Transcription
How does the nervous system work? The nervous system works with a lot of magic from the universe. Do I get another PhD after I finish this?
Hi, I'm Mayam Bialik, and I'm here with Wired to answer the 50 most googled questions about neuroscience. [Music]
Is neuroscience a biological science? I'm gonna say yes. It's about biological systems, yes.
What nervous system controls breathing? Autonomic nervous system is in charge of breathing structures.
What nervous system controls heart rate? That would be sympathetic, parasympathetic, yes.
How does the autonomic nervous system affect the heart rate? By making it go up or making it go down.
How do hallucinogens affect the central nervous system? Wow. Hallucinogens affect the central nervous system by changing the distribution of neurotransmitter and specifically crossing modalities, uh, creating synesthetic experiences where auditory and visual information effectively gets crossed.
What neurotransmitters are involved in schizophrenia? Um, schizophrenia is, is a varied disorder that can involve paranoia and delusions, um, and depersonalization. Dopamine, serotonin, and obviously all of the other neurotransmitters, but specifically those, um, for schizophrenia.
What is neurotransmitter testing? Neurotransmitter testing is testing, I guess, amounts of dopamine and serotonin, uh, which are typically done from, um, swabs, but I guess you can do it from blood, maybe super spinal fluid, yeah.
Which neurotransmitter acts to facilitate learning? That's a really difficult question to answer. I mean, all of your neurotransmitters contribute to everything about you. The way that we learn is really because of a lot of things; it's because of attention; it's because of mood; it's because of reward activation. Mine's a more philosophical answer, but I don't know the structure of the brain that they're talking about, which is probably regulated, so…
Which neurotransmitter is associated with Parkinson's disease? Uh, Parkinson's disease is a basal ganglia disease; that would be dopamine as the primary neurotransmitter.
How information travels in the nervous system? All sorts of crazy ways, up, down, sideways, inside out. Information travels from the brain to the spinal cord and out to the periphery, and then from the periphery back into the spinal cord and back up to the brain.
How does a stroke affect the nervous system? Well, it depends where the stroke is. Um, there's specific kinds of regions of the brain where a stroke will lead to paralysis or the inability to speak. Certain strokes will affect very interesting things; they'll make you think that you don't understand people's faces. There's so many different things it can affect. Having the blood supply cut off will impair a region of the brain is the most basic definition of a stroke, though.
What is neuroscience perspective? A neuroscience perspective is seeing the world as a series of motivations and thoughts and feelings that impact biological processes and affect how we interact with the world.
How many neurons are in the nervous system? I don't remember a lot.
What neurotransmitter controls the somatic nervous system? The somatic nervous system is, is the nervous system associated with sensory information; uh, for me that's gonna kind of be, um, many, all of them. I mean, impulses are always regulated by, by gabin, by glutamate, and, um, acetylcholine is one of them.
Are eyes part of the nervous system? I love this question. Yes. The retina and the optic nerve are part of the nervous system.
What are excitatory neurotransmitters? Excitatory neurotransmitters are transmitters that have a plus sign as it were; they, they lead to an increase in secretion or an increase in activity.
What sends neurotransmitters toward the next neuron? Oh, I could talk about this for days. Um, neurotransmitters are, are packaged in vesicles and they move along microtubule filaments along the axon.
What are neurotransmitters and how do they function? Holy Toledo. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that are produced in the brain and the body that act on other parts of the brain and body. They are the main communication module for the, the nervous system. They function by binding to receptors, and the binding onto receptors opens up different channels and activity that then leads to other neurotransmitter being released.
How are hormones different from neurotransmitters? Hormones are typically generated outside of the nervous system as it were. There are neurohormones; it really depends on what things are acting on and why and how, um, but neurotransmitters typically are generated in the central nervous system, and hormones can be generated and modulated outside as well.
How does nicotine affect the nervous system? Nicotine affects the nervous system in a lot of excitatory ways. Nicotine also does have inhibitory effects and can lead to feelings of relaxation and decrease in agitation.
What is a synapse in the nervous system? Well, I went to UCLA, and the cafe that we had in the neuroscience building was called Cafe Synapse because it's where things come together. That's right, folks, a synapse is where two neurons meet and release information, and that's where things come together.
How does the digestive system work with the nervous system? Pretty darn well for most people.
How does the nervous system and endocrine system work together? Well, since my field is psycho neuroendocrinology, I should know a lot about this, and indeed I do. The endocrine system is typically the hypothalamic pituitary axis, HPA, includes the adrenals, and, um, hormones are released from the pituitary gland and then flow through the body and the hypothalamus and then become part of the nervous system where, um, they affect the brain and all sorts of behavioral and biological functions. They work together really well.
How to keep your nervous system healthy? Well, this is a wonderful question. Get a lot of sleep, drink a lot of water, eat as simply as possible. Do not drink alcohol at all if you can avoid it. I would say avoid, um, as much pharmaceutical impact in your life as is possible and avoid illicit drugs; they're generally not good for your nervous system. Learn how to breathe properly, meditate, and please go to therapy.
What neurotransmitter causes migraines? I get migraines, and I don't know the answer to this. I think migraines are caused by stress; that's my unofficial non-doctor opinion. I could list all the people that give me migraines, and none of them are the names of neurotransmitters.
Is neuroscience a good major? Hell yeah, it is. You get to learn about the brain and nervous system. You get to learn about the fact that we exist, we have consciousness, we can communicate, we can love, we can hate, we can change, we can grow. That's why it's not only a good major, it's a good grounding for life. So there.
