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Thursday, June 03, 2004
Across the Universe (aka When good synapses go bad)
Your thin end for today:
There is a gap in your thinking.
Seriously.
Actually, there are five types of gap in your thinking. These gaps are really important in ensuring that the brain functions properly.
These gaps are called "synapses" The synapse is a small gap separating neurons. Information flows from one neuron to the next across a synapse. Without these wee buggers you could feel yourself to be in all sorts of hot water, whether it was really hot or not. They are sort of like intersections in the brain's information superhighway, ie several neurons can come together at one synapse, or one can split into many at that point.
In other words, the nifty little neurons are sitting there, practicing semaphore across the synaptic wasteland that is the brain. My brain. Your brain.
Each synapse consists of:
* a presynaptic ending that contains neurotransmitters, mitochondria and other cell organelles,
* a postsynaptic ending that contains receptor sites for neurotransmitters and,
* a synaptic cleft or space between the presynaptic and postsynaptic endings.
It is possible to identify, create and apply specific drugs to specific neurotransmitters and neuroreceptors in the brain to alter their behaviour.
Unfortunately for me, it takes more than synaptic semaphore to stop my brain thinking my leg is in a bonfire all the time. It also takes nice, smooth, healthy myelin sheath to carry all these messages around the central nervous system. Unfortunately, I have a few washouts on the journey and the mail gets lost in transit, or arrives late, or shows up on time at the wrong place. And you thought I was strange? Nah, I'm just a little peculiar.
It's all in my head, you see :-)
For my next trick, I'll explain how a candle works. After I look it up, that is.
Today's Prophesy - "All that is within you is all that you have."
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There is a gap in your thinking.
Seriously.
Actually, there are five types of gap in your thinking. These gaps are really important in ensuring that the brain functions properly.
These gaps are called "synapses" The synapse is a small gap separating neurons. Information flows from one neuron to the next across a synapse. Without these wee buggers you could feel yourself to be in all sorts of hot water, whether it was really hot or not. They are sort of like intersections in the brain's information superhighway, ie several neurons can come together at one synapse, or one can split into many at that point.
In other words, the nifty little neurons are sitting there, practicing semaphore across the synaptic wasteland that is the brain. My brain. Your brain.
Each synapse consists of:
* a presynaptic ending that contains neurotransmitters, mitochondria and other cell organelles,
* a postsynaptic ending that contains receptor sites for neurotransmitters and,
* a synaptic cleft or space between the presynaptic and postsynaptic endings.
It is possible to identify, create and apply specific drugs to specific neurotransmitters and neuroreceptors in the brain to alter their behaviour.
Unfortunately for me, it takes more than synaptic semaphore to stop my brain thinking my leg is in a bonfire all the time. It also takes nice, smooth, healthy myelin sheath to carry all these messages around the central nervous system. Unfortunately, I have a few washouts on the journey and the mail gets lost in transit, or arrives late, or shows up on time at the wrong place. And you thought I was strange? Nah, I'm just a little peculiar.
It's all in my head, you see :-)
For my next trick, I'll explain how a candle works. After I look it up, that is.
Today's Prophesy - "All that is within you is all that you have."
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