World of Thought

World of Thought

It was once thought, in the days before relativity, that light did propagate through a special medium that permeated all of space, called «the luminiferous aether ». But the famous Michelson-Morley experiment demonstrated that such an aether did not exist.

We sometimes hear of things that can travel faster than light. Something called “the speed of thought, is occasionally proffered. This is an exceptionally silly notion – especially since the speed of impulses through the neurons of or brains is about the same as the speed of a donkey cart. The human beings have been clever enough to devise relativity shows that we think well, but I do not think we can boast about thinking fast. The electrical impulses in modern computers do, however, travel at the speed of light.

The world of thought is divided roughly into two hemispheres. The right hemisphere of the cerebral cortex is mainly responsible for pattern recognition, intuition, sensitivity, creative insights. The left hemisphere presides over rational, analytical and critical thinking. These are the dual strengths, the essential opposites, that characterise human thinking. Together, they provide the means both for generating ideas and for testing their validity. A continuous dialogue is going on between the two hemispheres, channeled through an immense bundle of nerves, the corpus callosum, the bridge between creativity and analysis, both of which are necessary to understand the world.

The brain is a very big place in a very small space. Image: Nuclei Brain Cells Neurons. Drawing © Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

The information content of the human brain expressed in bits is probably comparable to the total number of connections among the neurons – about a hundred trillion, 10(14), bits. If written out in English, say, that information would fill some twenty million volumes, as many as in the world’s largest libraries. The equivalent of twenty million books is inside the heads of every one of us.

Most of the books in the brain are in the cerebral cortex. Down in the basement are the functions our remote ancestors mainly depended on – aggression, child-rearing, fear, sex, the willingness to follow leaders blindly. Or the higher brain functions, some – reading, writing, speaking – seem to be localized in particular places in the cerebral cortex. Memories, on the other hand, are stored redundantly in many locales. In such a thing as telepathy existed, one of its glories would be the opportunity for each of us to read the books in the cerebral cortices of our loved ones. But there is no compelling evidence for telepathy, and the communication of such information remains the task of artists and writers.

The brain does much more than recollect. It compares, analyses, synthesizes, generates abstractions. We must figure our much more than our genes can know. That is why the brain library is some ten thousand times larger than the gene library. Our passion for learning, evident in the behaviour of every toddler, is the proof of our survival.

The Art and Science of Sleep

The Art and Science of Sleep

Art can take many forms: music, animation, literature, photography, design, painting, drawing and other illustrative or visual fine arts… the list goes on and on. But what about scientific endeavours? Science is usually recognized, among other signs, by its methodology (the rigorous scientific method), the replicability of results and theories supported by evidence.

Amazingly enough, at times science meets art in unusual ways, and the result can be quite intriguing. For example, the word SMURF refers to mythical blue creatures originally created by Belgian cartoonist Peyo. Notwithstanding, the identically sounding abbreviation stands for Smad Ubiquination Regulatory Factor (a ligase). Similarly, ROCK can mean a popular, somewhat rebellious musical genre, as well as Rho-associated kinase. Finally, the most famous of the Pokemons, Pikachu, lent his name to a protein discovered in Japan. Pikachurin is an essential protein-like polyssacharide in the brain.

Perhaps not as much as love and magic, but sleep has fascinated many an author or storyteller. From the legendary Sandman to stories about alternate worlds located in dreams, fictional accounts have often centered on this basic human function. While the relationship between sleep, neuroregeneration and neurorestoration is being looked into, it has largely been established that sleep aids memory and learning. In particular, scientists have shown that procedural memories (the type of implicit memory that aids skill formation) are greatly aided by getting enough sleep.

Further, experiments have demonstrated that in the absence of Zeitgebers (German for ‘time givers’) mice woke up a little later everyday, extending their chronological cycle. Interestingly, other research has documented that humans get used to a certain amount of hours of sleep (within reasonable limits), that they can change with training and habit. Also, sleeping may be classified into two types: REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and NREM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement). Despite this, of course there are infinitely many types of dreams…

Light and noise are also important to sleep. Image: Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

In conclusion, it seems that a text about sleep and art would be incomplete without Sleeping Beauty. She is the central protagonist of a folktale (Charles Perreault, Brothers Grimm, cultural variants, Disney animated film, etc.) in which a young princess falls under a wicked spell and ends up sound asleep until her Prince Charming one day wakes her up with a kiss. Today, most likely from the fairytale, many use the saying ‘beauty sleep’, referring to how much better one looks when well rested.

