The Blood Brain Hypothesis

This blog title  sounds a little pompous, doesn’t it?

Yet, what I’m about to write is tongue-in-cheek, because I’m not qualified to postulate on matters such as these, but I shall proceed with my pontificating.(Fortunately for you, dear reader, I’ve depleted my big-word  memory.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903999904576468224286877908.html

The above Wall Street Journal article explains that the human brain is the only animal brain that shrinks as it ages.

And I think I know why (as I said I’m not qualified, nor have I done research to validate my way of thinking).

Most animals walk on four legs. Even apes and monkeys, our closest animal relatives, walk with their front limbs down at the ground.

Why would this be of any significance to the brain deterioration, you might ask? (or you might not ask depending on your interest in the matter).

I believe that our upright posture makes blood flow to the brain inefficient.

We eat upright and do just about everything upright. The dog hangs his head over a bowl to eat, as does the cat. Their heads are not much higher than their hearts–making it more efficient.

I’m not suggesting we start to walk on all fours, nor eat in a prone position, but I do think that our brains need more of its fuel to keep it from deteriorating.

If you happen to step into the elevator after I’ve ridden on it and see me bending over touching my toes, remember I’m just trying to hydrate my brain—and yes I do have one(an MRI proves it).

Or if you see me bent over in front of the mirror in the office bathroom, you might assume I am getting blood to the brain as opposed to fluffing out my hair.

Knowing this little piece of information could help you in a time of crisis—when you can’t remember someone’s name, for instance.

“Accidentally” drop something and then take your time in picking it up. Hopefully by the time you’ve retrieved the item off the floor, you will have retrieved the name from deep within your brain filing system.

(After reading this, maybe you’ll understand why I write fiction).

My Theory on the Ketogenic Diet

My son has a weird seizure disorder so I’ve  done quite a bit of research on epilepsy. In my research, I came across the Ketogenic Diet.

Some people experience seizure control using the diet–high fat/protein and low carb. And my theory is that  it works on some people  because a food sensitivity was removed from the diet.

Mystery Diagnosis aired a show about a boy who had strange “seizures”, it was finally diagnosed as celiac’s disease. His body could not tolerate gluten, a protein in wheat. The ketogenic diet would have worked in this case.

I wonder sometimes why Doctors don’t suggest food allergy/sensitivity tests more often.

My Theory on Schizophrenia

I don’t know anyone with Schizophrenia, but I watched Oprah about a little girl who has it. See a video clip here:

http://www.oprah.com/media/20090828-tows-parents-schizophrenic-girl

As I watched the video I had a thought(scares my husband when I do this).

“It was just a bad dream,” We tell our children when they wake up screaming. And children are able to learn that what happens in their sleep is not real.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had some doozies of some dreams. Weird ones. Fanciful ones. Sometimes I wake up and wonder why on earth I dreamed something crazy like that.  But fortunately,  I don’t experience those same things while I’m awake.

Suppose the schizophrenic brain keeps dreaming even while awake?

Dreaming is a normal human experience, but only while asleep. Our brains take us on some mind-boggling adventures–We don’t remember 99.9% of those once we’re awake.

I don’t understand how or why we dream, but is it possible that a schizophrenic always dreams? I would love to hear from a medical professional about this issue.

As a fiction writer, I’ve heard other writers talk of  “hearing voices in their head”. Meaning they can imagine their characters speaking, acting etc., but this is not the same thing as what a schizophrenic “hears/sees”. A writer creates their characters on purpose to act out a story. A schizophrenic has these images come unbidden from somewhere in the brain–just like our dreams.

(I wanted to make it clear that there is a difference between the fiction writer brain and the schizophrenic brain).

My Theory

I’ve decided to add a new category to my posts called My Theory. I’ll post articles about anything–not necessarily related to writing. Just a few of my observations and speculations on certain topics. I wish I could say they’ll be funny, but most probably will not be.

What I write as my theory may not be “right”,  because I’ve been wrong about a number of things.  Theory is not  “fact”.

So, stayed tuned tomorrow for my first “My Theory” post.