Brain Signals and Stress
High frequency transmission from the rapid firing of our brain nerve cells is the order of the day for 'live' signals that come from our sensory perceptions and thoughts.
Stored past activities, reactivated through memory recall or our normal imaginations, are not usually so vivid and therefore are handled and transmitted differently as low frequency signals. They, usually, are faint, due to the low energy that they carry; exceptions, of course, are high frequency signals, derived from recall of past experiences or from our mere imaginations and manifested as dreams, delusions and hallucinations, mistaken for reality or current happenings(because the signals are fast), variably by either the healthy or the deranged mind.
We constantly tune in or synchronize our mind, to varying signals of the same frequencies, to experience the present, relish or dread the past or imagine the future. We cannot, therefore, do more than one of these at a time. We are forced to constantly switch our brain from low to high frequency signals, back and forth, time and again, when we multi-task, plan, recall events, explore our environment, and execute acquired skills.
When we tune in to the present, we are alert and vigilant, more especially so in distress and eustress. These are high frequency activities, which occur when our nerves fire, at a much higher rate, to handle threats to our lives and to entertain our emotions.
In distressful situations, glutamate, which is known to be released in response to inflammation and pain, is implicated; and in pleasure(eustress), dopamine is the mediator, released(usually in response to a stimulus of mild glutamate, released after some form of exertion, to satisfy our desires, and for reward) and causes the release of endorphins that, in turn, reduce pain, cause pleasure with 'reckless abandon'.
We learn from good and bad experiences, through the activities of these respective high frequency signal pathways, which imprint and seal memory into synaptic connections between brain nerve cells.
The brain, through thoughts, is known to magnify incoming somatic sensory signals, which also affect the way we think. Both activities, in turn, are modulated, through controlled inhibition by GABA, to prevent over-stimulation, which does not only lead to transient signal interruption, confusion and lack of concentration but will cause cell damage, in the long run.
Much higher, destructive nerve firing occurs in distress, when glutamate-mediated excitation, coupled to calcium influx into cells, occurs. It is more taxing, in energy terms. It leads to damage of nerve cells, due to massive calcium influx into cells, collateral oxidative events and depletion of energy resources that would normally be used to repair damaged cells. This usually leads to anxiety and depression.
In eustress, rather, dopamine is implicated in increased firing because glutamate input is limited, if at all, but since this is dampened by the pleasurable and soothing effects of endorphins, this high frequency signaling pathway is put in check and leads to relaxation, unlike the glutamate pathway, which is tension-driven and cell-destructive. But this means that dopamine-mediated excitation is cell-constructive more persistent, self-perpetuating, and can lead to schizophrenia.
Both pathways are, normally, modulated by the inhibitory neurotransmitter, GABA, which, in some situations, like a strong competition from nicotine, which excites the brain, will prove to be inadequate.
Usually, activation of the glutamate distress pathway is counterbalanced, by calling dopamine signal pathway of eustress to bear. When GABA nerve cell fails, as, for example, when it is damaged as a result of overuse and overtaxing, as would every cell, the combined glutamate and dopamine excitation signals become excessive and the brain becomes exceptionally hyperactive.
The resultant out-of-control pathological high signals result in inability to differentiate the present from the past, reality from a dream or imagination, as is seen in hallucinations and delusions, experienced by the schizophrenic.
Another adaptive response, to brain hyperactivity, is the formation of tangles and amyloid, within and between nerve cells, to slow down signal transmission. This may, in fact, over-slow things and lead to Alzheimer disease, with its hallmark of forgetfulness.
Dr Oliver Verbe Birnso, MD
Stored past activities, reactivated through memory recall or our normal imaginations, are not usually so vivid and therefore are handled and transmitted differently as low frequency signals. They, usually, are faint, due to the low energy that they carry; exceptions, of course, are high frequency signals, derived from recall of past experiences or from our mere imaginations and manifested as dreams, delusions and hallucinations, mistaken for reality or current happenings(because the signals are fast), variably by either the healthy or the deranged mind.
We constantly tune in or synchronize our mind, to varying signals of the same frequencies, to experience the present, relish or dread the past or imagine the future. We cannot, therefore, do more than one of these at a time. We are forced to constantly switch our brain from low to high frequency signals, back and forth, time and again, when we multi-task, plan, recall events, explore our environment, and execute acquired skills.
When we tune in to the present, we are alert and vigilant, more especially so in distress and eustress. These are high frequency activities, which occur when our nerves fire, at a much higher rate, to handle threats to our lives and to entertain our emotions.
In distressful situations, glutamate, which is known to be released in response to inflammation and pain, is implicated; and in pleasure(eustress), dopamine is the mediator, released(usually in response to a stimulus of mild glutamate, released after some form of exertion, to satisfy our desires, and for reward) and causes the release of endorphins that, in turn, reduce pain, cause pleasure with 'reckless abandon'.
We learn from good and bad experiences, through the activities of these respective high frequency signal pathways, which imprint and seal memory into synaptic connections between brain nerve cells.
The brain, through thoughts, is known to magnify incoming somatic sensory signals, which also affect the way we think. Both activities, in turn, are modulated, through controlled inhibition by GABA, to prevent over-stimulation, which does not only lead to transient signal interruption, confusion and lack of concentration but will cause cell damage, in the long run.
Much higher, destructive nerve firing occurs in distress, when glutamate-mediated excitation, coupled to calcium influx into cells, occurs. It is more taxing, in energy terms. It leads to damage of nerve cells, due to massive calcium influx into cells, collateral oxidative events and depletion of energy resources that would normally be used to repair damaged cells. This usually leads to anxiety and depression.
In eustress, rather, dopamine is implicated in increased firing because glutamate input is limited, if at all, but since this is dampened by the pleasurable and soothing effects of endorphins, this high frequency signaling pathway is put in check and leads to relaxation, unlike the glutamate pathway, which is tension-driven and cell-destructive. But this means that dopamine-mediated excitation is cell-constructive more persistent, self-perpetuating, and can lead to schizophrenia.
Both pathways are, normally, modulated by the inhibitory neurotransmitter, GABA, which, in some situations, like a strong competition from nicotine, which excites the brain, will prove to be inadequate.
Usually, activation of the glutamate distress pathway is counterbalanced, by calling dopamine signal pathway of eustress to bear. When GABA nerve cell fails, as, for example, when it is damaged as a result of overuse and overtaxing, as would every cell, the combined glutamate and dopamine excitation signals become excessive and the brain becomes exceptionally hyperactive.
The resultant out-of-control pathological high signals result in inability to differentiate the present from the past, reality from a dream or imagination, as is seen in hallucinations and delusions, experienced by the schizophrenic.
Another adaptive response, to brain hyperactivity, is the formation of tangles and amyloid, within and between nerve cells, to slow down signal transmission. This may, in fact, over-slow things and lead to Alzheimer disease, with its hallmark of forgetfulness.
Dr Oliver Verbe Birnso, MD
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