Scientific American Article Summary

The article “Brain Stains” in the October issue of Scientific American was by far the best magazine article I have read. I had two opposite reactions to the article: shock and intrigue…

Shock: Sherri Storm opened the newspaper one February morning only to find a shocker of her own. The headline read, “Malpractice Lawsuit: Plaintiff tells horror of memories. Woman emotionally testifies that psychiatrist planted false recollections.” After reading the story about the woman in the article, Storm realized that she herself had been a victim of malpractice. The 200-plus personalities with which she had been diagnosed by her therapist, Kenneth Olson, had been nothing more than a figment of her imagination.

Like Storm, there are many others who underwent recovered-memory therapy that revealed sordid memories of a fictitious past. When recalling any of these made-up memories, one notices the resonating guided structure, suggesting that the therapist was instrumental in guiding the mind to formulate images of horrid events that fictitiously took place in one’s life.

Although Storm has realized that she does not suffer from Multiple Personality Disorder, she is still traumatized to this day. Seeing a strand of hair on her pizza triggered conjured memories of gagging and eating babies in a cult; Cigar smoke bring recollections of cigar burns and rapes by her Uncle; Even her nurturing parents were seen as criminals against her. She remains unemployed, and socially isolated.


Intrigue: Bad therapy seems to have altered the brain’s emotional circuitry in Storm and others like her, with lasting effects on memory and mental health. While this ‘brain stain’ can be reversed, it would take considerable effort.

The main problem with brain is that it does not have a selective process in information processing. Imagination or coerced memories like the ones mentioned earlier does not go through a screening process to be confirmed, or trashed. In an experiment done by Elizabeth F. Loftus and Jacqueline Pickrell (1995), families were contacted as asked information about their past to gather memories to construct a memory booklet. A false story about being lost in the mall at age 5 was also included. When family members were shown the book, they responded by recalling all of the memories, even that of the false story, providing details of the fictitious event.

Recovered-memory therapy is heavily relient on the notion that some memories are so unreliable that they are repressed by the mind in order to protect itself. On the contrary, Neurobiologist James L. McGaugh of U.C.I. has found that a key function of memory is the ability to recall threatening situations so that they (situations) may be avoided in the future.

Most people don’t realize that when they undergo different types of stress, especially in the case of Chronic Stress, physical changes take place in the brain. The neuronal complexity in three areas is affected: the medial prefrontal cortex (responsible for working memory and executive function), the hippocampus (responsible for learning, memory, and emotional processing), and the amygdale (involved in fear and intense emotions).

Scientific American article Summary

The Scientific American article “When the Eyes Play Ticks on the Ears” by Nikhil Swaminathan talks about the coupling of visual and auditory information in order to provide us with an integrated message. It specifically attributes the neurons of a structure called the “inferior collicus region” located in the midbrain of being responsible for “fooling” us when it comes to thrown voices. The inferior collicus region contains neurons that respond to both visual and auditory stimuli. However, it is also essential that both types of stimuli are like one another in order for them to be encoded similarly.
Swaminathan goes on to delineate an experiment carried out by Jennifer Groh and her colleagues at Duke university to substantiate this claim. The researchers used monkeys to analyze the response of approximately 180 neurons in the inferior collicus region through the placing of electrodes in the animals’ brains. The monkeys were placed in a dark chamber and the responses of their neurons to a light-emitting diode (LED) being switched on just before a “white noise” was played were assessed. It was determined that during the LED stimulus, the neurons in the inferior collicus region were activated. However, when the white noise was played, two out of three monkeys also indicated activity in the auditory region. These results imply a significant relationship or interaction between sensory pathways which can even be designated as being automatic.
I chose this article because it signifies the important relationship between the perception of an auditory stimulus and that of a visual stimulus. I wear glasses and I have noticed that my hearing tends to be less accurate during the times that I do not have my glasses on. This article helped me understand the significant influence that both forms of perception have on each other.

* Link to article: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=when-the-eyes-play-tricks

* An example of the relationship between vision and hearing can be seen during the learning of a language. Here is a link deliniating this relationship: http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED003609&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED003609

The Scientific American Mind article “Freeing a Locked-In Mind” by Karen Schrock focuses on technological advancements that have revealed that vegetative patients may be able to communicate with the outside world. “Locked-in” minds refer to minds that are trapped in bodies that no longer respond to their mental control. In the fall of 2006 researchers in Britain announced that they were able to successfully image the brain of one of their vegetative patients and found that the patient was conscious and aware. According to lead researcher, Adrian Owen of the University of Cambridge, “We are now able to detect when somebody is consciously aware, when existing clinical methods have been unable to provide that information.” This new technology will allow patients to communicate without having to say or do anything. This “new technology” is the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) that shows which areas of the brain have the most activity during thought processing. FMRI imaging has been the first imaging technique to “look at the inner cognitive workings of patients who have disorders of consciousness.”

This article went on to discuss how cases like Terri Schiavo’s and many others can not easily improve, however, brain-damage prognosis is not always cut and dry. This is why this new technology will allow doctors to determine how much brain function a person has left thereby making a clear distinction between the three categories of consciousness: coma, vegetative, and minimally conscious. The fMRI has advanced over the last couple years so that researchers are capable of interpreting the data in 30 to 40 seconds compared to months. With this advancement “locked-in” patients will be able to “speak” with their own mind despite being verbally unresponsive. The researchers have been able to learn how to tell apart thought-only responses of “yes” or “no” in under a minute due to different thoughts activating various areas of the brain.

I chose this article because this past week in my comparative religious ethics course we discussed physician assisted suicide and forgoing treatment for patients. One of the cases we discussed was Terri Schiavo’s, which took place back in 2005. A political debate ensued when her parents challenged her husband’s decision to remove her feeding tube and allowed her to die. The doctors did not think she would recover and sided with her husband. From reading this article, if fMRI imaging was available then as it is now maybe Terri’s case would have turned out differently. It seems that there will be a future for patients in vegetative and comatose states. This article was extremely enjoyable and interesting to read. Definitely check it out!!!

Info on Terri Schiavo: http://www.terrisfight.org/mainlinks.php?table=main_terri_story&id=141

Scientific American Article Review

The article entitled "Taming Baby Rage: Why Are Kids So Angry?" was a very interesting one. Researchers stated that studies have shown that it may not be the cartoons which lead your children to hit or be rough with other children at school. Research is supporting the theology that our children are born with these intuitions and, through training, they learn to express those emotions/ feelings in a more positive way.

"...It's surprising that the idea that children and adolescents learn aggression from the media is still relevant," according to Richard Tremblay (a professor of pediatrics, psychiatry and psychology at the University of Montreal). He has been doing continuous research on 35, 000 Canadian children to find out what the root of their behavior is. So far, Tremblay has found out that the peak of children's violent behavior is around 18 months and it begins to tamper off between 2-5 years old when they learn manners and other mature ways to communicate their wants and needs better.

Tremblay and his team want to further look into what extent does gene expressions play a part into the aggressiveness of our children. He stated that “individuals that are chronically aggressive have…more genes that are not expressed. The fact that a gene can be silenced or the level of protein it encodes reduced is an indication that the problem is at a very basic level." This was a very interesting observation. Since studies done with animals show that an unfit environment (from day one) can hinder the child from learning that violence is wrong, they are further testing to see if, what is done while the baby is in the womb, can affect the children neurologically once it is born. Some possible factors, which could have an affect on the child (if they are done during pregnancy), are drinking, stress, poor nutrition, and smoking. Taking a closer look into these factors & their affect on the child can help for early detection and interventions.

I found this article very interesting since I am very fascinated by children and their neurological development (I guess that is the maternal instincts in me). So much work has been put in so far to obtain these results and, as more is found out, more questions arise. It is very fascinating how we once though that what are child watches on TV could be the root of malicious behavior but, now, we are seeing that it could be more than that...possibly even a combination of the too. I believe that many of our behaviors are natural and innate but I also think that nurture has a big part to play in it as well. They work together. To know that there is a possibility that are genes could play a role in our aggressive behavior is remarkable and worth looking into for future analysis.

