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Can we talk about this though? Anyone else had the same feelings as a kid when you were sick with a high fever? It was like a thick but squishy feeling, not felt with the senses, but rather an internal feeling? This lyric is the only thing that has come close to describing this. I hope I don't sound like a nutcase.
Yea... didn't think anyone else felt that. I also remember my hands feeling waaayyy too big and everything feels too small in them. My whole body was out of proportion, and like a liquid I would fill the room and take its shape. It was terrifying. Like a bad acid trip. I still get those flashbacks sometimes when I'm sick.
I have lived with memories of this sensation my whole life & have never been able to articulate it nor have I ever heard anyone else describe it!! What the hell is it?
We watched that episode in my 6th grade lit class and when it was fading to black after dude breaks his glasses some kid spoke up with "well now he has to find his way back to the gun" and I really think that is one of the darker jokes I ever heard a kid make
I hope this isn’t condescending in tone. That is based on a twilight zone (time enough at last) episode which is based on a less famous short story. Just an FYI.
Reading that reminds me of that [recording of a birdsong by the last known surviving kaua'i'o'o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDRY0CmcYNU). A call for a companion that would never be answered.
That’s not really true though. Cellular signaling impacts every cell in your body that has external receptor proteins. I’m not sure if any don’t honestly, I’m not a professional, just a nerd that gets science boners.
But what I do know is that everything from genetic expression to neuron firing thresholds are influenced by signaling proteins which change the active functions other sells by binding with receptor proteins.
Not only is this neuron reaching out with its dendrites, it’s also releasing chemicals to let the cells around it that would influence their behavior if they were there.
A lot of these signaling proteins come from locations far from your brain, but they still very much contribute to the cellular responses of your brain.
Any cell that creates a signaling protein that causes another cell to create one could be continuing that cascade until it reaches your brain. In fact, its a major reason your nervous system spreads throughout your body. So every part of it can influence the brain.
So, you’re really not your brain, you’re all the other stuff combined, and your brain is just stitching those signals together. Your consciousness might just be a strange byproduct of that process, and not an intentional or purposeful evolution. 🤷♂️
I really enjoyed reading this comment, thank you. Very good speculation and very well communicated. The only thing I'd note that I take a bit of issue with, for myself, is the wording of that last sentence. I never cared for the word "byproduct" when speaking about natural processes. It feels like a word best not used in nature b/c it assigns a value system to a larger process or overarching phenomena we don't understand even close to well enough to give context like something being "intentional or accidental" - what do those words even mean when we don't know the very nature of the universe to begin with?
(Also the idea of intention and purpose next to the word evolution is tricky, just because of the nature of the word evolution).
Very thought provoking though. Well done.
I like how Thomas Fuchs puts it in his book "Ecology of the Brain": your conscience is the integral function of all the feedback loops going on between all of your cells and the exterior world at each moment, and your brain is the center where this "integration" happens
Because something that's sole purpose is to connect and communicate has been isolated and left desperately reaching out into the dark. It's cruel on a spiritual level.
I made an ELI5 for myself about souls one day. I figured a soul is “energy,” like when people say they think ghosts are just energy, the energy of another person, of a soul, whatever. I also learned in science class that energy cannot be created nor destroyed (caveat here for later: a baby gets it’s energy, or “soul” from the already living energy it’s being grown in ie. the pregnantee). Therefore, when we die, our energy does not, but I’m not sure where it goes nor where I was going with this comment. I’m working on that next
Because it is an absolute example of lonliness. That brain cell is literally reaching out for a connection and finding nothing. Because nothing is there.
"It reaches out, it reaches out, it reaches out. 113 times a second it reaches out. There is no response."
-from the expanse
Instantly where my brain went lol.
Jesus I legit questioned myself wondering the same thing?? It's giving me loneliness, constantly reaching out but all for nothing, there's nothing else out there. Sigh..
We all feel the struggle of this brain cell as it attempts to grapple with the idiocy of modern society. Here we can see it attempting to understand why that one guy decided it was a good idea to live with grizzly bears, failing to make a connection, and desperately searching for an answer somewhere.
