Derrick Amato

“Have no fear of perfection - you 'll never reach it,” said famous Spanish painter, Salvador Dali. Dali seems to be implying that no matter the effort, perfection is unattainable and something that should not be feared by anyone. Famous Puritan authors Jonathan Edwards and Nathaniel Hawthorne in their works give the same impression as Dali, they both believe that the strive for perfection is both unrealistic and unattainable. In regard to the unattainably of perfection Hawthorne and Edwards’ opinions differ greatly, Edwards believes that even though perfection is unrealistic, one can and should still strive for it, while Hawthorne on the other hand believes that because perfection will never be reached, it would be unnecessary for one to strive for it.

Sacks’ first anecdote example was when he said, “A friend of mine, Nick Younes, described to me how he had been fixated on the song ‘Love and Marriage,’ a tune written by James Van Heuson. A single hearing of this song-a Frank Sinatra rendition used as the theme song of the television show Married...with Children-was enough to hook Nick. ...It intervened with his schoolwork, his thinking, his peace of mind, his sleep.” (Sacks 1) By sharing this short story, Sacks is showing that it is not only him who is feeling these taxing affects. He proves this even more when he brings in his second anecdote. He incorporates it into his piece of writing when he begins to speak about how people with Tourette's syndrome are affected. Sacks says, “This was very striking with Carl Bernett, the surgeon with Tourette’s syndrome whom I described in An Anthropologist on Mars. ‘one cannot always find sense in these words,’ he said, ‘Often it is just the sound that attracts me. Any odd sound any odd name, may start repeating itself, get me going. I get hung up with a word for two or three months.’” (Sacks 2) Sacks is showing a man who lives with these “brainworms” at all times, thus, proving that these are negative and inconvenient

In Eric Kandel's Aplysia experiment, Kandel showed that a slug lost sensitivity in its gills, after repeated contact to which Carr states "the brain...change[s] with experience, circumstance, and need". Both, Kandel's and Merzenich's, experiments lead to the same conclusion of the physical body adapting in real-time to the environment. Carr briefly writes how a man named Bernstein regained movement in his hand and leg after damaging his brain which regulated movement and how through the use of technology analyzing neural activity, Carr tells how violinists had increased cortical areas of their right hand compared to nonmusicians, and compared to their own left cortical areas. Carr's final example for the brain's plasticity is with Pascual-Leone's experiment. Pascual-Leone mapped the brain activity of a group of people playing certain notes on a piano, and a group imagining themselves playing the notes. He concluded that their brains had both changed in response to the experiment, both in playing, and imagining playing. Pascual-Leone's work showed that the human brain can change itself neurologically without physical activity. Carr summarizes, "We become, neurologically, what we think". Carr asserts through these scientific experiments that not only were Freud, J.Z. Young, and William James, correct , but "the adult brain...is not just plastic but...'massively plastic.'" Carr

In 2002, Mike Webster, a legendary football player, suddenly died at the age of 50. After examining his body, Dr. Bennet Omalu became curious as to what exactly was the cause of Webster’s death. Being a neuropathologist, Dr. Omalu knew Webster’s death was related to his brain. Omalu took samples of Webster’s brain and studied it over

It is full of comprehensive and engaging style; well reference and scientifically proven, summarizes the current revolution in neuroscience and neuroplasticity, and closes the gap that the old age or matured brain, which is unchangeable is changeable and malleable (plastic); extending it functions from one region to the other. Doidge engaging style of writing, scientific proves, and academic tone help to make the book persuasive.