Articles Related to the Subject:

Neurobiological determinants of violence
http://www.gnxp.com/MT2/archives/002591.html


TV Violence May Spur Aggression in Boys
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=85006

Baby Bullies
http://www.sesameworkshop.org/parents/advice/article.php?contentId=90561

Reaction: Chapter 11 Blog

Chapter 11 was a very interesting yet sad chapter. This chapter is where Willis starts to fade into history rather than stand out for eternity (like individuals such as Darwin, Mendel, or Watson & Crick). He contributed so much to the world of science, and I share the sentiments of the other critiques. He was a great man and it is not justice that others will not know him for his greatness.

Sydenham was a person after my own heart. He did things according to how he felt they should be done and I was thoroughly amazed that he thought that way. So many before him were by the books and never went too far outside the box but not him. He was a realistic type of person and didn’t rely too much on the theoretical. He observed diseases and learned their habits/patterns so he could become a master of healing them. He believed that nature was sufficient in dealing with going against disease since “nature by itself determines disease".

Locke was a very rebellious soul and, when he began to question what was already being stated as truth, it made me so proud. I am one who always likes to go against the grain and try new things out. His courage to questions was very admirable. His analysis of how language was interpreted and spoken was insightful and remarkable in its own right.

Related Articles

Thomas Sydenham
http://www.nndb.com/people/344/000098050/
http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/1989.html

John Locke
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Locke-Jo.html
http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/distance_arc/locke/locke-science-lec.html

Scientific American Mind Article

In the Scientific American Mind Article “Brain Pathway May Underlie Depression,” JR Minkel investigates the mystery behind the marker for depression. A neuroengineer and psychiatrist named Karl Deisseroth hypothesizes that the electrical chatter in the dentate gyrus contracts in depressed rats. The dentate gyru is found at the C-shaped region of the hippocampus. And so, to understand human depression, researchers performed an experiment on rats. The rats were induced with depression like symptoms. A blasting static noise was tested on the animal at unpredictable intervals for several weeks. The results showed that the stressed rats were unable to swim in a tank indicating their “feelings of hopelessness.” To observe further in their experiment, the researchers compared the rat’s brain activity between a depressed and normal rat. In this case, the rat’s brains were analyzed by extracting their brains in slices and then placed in voltage-sensitive dye with electrode to observe under a high-speed camera.










Source: http://www.brain.riken.jp/bsi-news/bsinews2/no2/issue2e.html

This figure is just to show an example of what the process would look like when a high-speed camera is used to observe hippocampus activity . "The activities in the hippocampal CA1 region using an ultrahigh-speed camera developed in Dr. Michinori Ichikawa's laboratory. This shows the activities after high-frequency stimulation was applied by modeling the learning process. Long-term potensiation phenomenon of the hippocampal CA1 region captured on potential-sensitive dyes using a high-speed camera."

The high-speed camera is mainly used to observe hippocampus activity. They found “a smaller aura of activity originating from the curved dentate gyrus than in normal rats.” In their previous research, they found that a depressed rat treated with fluoxetine (Prozac) experienced more rapid neurogenesis. In addition, “the range of electrical signals from their dentate gyri spread as far as in normal rats.” All in all, they learned that the hippocampal activity is involved in depressed behavior. However, they were not able to identify the origin of the problem within the hippocampus. And so, the causes of depression remained a mystery.

I found this article interesting because I have performed an experiment on rats in the past. It’s amazing how a small animal can be helpful in understanding human behavior. Yet, some remains a mystery to us when it comes to understanding how behavior is triggered in the brain and how it is processed. The brain is a very complex structure that often times it is difficult for researchers to identify where a specific behavior is triggered or originated from.

Related link:
Soluble oligomers of b amyloid (1-42) inhibit long-term potentiation but not long-term depression in rat dentate gyrus.

Scientific American Mind Article

In his article, “Can a Lack of Sleep Cause Psychiatric Disorders?”, Nikhil Swaminathan discusses the biopsychological implications of sleep deprivation. He describes a study conducted by Dr. Matthew Walker, a psychologist from the University of California, in which the brain activity of well-rested and sleep-deprived adults were monitored as they were shown a series of images that became progressively more disturbing. Primarily focusing on activity in the amygdala—the region of the brain that is responsible for emotional response—the investigators found that neurons in the sleep-deprived participants exhibited 60% increase in neuronal response due to transmission of impulses by five times as many than those of their well-rested contemporaries. Further investigation through fMRI analyses discovered than norepinephrine was being secreted by the activated neurons, thereby causing a fight-or-flight response.

Physiologically, the latter findings inhibit the activity of the medial prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain that regulates emotional responses and allows rational thought. This occurs as a result of sleep deprivation, and, thereby, accounts for the constant shift in moods within an individual. Harvard Medical School professor, Robert Stickgold, states that a relationship exists between sleep deprivation and certain psychiatric disorders, such as depression. Further studies will examine disturbances in different types of sleep, such as REM or slow-wave sleep.

I found this article particularly intriguing because, throughout the course of my college career, I have nights when I had the misfortune on receiving as little as one hour of sleep. Although I understand the relationship between the two factors, I think that perhaps there is a certain threshold of sleep deprivation before the amygdala begins to be overactivated.

The Forgotten Brain Emerges--Scientific American Mind Article

In an article from Scientific American Mind entitled "The Forgotten Brain Emerges," by Krebs, Huttmann and Steinhauser, it is found by many neuroscientists that glial cells are nearly as important to thinking as neurons. There are nine times as many glial cells in the gray matter of our brains as neurons. It was thought of for many years that glial only provided support for neurons in ways such as fighting pathogens, maintaining a good ion balance and insulation. But this is not true. Glial cells are apparently involved in all aspects of the brain's information processing.
As we all know, there are three main glial cell types: microglia, oligodendrocytes and astrocytes. Microglia act like an immune system for the brain whereas oligodendrocytes form myelin sheaths around the neuronal axons acting as insulation. The important glial cell in this article were the astrocytes, which are involved in a number of aspects of our brain's functioning.
Astrocytes supply neurons with nutrients from blood vessels, absorb neurtransmitters (NT) and make sure ion concentrations remain constan. Astrocytes are also known to "talk" to one another. In essence, the above characteristics of astrocytes are important in how glia affect of neurons communicate.
Though glia are important, they differ in how they conduct information. Neurons use electrical impulses (action potentials) to conduct information whereas astrocytes use chemical messages controlled by rising and falling Ca2+ concentrations. Though they used different ways to conduct information, they may use the same types of messenger molecules. Often, astrocytes will release the same NT's as neurons.
In this article, epilipsy was examined in order to find out how glia communicate. In epileptic episodes, neurons in one region of the brain suddenly fire in complete synchrony with only a few misfiring. Tissue from the hippocampus of epileptic patients were studied because the hippocampus is involved in the onset and spread of seizures. Thins sections of the hippocampus were removed and ion streams flowing through the cell membranes of single astrocytes were tracked. The activity of indivudual ion channels and NT receptros were then measured.
Non-epileptic brains have two types of astrocytes: glu T cells and glu R cells. glu T cells are completely lacking in patients in a certain form of epilepsy noted temporal lobe epilepsy. In healthy brains, though, these glu T cells absorb glutamate that has been released by neurons. This inhibits the prolonged stimulation of the neurons. Along with this glutamate absorption, glu T cells can also remove K+ ions from the intracellular space of neurons also helping to shut down neurons.
glu T cells are connected together by gap junctions. This helps them work together to remobved molecules and ions from neurons simultaneously. This further helps the brain from overactive transmission. In epileptic patients, with this lack of glu T cells, the rapid removal of messenger molecules and ions is absent and the substances instead collect around neurons which overstimulates them. Another consequence of glu T cell loss is that neurons become energy depleted. Healthy brains have glu T cells that absorb glucose and transform it into lactic acid which enables neurons to generate energy. This severly impairs the brain from receiving the supply of nutrients it needs.
On the otherhand, glu R cells have specialized receptors that a used for a variety of messenger substances, which also includes glutamate. Unlike glu T cells, glu R cells do not have gap junctions and thus do not have the ability to remove ions such as K+. Patients with epilepsy have glu R ceclls but K+ channels in their cell membranes is significantly lower compared to that of a healthy brain. Their operation is much slower.
It is still unknown as to whether the deficiency or changes in glia actually cause this type of epilepsy or is a consequence of it. The authors of this article state further research is needed which can go in the direction of looking into pathological problems in the brain that includes neuronal activity AND glial activity. A new understanding of glia must be developed.

