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Welcome to your brain....
Hello all,
Well apart from the disability stuff I've been doing my studies have progressed into emotions/degeneration of the brain which causes the brain's chemical electrical patterns to change......
To start off a discussion I thought I would give you a few bits and pieces I found....
Limbic system
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The limbic system within the brain.The limbic system (Latin limbus: "arc") is the collective name for structures in the human brain involved in emotion, motivation, and emotional association with memory. It affects motivation and is more active in extroverts and risk-takers than in introverts and cautious people (Evers, 499)[1]. The limbic system plays its role in the formation of memory by integrating emotional states with stored memories of physical sensations.
Contents
1 Anatomy
2 Function
3 Evolution
4 History
5 Practical application
6 References
Anatomy
The limbic system includes many different cortical and subcortical brain structures that differ depending upon which book is referenced. For ease of interpretation, this is a list of all the regions generally considered to be part of the limbic system:
Amygdala: Involved in aggression and fear;
Cingulate gyrus: Autonomic functions regulating heart rate and blood pressure as well as cognitive and attentional processing;
Fornicate gyrus: Region encompassing the cingulate, hippocampus, and parahippocampal gyrus;
Hippocampus: Required for the formation of long-term memories;
Hypothalamus: Regulates the autonomic nervous system via hormone production and release. Affects and regulates blood pressure, heart rate, hunger, thirst, sexual arousal, and the sleep/wake cycle;
Mammilary body: Important for the formation of memory;
Nucleus accumbens: Involved in reward, pleasure, and addiction;
Orbitofrontal cortex: Required for decision making;
Parahippocampal gyrus: Plays a role in the formation of spatial memory.
Function
The limbic system operates by influencing the endocrine system and the autonomic nervous system. The limbic system is highly interconnected with a structure known as the nucleus accumbens, commonly called the brain's pleasure center. The nucleus accumbens plays a role in sexual arousal and the "high" derived from certain recreational drugs. These responses are heavily modulated by dopaminergic projections from the limbic system. Rats with metal electrodes implanted into their nucleus accumbens will repeatedly press a lever which activates this region, and will do so in preference over food and water, eventually dying from exhaustion.
The limbic system is also tightly connected to the prefrontal cortex. Some scientists contend that this connection is related to the pleasure obtained from solving problems. To cure severe emotional disorders, this connection was sometimes surgically severed, a procedure of psychosurgery, called a prefrontal lobotomy (this is actually a misnomer). Patients who underwent this procedure often became passive and lacked all motivation.
Evolution
In evolutionary terms, the limbic system is among the oldest parts of the brain and is related to the olfactory lobes. It can be found in fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals.
History
The French physician Paul Broca first called this part of the brain "le grande lobe limbique" in 1878, but its putative role in emotion wasn't largely developed until 1937, when the American physician James Papez first described his anatomical model of emotion, which is still refered to as the Papez circuit. Papez's ideas were then later expanded on by Paul D. MacLean to include additional structures in a more disperesed "limbic system," more similar to the system described above. The concept of the limbic system has since been further expanded and developed by Nauta, Heimer, and others.
Practical application
A person can exploit the function of the limbic system to aid in memory retention and recall. Exposure to certain easily recognizable smells (like coffee, peanut butter, chocolate, sulfur, or crayons) while forming memories will link the the memory to the smell. Smelling the same thing will help recall the information later. Bottom line: brew coffee while studying for a test then drink coffee while taking the test and it will be much easier to remember the information.
References
Broca, P. Anatomie comparée des circonvolutions cérébrales: le grand lobe limbique. Rev. Anthropol. 1878;1:385-498.
