Welcome to Ormond Neuroscience’s brain blog. Here you’ll find a great collection of interesting posts about the brain, neuropsychology and neuroscience. The brain is such an incredible piece of biological equipment, carefully honed by evolution over the course of millennia to be the powerful organ that is encased inside your skull. Without your brain, you’d not exist. With your brain, you can generate an infinite number of thoughts, imagine the impossible, dream of your future and reminisce about your past.
Which Organ is the most Important?
Which is the most important organ in the human body? You can do without your gall bladder, get by on one kidney, and still survive, albeit precariously, without your liver. Seems to me that it comes down to your heart and your brain. I’m certainly not the only one to believe that the brain is the most important organ in the body. Princeton hold similar views, as does the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Sure, your heart is important and, yes, you die when it malfunctions, but ultimately it is just a pump. A truly remarkable pump, for sure, but still just a pump. It’s your brain that allows you to experience being alive, your heart just keeps you alive. On the scale of which is the most important organ, there is no doubt that your brain is number one.
It’s your brain that creates meaning, your brain that sees the connections between things, your brain that facilitates insight, grasps semantics and gives you bursts of creativity. It’s your brain that lets you feel joy, that allows for the feeling of exhilaration, that lets you fall in love. Ultimately, even orgasm is a function of the brain.
So, take your brain on a journey of self-exploration and browse our brain blog. We have fascinating articles on the following topics in our blog:
- Anatomy
- ADHD
- Brain Health
- Epilepsy
- Infection
- Mood Disorders
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Neurodegeneration
- Oxygenation
- Stroke
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Vagal Nerve Stimulation
Click one of the links above to explore a specific subject area or read our most recent posts, as shown below.
Treating Depression with Vagal Nerve Stimulation
Bioelectric Neuromodulation: Vagal Nerve Stimulation Vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) is a form of bioelectric neuromodulation, a way of stimulating the…
Mood Disorders and Regulation
Mood disorders and the problem of regulation When we talk about mood disorders, we typically describe them using emotional terms. …
Binge Drinking at the Braai—The Great South African Tradition
The festive season in South Africa is often centred around food, friends, and a few more drinks than usual. From…
VNS after Stroke: Remarkable Shrinking of the Penumbra
This post is about VNS after stroke and how VNS helps with recovery. VNS is short for vagal nerve stimulation,…
Energy Drink Consumption and Suicide Risk
A large meta-analysis involving more than 1.5 million participants has identified an association between energy drink consumption and suicidal thoughts…
Your Brain’s Unique Breathprint: A Neurophysiological Signature
Your Breathprint — The Signature Written in Air Every breath you take recruits a symphony of neurons whose unique wiring…
Depression Causes Shrinkage of our Hippocampi
For decades, neuroscience has shown that depression isn’t just a disorder of mood. Depression is also a disorder of brain…
A Neuroplasticity Power Surge to Boost Recovery
Neuroplasticity is critical to brain function. It’s so critical, that without it, you would die! That’s a remarkable statement, and,…
The Horror of Wildfires: Smoking out our Brains
The Surprising Connection Between Wildfire Smoke and Brain Health: What You Need to Know Wildfires are getting worse. Look at…
Neuroinflammation: How to beat chronic brain swelling naturally
Neuroinflammation is swelling in the brain. It’s bad news. Swelling occurs in many neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s…
The Remarkable Story of Mad Cows, Knotted Nerves & Misfolded Proteins
The Classic Case of Misfolded Proteins Did you know that misfolded proteins cause Mad Cow Disease? Strictly speaking, people don’t…
New Evidence Shows Breathing In Air Pollution Linked To Alzheimer’s
Toxic air pollution increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. The closer you live to major roads, the higher the chances…
The Complexity & Beauty of Proteostasis
Misguided & Misguiding: Misfolded Proteins Proteostasis is the system our bodies use to keep proteins in functional balance. Normally, it…
Happiness in a Pill: Do Antidepressants Really Work?
Do antidepressants really work? Well, for some people with severe major depressive disorder there are some benefits. However, the less…
The Magic of Levodopa in Parkinson’s Disease
Why do we give levodopa to people with Parkinson’s disease instead of dopamine? After all, loss of dopamine, a major…
Does Stroke Cause Scar Tissue In The Heart?
Cardiac Scar Tissue After Stroke. The consequences of stroke are long-lasting, not just on the brain but also on other…
Safety of Ritalin: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The safety of Ritalin has been in the spotlight in recent years. Ritalin is widely used to manage the symptoms…
Powerful Tools to Boost Neuroplasticity after TBI
How do you boost neuroplasticity after a traumatic brain injury? What can you do to ensure that you make the…
Research shows that Depression isn’t strongly Genetic
A powerful piece of medical dogma is the notion that depression has genetic roots. This is the idea that if…
Mental Illness, Love and Telomeres
Telomere length predicts lifespan. Now, a new study has shown an association between childhood trauma, shortened telomere length and mental…
Short-cuts Result in the Misdiagnosis of Dementia: It’s Terrible!
A recent study showed a high rate of misdiagnosis of dementia when using brief cognitive screening tools. Incredibly, 35.7% of…
Scary Risk of Worsening after Elective Abortion in MS Patients
Wow, this is a remarkable finding… Pregnant multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferers who undergo elective abortion have significantly increased risk for…
Do herpes and inflammation make you cranky?
Confocal microscope image of cerebellar Purkinje cells. Stained with tdTomato, they appear golden! Image courtesy of National Institute on Alcohol…
The Incredible Microanatomy of the Synapse
Synaptic Update Here’s a fascinating take on the synapse. Compare these two images of the active zone of a synapse. …
Amazing Plan to Neutralise the Bad Guys in Alzheimer’s Disease
If you have one copy of a gene called apoE4, then your chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease are more than…
Watch out! Artificial sweeteners increase risk for stroke and dementia!
If you consume drinks that contain artificial sweeteners in preference to those that contain sugar, you have an increased risk…
Was Asperger a bad guy? Did he have Asperger’s?
Startling new evidence shows that Hans Asperger, after whom Asperger’s syndrome is named, was a Nazi sympathiser. He referred mentally…
The poor little boy who got baked for too long
How long can baby can stay in mum’s tum? Most of us are aware that premature delivery of a baby…
Amazing Potential Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting For Dementia
Recent research in humans shows that intermittent fasting results in greater diversity of the gut microbiota. Furthermore, intermittent fasting resulted…
The Surprise of High-Fat Diet, Brain Swelling and Memory
If you’re eating a high-fat diet, you could be causing inflammation in your brain! High-fat diet? Think burgers and ‘some…
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) by the Millions: Amazing Stats
“Worldwide, more than 50 million people have a traumatic brain injury (TBI) each year, and it is estimated that about…
Neuroscience Myths: Recovery After TBI Plateaus At Two Years
One of the myths in the neurosciences is that recovery after TBI (traumatic brain injury) plateaus two years after the…
The Magic and Curse of Oxygenation After Brain Injury
Oxygenation as Treatment for Brain Injury Should we treat brain injury patients with oxygenation? It seems an almost silly question.…
Diffusion Tensor Imaging: The Spectacular Power and Awesome Beauty
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) created these beautiful brain scans. You’d think that the colours were added by a creative artist.…
Is There A Viral Cause Of Alzheimer’s?
Could Alzheimer’s disease (AD) be due to a viral cause? This idea links to the importance of olfactory impairment in…