Different parts of the brain control memory, speech, and creativity. Understand how alcohol affects brain function and the roles of serotonin and melatonin.
An adrenaline rush occurs during a fight-or-flight reaction, which involves the brain, nervous system and adrenal glands. The reaction prepares the body for a short-term burst of strenuous physical activity.
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"The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking."
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Anxiety disorders affect around 18 percent of American adults in a given year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. The neurotransmitters gamma-aminobutyric acid, serotonin and norepinephrine are all thought to be involved in the development of anxiety disorders.
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Mapping the mental activity of the brain shows that music stimulates parts of this organ just as food, drugs and sex do, reveals a report in the "Canadian Geographic" magazine. It is apparent that music can affect emotions and mood in the vast majority of individuals.
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If you're a fan of shows like "Westworld" and "The Walking Dead," you may be prone to experiencing crazy dreams. A new study explains why.
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Driving requires a person to integrate information from multiple visual and auditory sources. Visual information that needs to be processed includes activity on the road, your mirrors and the instrument display. Similarly, auditory information includes sounds made by your car, other cars and pedestrians.
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The blood-brain barrier prevents toxic substances, large molecules, and neurotransmitters released in the blood from entering the brain. Four areas of the brain are not protected by the blood-brain barrier.
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The brain is a complex network of structures that work in harmony to control the many vital functions of the body and process information from the internal and outside environment. The vast majority of these functions are reflex actions that occur automatically and in harmony with other parts of the brain and the body.
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According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 51.6 percent of Americans over the age of 12 reported themselves as alcohol drinkers in 2008.
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Adrenaline is another word for the hormone epinephrine, part of the brain's response to exercise. Epinephrine has an effect on your body to increase the cardiorespiratory activity that facilitates exercise. It also has an affect on your metabolism and can even improve your mood.
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Memory is a complex function that involves multiple steps, starting with the input of the stimulus to the brain and ending with independent memory retrieval.
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The brain is a remarkable and complex structure responsible for thinking skills. Several parts of the brain work together in a sophisticated manner to integrate information and develop thoughts.
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Speech and other language abilities are lateralized brain functions, meaning they are all located on one side of the brain. For most people, the left hemisphere controls language.
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The parasympathetic nervous system activates the relaxation, or "rest-and-digest," response. Roughly the opposite of the "fight-or-flight" response of the sympathetic nervous system, the relaxation response involves restoration of energy reserves and other "peace time" functions, such as repair and reproduction.
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Creativity can be described loosely as the application of novel solutions and possibilities to some aspect of human endeavor. Creativity is easy to identify but notoriously difficult to measure.
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The "master gland" of the body, your pituitary gland -- located at the base of your brain -- secretes hormones that control the function of other glands throughout your body. It controls a range of physiological processes, including pubertal development and reproductive health, muscle growth and cellular metabolism.
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Serotonin and melatonin are both hormones that regulate various human functions such as sleep, appetite and mood. Serotonin, which is produced in the body, is known as a neurotransmitter; this means it is responsible for sending messages between nerve cells.
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Emotions, like fear and love, are carried out by the limbic system, which is located in the temporal lobe. While the limbic system is made up of multiple parts of the brain, the center of emotional processing is the amygdala, which receives input from other brain functions, like memory and attention.
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Sight is a complex function of the brain that extends from the front to the back of the head. To produce sight, the eyes capture information and send it through the optic nerve to be processed by the occipital lobe.
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Acetylcholine is a major neurotransmitter in the nervous system. It is required for memory, concentration and focus, and it also plays a role in muscle coordination. Acetylcholine is not a component of foods; instead, it is built from choline. The more choline you eat, the more acetylcholine you can produce.
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