Got that itch - no, not down there, in my brain

P sent me this wonderful article on the neurological basis of itching and other sensations like phantoms limbs:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/06/30/080630fa_fact_gawande?currentPage=all

Please read it, then let's discuss! Continue to read my thoughts (ha ha, that sounds funny)...

Thoughts on itching article:

-I can feel pain sometimes by thinking about it, but only certain thoughts. Not stubbing my toe or bumping into something, but thinking about paper cuts or sharp things under my nails and slicing of the skin makes me feel it - I will often have a tingle reaction in the tip of my tongue and in my teeth!

-"Richard Gregory, a prominent British neuropsychologist, estimates that visual perception is more than ninety per cent memory and less than ten per cent sensory nerve signals." Amazing! Love it.

-"Children have used phantom fingers to count and solve arithmetic problems." Amazing!

-I was under the impression the phantom limb experiences only happened to people who had lost a limb, not to people who had never experienced the limb in the first place. Mirroring?

-I love proprioception! This is your sense that tells you where you are in space as you move or remain still. This is what gets all screwy when you get drunk and you have a hard time touching your finger to your nose. It is second only to balance as one of my favorite senses. I mostly like balance because when it gets f'ed up, your world is turned upside down and you are rendered almost helpless, it is so essential and so taken for granted. And also because we have rocks in our ears. Close your eyes or cover your ears. Now stand up and walk around. Sure, you might bump into something, but you can still walk around. Now spin around twenty times, get plenty dizzy, and try walking around - very difficult. Spin around and try to look at something, try to focus on a noise, even talking can be difficult - you are probably shouting! The vertiginous attacks of a disease like Meniere's is debilitating whereas blindness and deafness are not (not that I would want either).

-I love the plasticity of the brain. It is so beautiful, provides so much hope. The study involving phantom limbs and mirrors and retraining the phantom limb over a few months is inspiring, much like the stories of rehabilitating seemingly-paralyzed stroke victims. Love it!

BTW, I guess I should mention that for a few months now I've been thinking about a multi-part blog posting on Sound and Balance. I love sound and balance; I love that the ear houses both; I love that they are so intricately tied. There were two things I wanted to study in physical anthro grad school: evolution of intelligence and creativity (so the biological basis for both and possible fossil/ancient-dna evidence and primate neurological and hormone and behavior study/testing) and the evolution of the inner and middle ear in primates and euprimates. People: we wouldn't be able to walk upright if we didn't have the types of semi-circular canals we do! (and pelvis shape and knee joints, et cet-air-ah)....So, maybe in a few months you'll get to read my musings on Sound and Balance, including a post on secret government attempts to control us with sound waves!