Pain Free

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could live life without pain? To someone us it would seem like it would be the perfect life, but is it what its really all what it’s cracked up to be? Congenital analgesia is the disorder of not being able to feel pain, I think a lot of athletes would love to have this disorder. They wouldn't feel any pain or miss any competitions. But is it healthy? With this disorder some are not able to feel pain but the body is still injured whether we feel it or not.

This picture is an example of a sport injury it is obvious that something is terribly wrong and he much seek medical attention immediately. What about the injuries that aren't visible to the naked eye?

Concussions are serious and cannot be seen, if we couldn't feel the impact of our brain hitting our skull we probably wouldn't be able to tell if someone has suffered from a concussion until the signs showed and it was too late because they stayed in the game receiving blow after blow to the brain leaving the person receiving the concussion with mental disorders. The fact that we would love to go through life pain free, pain can actually help us live even longer. Pain helps us stay away from danger or from doing certain things that may cause injury or death. So when you think about it would you still want to live your life pain free? With only one pro I can think of which is the loss of feeling actual pain sensations there are too many cons to go through life with the congenital analgesia disorder.

Memory

the things you don't like? I think it's absolutely fascinating how we can use our memory to our convenience at times. Sometimes you honestly forget you have homework just because it's not the most exciting thing while you might remember you have a football game to go to during the week because that happens to be one of your favorite sports.
As you sit and read this, do you remember what you ate for dinner a couple days ago or the color of underwear you wore? I don't. But imagine you were able to recall every single memory, like the first time you spoke and your mom's reaction... that would be crazy, wouldn't it?

Now what if one day you wake up and you suddenly can't remember your mom's name? That's pretty scary but unfortunately it's possible. Alzheimer's disease is serious and deadly - the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Alzheimer's progresses over time and has no cure, it eventually takes over individuals lives as it affects their memory, thinking, and behavior.
The most common early symptom of Alzheimer's is difficulty remembering newly learned information because Alzheimer's changes typically begin in the part of the brain that affects learning. As Alzheimer's advances through the brain it leads to increasingly severe symptoms, including disorientation, mood and behavior changes; deepening confusion about events, time and place; unfounded suspicions about family, friends and professional caregivers; more serious memory loss and behavior changes; and difficulty speaking, swallowing and walking.

I think most people take for granted their ability to learn and remember things but the fact that it can eventually diminish and leave you helpless is beyond awful. Just imagine now not ever being able to remember that football was your favorite sport or that you even ate dinner, disturbing but not as disturbing as not being able to live a normal life ever again. we take our memory for granted, we only store what we think is more important but actually everything is important when it comes to memory.

Living With Half a Brian

As absurd as this may sound, it is possible to have half of your brain removed! I had no idea you could live without a portion of your brain, did you? The operation known as hemispherectomy—where half the brain is removed—sounds too radical to ever consider, much less perform.

Many children that suffer from epilepsy, with an underlying disease such as Rasmussen's encephalitis or Sturge-Weber syndrome suffer from severe, uncontrollable seizures in which a hemisphere becomes damaged. Anatomical hemispherectomies involve the removal of the entire hemisphere, whereas functional hemispherectomies only take out parts of a hemisphere, as well as severing the corpus callosum, the fiber bundle that connects the two halves of the brain. The evacuated cavity is left empty, filling with cerebrospinal fluid in a day or so. Most children that undergo this surgery are well under the age of ten and come out seizure-free from the procedure. The younger the child is when they undergo a hemispherectomy, the less disability they might face later in life. If the left side of the brain is taken out, most people have problems with their speech, but it used to be thought that if you took that side out after age two, you'd never talk again, and that has been proven untrue. Surprisingly research has found that memory and personality develop normally well after the surgery. Some patients even improve academically once their seizures stop. The operation does have its downfall though; You can walk, run—some dance or skip—but you lose use of the hand opposite of the hemisphere that was removed. You have little function in that arm and vision on that side is lost.

This link has a heart-filled video of a little boy who undergoes a hemispherectomy that works to his advantage and allows him to lead a normal, seizure-free life.

Brain development

Every parent wants a kid that will follow their directions to a “T”. Pretty much all children go through the same phases in life. Breaking the rules and testing their limits, is all a part of the brain development. Staying out late, not cleaning your room and, speeding. Those are some of the ways children develop their prefrontal cortex.

Children think with their amygdala which is in the temporal region of the brain. This region of the brain thinks with emotions. I’m more than sure all of us at some point have asked ourselves “why do I have to do this or why do I have to do that”? Are you starting to remember asking yourselves these questions? If you do it is because you are starting to develop your prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain that is for decision making, problem solving, and planning. See adults think mostly with their prefrontal cortex. Which is why adults can reason with other adults and children don’t listen or follow instructions very well. Have you ever seen a kid get up and walk around when they aren’t supposed to or talk when they aren’t supposed to? Well it isn’t their fault they are still developing their prefrontal cortex. They are learning when and when not they are supposed to do certain things. So if you have children of your own or plan on having children don’t be so hard on them when they want to test your waters, they are just practicing their prefrontal cortex mom and dad.