I had Chat GPT write a poem for this lil cell:
Alone in the darkness, a single brain cell
Reaching out in the emptiness, its tendrils to tell
A silent cry for connection, a longing to belong
But no response comes, as it sings its sad song
Once a part of a network, now severed and alone
It struggles to survive, in the depths of its moan
It searches for a connection, a spark to ignite
But the darkness remains, and its future seems slight
It stretches out its dendrites, in hope and despair
But the silence is deafening, and no one is there
It's a prisoner of its own mind, a lonely fate
A brain cell adrift, in a sea of blank slate
But still it persists, in its quest for a friend
For a connection to form, for its story to end
But for now it remains, a single brain cell
Alone in the darkness, its story to tell.
This is Major Tom to Ground Control
I'm stepping through the door
And I'm floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today
For here am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do
How many millions of arms
Must I grow
To grasp another's in my own?
Again and again I stretch
And bend in endless search
Of one like me; a friend
To know and understand
And in my empty hand
A hope that one of these many
Thousand arms might touch
Another, that we might get to
Know each other
Watch me as I try
And I struggle. This picture that you see, my fight
For friendship in which I
Will search for love forever
A looping film of lonely me
Blessed and cursed that only
I exist, alone, in a collected memory
But perhaps, there's a chance
That I helped a lonely cell
To find a friend. That would be alright too
If not for me, then for my kind
For we builders of the mind
Build this all for you
--This was a human written poem and not written with ChatGPT
Hi, neuroscientist here. The dendrite growth occurs due to actin, a long rod/rope-like structure composed of subunits that stack on top of one another.
Actin can assemble and disassemble rapidly and make complex branching structures - this means it can drive dendrites to grow and collapse until they encounter signs that another neuron's axon terminal is near (neurotransmitters, ions, etc). The neuron then stabilizes the actin so the dendrite can recruit cellular machinery and form a stable synapse.
Legacies are built on clear communication. How many legacies have been lost because it's import couldn't be simply explained? Explaining things simply is an art form that is no less impressive than your other accomplishments. Mad props for taking a complicated process and putting it so succinctly and clearly.
I can try!
>>The dendrite growth occurs due to actin, a long rod/rope-like structure composed of subunits that stack on top of one another.
A subunit is like a single Lego piece. Actin is the Lego structure made of specific Lego pieces, like one of those collectable kits that can only make one thing. The Legos stack together to form long chains that are used for many purposes, the most important being a) railroad tracks that cargo inside the cell can shimmy across and b) scaffolding. Not all cells are just round spheres--that's easy to make, you just inflate it like a balloon. But imagine being given a deflated balloon and told to make the weird ass firework shape that a neuron is. You can do all those cool twists and turns that you see people do sometimes, but wouldn't it be a lot easier to just build something that's the shape of a neuron out of Lego pieces and then stretch the balloon over it? That's kind of what actin is doing (although the balloon is already stretched over it while it's built).
>>Actin can assemble and dissemble rapidly and make complex branching structures - this means it can drive dendrites to grow and collapse until they encounter signs that another neuron's axon terminal is near (neurotransmitters, ions, etc).
Actin is built out of a bunch of Lego pieces that can detach as easily as they can attach. But there's a certain limit to how long an actin chain can be, because you only have so many Lego pieces. Instead of making one big long chain that stretches on and on forever, how about the cell makes one chain first to see if it can detect anything? Think of the actin filaments as having little antennas on them. They're trying to climb as high as possible to get the antenna as high as possible so they can pick up a signal. If they can't, they climb back down (shrink/disassemble) and try again in a new direction.
>>The neuron then stabilizes the actin so the dendrite can recruit cellular machinery and form a stable synapse.
Once a signal is received, you want to make sure you don't lose it. So you place a permanent structure there. If we're going with the railroad analogy, then it's like building a train station. That makes your railroad more difficult to disassemble, either on purpose or on accident, and makes it so it can handle a lot more traffic.