Scientific American Mind Article

The Scientific American Mind article, “Can nurture save you from your own genes? Genes, environment and depression” introduced by David Dobbs speaks of a scientist’s study of examining two different gene variants and the power of each depending on whether a child is abused, nurtured, or both. The article, “Gene- Environment Interactions: When Nurture Wears a White Hat”, written by Charles Glatt describes the research of fellow scientists Joan Kaufman and Joel Gelernter Nicholas Fayed and colleagues ("Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor-5-HTTLPR Gene Interactions and Environmental Modifiers of Depression in Children”).

The ongoing debate of “Nature vs. Nurture” has many theologians, philosophers, and biologists pondering its influence on understanding who we are and what we embody. In the article by Kaufman and Gelernter, they propose that both nature and nurture contribute to who we are; mainly that both genetic factors and environmental factors play a key role in depression. Research has begun to identify genetic risk factors for certain behavioral traits. Some risk factors have been posed in court arguing that punishment for convicted felons should be lessened; the reason being that their genetic predisposition made them acquiesce and made them more prone to misbehave again.

In their paper, Kaufman, Gelernter, and colleagues found clear evidence of gene-environment interactions in the possibility for symptoms of depression. As an alternative to examining single genetic and single environmental factors, this study examines a number of interactions among two genetic factors (nature) and two environmental factors (nurture).

The first most accepted polymorphism (genetic difference between individuals) is in the regulatory region of the gene for the serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR or serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) transporter) polymorphism. This is one of the “nature” factors examined by Kaufman and colleagues. This appears to alter expression of the serotonin transporter molecule. This transporter molecule is also the target of many SSRIs (serotonin-selective reuptake inhibitors) or class of antidepressants.

The second polymorphism is the gene for brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This is another of the “nature” factors examined by Kaufman and colleagues. This appears to promote the growth of new neurons; particularly brain growth and learning. However, this polymorphism in the BDNF gene alters the efficiency of secretion of BDNF. Many studies have shown that in both animals and humans, decreased levels of BDNF during stress causes depression while SSRIs act to normalize the levels of BDNF.

One “nurture” factor, or environment/experience, aspect looked at as a risk for depression was childhood abuse or maltreatment. In a study, 196 children were scored- 109 children where reports of abuse and/or neglect were present and 87 children (control) where no reports of abuse/maltreatment. Each child was scored for depressive-like symptoms; a high score indicated greater depression. These scores were then compared with combinations of the 5-HTTLPR and BDNF polymorphisms.

Results showed that children with one 5-HTTLPR polymorphism had a higher score only if there were records of childhood maltreatment. Overall, depression was more likely to develop in a child who was neglected and the specific 5-HTTLPR was present. They also found that a certain allele of the BDNF gene increased the effects of the 5-HTTLPR gene, making a child greater susceptible to depression if childhood maltreatment occurred.

Another “nurture” factor aspect looked at as a risk for depression was positive social support. Children were scored again but this time on whether they had high or low social support from the people within their lives. The results showed that having a high social support (nurturing) offset the effects of the genetic risk factors more or less.

The research mainly showed that “genes alone were not likely to make a child depressed, but maltreatment alone could.” In the controversial debate of nature vs. nurture, this study shows that in specific 5-HTTLPR and BDNF polymorphisms: “nurture beats nature.”

I found this article to be very interesting! I have always been interested in clinical research especially disease and disorders. I became interested in depression not too long ago mainly because it is a relatively unknown disorder and there is no single cause for depression. Throughout my research, I found that many factors play a role in depression such as genetics involving inheritability, the environment, medical conditions, life events, and certain thinking patterns that can affect an individual’s reaction to events and predispose them to depression. Most biological research seemed to focus on the role of dysregulation and neurotransmitters involved in depression. These chemicals assist in transmitting messages between nerve cells in the brain. Certain neurotransmitters as we know can regulate mood. When they are not available in sufficient quantities, the result can lead to depression. Overall, depression is a devastating, complex, and highly widespread disorder. It affects individuals of all ages and can be brought about by many different factors. BDNF plays an important role in the maintenance, growth, and the ultimate survival of the brain and peripheral neurons. Any defective regulation or change in the amount of BDNF produced could have severe implications and trigger the onset of depressive symptoms.

I found this article to be significant because throughout my study of BDNF in depression, I never came across studies involving the depression of children in relationship to maltreatment or abuse. This article also opened my eyes to the concept of “nature vs. nurture” and that not all disorders are purely genetic but can be due to one’s environment.

Interesting article:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&uid=16458264&cmd=showdetailview&indexed=google

THE NEUROLOGIST VANISHES

CHAPTER 11 SUMMARY


Willis has become legendary for his cures; however he has kept them secret from all of his colleagues. Willis set out to organize the remedies he has developed over the years into a single book. He creates a rational science of drugs, based on corpuscles and anatomy. Willis maintained a belief that physicians need to learn the “mechanical means of the working of medicines in our Bodies” in order to prevent the ignorant and vilest people from harming the physick. Rational therapist, as Willis called it was the last book he would write. Despite the shortcoming of rational therapeutic, it also displayed Willis as the best as a sharpened eyed anatomist and an extraordinarily observant physician. Willis and his assistant Edmund King made unprecedented study in the stomach, lungs and other organs. Willis approached his death as he had always hoped he would with his rational soul still in charged.

Locke came to Oxford in 1652, he showing none of the genius that his fellow students, however by the end of the decade he begin to transform himself from a dilettante to a natural philosopher. Locke earned a place in the Oxford circle carrying out experiment and later developed an expertise in botany. When Locke wasn’t carrying out medical research, he was speculating in the hidden works of the body. Locke believed that the inability to agree was brought on because people did not understand the nature of thought itself, which lead him to the notion of “imperfection of words.” Locke decided that he and his friends had to get past these simple obstacles of language and thought one in order to truly understand anything. He took on the task of starting an essay that he referred to as “incoherent parcels.” After formulating his essay Lockes’ perception the world changes giving it new life and clarity. Locke was most intrigued and influenced by a physician named Thomas Sydenham. In Sydenham’s company, Locke became convinced that all causes in medicine were beyond human understanding.

Sydenham was a school mate of Wills but they had little in common. Willis came from royalist stock while Sydenham grew up in a Puritan Dorset. Willis fought for Charles I, while Sydenham fought for Parliament. Like Willis Sydenham chose medicine but steered clear of Willis Oxford Circle. After leaveing Oxford to join his bothers in London, Sydenham began practicing medicine on the less fortunate. As Sydenham saw patents by the hundred he begin to see patterns. He noticed that clusters of symptoms took the same course through different people. Sydenham found that diseases such as malaria follow the same course no matter who it claimed. He found ways to distinguish fevers, building up lists of linked symptoms that separate one diseases from another. His huge practice allowed him to gauge how well different kinds of remedies worked.

Sydenham experiments with different types of treatments outraged other physicians, but Sydenham would not change his medicine. “It is my nature to think where others read, to ask less whether the world agrees with me than whether I agree with the truth; and to hold cheap the rumor and the applause of the multitude.”

Critique:

The Neurologist Vanishes is a complicated chapter because it ends one era while beginning another. Willis is now a well accomplished physician; however his life has come full circle. He has become the Galen of the time and now his ideas are be scrutinized upon. Willis is now the giant whom shoulders are being stood upon just as the other that came before him. However I am sadden to learn that Willis becomes a distant memory and never a legacy for all of his contributions in the scientific community.

Now we begin to learn about the old and new free thinking characters of the time. I most thoroughly enjoyed reading about their style of breaking the mold. It was very engaging to lean about Sydenhams against the grain approach to practicing medicine. I like the fact that he used the actuality of life in treating his patients in lieu of the theoretical. In spite of whom it inhibited, he was able to look at the disease and see its pattern. Sydenham just seemed like a no nonsense type of person who didn’t get caught up in the how or why of medicine. Instead he focused on the healing aspect whether it is natural or chemical. “Nature by itself determines diseases, and is of it herself sufficient in all things against them.”

Locke too is a radical thinker who begins to question the establishment. He ventures into this journey by analyzing how language is spoken and interpreted. This new path to enlightenment has able him to hear that all the past intellectual discussion has been bullshit. Locke can now see that no one really knows what the other is truly saying or what themselves are attempting to convey. This awakening is truly revolutionary maybe even treason. Locke’s new insight spirals into numerous essays on topics that are taboo for its time. I really like this about Locke because it makes me think of how good it feels when one is truly allowed to be expressive. In comparison to doing the opposite, which usually leave a deep sense of regret?

