For anyone interested in bizarre brain stuff - this is fascinating:

[link]

In The Echo Maker, Powers' character Mark flips his truck on an icy stretch of road in Nebraska and ends up in the hospital in a near-vegetative state. His sole-remaining family member, his sister Karin, immediately rushes to his bedside to nurse him back to health. Mark remains comatose for long enough that the doctors begin to lose hope. But then, miraculously, he wakes up. It takes him weeks to regain the power of speech, but once he does, it becomes clear that something is seriously amiss: Mark is convinced that this person who hovers by his bedside at all hours of the day, who looks and sounds just like his sister, is a plant--an imposter sent to surveil him and report back to "the authorities."

Powers soon reveals that Mark is suffering from a condition known as Capgras Delusion, which just so happens to be my favorite neurological condition. Once thought to be undeniable evidence of psychosis, Capgras Delusion is now believed to be a neurological syndrome caused by faulty wiring between the two areas of the brain involved in facial recognition: the temporal lobe, which contains pathways specializing in identifying faces, and the limbic system, which is responsible for attributing emotional significance to these faces.

...

When we encounter a face, two things occur in the brain. Our visual centers survey the physical attributes of the person in front of us and match them up with a template stored in the temporal lobe, thus allowing us to classify the person. This information then gets transmitted to the limbic system, which conjures up the appropriate feelings.

People suffering from Capgras Delusion only experience the first half of this process. Because their temporal lobes are intact, they recognize that the person standing in front of them looks exactly like their mother, but this recognition evokes no emotional response. The way the brain copes with this disjunction is by making a logical leap: 'This person looks like my mother, but doesn't feel like my mother, therefore she must be a fraud.'

Now if the person suffering from Capgras was unaware of his impairment, this response would be entirely understandable. What's really mystifying is that explaining what's happening makes absolutely no impression on the patient. No matter how many times he's told that he's suffering from a neurological condition, he will persist in believing that he's being hounded by doppelgangers. If the rational brain was at the reins, it stands to reason that the patient would accept his doctor's explanations. But when it comes to Capgras Delusion, emotions trump logic. The mind simply cannot accept the idea that a spouse, a mother, or beloved sister elicits no feeling, so the delusion persists.

Kalshane, you're taking Metra, right?

Yup. The Metra station in Chicago is six blocks from the placement firm, where I'd doing the interview. I've only taken Metra into the city once before and recall the station as being large, noisy and cofusing. So I have that to look forward to.

I ran a program for Physicians for Social Responsibility in the early 90s targeting childhood lead poisoning in Silesia. At the time, it was widely known as the most polluted place on the planet. Open lead smelters everywhere and home-based lead jewelry making. Very bad for children and other creatures.

In 1992, PSR began a lead poisoning abatement program in Silesia, Poland, a city that suffers from the effect of years of unchecked industrial, mining, and agricultural activity during the Cold War. More than 60 percent of the children exposed to pollutants from nonferrous smelting plants suffer from low body weight and height, and chronic bronchitis is reported in 35 percent of the children.

eta: 8 and 9 are too close to each other on the keyboard

No matter how many times he's told that he's suffering from a neurological condition, he will persist in believing that he's being hounded by doppelgangers.

Twilight Zone episode!

At the time, it was widely known as the most polluted place on the planet.

Yeesh. No wonder all the cool kids are moving downwind to Lower Silesia.

For anyone interested in bizarre brain stuff - this is fascinating:

That guy was on NPR the other day.

Brain disorders are fascinating and scary.

Here's another post that I really liked by the same blogger: The Introvert Advantage

For decades, psychologists subscribed to the notion that introversion was a low-grade pathology. Although introverts make up something like a third of the world's population, it wasn't uncommon for psychologists to write clinical definitions of introversion that went something like this:

Introversion is normally characterized by a hesitant, reflective, retiring nature that keeps itself to itself, shrinks from objects, is always slightly on the defensive and prefers to hide behind mistrustful scrutiny.

(From The Introvert Coach)

Extroverts, on the other hand, were treated as paragons of mental health:

Extroversion is normally characterized by an outgoing, candid, and accommodating nature that adapts easily to a given situation [and] quickly forms attachments.

(From The Introvert Coach)

Modern definitions aren't as flagrantly prejudiced, but introversion is still stigmatized. Given the option, most people would prefer to be extroverts. Punch the word "introversion" into Amazon.com and you come up with a list of self-help books like: Introvert to Extrovert and The Highly Sensitive Person. Look up "extroversion" and you get a whole lotta nada.

But all of those self-satisfied extroverts out there might be interested to learn that recent scientific findings suggest that introversion is not a psychological disorder--it's a physiological trait with some distinct advantages.

...

Introverts, on the other hand, have such a surfeit of brain activity that it's sometimes difficult for them to attend to what's happening around them. While this might result in some social awkwardness, it has a host of benefits. Introverts have more acetylcholine, a chemical that enhances "long-term memory, the ability to stay calm and alert, and perceptual learning." They also have increased activity in the frontal lobe, which has been linked to high-level problem solving skills, long-term planning, and a facility with language. Perhaps, it's no accident that an estimated 60 percent of the world's best minds have been introverts. (Pop Matters)

Go Team Introverts!

Introverts, on the other hand, have such a surfeit of brain activity that it's sometimes difficult for them to attend to what's happening around them.

Remind me to adopt this wording. I suspect it'll go over better than "I'm too thinky to listen to you!"

Remind me to adopt this wording. I suspect it'll go over better than "I'm too thinky to listen to you!"

Or "You're just not interesting enough for me to listen to you!"