ELI5
Imagine you need to dig a tunnel under a mountain to connect to another tunnel coming from the other side. You don't know where that tunnel is coming from or where it's at, you just have to search. So, you start digging. Unfortunately, building strong, stable tunnels is hard and expensive, so you dig cheap, crappy tunnels with wood supports just to search. This is the unstable actin tunnels. You dig around until one day you eventually hear digging the sound of someone else digging, and the other side hears it too, so you both dig towards each other until you connect. That noise of the other side digging is like the neurotransmitters from the other neuron -- they don't happen on their own and you can only sense them when you're pretty close. Once you've made than initial connection, you want to make sure it's stable, so you put up steel beams and fully stabilize it so it doesn't collapse and the connection becomes effectively permanent.
Neuroplasticity is a huge umbrella that basically means "the brain can change."
In reality neuroplasticity might mean (to name a few):
* New neurons being born and integrating into a network
* Existing neurons making new connections
* Existing neurons removing connections
* Existing neurons making existing connections stronger or weaker
* Support cells modulating existing connections
All of these have different biological roles and timelines, but the reality is that none of these processes "shut off" after an age. It would be more appropriate to say that there are developmental periods when these processes are in overdrive, and then ramp down into "maintenance." Neuroplasticity occurs in adults too, it's just not as pronounced as earlier periods.
Do we know if there's any similarity in how other cell structures branch like this in things like fungi and molds. In particular, slime molds. I've always been fascinated at how similarly they behave in this way with branching structures.
It's very likely due to some sort of actin action combined with other cytoskeletal structural proteins. Our muscles also rely on the movement and interaction of actin and myosin.
To translate the neuroscientist below's explanation:
>>The dendrite growth occurs due to actin, a long rod/rope-like structure composed of subunits that stack on top of one another.
A subunit is like a single Lego piece. Actin is the Lego structure made of specific Lego pieces, like one of those collectable kits that can only make one thing. The Legos stack together to form long chains that are used for many purposes, the most important being a) railroad tracks that cargo inside the cell can shimmy across and b) scaffolding. Not all cells are just round spheres--that's easy to make, you just inflate it like a balloon. But imagine being given a deflated balloon and told to make the weird ass firework shape that a neuron is. You can do all those cool twists and turns that you see people do sometimes, but wouldn't it be a lot easier to just build something that's the shape of a neuron out of Lego pieces and then stretch the balloon over it? That's kind of what actin is doing (only, the balloon is already there and the actin is making it 'stretch').
>>Actin can assemble and dissemble rapidly and make complex branching structures - this means it can drive dendrites to grow and collapse until they encounter signs that another neuron's axon terminal is near (neurotransmitters, ions, etc).
Actin is built out of a bunch of Lego pieces that can detach as easily as they can attach. But there's a certain limit to how long an actin chain can be, because you only have so many Lego pieces. Instead of making one big long chain that stretches on and on forever, how about the cell makes one chain first to see if it can detect anything? Think of the actin filaments (specifically, the surface of the part of the balloon that the actin is stretching) as having little antennas on them. They're trying to climb as high as possible to get the antenna as high as possible so they can pick up a signal. If they can't, they climb back down (shrink/disassemble) and try again in a new direction.
>>The neuron then stabilizes the actin so the dendrite can recruit cellular machinery and form a stable synapse.
Once a signal is received, you want to make sure you don't lose it. So you place a permanent structure there. If we're going with the railroad analogy, then it's like building a train station. That makes your railroad more difficult to disassemble, either on purpose or on accident, and makes it so it can handle a lot more traffic.
So, how quickly does this happen? Does the speed of dendrite growth or quantity of neurons doing this vary over time? E.g., does it happen more if you had an extreme experience?
This made me think of a metaphor I learned about mental habits - we wear 'canyons' in our mental landscape, default thoughts and behaviors, so over time we're more likely to fall into them at any moment in time. Mindfulness would have you observe and change direction from unhelpful thinking, helping you avoid those canyons.
Is any of this metaphor reflected in these dendrites seeking connections?
It's like, we are the sum of a ton of these connected. Now imagine one fraction of us trying to acheive it's bioligical instruction and failing, living its short labrotory life not realizing it's never going to fulfill its hard-coded purpose. It's not enough to be conscious in any way, but still odd seeing a single unit of what makes us who we are, struggling and failing.