Information on Thomas Willis:

www.cerebromente.org.br/n06/historia/willis

Information on John Locke:

www.blupete.com/Literature/Biographies/Philosophy/Locke

www.oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/locke

Information on Thomas Sydenham:

www.nndb.com/people/344/000098050/

www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1369015

Chapter 9 critique

I enjoyed Chapter 9 because it highlighted theaccomplishment of a woman. Although Anne Conway was afflicted by many unfortunate conditions, such as the bleeding from her jugular vein and her ingestion of mercury, she still rose to the occassion & produced lots of impressive works. Anne's ingestion of mercury to treat her migraines was ridiculous to me. The things considered treatments, back then, was interesting and very hazardous to their health. I agreed with the statement that Burd made when she discussed the mind over matter theory. One, I believe, can ignore the feeling of pain if they truly wanted to in certain circumstances. There are occurrences where people are fighting and they don't realize that they are injured and in pain until afterwards when they actally think about it. For a woman to have her work contribute to theology proposed by men like Willis, is truly amazing. Her works contributed to the continuously evolving theories about the human soul. She educated herself on ideas closely related to philosophy and gained the esteem of men from that field. That was impressive since women were not considered fit to be educated during that time period. The use of stray dogs for experimentation done by Willis disturbed me a little because I am an animal rights activist and I hate to hear about experiments done on animals (especially dogs) but I am glad to see that the procedure was successful and Willis did come up with a procedure for blood transfusion. It was interesting to read how his primative procedure of physically transferring blood from one animal to the next. We have progressed so much medically, for now, our techinique is so much more advanced. We put the blood in bags and transfer it to the patients via their veins. We, even, have blood drives so that we can have different types of blood for everyone in case of an emergency. Willis, as a person, has gained much respect from me due to his passion and determination for medicine. Despite his massive amounts of money, prestige, and wealth, he still wanted help those who were less fortunate than he was. Information on Anne Conway: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/conway/ Cartesian Dualism: http://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Onto/OntoDerk.htm Timeline on Blood transfusion History: http://www.bloodbook.com/trans-history.html

Chapter 9 Summary and Critique

In 1665, people in Oxford recognize Willis as “one of the learnedest and most famed physicians in the world.” He basically bought out the Angel Inn on High Street to start out a business with another Oxford physician and a surgeon. Wealthy people from out of town stopped by for treatment. This made him “the richest man in the county of Oxfordshire.” However, when it came for him to treat the poor patients, he treatment them without pay. He no longer traveled from town to town to treat people. Yet, one day he decided to leave Oxford and traveled to Warwickshire. He became a private physician to one of the noblest women in England. Lord Conway asked Willis to aid his wife, Anne who was frequently experiencing excruciating headaches. And so, Willis searched for possibilities that may have started her severe migraines. He interviewed her about her life to hope that her history might have the answers to her illness. He found her very intelligent because she was a brilliant philosopher that spent years probing the nature of the soul. She was unable to attend a university, and so she instead educated herself. She kept in touch with her brother who went to school in Cambridge to keep her up to date with the newest philosophies that he was learning in school. Then, she ended up encountering one of her brother’s mentor, the philosopher Henry More. More believed in the workings of the spirit rather than opinions of the brain. He was convince that “immaterial soul occupied the body as a temporary vessel” in which the soul would still live on afterlife. He is inspired by Descarte and Plato’s works. He agreed with Descarte that the soul cannot exert any physical force on its material body, and so only the spirit could make the universe move. He believe that human souls such as ghosts and even God can be extended like matter.

Anne Conway was eager to know more about Descarte. She asked More about Descarte to understand “how there could be a fully perfect being-God-without a fully imperfect being existing as well.” She was not satisfied with More’s explanation, and so both ended up discussing about philosophy and More’s own work. Later Anne suffered more on her headaches. In addition, she suffered a fever and vomited to the point where she stayed in her room for days on end. Yet, she still had the strength to talk with More to debate about the nature of matter, souls and God. As days gone by her family searched and summoned all of the best physicians they knew to aid their daughter‘s illness. At first William Harvey came to assist her. But, suffering from his own illness as well could no longer aid her. And so, others doctors came to her and prescribed her with such unusual treatments such opium, lead, and soap to the back of her head. At the end, those treatments did not affect her at all. And there were at times, she was nearly killed by obtaining mercury from Theodore de Mayerne. She even traveled to France and other places to cure her illness, yet no success in searching for a better cure. She was still overwhelmed in pain. After giving birth, her child contracted smallpox before his second birthday. Following that she also contracted the disease from him. She developed so many pain that she was too exhausted to move farther “I cannot dissemble as much as not to profess myself very weary of this condition.” In the end, Willis, too could not cure of her illness.

When Henry More sent out a message to her saying that a mystical healer named Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont may be able to cure her. She gave it another chance. However, his treatment did not work and she still continued to suffer. However, he found that “pain was nothing but my own life, excited or inflamed for my own good. I began to love the pain.” After she understood his ways of treatment, her illness gradually ceased as long as she kept her mind and soul with God. Her belief in God gave her strength to survive. Basically, “Van Helmont showed her how to find a meaning to her pain.” His philosophically teachings was so inspiring to her that she wrote an essay about him. She questioned “Why does the spirit or soul suffer so with bodily pain?” She says our body have a kind of congealed spirit. “The more physical something was, the more pain it will feel.” She died peacefully soon afterward. Van Helmont performed a final service for her.

Willis was still puzzled at Anne Conway’s illness on headaches. He continued to search for an explanation reflecting on the headaches that his other patients had suffered over the years. He envisioned how the nerves in the brain were outlined. And so, his speculation was that “If a patient’s blood was then stirred up, it might rush into the blood vessels in the head and pull apart the swollen nerves, creating pain.”

In April 1665, people in the streets of London were unexpectedly affected by a mysterious disease that will soon kill 400,000 Londoners. Infected fleas and rats ran the streets in which people became infected. As a result, people who were infected experienced raging fevers, hideously swollen lymph nodes, and in many cases a swift death. This disease was brought out by “… ships from Turkey brought the plague to the Netherlands, and a few months later, Dutch smugglers brought it to London.” The plague took over peoples’ lives and “…the city began to shut up the houses of sick, marking a cross on the door.” The wealthy physicians fled the city. The medical alchemists were the only ones left to cure the mysterious disease. However, they failed to search for a cure and fled the city. And so, Willis stepped up to help, he recommended that smoking tobacco may help to “ripen” the sores of plague victims. He tried all of the other treatments he could to at least reduce the symptoms, but none of his treatments worked and were useless.

Willis’s old friends from the Oxford circle came to visit him and discussed experiments that may help him understand the afflictions he had seen in his patients with convulsions. Willis and Lower were confronted with an outbreak that made children ill leaving them speechless, experienced deliriums, and nightmares. Children experienced convulsions that lasted for hours and many died as well. The dying children reminded Willis of his own eight children in which four had died by the mid-1660s. This made him more eager to find a way to cure this disease. However, he was unable to do so and instead got a permission from their parents to perform autopsy of the girl who died of the mysterious disease.

Willis knew that convulsions did not always kill their victims. For instance, a woman Willis later described as “an illustrious virgin” experienced terror that sent her into convulsions twice a day of everyday at eleven o’clock and five. However, on other times she was normal “so that none would ever suspect her to be sick..” And so, Willis began to search for new theories about epilepsy and other kinds of convulsions. In particular, in ancient Greece epilepsy was thought to occur when phlegm flowed out of the brain, which made the arms and legs flail. Galen thought that black bile or phlegm was the cause for epilepsy. Others like the Europeans thought that evil spirits caused epilepsy. Willis was convinced that “The idea that epileptics were possessed made sense: an epileptic seizure looked as if its victim was literally seized by a spirit and tossed around, only to be set free and returned to his former self.” He believe the spirits from the blood flowed peacefully from the brain into the nerves. Once they reached the end they “encountered sulfurous particles” which produced an explosion at the right time in the right muscles. Willis did not think that the “psychological life of his patients might have the power to produce hysteria.” And so, he instead thought of it as a matter of explosive chemistry that caused the deliriums, depressions, epileptic, and hysteria.