Oliver Sacks’s journey strives towards self-acceptance— he must overcome his leg injury and the struggles which this injury provides in order to succeed with his life. At the beginning of his memoir, Sacks is confident and sure of himself. He states “I foresaw no particular problems or difficulties” (Sacks, 1) and “I forged ahead…blessing my energy and stamina” (Sacks, 3). This confidence changes rapidly once he is injured, when he believes he is going to die, as it leads him to resort to desperate measures to get himself to safety. His attitude changes once he is at the hospital, where Sacks feels “a dread of something dark and nameless” (Sacks, 26). He is helpless under the care of his doctors— his leg has no feeling, yet the doctors persist in telling him that it is fine, “surgically speaking” (Sacks, 80). The doctors’ refusal to acknowledge Sacks’s lack of feeling begins to wear Sacks down, and he starts to believe that his leg will never work again, putting him in a place of despair. However, with the start towards Sacks’s changed mindset, he learns to walk

The concept of neuroplasticity has long been questioned. The term of “neuroplasticity” did not even come about until the mid-late 20th century. When the term “plastic” was used to describe the brain by a select few neuroscientists, they were laughed at and the term was never thought of as a description for the human brain. The human brain was seen as a closed circuit and one that once you had it, you definitely had it. Scientists thought the brain would not develop anymore past a certain point in your life. Norman Doidge brings the concept of neuroplasticity into reality in his book “The Brain that Changes Itself,” a book about the triumphs in the frontier of brain science.

the ‘cross’ must be kept the same. The easiest way to do this is to

I read the article, “Secrets of the Brain”, found in the February 2014 issue of National Geographic written by Carl Zimmer. I chose this subject because I have been fascinated with the brain and how it works. The research of the brain has been ongoing for many centuries now. The history in this article is interesting. It explained how scientists used to understand the brain and its inner workings. For example, “in the ancient world physicians believed that the brain was made of phlegm. Aristotle looked on it as a refrigerator, cooling of the fiery heart. From his time through the Renaissance, anatomists declared with great authority that our perceptions, emotions, reasoning, and actions were all the result of “animal spirits”—mysterious, unknowable vapors that swirled through cavities in our head and traveled through our bodies.” (Zimmer, p. 38)

Why does the human brain age? Brain aging is a part of human life and a big part of society as the awareness for brain aging increases. Over time memory tends to become less efficient as we age and the neurons in the brain decreases (Bendheim, P.E. (2009). By 2050 in the US, 20 percent of the population will be 65 years or older. And as the elderly population increases, so will the incidence of age-related neurological disorders (Perlmutter, David. (2004). Therefor it is important to understand the aging brain, and how to keep the brain functioning as one ages.

The human brain is a mystery that has been studied for centuries in attempt to understand how it functions. Scientists first thought that the brain was a structure that functioned a whole. It was in the early 1600’s where the first ideas of localisation of function in the brain started. At this time Rene Descartes discovered a tiny structure called the pineal

“The Human Brain”, by myPerspectives, is an informative article that claims that the brain is a complex organ that is truly impressive. The brain is a key part of the central nervous system, that controls the entire body’s activities, to simple things such as breathing. These actions are fired through neurons, that quickly travel through the spinal cord. Surprisingly, the brain transmits these messages at an unimaginable rate, at 150 miles per hour, through 85 billion cells, called neurons. These neurons can form up to 10,000 synapses, or connections to each other. By itself, the brain can create billions of synapses, which change the structure of the brain every time new information is learned. However, there is still much that scientists

Many countries in Latin America have either decriminalized or legalized the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes. While few countries have loosened restrictions on cannabis, others are still apprehensive due to the potential risks of drug abuse.

Firstly, it is important to understand the evolution and development of human brain. An interesting idea is that our human brains are becoming smaller in size through evolution of time. It is commonly believed that more content requires bigger space. Let 's take an example. A bowl that needs to fit ten identical objects needs to be bigger to a bowl that only needs to fit five identical objects. Likewise, our human brain has continued to develop through evolution and has much more complex capabilities as well as content to carry since the birth of our species in the Stone Age. Now

The human brain is utterly baffling. A small organ weighing merely three pounds as an adult has the ability to control and shape a human’s life. Without it there would be nothing. There are so many different functions… and with that there are so many things that can go horribly wrong. It is amazing the capacities and that it possesses and we do not even realize it. That is why studying neurology and working on the treatment of neurological disorders is so critically important. Through the examination of Huntington’s disease, Bell’s Palsy, and Aphasia, neurologists can work to better the human mind and cure the diseases that attack it, which will infinitely enhance the lives of humans and create a brighter future for us all.