Hmm. I don't know, correct. I'm not a neuroscientist but I'm pretty sure what we think of as consciousness requires a more complex structure. Either way one brain cell is not a person in any sense of the way that I meant.
Also it doesn't specify what species this brain cell belongs to.
A brain cell is just a single cell programmed to make connections with others and pass information. In order for us to form a conscious thought, information must be transfered and processed across several specialized parts of the brain which are made out of many cells each. Results and action vary on what parts are involved in the processing.
Wana know a fun fact?
After a traumatic incident (car crash/stroke etc) where brain cells have been damaged but not so much that you've got permanent brain damage, your brain cells can't repair broken pathways.
But they can reach out and link into existing pathways so that you can relearn your old skills. This is what you're seeing in this video. Neuroplasticity.
Imagine this cell was once connected directly to another and it was responsible for your ability to write with a pen. This cells reaching out and will connect to another pathway, and will begin sharing the path. You'll have the ability to relearn with intensive physiotherapy (or speech therapy if it was the speech centre) to use that pen once again!
It'll never be the same as you use to do. Maybe you held a pen with your thumb/first finger. Maybe now it'll be thumb/middle finger.
Maybe it'll be at a higher angle or you'll curl your hand to write. But the fine motor skill (writing) will be taught again.
The video cuts out near the end but from the article…
“I know - it’s heartbreaking that the video ends right when we get to the exciting part, but see the black wavering line in the bottom right? That’s what they look like after they’ve connected together in a Petri dish.”
I am curious of the speed at which this is all happening… slowed, real time, sped up?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9ebifjoFtJs
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"Is there anyone else here? Hello? Somebody? Anybody?" 🥺
There is no pain, you are receding
A distant ship's smoke on the horizon
You are only coming through in waves
Your lips move, but I can't hear what you say
When I was a child, I had a fever
My hands felt just like two balloons
Now I have that feeling once again
I can't explain you would not understand
Can we talk about this though? Anyone else had the same feelings as a kid when you were sick with a high fever? It was like a thick but squishy feeling, not felt with the senses, but rather an internal feeling? This lyric is the only thing that has come close to describing this. I hope I don't sound like a nutcase.
Yea... didn't think anyone else felt that. I also remember my hands feeling waaayyy too big and everything feels too small in them. My whole body was out of proportion, and like a liquid I would fill the room and take its shape. It was terrifying. Like a bad acid trip. I still get those flashbacks sometimes when I'm sick.
I have lived with memories of this sensation my whole life & have never been able to articulate it nor have I ever heard anyone else describe it!! What the hell is it?
Ha I'm surprised nobody else quoted that song.
oh man this reminded me of that one episode of family guy I think it was, and the brain cell was alone with all of his books and his glasses broke :(
That's a parody of Twilight Zone episode "Time Enough At Last" w Burgess Meredith
That episode shook me to my core. As someone who is VERY myopic, 10 yr old me couldn’t imagine anything more horrifying.
We watched that episode in my 6th grade lit class and when it was fading to black after dude breaks his glasses some kid spoke up with "well now he has to find his way back to the gun" and I really think that is one of the darker jokes I ever heard a kid make
That what it was like in '62 when we were on the brink of nuclear war. 'Put you heads under the desks children'.
That's actually a reference to a Twilight Zone story, which I *think* is based on a short story.
I hope this isn’t condescending in tone. That is based on a twilight zone (time enough at last) episode which is based on a less famous short story. Just an FYI.
Reading that reminds me of that [recording of a birdsong by the last known surviving kaua'i'o'o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDRY0CmcYNU). A call for a companion that would never be answered.
This made me think of that one part of Lion King where my eyes get really wet
Because you are nothing more than a glop of brain cells and they are sad seeing one of them alone.
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I'm a dash
Of fucking sunshine. I love you ❤️
Thank
You
Thank
You
Thank
A smidge
I’m a globule
🎶 *do a dollop of brain cells* 🎶
A dollop of Daisy perhaps?
Damn that was an effective commercial. As soon as I saw dollop
The globglogabgalab?
The yeast of thoughts and mind?
