Interview-Q&A-Steven-7-1

=A Q&A with a doctor =

My interview with Dr. Mina Makarious
1-Q: **What does the brain do exactly?** A:The brain has several different functions. The brain is the processing center of the body. It processes information coming in from the outside world and it transmits information to the rest of the body with specific instructions, such as muscle movement, pain recognition, sensory information, vision, hearing, taste, etc. The brain is also the location where memory is stored and the origin of emotions.

2-Q:**since the brain is the center of the nervous system, doesn't it have extra sensitivity in it?** A: It's true that the brain and the spinal cord are the center of the nervous system and that the ultimate processing center of sensory information is the brain; however, this does not imply that the brain has extra sensitivity. The term "sensitivity" refers to the brain's function of processing sensory information from the rest of the body, which is carried via the peripheral nerves.

3-Q:**why do people try to cool the head first in a fever, why not the rest of the body?** A:As with many other functions, the center of temperature regulation in the body is located in the brain. Fever occurs due to inflammation. What is interesting is that even though the location of the inflammation may be local, several substances are produced and secreted that travel in the blood and eventually reach the brain to increase the body's temperature and help in the immune destruction of the source of inflammation.

4-Q: **what gives a person a headache?** A: Headache can be produced by several different factors. The most obvious is trauma to the head, which can cause headache because of the actual trauma or internal consequences of the trauma, such as compression of the structures in the brain. Compression of brain structures can also occur due to brain tumors, which can also result in headache. Other causes of headache have not clearly been identified, but they can include factors such as the constriction/narrowing of blood vessels in the head. Also, any event which causes the leakage of blood in the brain can cause headache.

5-Q: **what makes a person dizzy?** A: Dizziness is a description that can have several different causes. First, dizziness (or the feeling that one is about to collapse) can occur when a person is dehydrated. For example, a person who takes a walk outside on a very hot day without drinking any water can become dehydrated. Dehydration can also occur if a person bleeds excessively, whether externally or internally. When a get person loses such large amounts of volume, the blood pressure decreases markedly and a potential consequence is dizziness and fainting. Second, dizziness is sometimes described as a feeling that the room is spinning around a person or that a person is spinning around the room. This is known as vertigo and occurs due to disruption of the balancing center of the body, which is closely related to the sense of hearing.

6-Q: **is the myth of brain transplant true?** A:I'm personally not sure if brain transplantation is an option for the future because of several different reasons. First, the brain can only survive without oxygen for several seconds; this is contrary to many other body organs. For example, it is known that the cells in the heart do not completely die until after several minutes to hours following disruption of blood supply to the affected region of the heart. However, brain cells can only survive for seconds to minutes following disruption of blood supply to the affected region. Therefore, I am not sure how surgeons in the future can keep the brain cells alive during transfer from one individual to another. The second reason why I think it will be very difficult to perform a brain transplant is because it will be very difficult to cut off the nerves that come off the brain and reattach them to the nerves of the recipient. It's like taking the trunk of one tree by cutting off all the branches and then attaching the trunk to another tree and reattaching all the branches, while preserving the function and viability (life) in the recipient tree. Also, it is important to understand that once nerves are severed, they lose much of their function and reattaching does not restore function. Therefore, although one day we may be able to perform brain transplantation, I do not see it occurring in the near future, unless of course surgeons are able to develop the concept of localized brain transplantations, i.e., the transplantation of localized regions of the brain. However, I am not sure of the practicality of this option. It is also very difficult to consider a person who has a different brain than his own. Which information does he retain? Does he have the memory and personality of the original owner of the brain? Also, who can donate a brain? It is understandable to perform a heart transplant because patients who are brain dead can donate their living hearts; however, a person whose dead (i.e., the heart has died) cannot donate the brain because the brain dies within seconds-to-minutes following death of the heart because of the loss of blood supply/oxygen to the brain.

7-Q: **what does the brain control exactly?** A:As I mentioned earlier, the brain controls several different functions, including muscle movement, pain recognition, sensory information, vision, hearing, taste, temperature control, balance, smell, emotions, personality, breathing, and speech/language.

8-Q: **aren't there "mini organs" within this organ?** A: The brain is composed of many different structures, including several lobes, ventricles, gyri, sulci, brainstem, etc. First, the brain is divided into the cortex, cerebellum, and brainstem, which attaches to the spinal cord. The cortex is further divided into several lobes, including the frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes. The cerebellum also has different lobes and the brainstem is divided into three parts, which are the midbrain, pons, and medulla. All these different parts of the brain control different functions, but they are very much inter-connected. Within the brain there are also spaces called ventricles which are filled with fluid. These include the lateral ventricles (1 and 2), the third ventricle, the fourth ventricle, and the subarachnoid space (the small space between the skull and the brain).

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