http://www.strokefoundation.com.au/blog/?p=2837
Unless there are life forms more evolved than us in the depths of
space, the brain holds first prize as the most complex object in the
universe – an amazingly intricate system that we have been unable to
duplicate, despite our incredible technological advances. And we still
aren’t sure exactly how it works!
Every movement, thought, sensation and emotion that makes up our
experience of being humans involves several thousand kilometres of
interconnected nerve cells. Our brain and spinal cord contain ten
thousand distinct varieties of neurons, trillions of synaptic
connections, a hundred known chemical regulating agents, and axons
raging from a few microns to well over 45cm in length.
The average number of neurons in the brain is 100 billion(actually 80 billion), yet the
brain typically only takes up 2% of our body weight. The actual weight
comprises about 80% brain tissue, 10% blood and 10% cerebrospinal fluid.
If we lined up our nerve fibres they would stretch for 180,000km. The
number of synapses is around 0.15 quadrillion, so it’s not s bad that
about 85 000 neocortical neurons are lost every day.
This complexity is why brain injury can have such wide-ranging effects on our movements, thoughts, sensations, and emotions……
Even a mild injury can result in a serious disability that will
interfere with a person’s daily functioning and personal activities for
the rest of their life. While the outcome of the injury depends largely
on the nature or the severity of the injury itself, appropriate
treatment will play a vital role in determining the level of recovery.
This story was first seen in the Synapse bridge magazine www.synapse.org.au
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