How does caffeine affect the nervous system? Caffeine affects the nervous system by doing a lot of excitatory things. It increases your heart rate; it will make you go poop and pee because it's a diuretic, and it does increase alertness and vigilance, uh, which also can lead to a crash, a caffeine crash, and it is addictive. So it affects the nervous system by, um, getting the nervous system used to having it as a normal way to function, and it resets your sense of normal, so that's why when you quit caffeine you go into withdrawal.
How the nervous system works with other systems? The nervous system works with other systems by being connected through the series of peripheral nerves that, that exist, meaning all organs send information to the nervous system. I like to think of the nervous system as the main system because it's your brain, your spinal cord, and all of the nerves that serve the rest of your body, so it's kind of the master system.
How does the skeletal system work with the nervous system? Certain skeletal systems support the, the most important aspects of the nervous system, so the skull, this thing, it's actually the holding place for the brain, the lobes of the brain, and all the things about the brain, and the entire vertebral system. The vertebrae of your spinal cord are actually protecting a very, very important, uh, passage of information from your brain to the rest of your body, so the skeletal system is, is the scaffold to protect the nervous system.
Where are neurotransmitters made? Neurotransmitters are made anywhere you want them to be, brain organs, mostly brains in the middle of the brain, yes, all the little parts. That's a terrible answer.
Are cranial nerves part of the central nervous system? Cranial nerves, I think, would be considered the peripheral nervous system. Brain, spinal cord, periphery, for the love of Pete.
How many neurotransmitters are there? Let's say between three and four dozen.
Is acetylcholine a neurotransmitter? Yeah, it is.
How does diabetes affect the nervous system? Because of the changes in blood glucose levels, this can cause strain on blood vessels. I'm thinking as I'm answering. There are also cognitive shifts that happen because of diabetes.
What kind of chemical is released at a synapse? A neurochemical, also known as a neurotransmitter.
Which neurotransmitter is associated with depression? That would be serotonin. Dopamine sometimes is implicated as well, and because everybody's brain is different, um, not everyone has the same kind of depression, and if you have depression that is part of manic depression, you might need a different kind of treatment or understanding of your neurotransmitter system, but classical depression, serotonin.
How do neurotransmitters influence behavior? By communicating every thought, every movement we have. The, the way that you exist is because of electrical signals caused by the release of neurotransmitter. There is nothing about you, even love, that cannot be explained by neurotransmitter.
How does alcohol affect the nervous system? Alcohol is a depressant. Um, alcohol will first affect the cells of the cerebellum; those are the ones back here, and they affect the things that you most frequently see when you do a sobriety test, the ability to do fine motor control, to walk a line, to do this one. It affects the general nervous system with a lot of psychological and psychiatric impact that's going to vary by human, and alcohol is a toxin, so your body perceives it as such, and all of the changes that happen when you have alcohol are essentially your body processing so that it can get rid of the alcohol.
How does the nervous system help the body maintain homeostasis? Well, the nervous system is what maintains homeostasis, uh, through a lot of different things. The, the hypothalamus is, is your main, your main friend for this. The hypothalamus maintains body temperature, um, urinary levels, hunger, puberty, circadian rhythms, basically regulating every single organ system, um, like homeostasis is the nervous system; that's its gold.
Is dopamine a neurotransmitter? Oh, yeah.
Which neurotransmitter is associated with sleep, mood, and appetite? It really depends on what's happening with sleep, mood, and appetite. I'm going to go ahead and go for serotonin; will mess up all of those.
What is neuroscience psychology? Uh, neuroscience psychology, or neuropsych as we call it, um, is an emphasis on the underlying nervous system substrates of psychological phenomenon.
How does cannabis affect the nervous system? How doesn't cannabis affect the nervous system really should be this question. Cannabis affects the nervous system by binding to cannabinoid receptors, duh, and those receptors do a lot surrounding relaxation, relaxation of muscles literally. Cannabis stimulates appetite; if you think people who use it medicinally, for example, for, for chemotherapy, um, it, it can reduce nausea, and it has analgesic effects; it has numbing effects. That's sort of like high feeling that people report. It's typically an, an ability to have a strong connection with your sensory systems, and that can make you feel really, really happy.
What does multiple sclerosis do to the nervous system? Multiple sclerosis, um, causes demyelination of axons. Myelin is the, the fat that, that lines axons, which is how a neuron communicates information from the cell body to the dendrites, and once that, that myelin, that fat is broken down, it makes it much harder for electrical impulses to travel, so, um, it makes communication between cells harder.
Why nervous system important? Why is the nervous system important? Because it is the foundation of your existence as a human, both physically and metaphysically. The brain and the nervous system, your spinal cord and all your nerves are everything about how you interact with the world, including what you love, what you hate, how you can even process what I'm saying right now, and your position in space and your acknowledgment that we are hurtling through the universe at high speed and not flying off the planet, and we exist now and will exist tomorrow. All that is your nervous system.
Is epinephrine a neurotransmitter? Yes.
Which systems comprise the nervous system? Uh, there's the central nervous system; that's the brain and the spinal cord, and there's the peripheral nervous system, which is the nerves on the periphery.
What are nervous system disorders? Uh, there are a lot of nervous system disorders. Let's see: multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, muscular dystrophy, epilepsy, pretty much all of psychiatric challenges, you know, depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, dissociative identity disorder. I could go on.
How does the nervous system work? The nervous system works with a lot of magic from the universe. It does. Information that's produced in the brain that's sent down the spinal cord to the peripheral nervous system receives information from the outside world, brings it back in, sends it up the spinal cord, then your brain processes it, and you act and think and feel and exist.
What is the nervous system? The nervous system is the series of cells that comprise the brain and the spinal cord and allows you to perceive your body, your feelings, and interact with the outside world, feel and think. Your nervous system is you.
Those were the 50 most googled questions on neuroscience. Thank you for watching. Hope I did okay.