“I used to think the brain was the most beautiful organ in my body; then, I realized who was telling me this,” -Emo Philips.
Since the early days of medicine, the brain has been of great importance. Neurology, the study of the brain, had quite a disruptive innovation in the form of the lobotomy. Although this psychosurgery procedure, in which involves severing the connections to and from the prefrontal cortex, was originally very popular for treatment of psychiatric patients, it was also extremely dangerous. The lobotomy eventually declined sharply in popularity because of its high risk, but the procedure did lead to other, safer psycho surgeries, such as the cingulotomy for treatment of OCD patients.
Some of the biggest breakthroughs in brain research came accidently. Anti-depressant drugs were originally supposed to attack tuberculosis. This goes to show how truly complex the brain is. The health problems are easy to identify, but the solutions much harder to find. So, as in this case, a bit of luck s often necessary to solve a problem.
Today, the brain is still to a large degree a mystery. It’s interesting that one of the largest frontiers is in our heads. Brain research has been exploding recently, as its importance to other body parts becomes clearer. For example, some back pain can be cured by fixing problems in the brain. More research might find other similar findings.
It might not be too far from our time when people can control simple technology, such as cell phones, with their minds alone. Today, the technology to play video games with one’s mind already exists. (Find out more here) Here’s a video of this technology. The future for brain research is bright indeed as scientists try to harness the power of the mind.
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