The Intricacies of the Brain

The Intricacies of the Brain

During the majority of my college education, the nervous system has always been one of my favorite topics. The more I learn about the brain the more I realize there is so much we don’t know. Although the brain’s function is obviously integral to the human body, there are so many intricacies that we have yet to discover. The brain controls the most basic functions that make human life possible. For example, the brain controls swallowing, respirations, vasodilation, coordination, movements, memories, personality, and even sensory and informational processing.

The brain is split into different sections based on their functions. The frontal lobe is responsible for problem-solving, personality, emotion, and judgment. The parietal lobe is responsible for processing many senses. The temporal lobe is responsible for processing both long and short-term memories. The occipital lobe is responsible for visual processing. The cerebellum is responsible for coordinated movements and balance. The brainstem is responsible for regulating respirations, blood pressure, and heart rate. 

  A prime example of the functions of the frontal lobe is that of Phineas P. Gage. He is famous for having an iron pipe impale his head and pass mostly through the left frontal lobe. Without modern medical care, it is a miracle he survived, let alone recover within a seven month period. However, after the accident, Gage was never the same. He was prone to abandoning plans, being irritable, moody, and used vulgar far more often than he had before his accident. Gage exhibited changes in many aspects of his personality, ranging from his demeanor to his behavior, all of which can be attributed to the damage to his frontal lobe (Hamilton, 2017). 

On a more molecular level, nerves function to receive and send information quickly. Dendrites pick up information while axons send the information to the next nerve with neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that are released into synapses where the receiving dendrites with the specific receptors can accept the neurotransmitter and send the information on to the next nerve. Multiple neurotransmitters exist, and can cause either an excitatory or inhibitory response. These chemicals are what allow nerves to communicate with each other and provide sensory details to the brain (TED-Ed, 2017, 03:15–05:21).

Drugs and medications actually work by changing the way cells communicate. Once ingested, the drug enters the bloodstream where it can pass the blood-brain barrier to cause its desired effect within the nervous system. The blood-brain barrier is a physical separation between blood vessels and nervous tissues by astrocytes. Astrocytes are glial cells that hold both blood vessels and nerves in place, providing the scaffolding on which they are built and the bridge that connects the two. Drugs must have specific chemical components to pass through the blood-brain barrier if its desired destination is the brain. 

Drugs work to disrupt the pattern of neurotransmitters. By changing the way the neurons communicate, they can change the way the information is passed or interpreted. Most drugs are made with this in mind and use it to their advantage.

An example of how important neurotransmitters are is that of Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s is the loss of fine motor skills that can be identified by the shrunken basal ganglia and a decrease in the neurotransmitter dopamine. Drugs that mimic or enhance the effects of dopamine, such as Pramipexole and Levodopa are used to treat Parkinson’s and help the patient to improve their fine motor skills (Mayo Clinic, 2020). 

However, I learned about a very interesting interaction from my psychology 1010 class. If a Parkinson’s patient took too many dopamine-related drugs, they could experience symptoms of schizophrenia, which would be severe behavioral and thought process changes. This is because Schizophrenic patients present with too much dopamine. When a patient has too much or too little dopamine, there can be the effects of the correlating disease.

Other highly regulated or illegal drugs can have some euphoric effects. Although feelings of energy, hallucinations, suppressed appetite, relaxation, and lower inhibitions can sound enticing to some, there is a reason they are regulated the way they are. Many of these drugs can permanently alter the brain’s chemistry and their synapses. Without proper brain chemical structure, people can lose their ability to think clearly, make decisions, learn, and reason properly.

Despite the very biological and objective evidence surrounding the brain, Dr. Gabbard (2005, p. 366) has published a new study that recognizes the distinctions and intimate versatility of the mind and brain. The brain is usually described as a combination of the genetic makeup, biology, and medications of a person, while the mind is recognized as the sum of the environmental factors, psychosocial, and psychotherapeutic variables. Dr. Gabbard fights this notion, by saying this creates implications that the two are treated differently when they are, in fact, so intertwined that to separate them would make the studying of disorders incomplete. He uses borderline personality disorder as an example. This disorder was found to be a result of sexual abuse and neglect. Traumatic abuse has been found to greatly impact the hippocampus and can hyperstimulate the autonomic nervous system. Thus meaning, that the trauma to the mind actually changes the physical makeup of the brain.  

Dr. Gabbard then addresses the implications for treatment. Without the polarizing distinctions between the mind and brain, there should not be those differing treatment methods available. Regarding borderline personality disorder, SSRIs are often used to help treat BPD patients. These drugs promote hippocampal neurogenesis and decrease the hyperreactivity of the neural axis, as well as help the patient connect with their therapist and accept the help they need to be successful in treating their disorder.

Gabbard, G. O. (2005). Psychodynamic Approaches to Personality Disorders. FOCUS, 3(3), 363–367. https://doi.org/10.1176/foc.3.3.363

Hamilton, J. (2017, May 21). NPR Choice page. National Public Radio. https://choice.npr.org/index.html?origin=https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/05/21/528966102/why-brain-scientists-are-still-obsessed-with-the-curious-case-of-phineas-gage

Mayo Clinic. (2020, August 7). Parkinson’s disease - Diagnosis and treatment - Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/parkinsons-disease/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20376062

TED-Ed. (2017, June 29). How do drugs affect the brain? - Sara Garofalo [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qK0hxuXOC8