Critique:

Chapter 9 was interesting to read like the other chapters. This chapter was a quick read, because Zimmer mostly focused on Willis’s contributions during time of plague and he also traveled to many places such as Oxford, London, and Warwickshire to treat patients who were suffering from severe headaches, convulsions, epilepsy, and deliriums. Willis’s pathological explanation was intriguing and the treatment was designed to remove impurities from the body. Even though at times he failed to cure his patients, I admired how determined he was to search for other treatments.

As I read some of the treatments that most of the best physician have used to cure Anne Conway’s mysterious illness were I thought very unusual, amusing, and strange. In this case, mercury was given to her to treat her illness. I was surprised she still survived. From what we know, mercury is dangerous once obtain into our body and could instantly kill us. And, it was strange to think of treatments such as live frogs and poultices made of onion and white lily roots to cure a disease.

When Lower, Willis, and Boyle performed Wren’s injection experiment, they carried out several procedures to observe what the outcome will be. For instance, they wanted to know what happens when warm milk is injected into a dog, and the other experiment was when a dog is fed with another dog‘s blood. This I thought was pretty amusing and vividly explained as they carried out their experiments by using an injection. As a result, the dog died instantly when warm milk was injected. When they got to the part on transmitting blood of a dog to another dog, I imagined how they performed the procedure. That is, “they opened up the jugular vein of the dog and attached a pipe to it, which they then attached to the jugular of a second dog.” This made me wonder as to how many dog’s they’ve used in their experiments just so they could find out the outcome. But at least this helped them recognize the cause, and this made them aware on what not to use for a treatment on a sick person.

When Willis treated children who suffered from fevers that made them speechless, and experienced convulsions which lasted for hours, this reminded him of his own four children that died. He tried everything he could to search for a cure, because he understands how a parent feels like to loose a child or children since he was a father to eight children. I admired his determination and concern to everyone, that is, no matter what status you are in either poor or wealthy human being, he would try his best to cure a sick person even if it means traveling for him from one place to another. In my eyes, as I read about him, I thought of him as a truly dedicated physician, philosopher, and scientist who is willing to do anything he could to help a sick person get better.

Chapter 8 Critique

Chapter 8 was a very interesting chapter. It was the time when we finally got to see the contributions of Willis to the field of neurobiology. For the thought concerning athetists being the root of the "Anatomy of the Brain" was denounced due to Willis's knowledge of the past condemnations of other scientists. The experimentations done on animals were not ethical, in my opinion, and I am glad that they could not have gotten away with them in this day and age. The institution of the Royal Society was rather interesting to me so I must concur with Ynaling. For so many people to set aside their personal, religious beliefs for the greater good and the advancement of science Europe and England, that is awesome. In this era, I too, doubt that this could be done since there is so much religious persecution going on and all religions do not believe in the existance of one God. when religion is involved (see page 183), many things get sticky and they become very unmanageable. There is a group that we all know of which is pretty impressive and that is the United Nations. For individuals from hundreds of countries to congregate together and try to work out the issues of world peace plus trying to ensure that the world lives in a certain kind of harmony is commendable. This works out because all religious beliefs are put aside (despite individual countries having disputes with one another). The discovery of the body's ability to make voluntary and involuntary movements is great. Willis is a phenomenal scientist and he never ceases to amaze me with what he can discover. I always await reading each chapter just to see what new things he will do. Anatomy of the Brain: http://www.theuniversityhospital.com/stroke/anatomy.htm Royal Society Information: www.royalsoc.ac.uk/ Information on the Circle of Willis: http://pathology.mc.duke.edu/neuropath/nawr/blood-supply.html

Chapter 8 Summary and Critique

Chapter Summary

In 1660, Charles I came back into power bringing with him, old royalists determined to return English life to its 1640’s splendor. Bishops and priests also returned back to the churches, while the Archbishop Laud, who was executed for treason, was replaced by Gilbert Sheldon, who appeared as one of the Church’s strictest enforcers. All books and pamphlets were to be approved by the new bishop, and any anonymous pamphleteers were hunted down and thrown into Jail. Although the puritan hold over England was being loosened, bishops and priests did not feel safe. The Quakers and other fanatic sects romped throughout England defying parliament and causing trouble – even “offering to burn parts of the Bible they found offensive.” Strong measures were not taken against the unruly Quakers, mainly due to the higher priority given to another problem – the prospect of atheism in England.

While King Charles did not deny the existence of God, his court was far from pious – bringing in French customs of “perfume, face paint, and syphilis.” As a result, men imitated women in their ways of perfumed, colorful clothing, long periwigs, and face paint. Charles also reestablished himself as the spiritual leader of England by reverting to his old ritual of curing the King’s Evil, receiving thousands of people kneeling before him to receive his touch.

In the mean time, Thomas Willis continued with good fortune. He had earned himself a scientific reputation with his book and paracelsist drugs. For his loyalty, he was rewarded by a job – professor of natural philosophy at Oxford University, where he taught new theories from abroad, and discussed his own anti-Aristotelian ideas. Willis also delved deeply into research, dissecting heads and using the microscopes designed by Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke to look at the structure and circuitry of the nerves, something that other anatomists had not attempted before. During this time, Willis and Richard Lower, a physician, were able to understand that blood travels throughout the body in a circular pathway and to all parts of the brain, through a series of experiments with arteries of humans and a famous case of a spaniel.

Willis also disproved theories by famous philosophers such as Descartes and Aristotle, and unlike others in history, he had evidence to prove his theory. When injecting dye in arteries leading up to the brain, there was no trace of it in the ventricles, thereby disproving Descartes’s theory that the soul resided in the ventricles. He also disproved Descartes’s claim that the Pineal gland was special to humans, as it is found in other species as well. By linking lung and heart function to different parts of the nervous system, Willis also disproved Aristotle’s theory of voluntary and involuntary movement. One revolutionary theory he introduced was the relocation of the soul. He gave all importance to the brain, and not the heart.

Willis and his friends had finished their explorations and wished to publish their new, concise findings about the nervous system. In order to help them in this endeavor, the Royal Society for Promoting Natural Science was established. This elite society was filled with Virtuosi of all walks of life and all fields of the sciences. Although King Charles supported them with a royal charter, the Royal society was reminded to “pay for it in a currency of amusement and hard labor (184).” The Virtuosi worked together on many natural investigations and also wished to inform the public of their research and findings by appointing Christopher Wren, who shifted his responsibilities to Robert Hooke, to put together an entire book of pictures explaining their work - Macrophagia. Willis, Hooke, and Wren also published Anatomy of a Brain - a trilogy of specific structure and composure of the brain and the nervous system.

Critique

I was quite excited about this chapter, because I felt as though Carl Zimmer was leading me through Thomas Willis’s thought process, as he was able to discover and prove the existence and importance of the nervous system in the human body. Just like Harvey, Willis was able to provide strong basis for his theories. I especially appreciated the simplicity in the experiments he conducted as evidence. For instance something as simple as a dye injected into one of the arteries leading to the brain, disproved the highly revered Ventricle theory, in which physicians and philosophers believed that the spirits resided in the Ventricles in the brain. Another intriguing discovery was the network of nerves all throughout the brain. Being a visual person, I tried to visualize Willis inject a dye into one of the dog’s carotid arteries and his surprise when seeing a vast circuitry of vessels appearing like “a curious quilted ball (176).” On the other hand, I noticed the difference in experimentation protocol between the two time periods – then and now. Willis ties up all but one artery leading to the brain in a spaniel, and observes the vitality of the dog. This is one thing I don’t think would be possible in this day and age.

I was excited to see Willis’s revolutionary discovery: replacing the heart with the brain as the “moral center of Christianity… [and the] king of the body (180).” I am always amazed when I come upon a discovery so crucial and colossal that the foundation of an entire belief system is threatened. When philosophers and physicians attributed all morality, judgment and emotion to the heart, it must have been quite derailing to hear that their theory had no truth at all. The church must have felt the same way when Galileo proclaimed that earth was in fact not the center of the Universe. One such stunning instance in my lifetime would be the declaration of Pluto losing its title of being a planet. When growing up with nine planets, and memorizing them in order, it was a little disheartening to find out that are in fact only eight in our galaxy. My friend had learned the planets via a common pneumonic device, of which she lamented its sudden uselessness – “My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine…” – nine what?

