Anatomy, Physiology and Neuroscience

I heard that when you take some sorts of drugs ie MDMA, your brain releases alot of Serotonin and thats what gives you the euphoric effect. This in turns alters your reality. Is there a medical condition when a persons brain goes crazy and starts producing and releasing large doses of Serotonin, making the person perminantly euphric.?

What is alive according to the Neuro Science students? Regards, DKV

I can't find the reasoning behind the "fourth power law" in my notes, nor a simple enough version of this on the web. This is what I have in my notes: "Fluid flow in animals can occur via diffusion or bulk flow. Diffusion is distance-limited, occurs in the fine capillary networks and has low hydraulic conductivity potential because of the fourth power law" I'm assuming the fourth power law has something to do with the radius of the capillary vs. the radius of a vein or artery. IOW, the reason bulk flow doesn't occur in capillaries is because they're too small. I'm just not sure why it has to be to the fourth power. Can anyone explain?

As of late I have been hearing about this alot for some reason and it's annoyed me to the point where I am going to ask if it happens or not. When some people die do they really soil themselves lol? It seems plausible seeing as how the bowels would relax.....Any professional opinions?

I'm curious as to how Neuroscience explains this one, or if my assumption is correct--being after-images. My eyes are very sensitive to light, and as such this seems to come with it's own odd characteristics. I see trails behind objects illuminated by even a faint light, while they're in front of a reasonably dark backdrop. For instance, right now, I can move my had in front of my black speakers, in this dimly lit room, and there is an in-tack silhouette of my hand that follows a few cm behind it which appears translucent and turquoise. Another example is when I've played glow-in-the-dark miniature golf. I'd see two golfballs instead of one when it moved…

What should I study to become a neurosurgeon, which subject in particular...What courses should I ask for. Please, answer your questions in a mature and responsible fashion. And it'll help if I hear from actual neurologists/people that are studying this course. Thank you.

...are purported to be different. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6448213/did/11009379/ Worse, Republicans thinking of GWB and Democrats thinking of, say, Hillary Clinton, have brain scans similar to drug addicts getting their rush. Anybody looked at this with a critical eye? Dangerous Bill

You think its true? http://www.davesdaily.com/out.php?id=3059&url=http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1270566.html?menu=

So this may sound as a very paranoid 19 year old but from recently doing some google searches on smoking vs intelligence, there seems to be some conclusive results that smoking can be linked into losing approximately 3% of one's IQ, with the variables of they smoke a pack a day for about 10 or so years. I'm 19 and I used to smoke as a kid from about 14 - 17, quit for a year, then started to smoke recently again for the past say 6 months, but now am definetly stopping from the evidence I've discovered. However, my question, and googling this answer gets a lot of mixed results so I thought a science forum would be an ideal place to ask. Can your brain make a full recove…

Hey guys, i know there is a topic about cracking knuckles but nowhere in there does it tell you how to stop, I've been cracking my knuckles for awhile now, and i just cannot stop! Any advice?

Why couldnt someone have purple eyes or red eyes? Why is it limited to colors like blue, green and brown? It just seems weird to not be able to have certain colors when there are so many eye colors out there.

What purpose do the carpal bones serve? Do they have any support, protection and/or force distribution? I would have thought that it protects the nerves that run through the carpal tunnel (hence damage to the carpal bones could lead to carpal tunnel syndrom), but i'm not too sure whether it has any support roles. I skeptical whether it distibutes any force.

hey guys.. i was just wondering are there any methods, ways etc. to increase one's analysis and memory.. cause i can see that i am interllectually deteriorating..

every time i have gone to blow my nose for the past three weeks blood has been coming out, ive never had nose bleeds before. i was wondering if anyone knew why this would be?

I constantly have headaches. And as a reflex, I drink aspirin to ease the pain. Is it wise to do so?

How is the brain involved in judging how much time passes between events? For example if i were fall asleep, on waking I would automaticaly know if I had been sleeping for half an hour or six hours. Or thinking back to my childhood if I think of two memories from a similar age, I always know which one occured first. How does your brain order memories like this?

Hi, everyone. The following question was on an exam that I took recently in an undergraduate physiology course: How is it that if all sensory information is encoded in the form of action potentials, we can differentiate between sensory stimuli? My answer, which was marked incorrect was... "The number and frequency of action potentials is different for different stimuli." The answer written on the exam key was... "Anatomical connections." (nothing more... that's it) After reviewing physiology-related websites (including those for other physiology courses), I think my answer is correct, and I'm not sure what my professor's answer even means. Any…

does the idea of a huge meteor extinting 75% of all life forms satisfy you? yes or no.

Whats the word on this class of pharmaceuticals? Hype or is there something concrete to it? Stuff like Piracetam (Nootropil) or Modafinil. Mike

Just a quickie.. When you exercise a particular part of your body, do you only break down the fat near the muscles you use, or is fat throughout your body broken down?

this is just a simple quick question. imagine it were possible to render someone unconscious without harming them or using a drug, Something like the Vulcan stun grip thing. there are 2 people, one has been awake for 24 hours and is very tired, the other has not long woken up and is ready for the day. Both are "knocked out". do they both come around at the same time, or does the tired one stay out cold?

Hi all! I have a question. I read a paper a while ago where some ferrets has the visual part of their brain destroyed but their eyesight seemed to be restored by hooking the nerves to the sound center of the brain, the part that processes sounds from the ears. My question is this: To what extent can this occur and also does that mean that the sences are interchangable in that one can become the other under the right circumstances? Discussions and contributions please Cheers, Ryan Jones

I searched for this, but couldn't find anything...so apologies if someones already posted a topic on the BBCI. Anyway, I've just been watching 'the gadget show' on channel 5 who were doing the rounds at this years 'ceBit Computer Fair' in Hanover. A prototype of the BBCI (Berlin Brain Computer Interface) was being tested for the first time in front of a live audience. Using an EEG, the programme uses a process of elimination when the user is confronted with groups of letters. Purely by using thought, and using a yes or no response i.e the person thinks of moving their left or right arm. The subject can move the cursor on screen to the group of letters they requir…

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/30/science/30brain.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print Keep skeptical, study could be shown wrong. But the idea of keeping track of anatomical development of brain during childhood and teens is interesting and they claim to have found differences in the pattern of growth of a certain layer of cells. Sample exerpt:

I'm sure most of you have heard and/or read the story by now, as it's been out for several months, but I still find it intriguing. I'm wondering what you all think about this development, and its implications. Perhaps this would be better placed in the ethics forum, however. For those of you who haven't learned about the technique of controlling rats by remote, check out this article: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/05/0501_020501_roborats.html