^ Evers, Christine A., Lisa Starr. Biology:Concepts and Applications. 6th ed. United States:Thomson, 2006. ISBN 0-534-46224-3
Papez JW. A proposed mechanism of emotion. 1937. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 1995;7(1):103-12. PMID 7711480
Lautin, Andrew. The Limbic Brain. New York, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2001. See: Psychiatryonline
Maclean, PD. Some psychiatric implications of physiological studies on frontotemporal portion of limbic system (visceral brain). Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol Suppl. 1952;4(4):407-18. PMID 12998590
This page was last modified 00:36, 10 February 2006. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (see Copyrights for details).
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
Well apart from the disability stuff I've been doing my studies have progressed into emotions/degeneration of the brain which causes the brain's chemical electrical patterns to change......
To start off a discussion I thought I would give you a few bits and pieces I found....
Limbic system
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The limbic system within the brain.The limbic system (Latin limbus: "arc") is the collective name for structures in the human brain involved in emotion, motivation, and emotional association with memory. It affects motivation and is more active in extroverts and risk-takers than in introverts and cautious people (Evers, 499)[1]. The limbic system plays its role in the formation of memory by integrating emotional states with stored memories of physical sensations.
Contents
1 Anatomy
2 Function
3 Evolution
4 History
5 Practical application
6 References
Anatomy
The limbic system includes many different cortical and subcortical brain structures that differ depending upon which book is referenced. For ease of interpretation, this is a list of all the regions generally considered to be part of the limbic system:
Amygdala: Involved in aggression and fear;
Cingulate gyrus: Autonomic functions regulating heart rate and blood pressure as well as cognitive and attentional processing;
Fornicate gyrus: Region encompassing the cingulate, hippocampus, and parahippocampal gyrus;
Hippocampus: Required for the formation of long-term memories;
Hypothalamus: Regulates the autonomic nervous system via hormone production and release. Affects and regulates blood pressure, heart rate, hunger, thirst, sexual arousal, and the sleep/wake cycle;
Mammilary body: Important for the formation of memory;
Nucleus accumbens: Involved in reward, pleasure, and addiction;
Orbitofrontal cortex: Required for decision making;
Parahippocampal gyrus: Plays a role in the formation of spatial memory.
Function
The limbic system operates by influencing the endocrine system and the autonomic nervous system. The limbic system is highly interconnected with a structure known as the nucleus accumbens, commonly called the brain's pleasure center. The nucleus accumbens plays a role in sexual arousal and the "high" derived from certain recreational drugs. These responses are heavily modulated by dopaminergic projections from the limbic system. Rats with metal electrodes implanted into their nucleus accumbens will repeatedly press a lever which activates this region, and will do so in preference over food and water, eventually dying from exhaustion.
The limbic system is also tightly connected to the prefrontal cortex. Some scientists contend that this connection is related to the pleasure obtained from solving problems. To cure severe emotional disorders, this connection was sometimes surgically severed, a procedure of psychosurgery, called a prefrontal lobotomy (this is actually a misnomer). Patients who underwent this procedure often became passive and lacked all motivation.
Evolution
In evolutionary terms, the limbic system is among the oldest parts of the brain and is related to the olfactory lobes. It can be found in fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals.
History
The French physician Paul Broca first called this part of the brain "le grande lobe limbique" in 1878, but its putative role in emotion wasn't largely developed until 1937, when the American physician James Papez first described his anatomical model of emotion, which is still refered to as the Papez circuit. Papez's ideas were then later expanded on by Paul D. MacLean to include additional structures in a more disperesed "limbic system," more similar to the system described above. The concept of the limbic system has since been further expanded and developed by Nauta, Heimer, and others.
Practical application
A person can exploit the function of the limbic system to aid in memory retention and recall. Exposure to certain easily recognizable smells (like coffee, peanut butter, chocolate, sulfur, or crayons) while forming memories will link the the memory to the smell. Smelling the same thing will help recall the information later. Bottom line: brew coffee while studying for a test then drink coffee while taking the test and it will be much easier to remember the information.
References
Broca, P. Anatomie comparée des circonvolutions cérébrales: le grand lobe limbique. Rev. Anthropol. 1878;1:385-498.
