Brain Awareness Week

It's false. Since it is Brain Awareness Week, I thought it would be a fine time to clear up this myth. We actually use all of our brain power. If we used only 10% then the rest of this three pound organ of folds and ridges would just be taking up space in our "noggin." To the contrary, we use all of our brain. We simply do not use it all at the same time. Certain tasks require the use of specific areas of the brain.

Brain Awareness Week runs from March 10th through 16th and is a time when scientists and physicians share the latest information in the area or neuroscience. To kick things off why not take some time to review the parts of the brain and its function. Later on, you'll have an opportunity to test your knowledge with a quiz.

Frontal Lobe
Location - anterior, behind forehead
Function - responsible for consciousness (interactions with environment), judgment, emotional response, memory associated with movement, habit and language
Injury - results in poor expression of language, mood changes, paralysis, loss of sequencing (poor performance in multi-stepped tasks), decline in thinking and problem solving; social and personality changes

Parietal Lobe
Location - at the top of the head, toward the back
Function - works to direct voluntary movement, visual focus, touch and use of senses to understand one concept
Injury - poor eye and hand coordination; can not name objects, poor reading, difficulty drawing objects and math; loss of awareness regarding parts of the body or one's surrounding resulting in a decline in self-care

Temporal Lobe
Location - above the ears on the side of head
Function - controls hearing, some vision, object categorization and memory acquisition
Injury - can not understand spoken words, poor face recognition, issues with short and long-term memory, changes in sexual behavior, heightened aggression; right lobe damage results in speaking incessantly

Occipital Lobe
Location - posterior and back of the head
Function - handles vision
Injury - difficulty finding objects, seeing color, word blindness, hallucinations; poor reading and writing

Brainstem
Location - sits deeply in the brain and leads to the spinal cord
Function - controls sense of balance, sleep, sweating, blood pressure, digestion, temperature, and the startle response (which controls breathing, heart rate and swallowing reflexes in response to being shocked or surprised)
Injury - sleep apnea, insomnia, difficulty swallowing, dizziness, poor perception and organization

Cerebellum
Location - base of skull
Function - coordinates voluntary movement; responsible for some reflex motor actions
Injury - loss of rapid movement, slurred speech, can not reach out to grab objects, loss of ability to walk and control fine movements

The road ahead in neuroscience is filled with research efforts and new therapies being studied that may benefit people who are suffering from many brain and spinal cord problems. The exciting thing about this week is that we can gain insight into the research and advancements within this medical field. Over the years some areas such as bipolar disorder, major depression, epilepsy, pain and Parkinson's disease have seen improvements through research efforts.

For instance, bipolar disorder patients suffer from manic highs to deeply depressive lows. The pendulum-like disease however can be controlled with drugs like lithium and anticonvulsants (valproate and carbamazepine) which help to stabilize mood. Abilify, an atypical antipsychotic approved for adult bipolar disorder was made available for pediatric use last month by the FDA. The advantage it holds is that it doesn't cause weight gain and other metabolic problems like some of the other atypical drugs used to treat bipolar disorder.

Great strides are being made in pain management as well. Research shows that there's promise of new drugs that target specific nerve fibers in the pain pathway called nociceptors. Although NSAIDs and opioids work to manage pain, these drugs work better when there's tissue injury as opposed to damage to the nervous system. The use of nociceptor targeted drugs limits the side effects, that say, opioids have which are more generalized (e.g., morphine also binds to opioid receptors in the gut and causes constipation).

While there is great promise in the research and development of new therapies, areas such as ADHD, Alzheimer's disease, autism, Huntington's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, neurological AIDS, schizophrenia, stroke and Tourette's Syndrome are still facing challenges. With the continued research we hope that newer therapies will be developed to improve the quality of life for patients with these diseases.

So there you have it, we've uncovered the myth about how much of our brain we actually use, reviewed the brain and its function and took a glance at changes in the brain world. Now it's time to try this quiz below and the answers can be found at the end. If you're interested in some brain teasers check out these links:

http://brainweek.dana.org/puzzles.cfm
http://www.gamesforthebrain.com
http://www.colorcube.com/illusions/illusion.htm

Also, take a look at Brain Awareness Week activities in your area: http://brainweek.dana.org/calendar/results_en.cfm?Country=US&show_all_nav_listEvents3=1

Quiz (answer choices below):
1. A patient recovering from a baseball injury to the right side of the head provides long answers to his doctor's questions and has difficulty stopping speech.
2. A stroke victim experiences difficulty reaching for her fork while dining.
3. Patient during neurological examination appears to be unaware of the right side of her body.
4. A forty-year old woman was in a car accident. Her husband tells her doctor that she is increasingly moody and forgets things like how to set up the coffee maker.
5. A man with an injury to the back of the head fails to respond to "surprise!" at his 50^th birthday party and his wife notices he has problems eating his cake.
6. Victim of a traumatic brain injury has difficulty seeing colors.

Answer choices:
a. Cerebellum
b. Frontal lobe
c. Occipital lobe
d. Parietal lobe
e. Temporal lobe
f. Brainstem

Sources: http://www.sfn.org/skins/main/pdf/brainfacts/brainfacts.pdf, http://www.neuroskills.com/brain.shtml

Answer key: 1.e, 2.a, 3.d, 4.b, 5.f, 6.c