Blood Brain Barrier example essay topic

The human body is divided into many different parts called organs. An organ called the brain, is the center of the nervous system and it is the center of all voluntary and involuntary activities. It is also responsible for other complexities such as thought, language, and emotion. The brain weighs merely three pounds in an adult but it contains thousands of millions of nerve cells that make up the nervous system. For years scientists have been studying the enigmas of the brain and still today, there are many aspects of the brain that remain a mystery. In order to comprehend the brain, its necessary to understand the protection it has from injuries.

Its also imperative to discover medical advances through tests and analysis to treat devastating neurological diseases. Twenty-eight bones make up the skull. Eight of these bones are interlocking plates. These plates form the cranium.

The cranium provides maximum protection for the brain while the other twenty bones make up the face. Another way the brain is kept safe is by keeping itself in liquid. Nearly one fifth of the blood pumped by the heart is sent to the brain. The brain then sends the blood through an intricate network of blood vessels to where the blood is needed.

Specialized blood vessels produce a protective fluid. This fluid is what the brain literally floats in. A third protective measure taken by the brain is called the blood brain barrier. This barrier consists of a network of unique capillaries. These capillaries are filters for harmful chemicals carried by the blood, but do allow oxygen, water, and glucose to enter the brain. By understanding the nature in which the brain is kept, a person can assume that it is the most important organ in the body.

A person can then learn how to treat brain juries and many neurological diseases. Today, many experiments are being conducted that may be medical advances for the future. For instance, "brain grafting" is one procedure that may be used in the future. Brain grafting is transplanting a very thin layer of brain skin from one person to another. This would result in the treatment of Parkinsons disease and other seizure related disorders. Another radical idea that has already been successfully been tried on rhesus monkey's is, total body transplants.

This would allow someone with total body cancer to live with another body. However, the spine cant be reattached and scientists are pondering ways on how to spark cell growth in the spinal column to grow back in the broken area of the spine. The ethics and legal problems for such a transplant would probably never let this operation be performed on humans. This is because the person would not be the same. The last idea of the future is called artificial seeing.

Artificial seeing is achieved by planting small electrodes in front of the visual cortex of the brain. The electrodes are connected to a small camera that is some where on the person's ear. A computer is attached to the camera. The computer sends the images from the camera directly to the implanted electrodes. They flash as the picture from the camera, thus enabling the person to see. But as of yet this procedure is not practical because of the size of the computer, and because of the cost of the package.

After all of the work and research that we have done it is very evident to us that the brain is one of the most wondrous organs that humans could have. It guides us through almost every second of our life. Even after exploring the world and the universe, the brain has never ceased to amaze people, and probably never will.