^ Evers, Christine A., Lisa Starr. Biology:Concepts and Applications. 6th ed. United States:Thomson, 2006. ISBN 0-534-46224-3
Papez JW. A proposed mechanism of emotion. 1937. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 1995;7(1):103-12. PMID 7711480
Lautin, Andrew. The Limbic Brain. New York, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2001. See: Psychiatryonline
Maclean, PD. Some psychiatric implications of physiological studies on frontotemporal portion of limbic system (visceral brain). Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol Suppl. 1952;4(4):407-18. PMID 12998590
This page was last modified 00:36, 10 February 2006. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (see Copyrights for details).
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
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Medscape Medical News 2000. © 2000 Medscape
New York (MedscapeWire) Dec 28 — A region at the front of the brain's right hemisphere, the prefrontal cortex, plays a critical role in how the human brain processes emotions. Data from previous studies of brain lesions (areas of damage that alter the brain's ability to generate normal emotions) and data from functional brain imaging studies have delineated the extent of the area involved. However, a recent University of Iowa study is the first to investigate human emotion processing by the right prefrontal cortex at the level of individual brain cells.
"This kind of single-cell study is very rarely performed in humans," said Ralph Adolphs, PhD, assistant professor of neurology and principal investigator of the study. The findings appear in the January issue of Nature Neuroscience.
A rare surgical situation allowed the researchers to record the activity of individual brain cells, neurons; in awake, alert patients he was shown images designed to elicit an emotional response.
The patient was undergoing neurosurgery to treat epilepsy, which had not responded to medication. Usually, electroencephalogram (EEG) electrodes placed on the scalp would be used to pinpoint where in the brain the epileptic seizures are localized. However, in this case that approach didn't work so, for treatment purposes, the surgeon implanted depth electrodes into the patient's brain to monitor where the seizures originated.
"We used a custom-designed hybrid research-clinical depth electrode, which provided the neurosurgeon with the clinical information necessary to locate the area causing the seizures," explained Adolphs. "The electrode also had a series of special contacts on its shaft, through which we were able to isolate the activity of single brain cells. Recording the activity of the neurons posed no additional risk to the patient."
Monitoring single neurons in the right prefrontal cortex, the researchers found that these cells responded remarkably rapidly to unpleasant images, which included pictures of mutilations and scenes of war. Happy or neutral pictures did not cause the same rapid response from the neurons.
To ensure that these neurons were not reacting to pictures that were brighter or larger or had more of a particular colour, the researchers were particularly careful to make sure that the only difference among these pictures was their emotional content.
"The changes in firing pattern of neurons responding to the aversive visual stimuli happened within about 0.12 seconds, which is very fast and probably prior to the patient consciously 'seeing' the image," Adolphs said.
"The speed at which these cells change their firing rates is surprisingly rapid. We thought it would take much longer for these neurons to be able to extract information about an emotion category, which is really a very high level cognitive function," Adolphs added.
Although the researchers were surprised by the speed at which the neurons reacted to the aversive images, Adolphs indicated that the findings are consistent with the idea that the brain has systems that can respond extremely rapidly to potentially dangerous or threatening kinds of stimuli.
"It makes a lot of sense from an evolutionary point of view," he said.
The study shows that neurons in the right prefrontal cortex are able to distinguish, or categorize, emotional information from visual stimuli very rapidly. Adolphs also indicated that it seems likely that signals from these cells may serve to modulate visual information processing by other regions of the brain.
"The area of the brain that we recorded from, the prefrontal cortex, is only one component of a widely distributed neural system for encoding this information," Adolphs said. "We think that another part of that information is encoded in visual cortices. The visual cortices would respond when the stimulus is seen, then those responses would be changed by subsequent input from the prefrontal cortex."
Although the study involved only one patient who had epilepsy, the region of the brain where the recording was performed was distant from the site of the epileptic seizures. This meant that the tissue being studied was essentially normal, healthy prefrontal cortex.