Anxiety Reduction

Anxiety Reduction

The essay describes some psychological theories related to anxiety, coping skills and relaxation techniques. The environment presents many challenges and demands, and expectations may cause considerable stress. Interestingly, psychological studies show that change causes stress on individuals, at it holds true even for positive changes, particularly in women compared to me. Likewise, cortisol (steroid neurohormone) appears to be related to stress, while excessive cortisol levels may be related to weight gain around the waist. An important distinction lies in individual differences of perceived stress. For example, a person may be used to stressful situations and no longer interpret them as unusual, while another person would find the stress levels highly disruptive and unpleasant.

Psychologists describe anxiety as a fearful reaction to unconfirmed threats. Anxiety provoking stimuli typically do not warrant fear, as opposed to real danger to which fear is an adaptive reaction. For instance, thoroughly washing one’s hands before eating out of fear of contamination is an adaptive, evolutionary mechanism, while compulsively washing for 30 minutes after each meal for fear of germs is not and represents anxiety (and a compulsion if intrusive and repeated). Compulsions represent repetitive behaviours, often maladaptive. For instance, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is characterized by intrusive, unwanted thoughts and compulsions.

Anxiety. Illustration by Elena

Relaxation techniques include breathing and self-talk, thinking positive thoughts, meditation. In general, psychologists tend to agree that unless a habit causes distress to the individual it not much of a problem, although there are exceptions, and of course it does not apply to cases when the person is a danger to themselves or others. Talking to trusted friends helps reduce anxiety also. Another method consists of visualization, picturing a safe, positive environment and relaxing. Alternatively, relaxation music, such as that played in spas, may also help people to keep calm, as well as recordings of the sound of sea or ocean waves; this concludes the present excerpt on psychology, anxiety and stress reduction strategies.

Anxiety and Restlessness as Side Effect from Medication

Anxiety and Restlessness as Side Effect from Medication

Anxiety and restlessness may be a side effect from medication. As a general rule, medications are there to alleviate one’s symptoms and make one feel better. However, most medications come with some side effects. For example, let’s take risperidone, an antypsychothic used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Among other things and side effects, risperidone may cause severe restlessness and anxiety. Not only can one feel impending doom under the medicated influence, but the restlessness may drive a person to being unable to do virtually anything.

Raising awareness of mental illness counters stigma, loneliness and isolation. Image: Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

For instance, a person feeling such restlessness is uncomfortable doing virtually anything. Unable to read, unable to write, to focus, to walk, to sit still, to watch TV, to play computer games… no matter the activity a person overwhelmed with restlessness and anxiety, just wants to stop and do something else, only the cycle continues once they have changed activity. Certain medications may alleviate such side effects, and perhaps also coping skills, such as taking hot showers, exercising, participating in group therapy, but mostly if one feels uncomfortable doing virtually anything, then switching to another medication may seem like the only, and wisest, choice one is left with.

Beauty

Beauty

While neuroscientists have tried to pinpoint the neural correlates of beauty, psychologists have long ago attempted to establish what is considered beautiful across cultures. During repeated studies, some differences, as well as similarities, between what the sexes see as attractive were found.

For instance, generally it seems that men attach much larger importance to women’s youth and beauty. Alternatively, women seem to care less about the outside and age, and more on the capacity of the potential partner to take care of the offspring (in terms of resources and otherwise). Despite being criticized and highly debated, such findings appear to be supported by evolutionary theory.

A green haired beauty, somewhat resembling popular actress Angelina Jolie, who has consistently been designated as the most beautiful woman in the world. What do these ladies have in common? Large green (blue green in the case of the celebrity) eyes and full lips. Image: Copyright © Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

Further, women with a waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) between 0.6 and 0.9 were consistently rated as more desirable across experiments. Surprisingly, when questioned, women appear to chose a thinner body type as preferable, than men do (looking at the same photos and hypothetical drawings). A clear complexion was judged as an indicator of health and good looks in most parts of the world studied, also interpreted as an indicator of reproductive fitness, alongside to other facts deemed attractive.

Many concerns have been voiced by the influence of the media on body perception. The glamorized thin, or sculpted, ideal has been blamed for the rise in eating disorders or unsafe bodybuilding methods. Still, without reaching the extremes, a balanced, nutritious diet, combined with regular exercise, are usually prescribed to make one look and feel better. The latter may be achieved though the release of endorphins, produced naturally by the body during physical activity.

A gorgeous model in a glamorous gown in an unlikely setting for cocktail party. Image: Copyright © Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

Aside from dietary and athletic regimes, there are evidently other players shaping up a person’s appearance. Thus, fashion (including retail) and personal care are significant industries.