THE LIFE AFTER LIFE CONSPIRACY

The human brain and how it works-- two good visuals

 

As the workings and formation of the human brain play a role in my speculative medical thriller, THE LIFE AFTER LIFE CONSPIRACY, I thought it would be helpful to include two different slide shows on related topics, as background for your reading.

 

The first is from Britain's New Scientist, and provides a sort of map of the parts of the brain, and what each part plays in the overall workings.   That is, click the link to "emotions"  or "social interactions," and the slide flashes the related part of the brain.  New Scientist graphic: How the human brain works    Though it doesn't explicitly say so here, I anticipate that the scientists have linked the brain part to the function by using various kinds of brain scans.

 

The second is from a recent Washington Post series on brain injuries, particularly those suffered by American soldiers as a result of roadside bombs.  This slide show also shows visuals of the various brain parts, though here the focus is on the consquences when any of those parts is injured.  You'll  find those visuals here:  Washington Post: The science of brain injury   Bear in mind that these graphics are only part of an extended series in the Post, and you can link to the rest from that graphic.

 

 

 

 

"Chimpanzees seem to know what's on other chimps' minds," suggests study reported in London Guardian

"Humans may not be alone in having insight into the minds of others, a chimpanzee study suggests."  You'll find the link to that article in the London Guardian below.

I'm including that link as background here in this post as "Chimp Donnie" plays a role in two aspects of my speculative scientific thriller, THE LIFE AFTER LIFE CONSPIRACY.  You'll meet Chimp Donnie is the chapters "Cannibals, "Chimera," and "Chimp Donnie," which you'll find in these sample chapters. (In the book, Donnie is a chimera, a hybrid of human and primate.)

Sample chapters: THE LIFE AFTER LIFE CONSPIRACY

And for the link to the Guardian article on  mind-reading chimps:

London Guardian article: chimps as mind-readers?

"Banishing consciousness: the mystery of anesthesia"

Britain's New Scientist magazine ran two articles recently on consciousness. They drew my attention, as lost or altered consciousness plays a role in my scientific/spiritual thriller, THE LIFE-AFTER-LIFE CONSPIRACY.

In "Banishing consciousness: the mystery of anesthesia"  writer Linda Geddes begins and ends with her experience "going under" for an operation, then puts that into context with an exploration of what we know about the kind of lost consciousness that results, and what science knows about what actually happens.

What does happen? How does surgical anesthesia really work? At this point, no one really knows, though current research studies are moving toward some understanding.  In these studies, anesthetized subjects are subjected to EEG and fMRI scans while under.

Of particular interest to me and THE LIFE-AFTER-LIFE CONSPIRACY, much of what is being discovered about anesthesia also seems to carry over to expand our understanding of PVS (persistent vegetative state) and other levels of coma.

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For the record, the second New Scientist article, "Consciousness is a matter of constraint" by Terrence W. Deacon, is based on his new book, Incomplete Nature: How mind emerged from matter. (W.W. Norton). The article and the book explore how mind or consciousness can be "generated" (or whatever  you care to term it) from matter.  Put differently, how is it that consciousness seems to come from the three pounds of wet matter in the human head, and not from three pounds of wood or coal or sand?

 

"Drugs could cleanse brain of bad memories" --- Independent (UK)

From article: "Fears about how drugs manipulate a person's memory are overblown, claims law professor Adam Kolber.

 "Millions of people who suffer from post-traumatic stress after a harrowing experience could benefit from mind-altering drugs that can rid the brain of bad memories, a legal scholar has suggested.

"Yet the prospect of using drugs to dampen the memory of a distressing episode in someone's life is being thwarted by unfounded concerns about their misuse, according to Adam Kolber, professor of law at Brooklyn Law School in New York."

Why am I including a reference to this article here: Because my thriller, The Life After Life Conspiracy, is in part about memories--- where they are "stored" and how they can be manipulated or moved.  This article (and the underlying paper published in the prestigious science journal Nature) touch on that related issue, of howand whether factual recall can be altered . . . and when and if it should be done, legally or ethically.

 

"Drugs could cleanse brain of bad memories" --- Steve Connor article in Independent (UK)