Brain health: Environmental threats
Environmental risks and their management
(under development)
Physical vulnerabilities
Physical fragility of the brain
Our brains float in a special cerebrospinal fluid. This supports the brain from below so as to spread very well the resistance of the skull against gravity's pull on the brain. It also supports it, to a degree when the skull is moved violently from any direction due to traumatic impact. However, the brain is so fragile that were it not floating in the cerebrospinal fluid it would begin to pull apart.
Here's the problem, however: the skull is not smooth inside. The bottom, especially, has ridges and spines. A strong lateral movement of the skull can result in the brain being "stirred" by these projections. Strangely, this never seems to improve brain function (!) - quite to the contrary. [1]
Notes
References mentioned in notes are fully detailed in References.
[1] Brain (2007).
References
Brain. (2007, November 9). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:47, November 11, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brain&oldid=303891470
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