Carl Zimmer mentions on page 185 that the virtuosi in the Royal Society promised “to make God’s work clear and provide an antidote to fanaticism (185).” It is so rare in the scientific community for anyone to “make God’s work clear.” The Royal Society was able and willing to witness God’s work in the brain, and even a leg of a flea. The difference in a few centuries is quite astounding. That was a time of discovery, and despite the understanding of functions and processes in the body, all was attributed to a creator. In contrast, while the present time is still one of discovery, the very mention of a divine origin or creator is shunned.

On the other hand, I wonder whether virtuosi such as Willis were forced to take a Christian stand, for fear that they would be persecuted or that their findings would not be welcomed otherwise. Zimmer states that Willis maintained that The Anatomy of the Brain was not “the work of an atheist” perhaps for the sake of upholding his respectability (187). Perhaps there were many prominent figures hiding behind masks, in order to be accepted in society. There is no clear way of knowing, unless an autobiography or journal might mention otherwise.



In case you are interested, please see the following article reviewing a book on the Royal Society.
http://www.jstor.org/view/00211753/ap010311/01a00340/0?frame=noframe&userID=435c1661@loyola.edu/01cce440610050145691&dpi=3&config=jstor


Also, I found an interview with Carl Zimmer, who elaborates on Thomas Willis. If you are interested, do visit http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/mind/stories/s1101281.htm

The Movie Awakening is based on a true-life story, of neurologist Oliver Sacks who experiments with the victims of a rare "sleeping sickness" called encephalitis lethargica. Symptoms of encephalitis lethargica can be described by having high fever, sore throat, headache, double vision, delayed physical and mental response, sleep inversion, catatonia and lethargy. More serious cases, patients may enter a coma-like state (akinetic mutism). Patients may also experience abnormal eye movements, Parkinsonism, upper body weakness, muscular pains, tremors, neck rigidity, and behavioral changes including psychosis. The cause of encephalitis lethargica is not known for certain, however, recent research suggests that the disease is due to a massive immune reaction to an infection by the streptococcus-like bacterium, diplococcus.

In the movie a new neurologist is hired at a hospice for the chronicle ill. During his introduction the facility he notice that the patients are suffering from a disease that places them in a catatonic state. This catatonic state entails immobility, lost speech, all of which presents itself as being incurable to many of the physicians of the hospital. Linking all the patients to post-encephalitis he decides to administer L-Dopa to the patient as an attempted treatment to reverse his crippling disorder. Levodopa is used as a prodrug to increase dopamine levels for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, since it is able to cross the blood-brain barrier, whereas dopamine itself cannot. Once levodopa has entered the central nervous system (CNS), it is metabolized to dopamine by aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase.
His experimental use of the drug, L-Dopa resulted in the dramatic re-awakening of patients from a decades long state of paralyzed unresponsiveness. This revelation came with a heavy price, as the effects of the drug gradually diminished, and the patients slowly degenerated back into their frozen state. This film reveals how valuable life can be, and gives an appreciation for the simple things that we sometimes take for granted.

Neurobiology Post (Chapter 7) and Awakenings Summary& Critique

Chapter Seven Analysis

This chapter was rather long indeed. My interest was peaked somewhat but not nearly as much as previous chapters. I agree with Ynaling and Suba on their feelings that Willis’s ability to incorporate the practices of Van Helmont, Boyle, and Harvey to form the branch of study we now know as biochemistry was amazing. Seeing how all these different scientists ideas came together to form such an important field of study helped me to better understand their introduction in the previous chapters. Furthermore, Willis discovered that imperfections in the diaphragm weren’t responsible for “distortions of the mind.” Willis’s choice to not to change his treatment of fever and disease (despite his collected data) was rather humorous to me because, one would think with all his intelligence, he would know when change is necessary. Maybe he felt that, despite knowledge of the causes and all the useful information he collected, the new, possible solutions were not acceptable enough to implement. He would rather be halfway right, then to add a negative on to his record and have his work rejected (possibly).

Burd pointed out that, Willis “rejected the Puritan creed that everyone’s fate was predestined, believing instead that salvation came only to those who lived well- with repentance, obedience, and duty. And those who lacked their reason couldn’t live out this sort of existence and might not get to heaven.” (152) This statement intrigued my spiritually side, as well, when I read it because, although I agree that repentance along with service & obedience to God are important,

I also believe that our fate is predestined. Only God knows what will happen to us; he knows what we will do before we do it and he knows all things about us while we are going through life to figure them out.

Wren and his works with injections and splenectomy was another aspect of the chapter that peaked my interest. His passion for science and desire for perfection lead him to conduct experiments “just to pass the time” so he could master things such as his ability to hold veins in his hands without damaging them. For that, I admire him because, without individuals like that, we wouldn’t have so many advances in any aspect of life (especially in the world of science.)

More information on Christopher Wren:
http://galileo.rice.edu/Catalog/NewFiles/wren.html

Information on splenectomy:
http://healthlibrary.epnet.com/GetContent.aspx?token=70ff5260-81bd-4de1-9998-14fc98aa9133&chunkiid=14866

Willis and his descriptions of fermentation and fevers:
http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v5/n4/box/nrn1369_BX1.html


The Awakenings:

The movie Awakenings was about the true story of a doctor named Dr. Oliver Sacks. In the film, the doctor’s name was Malcolm Sayer (played by Robin Williams) and he discovered that there is a temporary dramatic effect on patients suffering from encephalitis lethargica when they took of the drug L-Dopa (which is a drug used to treat Parkinson’s disease). The patients, who were in a state of catatonia due to the illness, were “awakened” as a result of the continued administration of L-Dopa. These effects did not last forever, however, and they slowly went back into their previous “frozen state” after the drug wore off. The movie seemed to focus heavily on the character named Leonard Lowe. The movie seemed to focus heavily on the character named Leonard Lowe. The movie started out showing his life as a child and, then, fast forwards to his life now as an adult (where he is completely engulfed in the disease). This story not only follows Leonard, but also the other patients before their awakening, after, and their return to their catatonic state.
I had never seen nor heard about this movie before and I was completely amazed by the story. I was so happy that the doctor afforded them a time where they could walk, talk, and interact with others again since they had not been able to for so many years. My joy for them was short lived for the movie continued. Their fate hit me hard. It was so heart wrenching and I mourned for the patients internally. It was so sad to see that their one shot of freedom from their “froze prisons” was taken away from them so untimely. I could not imagine not being able to do the things I do on a daily basis. God truly has blessed all of us and so many things are taken for granted. Leonard’s revert back into his catatonic state saddened me because he was finding love, rekindling his relationship with his mother, and living life to the fullest just like the others. To see him dwindle to nothing must have been extremely hard for the other patients to witness since that, too, would be their fate. His courage to have his transformations video taped was admirable for it allowed for future study of the disease and for, possibly, treatments in the future,
I was enraged at how cocky and indifferent the other doctor’s were toward Dr. Sayer when all he was trying to do was provide the best for his patients. The fact that he tried to do something unthinkable made him a better doctor than them, in my opinion, because, in the world of science, we have to take risks in order to reach new plateaus. The donations from all the rich contributors showed that, despite some people’s lack in faith, God had a greater plan, and he allowed them to have just a moment of true happiness again.

Information on encephalitis lethargica:
http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/127/1/2

Information on the Awakenings movie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awakenings

Oliver Sacks and the Awakenings:
http://www.oliversacks.com/awake.htm

Chapter 7 Summary

Chapter 7, titled “Spirits of Blood, Spirits of Air” discusses Willis dawning notion of the body as an assembly of atoms. However, he took Boyle’s lead in not declaring to know the identity of these atoms. Willis strayed form Harvey’s assertion of blood being a “single spiritual substance” and began to understand that it consisted of a number of components, to which he gave well-known labels such as, earth, water, salt, sulfur and spirit. He gave certain characteristics to these components: earth and water tended to be “the most passive” while salt was thought to be much more active. However, due to Willis’ observance of the salty property of seeds, he postulated that this component was able to “give life weight and duration” as well as create new life. Sulfur and spirit on the other hand were the more agitated and active components. While sulfur was linked with fire, spirit contained “Aetherial Particles of a more Devine Breathing.” When these two highly active principles were mixed together, a ferment was created.

