Hunter Jansson

Protect Your Mind

    The brain is such an important organ in our bodies, yet we still don’t know too much about it. Don’t get me wrong we know a lot, but it is only a small percentage to what is still unknown. When the brain is not performing at its best, the body can’t either, and vise versa, which is greater evidence that our bodies as a whole must be in synch to be able to live our best lives. This teaching follows the practice of Ayurveda which teaches us that as our body and mind are in balance, the rest of our life begins to fall in place as well. As we seek to obtain harmony with ourselves, our bodies will naturally respond in a way that is copacetic of a healthy lifestyle. When we are not in balance with all aspects of our lives in our mind, body and spirit, one of the three parts begins to fail the rest and eventually our whole system is off balance and can’t perform as desired. The body can’t act the way we desire when certain things begin to affect our lives. Things such as unhealthy diets, inactivity, and mental disparages can shift us out of equilibrium. But some of the most damaging, and irreversible, things to our bodies and especially our brains are injury, or drugs. 

    Before we can discuss damages to the brain we first must understand the layout of the brain and how each part is an essential piece of the puzzle. Our brain is split up in two sides, the right and the left side. The right side of the brain seems to process artistic behaviors and capabilities and focus on our creativity, while the left side of the brain processes the written word, analytics, methodology and logic (Pietrangelo, 2019). The wrinkles the we see in the cerebrum are correlated with one’s intelligence. The more wrinkles there are seems to indicate greater intelligence. This is believed due to the fact that as wrinkles form along the cerebrum, more surface area of the brain is being created and fit inside the allotted space. The increased surface area of the brain is linked with more storage of knowledge and more space for synaptic pruning. The cerebrum is subdivided into four different lobes. The first lobe, located at the forehead area, is called the frontal lobe. It is in charge of problem-solving, attention, judgment, behavior, and muscle movement. The second is the parietal lobe, located on the top back of the brain. Its functions consist of sensing pain, and understanding statements when reading. The third is the temporal lobe, located on the side of the head near the ears. This is where visual and auditory memory are stored. The last lobe on the lower back of the brain is the occipital lobe. This helps with recognition of color, words and movement. The cerebellum at the back bottom of the brain is referred to as the small brain and is as well split into two halves. Its role is controlling essential bodily functions like balance, coordination, and posture.

    Knowing where parts of the brains are situated and what roles each has allows us to better track the effects of injury in our brain. Some of the most surprising differences that occur due to brain injury are changes in behavior and personality. A young man in 1848, Phineas Gage, got a metal rod shot through his left cheek and his brain in a working accident. Even though he was able to physically recover from his injury, he appeared to become a totally different person. Before the accident many people described Mr. Gage as a hardworking and pleasant man (Kendra, 2020). But soon after, the reports changed to label Mr. Gage as a surly and aggressive person. Things such as automobile accidents, assault, falls, and sport related injuries can cause changes in behavior like was seen in 1848. Some studies have shown that 57% of people have changes in personality, 38% have recurrent outbursts of anger or aggression, and 49% develop instability. 

    An important aspect to understanding effects of injuries is to understand the recovery and repair phases that follow. What physicians are seeing is that the more brain injuries a person sustains, the greater the effects of depression, personality changes, anxiety, and other long-term changes. Right now, there are not a lot of ways to heal the brain once it has been damaged, but what physicians are focusing on is preventing further injury from happening to the person in their future. One of the reasons that there is such a struggle to find solutions to the damage of the brain is that no two cases are exactly the same, just like a fingerprint. The best theory we have decided on at the moment is a difference in nurture vs. nature in each situation. In the nurture, or environmental realm, this has more of an effect on the mind. The mind is characterized by how one thinks and acts due to ever present influences. While the nature portion, has more of an effect on the brain and how it forms due to genetics and heredity. No two cases are the same because no two people grow up with the same experiences and gene pool and then sustain the exact same cerebral injury.

    Not only do serious injury cause long term changes in personality in behavior due to the way the they damage the brain, but so can harmful and addictive chemicals called drugs. The purpose of our brain and all its many functions and abilities is to increase our survival. When we make good decisions that benefit us, our brain releases a strong chemical called dopamine, this is our feel-good reward for doing something to increase our survival value. The reason for the chemical release is to get us “addicted” to the reward which enhances our desires to complete such actions over and over. Things like food, water, safety, and other natural stimuli gives us that dopamine response driving us to continue eating, drinking, and seeking shelter. Drugs perversely trigger dopamine release in the brain, tricking it to think that what was just ingested has survival value. But the continued use of drugs habituates its effects and to keep up with the desire of the brain, greater doses or higher concentrations are sought after to fulfill the need. The brain eventually moves from a craving of the drug to eventually a dependence on the drug due to the insidious effects on our brains. Alterations to our chemical systems in our bodies can cause a paradigm of shifts in personality as well as negative impacts on the acquisition of anterograde knowledge and accurate recall of retrograde memories (Juarez-portilla, et al. 2017).

    Our brains run our body in such a way that injury and improper use of drugs ,whether they be legal or illegal, can have long term detrimental effects that even with modern medicine and technology, we are most likely unable to reverse back to a native or natural state. It is important that we are conscious of what we intake in to our body and what activities we participate in to avoid an injury that could change the rest of our lives. Eating healthy, exercise, avoidance of impure substances and lower risk activities are worth retaining what we have already. As we take simple steps to maintain balance between the body, mind, and spirit, we will indulge in much more prolific lifestyles that bring happiness and a peace of mind every day. 

Citations

Cherry, Kendra. “The Famous Case of Phineas Gage's Astonishing Brain Injury.” Verywell Mind, 2 Apr. 2020, www.verywellmind.com/phineas-gage-2795244. 

Juárez-Portilla, Claudia, et al. “Influence of Drugs on Cognitive Functions.” IntechOpen, IntechOpen, 20 Dec. 2017, www.intechopen.com/books/health-and-academic-achievement/influence-of-drugs-on-cognitive-functions. 

Letstute. Human Brain | Parts & Functions | Cerebrum & Cerebellum | Biology | LetsTute, Youtube, 27 Mar. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=HieUJTLaOZY. 

Pietrangelo, Ann. “Left Brain vs. Right Brain: What's the Difference?” Healthline, Healthline Media, 8 Mar. 2019, www.healthline.com/health/left-brain-vs-right-brain.