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- Glossary
Obsessive-compulsive disorders
This term summarizes neuropsychiatric disorders that manifest themselves in the form of obsessive thoughts on the one hand and compulsive actions on the other. For example, those affected have the urge to devote themselves to constantly recurring, mostly anxious thoughts, to wash themselves excessively often or to control their fellow human beings disproportionately. While neuroscientists used to try to explain OCD in purely psychological terms, it is now believed that some biological factors also contribute to its development, such as a disturbed metabolism of various neurotransmitters in the brain.
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Twin studies
Pairs of twins are valuable subjects for human geneticists and psychologists who want to find out to what extent certain characteristics are genetically determined and what role environmental conditions play. Of particular interest here is how much more similar identical twins are compared to fraternal twins. The degree of genetic similarity differs between identical (100%) and fraternal twins (50%). However, they live in a similar environment, so the degree of greater similarity between identical twins compared to fraternal twins can be used to estimate the genetic contribution to traits such as intelligence. In this case, depending on the study, it was estimated to be between 50 and 80 percent, depending on whether the environmental differences in the population (health care, access to education) are large or small.
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Diseases
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- Glossary
Secondary somatosensory cortex
The posterior parietal lobe receives input from numerous other cortex areas - this is where visual, auditory and proprioceptive signals are integrated into a whole, enabling orientation and movement in space. The S2 cortex, located posterior and ventral to S1, is also involved in the conscious processing of pain.
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- Glossary
Anterior cingulate cortex
Like the entire cingulate cortex, the anterior region of the limbic system regulates drive-controlled behavior. In the perception of pain, it is particularly associated with the affective pain component - including social pain as experienced through exclusion.
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- Glossary
Periaqueductal gray
A core area in the brain stem that is involved in defensive behavior and fear and flight reflexes via close connections to the limbic system. It also plays an important role in pain suppression by regulating signals from the spinal cord to the brain. It is considered an endogenous pain control system and is an important target for medication.
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Basics
Basics – we understand this in two ways: On the one hand, you will find here anatomy and physiology – communication in the brain – all the structures and processes on which perception, thinking, and action are based. This also includes the “other” brain cells, the glial cells, which have been criminally neglected for decades. And, of course, the networks, because they are currently the best model we have for understanding the organization of the brain. As an appendage to this spectrum, so to speak, we also describe the scientific methods, the toolbox of neuroscientists. Obviously, the better the methods, the more we can find out. Perhaps even more fundamental for us as individuals is the development of the brain: childhood as the basis – including an instruction manual for babies – for our entire lives. Puberty as the basis for at least our taste in music, and not least with the reminder that it too will pass. And, of course, old age. Read for yourself. But please note: Not all our topics are translated in English yet – there are over 80. Please allow a little time ...
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Multiple sclerosis
The disease with 1000 faces And 1000 questions
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Start
There is an infinite amount to discover about the brain. These texts offer an initial introduction: they deal with perceptions and perceptual illusions, thinking and errors in thinking, and action in all its facets.
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Percieve
See, hear, smell... we experience our sensations so everyday that they seem almost banal. But these windows into the world speak different languages - sound and touch are physical stimuli, smelling and tasting chemical, seeing lies between waves and particles - and all these languages must be translated into those of the nerves. And this is where the miracles from the engine room begin. Further up, on the more psychological levels, perceptions are deceived and there are interesting effects. Also interesting: Why can we perceive beauty? And then there's us - more precisely: our self. This is also a matter of perception.