Choosing to leave behind the spiritual qualities administered to ferments by van Helmont, Willis decided to explain ferments in a manner more befitting the natural sciences. Willis observed that blood could separate into different components when left to stand. When the watery substance that emanated from the blood was put into a flame, it transformed into white solids. Hence, he theorized that blood must be a ferment. Comparing the action of yeast in dough to the ferment of blood, Willis stated that sulfur, salt, spirit and earth were disconnected from each other and from the corpuscles (where they were all held together), as a result of a heating in the heart. Willis declared that blood was in a constant ferment, unlike those of beer and dough.

Once again dismissing van Helmont’s spiritual based theory, Willis claimed that fevers were caused as a result of distortion of fermentation of the blood. This caused the blood’s particles to become more agitated than normal. This in turn, resulted in the blood boiling violently and its pounding against vessels leading to an increase in body temperature and pulse. Willis was so enthralled with fermenting, that he equated doctors to vintners when it came to the curing hand handling of patients.
Willis intertwined Harvey’s anatomy, van Helmont’s alchemy and Boyle’s theory of corpuscles to eventually create a branch of science that would come to be known as biochemistry. Although Willis’ theories were questioned by a number of his colleagues (such as Boyle), he’s book regarding fevers was slowly circulating among the scientific community and was poised for publication. However, despite the highs in Willis’ own life, the lives of many in Oxford were coming to a painful end as diseases, such as meningitis and smallpox, overwhelmed the town. Nonetheless, this caused an exponential increase in the number of patients that Willis attended to, allowing him to clandestinely invent and administer a number of drugs.

As Willis profession took off, he wed Mary Fell who was the daughter of a dean to the Christ Church prior to the war. When Willis’ book was released in 1659, it was circulated throughout Europe and he became a very well-known doctor, whose theories of corpuscles being the source of explanation for the workings of diseases were viewed as questionable by some. Willis’ work created a stir, as he discredited Aristotle’s theory of the four elements and Galen’s four humors. However, despite Willis’ novel and more rational ideas regarding fevers, he made few advances in changing they ways in which they were treated. He continued to use the treatment of purging the body of heat in order to rid it of fever.
Willis disregarded the Puritan notion of everyone’s fate being predetermined. He claimed that in order for one to ascend into heave, life had to be lived in a obedient and dutiful manner. This, however, would not be possible for a number of his patients who were inflicted with diseases that distorted the mind and destroyed one’s intellect.

Hence, Willis began to place more emphasis on the idea of animal spirits, which he believed to be the most active. He began to compare the structure of and protrusions from the brain to apparatuses used in chemistry. This led Willis to theorize that the spirits were “distilled” from the blood as it rose to the brain. They were then taken up by the brain and entered the organ. Willis fascination with the brain ultimately led to him discovering that imperfections in the diaphragm were not responsible for distortions of the mind. In addition, Willis also discovered that the pictures provided by Vesalius were grossly inaccurate. Hence, he set out to thoroughly study the brain and the nerves. However, his research did not pick up speed for a number of years as it would have eventually led him to question firmly held notions regarding the soul. This would have been a perilous task to undertake during the late 1650s, which was witnessing a string of political unrests and disruptions following the death of Oliver Cromwell. Hence, Willis’ research of blood was not interrupted and he, along with his friends, went on to developed microscopes, preservatives and injections.

Willis took a gifted young man, Richard Lower under his wing during the years of political upheaval in England. Lower aided Willis in a number of experiments and even made discoveries himself (which, however, Willis took credit for). One of the questions Lower helped Willis attend to was regarding the red color of blood. Through research, Willis decided that the red color of blood was due to a fermenting fluid in the heart which transformed the blood in the same ways as wine or beer would be fermented. The components of blood (spirit, sulfur and salt) were responsible for the red color of blood.

However, Boyle and Hooke theorized that Willis was not completely accurate. This eventually led to the assumption that it is air that plays a vital role in the “blood’s power.” This, in turn, led to the barometer being put to important use by the Oxford Circle in order to study the weight of air. Despite the craze around barometers, it was observed that they did not provide any significant aid in calculating the weight of air. Hence, Boyle used an altered version of a pump built by Otto Guericke (a German burgomaster) to demonstrate that air was lighter than water by many fold, leading to the discovery that the atmosphere was extremely far above the Earth. This eventually led to Willis’ colleague, Ralph Bathurst, being influential in Boyle’s admittance to lungs not being responsible for cooling blood or ridding the body of fumes.

Christopher Wren was another important figure during this time. He was instrumental in building giant telescopes and asserting to the presence of “arms” (rings) around Saturn. He was fascinated with carrying our complex experiments, one of which would change the perception of the spleen forever.

A number of theories regarding the function of the spleen were floating around and Wren decided to undertake an experiment, whereby he would remove the spleen form a dog and close off the severed arteries. After Wren performed the surgery, both he and Boyle observed that the dog was not affected at all. In addition to performing one of the first operations involving the removal of the spleen, Wren also began to perfect the use of injections and, along with Boyle, postulated that alcohol would be an ideal for keeping organs fresh.

During Wren’s astounding work, Owen Cromwell succumbed to cancer and his son, Richard Cromwell took over the leadership position. However, he was eventually overthrown and sent back to the country where he had grown up. General George Monck then took over leadership, ultimately transferring it back into the hands of King Charles.

Critique:

Chapter 7 was very engaging and not as unwieldy as some of the previous chapters. I was glad to learn that Willis was putting aside archaic theories previously presented by Aristotle and Galen and replacing them with slightly more reasonable ones. I found Willis theory regarding blood being a ferment to be very interesting as I had not heard of this notion before. I also thought his comparing a physicians handling of patients to a vintner’s handling of wine creative (albeit, a little crude). I was surprised to learn that Willis was responsible for the development of biochemistry, as this was a fact that I was not previously aware of. It helped me understand the scope of his contributions to our perception of science today. Despite Willis’ brilliant discoveries and proposals regarding the source of fevers, I found it rather puzzling that he did not change his treatment of the diseases.

I found it equally interesting that Willis was responsible for the disintegration of the notion that the diaphragm was a barrier to the “lower soul.” Damage to the diaphragm was thought to cause delirium and frenzies, which Willis discredited. I was disappointed that the political unrest and spiritual beliefs of Willis' time placed restrictions on his carrying out continual research on the brain. This would have allowed him to venture into questioning and investigating the soul, which would have, no doubt been intriguing to read about. However, it was due to these restrictions that Willis and his colleagues developed a number of instruments, such as microscopes and injections and I definitely also appreciate them for those accomplishments.

Zimmer went on to elucidate Christopher Wren’s achievements in Chapter 7. I could not fathom as to why and how Wren abstained from keeping a clear account of his experimental findings as he carried out immeasurable experiments to “pass time” (163). This signifies his brilliance (though he seemed to be rather impatient as well). It was fascinating to read about Wren “perfecting” the use of injections, right up to a point where he could hold veins in his hands while avoiding damaging them.

Overall, this chapter was definitely a worth-while read, as I can finally understand the extent of Willis’ contributions. Wren and Boyle also played a pivotal role in spearheading a number of great discoveries that we take for granted today. I never thought about who was responsible for the “creation” of biochemistry or invention of the injection. Hence, this chapter was very eye-opening for me.

* For a biography of and collection of essays from Thomas Willis:
http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n06/historia/willis_i.htm
*For a biography of Christopher Wren, including his architectural works:
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Wren.html
* A Brief History of the barometer:
http://www.barometer.ws/history.html
* Information on Boyle’s air pump:
/experience/experiment_kitsi_long.htm>

Awakenings Response

Based on a true story called Awakenings, the movie showed the attempt of Dr. Sayer to cure this illness called Encephalitis lethargica (EL) in those who have remained unmindful to what happens around them. And so, I was moved and excited to know the outcome for the patients and Dr. Sayer in taking the risk and given his patients who suffer from encephalitis a drug used for Parkinson's Disease called L-Dopa. The fact that he tried everything he could do to help his patients live a normal life again that I admired his dedication in the process of his works with the patients.

