Have a Blast with your Brain Waves

Neuroscience

In my last story we returned to the 1970's, where Prof Michael Merzenich discovered neurogenesis by accident. Almost 50 years later, we accept as empirical that our brains flex and adapt — we can rewire them! And we can continue birthing new brain cells until our last breath.

This may shock to you, but there are electric currents, oscillating at different frequencies to create overall brain wave patterns. Further on, you will master a few letters of the Greek alphabet — Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Theta — and not in alphabetical order. (I don’t understand why neuroscientists defied convention in naming these brainwaves.)

Before we go there, I want to provide a context for the neurons I’m always droning on about.

(That’s unfair. Brain cells rock!)

Our brain cells don’t operate in a vacuum. You need a minestrone of neurochemicals. These are essential components of neural (brain) activity; also referred to as neurotransmitters — they send electric nerve impulses across a synapse, the tiny gap between two nerve cells. At the same time, a chemical process occurs.

Our brains contain about 100 Billion neurons (nerve cells) which send information to each other, both electrically and chemically through the 800 trillion ever changing connections. And neurons come in a wide variety of configurations too. Wow!

As I keep repeating, the neural networks or pathways of these transmissions can adjust, adapt and improve. You have the power to do that.

There are two components to this brain activity — electrical signals and neurochemicals (neurotransmitters)

Much like a car only operates at optimum performance with oil to lubricate the engine, petrol (gasoline) for the spark plugs to ignite, combust and drive the cylinders in the motor and water in the radiator to keep things cool, so the brain is more efficient with the correct balance of neurochemicals, sending clear signals along the neural networks.

Related posts:

Public health in cities is a common focus of civic hackers. Early examples include those outlined by Anthony Townsend in “Tinkering Towards Utopia” like Google Flu Trends and SickCity. These tools…

hallo pemirsa sebagian film yang ada di daftar ini tentu udah rilis. Kita pun jadi bisa menilai langsung apakah suatu film memang layak buat dimasukkan dalam daftar kandidat film terbaik 2019 atau…

Company culture matters. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, engaged employees are more productive and drive increased revenue. For many businesses, however, there’s a significant…