.