Nat Neurosci. 2001; 4:15-16<
I really love my Fornicate gyrus.
I wonder if the English translation of this means to gyrate while fornicating? mmm I really wonder...
Now Esau, since we're on the subject. this is a question that has always fascinated me.
Let's see if you have the answer.
At what point/what is "IT" that decides when orgasm is imminent? is it a rush of endorphins/endomorphins and what is the chain reaction that "tips us over the edge" when climax is about to occur?-it has to be related to brain chemistry/parasympathetic neurons but I just can't get anyone to give me the answer that "Fits" this dilemma.
regards,
X
Whilst I understand that research of this nature is vital for the understanding of Mental acivity in possible relation to illness, disease or conditions, I find it sad that we seem to have an insatiable appetite and unquenchable thirst to know more... and more, and more, and yet more.... such constant probing and further discovery doubtless adds to the Font of Knowledge.... but also serves to distance us from the element of surprise, delight and wonder.....
Reader's Digest once ran a "fun" article on the poetic and rhetorical questions asked by people and Poets, through the ages, in order to illustrate the sentiment of Love.... questions like, "How deep is the Ocean?" "How high is the sky?" "How vast are the Mountains?" "How far could I fly?".... Questions which, at one time would have demonstrated the infinite capacity of one human to love the object of their affections.... But which the author of the article then proceeded to answer with Scientific and Geographical data.... 'Aparently, we would requre collar- and breast-bones protruding at least three feet infront of us to provide adequate strenght, balance and force to work a pair of wings strong enough to enable us to fly.... Gee, thanks.... Angels, then, should they exist, continued the article, are pretty odd-looking creatures...)
I even remember the final question....
"How are things in Glocamorra..?" The answer to which, was...
"There IS no Glocamorra".
And I remember feeling a sense of sadness, that even Love is subject to scientific scrutiny resulting in it becoming just another notion to be picked to pieces, dissected, examined, researched and "solved."
Next.
I know we 'need' to know.
I just wish WE didn't 'need' to know......
Xman my personal opinion is that orgasm is the brains safeguard against overheading, since during sexual activity the bodies core temperature rises (hence the flushing etc. I also think that the combination of endorphines and testosterone flooding the body causes a massive neurological surge....Though I think a bit longer on this ?????
Fede your arguement is very interesting, though it supports the idea that once something has been figured out their is no more fascination.....I know somethings about human nature, the brain and the body. I have too as its my job to know. However I'm still facinated by life, not only human. I'm facinated by death also.....I'm facinated by alot of things, though I understand their "inner" workings. My concern with human behavior is that people, are using small amounts of knowledge to excuse their "behavior". While science may know somethings, it certainly dosen't know everything and mistakes are generally made!!!!! Misdiagnosis etc.
What all the above crap is trying to say to you is that I'm still facinated by alot. I'm facinated by your comments, hang it Fede, YOU facinate me!!!!!!:woowoo:
I just saw this on the Discovery Channel. I think it's the limbic portion of the brain.
Very interesting stuff. They were talking about how the limbic (I hope I'm spelling that correctly) portion of the brain tells us what is sexy or a turn on. But, sometimes we can bypass all the processing required by the limbic portion of the brain by our olfactory sense that detects scents given off from our armpits. Given this additional receptor (nose) we can get all excited much quicker than by just leaving it to the brain.
In fact, I think I'm having one right... oh, wait - it was just gas.
-bf
Sex on the brain:
Sex seems so...... ridiculous when you look at it like this.
Amazing what the desire to do a little poking, prodding and squirming causes us to do and go through.
-bf
Depends on who is doing what to whom!!!!!!:rockon:
That sex on the brain thing is hilarious!!
Esau,
Thanks for that fascinating info. I just love to learn more about how we work. It truly amazes me.
Brigid
Brigid