Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Minding the Brain

I wish I were like one of those stable people who can go to the same job, different day, year after year. Oh no. I like to keep things interesting and my life stirred up. That is how this brain of mine works. But I have learned that is part of what makes me me, and we all have "things" that make us who we are. How fascinating no two of us are alike! But today finds me in yet another work role, in an office where of all things I am looking at a poster of a brain identifying its various structures, hemisphere and functions.

Though it cannot be seen pulsating like the heart or bending like a joint, this quiet, convoluted, three pounds plus mass sits atop the body, encased in bone and directing all of our thoughts and activities, and it remains mysterious still. The last frontier of medicine I have heard it called. If I were more medically technical or neuro-educated I could reel off all those wonderful aspects of man's marvelous brain and the known neurotransmitters and neural pathways and what their functions are, but I will never know all that science has figured out about it so far. My own brain is a bit scattered and my thoughts tend to wander about without strict focus much of the time. But I have learned to be OK with it. My mind has adapted to my brain. Now I wonder, how does the brain mind the mind? Hmmm...

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