brain | Biomechanics in the Wild

How is Biomechanics Used in the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease?

Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease with 90,000 Americans being diagnosed every year. Parkinson’s is a difficult disease to detect; there are no blood or lab test to diagnosis it. Diagnoses are symptom based. Parkinson’s patients often do not know they have the disease until after having dealt with it for years. Some of the early symptoms such as facial masking (lack of facial expression), small handwriting, or speaking softly do not directly point to a Parkinson’s disease diagnoses. A patient comes in with tremors, muscle rigidity, poor balance, and slowed movements and are then assumed to have Parkinson’s disease. If their symptoms improve with medication, the diagnosis is confirmed. Biomechanics is a useful tool in the evaluation of the progression of the disease as well as its continued treatment.

Sensing tension in the brain tumor microenvironment

According to Azra Raza, a Professor of Medicine at Columbia University in New York, high-grade brain cancer called glioblastoma is “one of the most aggressive, ruthless killers known to mankind”. Indeed, despite recent advances in cancer therapies, glioblastoma remains incurable with a median survival of 15 months which has not improved substantially in the last 20 years. This poor prognosis is, in part, due to the highly immunosuppressive microenvironment that allows tumors to evade anti-tumor immune response and promotes resistance to immunotherapy – a kind of therapy that uses your body’s own immune system to find and eliminate tumor cells.

Why is heading the ball so dangerous for youth soccer players?

I received my first concussion while playing soccer at 15 when I was knocked out by a ball that was “accidentally” punted directly into the side of the head. It seemed to me like this was one of the few, rare ways to get a concussion from the sport – an unlikely occurrence combined with an unusually aggressive impact.

The Dangers of Using Your Head: The Biomechanics of Sports-Related Concussions

Anyone that has ever had the misfortune of banging their head know how painful it can be, but does everyone understand just how dangerous it can be? Concussions occur when the brain hits the interior walls of the skull, either due to a direct blow or a sudden start or stop. These brain injuries most often result in confusion, headaches, and loss of memory but more severe injuries can cause vomiting, blurry vision, and loss of consciousness. In rare instances, they can even cause a brain bleed and result in death. Repeated concussions can lead to neurocognitive and neuropsychiatric changes later in life as well as increase a person’s risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Nine Brains Are Better Than One: An Octopus’ Nervous System

Picture this: Earth has made its first contact with an extraterrestrial species, and, as to be expected, their anatomy and nervous system are entirely different from our own. Rather than having a single brain where all sensory information and motor controls are processed, they have nine brains. Rather than having a rigid skeleton, they have compact arrays of muscle tissue that stiffen and soften when they move, and their many limbs have an infinite number of degrees of freedom. Oh, and they can only breath underwater, too.

Attempting to “Knock Out” the Causes of Concussions

Approximately every 15 seconds, a traumatic brain injury occurs in the U.S. A concussion is a form of mild traumatic brain injury produced by a contact or inertial force to the head (or neck) area. A concussion causes the brain to rapidly move around inside the skull, harming natural brain function. According to the Brain Injury Research Institute, roughly 1.6 to 3.8 million concussions occur each year in the U.S., resulting from both recreation and sports related incidents. In fact, brain injuries cause more deaths than any other sports injury.

The Mystery Behind the ‘Folded’ Brain

Have you ever wondered why one of the most mysterious organ in our body, the brain, has a distinctive shape which has a strong resemblance to a walnut? Or, what are the major factors that could play a significant role in developing its particular shape, with crests and valleys, that wires our motions, senses, feelings and thoughts, which makes each one of us a unique human being?

How much wood can a woodpecker peck? The Science Behind a Woodpecker’s Anatomy

Have you ever wondered how a woodpecker is capable of banging its head against a tree so furiously without seriously injuring itself? The impact of a woodpecker’s beak with a tree can exceed speeds of up to 6 meters per second and occur over 12,000 times a day.These kinds of numbers are what allow woodpeckers to smash through trees to get to those tasty bugs that live inside.

Concussion Chaos

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are injuries to the brain due to some kind of trauma and are more commonly called concussions. All TBI are unique and are not created equally. “Sports Medicine,” “Biomechanics of Concussions,” and “Concussion Connection” shed some light on subject and determine what combination of forces and accelerations tend to cause the most damage to the brain.

Will Removing Headgear Make Boxing Safer?

Our brains are made of a very soft material but luckily our skulls provide the brain protection from the outside world. However, during violent movements the brain is free to move inside the skull and collide with the skull. This impact can cause injury to the brain, known as a concussion, that can lead to various symptoms depending on severity.

Tag: brain