When he administered the drug to one particular patient, Leonard Lowe, he almost miraculously wakes up and becomes a normal human being, as if nothing had happened. Because of this, the entire ward of afflicted patients was also awakened with the drug, L-Dopa. The patients were able to make up for lost time, doing what they had never been able to do. This part was so emotional for me that I even tried to hold my tears, because imagine that given your life back again would be so overwhelming that you would be reminded to appreciate the pleasures of being alive, including the pleasures that require us to take risks. And so, being away for such a long and given life back, you would never take your life for granted again. And that I would live life to the fullest even if it were good or bad, meaning that I would look at things on the bright side and be positive. However, I was heartbroken for some patients that their return to life was a traumatic one. That is, others found their children have left, some could not cope with the fact they have lost almost fifty years of their lives, and lastly for some found their spouses dead.

Unfortunately, the drug had serious side-effects that produced mood changes. Leonard changed into the furious instigator among the mental patients of the hospital after he was denied unaccompanied access to the outside world. I can imagine how depressed this was for him not being given the life that he wanted besides being supervised inside. I, too would have wanted the freedom and the reality of life by not being supervised. However, I can understand that in his case it was acceptable for him to stay inside until further notice that he is fully recovered. But the "miracle" proved short-term as, one by one, the patients returned to their solitary, trance-like worlds.

Awakenings Analysis

The movie, Awakenings, is based on a book written by Dr. Oliver Sacks about the real-life account of the patients afflicted with encephalitis lethargica (EL) and their amazing recovery through the drug L-Dopa. Still of unknown origin, encephalitis lethargica is thought to be caused by an autoimmune response to a diplococci infection, namely the attachment of self IgG antibodies to the basal ganglia and midbrain—regions that utilized the neurotransmitter, dopamine—, thereby marking these regions for destruction by one’s own immune system. Thus, the victims are left motionless in a catatonic state. The administration of high doses of L-Dopa, a drug used to alleviate the symptoms exhibited by Parkinson’s disease sufferers, counteracts this when it is converted into dopamine that localizes in the basal ganglia. Thus, EL patients are capable of functioning just as they had prior to acquiring the disease.

I found this film to be very interesting because it illustrates just how complex the human body truly is. The causes of EL were certainly a mystery, and the fact that there is still no clear answer to this question today is certainly quite intriguing. Prior to doing research on L-Dopa and its effects on EL patients, I was mystified by this miracle drug. Now that the biochemical components have been elucidated, I still maintain the same level of amazement, only this time, more so because of the fact that something so seemingly minute, like a neurotransmitter, could have such a profound impact on a human being.

Something I found disturbing about this film was the doctors’ treatment of EL and other “chronic” patients. When Dr. Sayer began to make critical observations about the patients and their mannerisms, the other doctors scoffed at him. Moreover, the head of the neurology department initially denied the administration of L-Dopa on the EL patients, even after Dr. Sayer had proven it was beneficial to Leonard Lowe. As an aspiring physician, this appalled me because as a doctor, the head of the neurology’s primary responsibility was to his patients, regardless of their conditions. To deprive them of something beneficial would have been unethical.

Also, I agree with Burd when she states that this movie really puts daily life into perspective for the healthy viewer. We have all been blessed with good health and great families and friends. Watching the EL patients wake up from their catatonic state, only to find that their worlds were not as they left it was truly heartbreaking. I, personally, could not fathom being placed in a similar position.

Awakenings Analysis

Awakenings was an awesome capturing of a real life occurence. I loved that it was based off of a book which was based on a true story about a man being "awakened" from a disease called encephalitis lethargica using the drug L-dopa.

I think what I liked the most about the movie was Dr. Sayer's (in real life, Oliver Sacks) determination in attempting to find a cure for these statute-like patients. When the other doctors laughed at him and thought his ideas and "findings" were silly, he continued his search. He looked up the drug, L-dopa, and the information about it. I find it poor on the other doctor's parts for at least not supporting Dr. Sayer or saying he might be on to something. He attended a seminar and even went as far as stalking the chemist in the bathroom. He increased dosages, against the pharmacists intentions, and found a temporary cure. I had to laugh when Dr. Sayer found that Leonard responded to his name and not the intensisty from the light turning on and off.

Even before Dr. Sayer was trying to find a drug cure, he was more concerned about the patient's well being. In Lucy's case, he thought she wanted a glass of water and was going to help her walk to the fountain. When he saw she wasn't drinking, he came across the idea and fact that it was the pattern on the floor that helped her in the continued walking. He went as far as continuing the checkered floor, just so she could get some water, or so Dr. Sayer thought.

I feel that not only was this movie about the patients having Encephalitis lethargica, but also a doctor's determination. I feel this was a great movie to watch and come to terms with certain illnesses. Not all diseases can be cured and the ones that can be, are only temporary. This was a great movie portraying this. It helped to put things in perspective, especially when it pertained to neurological disorders. The brain is just now starting to be undertood and there is still so much more to be learned before we can help others with problems.

Awakenings Response

Awakenings was an excellent movie that introduced me to Encephalitis lethargica (EL). This film was based on the book, Awakenings by Dr. Oliver Sacks a neurologist currently practicing at Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Sacks was a neurologist at Beth Abraham Hospital in the Bronx where he came across a group of patients that had been in a catatonic state for decades. He found that this group of patients had contracted EL during the EL epidemic from 1917 to 1928. He treated these patients with Levodopa or L-dopa, which caused them to come out of their catatonia. Dr. Sacks wrote about his patients in his book that was eventually made into the movie we viewed.

I have to admit that when watching the film I expected this total breakthrough with the treatment of L-Dopa and the full recovery of all the patients. So, the outcome at the end of the movie was a definite letdown, since L-Dopa’s effects on the patients was only temporary. They were so close to normalcy and good health, and yet so far. I cannot even imagine how they must have felt when the medicine that gave them another chance at life started working against them. The fear and the disappointment portrayed in the movie was heartbreaking to watch. Also, Leonard Lowe’s will to fight back against his disease when it was taking over him again made me admire him so much. And in agreement with Burd, Lowe helped raise awareness of not only L-Dopa but of Encephalitis lethargica.

As a side note, no recurrence of this epidemic has been reported since. And this just gives me a peace of mind because I think that EL is almost as bad as death, since it teases the patients and their families. It teases them by keeping their body alive but not their mind. For example, in their catatonic state their inability to verbally communicate is difficult for the patients but also for the families.

This web site provides information on Encephalitis lethargica:
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/encephalitis_lethargica/encephalitis_lethargica.htm

This is a great site that provides detailed information on L-Dopa:
http://www.umm.edu/patiented/articles/what_levadopa_l-dopa_000051_7.htm

Awakenings Critique

Awakenings evokes the true story of Dr. Oliver Sacks (portrayed as Malcolm Sayer by Robin Williams) and his discovery of the temporarily dramatic effects of the drug L-Dopa in patients suffering from encephalitis lethargica. Patients who were in a state of catatonia were “awakened” as a result of the administration of L-Dopa. However, the astounding benefits of the drug soon ware off and we are left witnessing the gradual withdrawal of the patients back into their previously catatonic states.
I have watched Awakenings many times, however, the frank portrayal of the patients’ and staff members’ joy and sorrow never fails to stun me. It was difficult to watch the helplessness of both doctors and family members of those inflicted with EL due to the obscurity of the disease. It also left me grappling for answers to a number of questions, such as, was it moral to administer the drug to Leonard Lowe and his fellow patients, giving them a false sense of hope and a tantalizing whiff of the life they could have been leading, only to have it taken away from them. It was very difficult for me to watch Leonard revert painfully back to a vegetative state. However, it was even more disconcerting and heartbreaking to watch the other patients witness what would eventually happen to them. This once again begs the question of moral authority.
Awakenings was very powerful in reinforcing the fact that not everyone in a vegetative state should be considered as being “brain dead.” I can’t even begin to imagine the horror of being trapped in an immobile body with barely any proper human contact.
What angered me greatly was the indifferent, and oftentimes condescending, manner of the neurologists in response to Dr. Sayers’ theories regarding L-Dopa and the disease gripping the patients. It is frightening to think that physicians, at times, do not think outside the box, especially if there is a significant sum of money involved. We saw this in both Awakenings as well as Lorenzo’s Oil.
I admire Leonard Lowe for allowing his temporary recovery and excruciating withdrawal to be filmed and shown to large numbers of people. Even though the money could not bring Leonard or his fellow patients back again, it did help raise awareness of what could (and couldn’t) be done with L-Dopa.

* Biography of Oliver Sacks:
<http://www.oliversacks.com/about.htm>

*A brief description of encephalitis lethargica:
< http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/encephalitis_
lethargica/encephalitis_lethargica.htm>