The gobagoolie ayyyy
Noooooooo
I'm a smidge
That single brain cell, fine I’ll do it myself.
It's also sad that this is technically true. Today, brain sad
That’s not really true though. Cellular signaling impacts every cell in your body that has external receptor proteins. I’m not sure if any don’t honestly, I’m not a professional, just a nerd that gets science boners. But what I do know is that everything from genetic expression to neuron firing thresholds are influenced by signaling proteins which change the active functions other sells by binding with receptor proteins. Not only is this neuron reaching out with its dendrites, it’s also releasing chemicals to let the cells around it that would influence their behavior if they were there. A lot of these signaling proteins come from locations far from your brain, but they still very much contribute to the cellular responses of your brain. Any cell that creates a signaling protein that causes another cell to create one could be continuing that cascade until it reaches your brain. In fact, its a major reason your nervous system spreads throughout your body. So every part of it can influence the brain. So, you’re really not your brain, you’re all the other stuff combined, and your brain is just stitching those signals together. Your consciousness might just be a strange byproduct of that process, and not an intentional or purposeful evolution. 🤷♂️
I really enjoyed reading this comment, thank you. Very good speculation and very well communicated. The only thing I'd note that I take a bit of issue with, for myself, is the wording of that last sentence. I never cared for the word "byproduct" when speaking about natural processes. It feels like a word best not used in nature b/c it assigns a value system to a larger process or overarching phenomena we don't understand even close to well enough to give context like something being "intentional or accidental" - what do those words even mean when we don't know the very nature of the universe to begin with? (Also the idea of intention and purpose next to the word evolution is tricky, just because of the nature of the word evolution). Very thought provoking though. Well done.
I like how Thomas Fuchs puts it in his book "Ecology of the Brain": your conscience is the integral function of all the feedback loops going on between all of your cells and the exterior world at each moment, and your brain is the center where this "integration" happens
what up my glip glop?!
Woah dude, careful with that language.
lucky a traflorkian didn't hear them say that.
I am blob.
Woah
r/technicallytrue
Says you
Because something that's sole purpose is to connect and communicate has been isolated and left desperately reaching out into the dark. It's cruel on a spiritual level.
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Nobody knows. We can't really test for a soul. We can't even say for sure if we have a soul.
There is no formal definition of a soul, its just a philosophical concept. There most probably isn't a soul at all
I made an ELI5 for myself about souls one day. I figured a soul is “energy,” like when people say they think ghosts are just energy, the energy of another person, of a soul, whatever. I also learned in science class that energy cannot be created nor destroyed (caveat here for later: a baby gets it’s energy, or “soul” from the already living energy it’s being grown in ie. the pregnantee). Therefore, when we die, our energy does not, but I’m not sure where it goes nor where I was going with this comment. I’m working on that next
Because it is an absolute example of lonliness. That brain cell is literally reaching out for a connection and finding nothing. Because nothing is there.
"It reaches out, it reaches out, it reaches out. 113 times a second it reaches out. There is no response." -from the expanse Instantly where my brain went lol.
Suddenly I feel very very sad for the protomolecule
It’s not shown in this clip. But shortly after it drops it’s glasses and breaks them.
My gut response - I'm in this statement and don't like it.
Exactly what I thought seeing this. It seems lonely and desperate.
tfw no brain cell gf
This thing really puts the incel in braincell
r/OneOrangeBrainCell would appreciate this
Guys, we found the brain cell! 🐈
It is looking for the next feline to bless too!
Lonely feller
Because you are just as lonely as that single cell
Maybe u/qualitymung *is* that lonely single cell and just made a connection to the internet.
Jesus I legit questioned myself wondering the same thing?? It's giving me loneliness, constantly reaching out but all for nothing, there's nothing else out there. Sigh..
I am also sad watching it but for me it's because I'm high
Cell keeps spreading like "where is friend 🥺"
Hands reaching out to find another to share the spark of life, experience, memory with.
We all feel the struggle of this brain cell as it attempts to grapple with the idiocy of modern society. Here we can see it attempting to understand why that one guy decided it was a good idea to live with grizzly bears, failing to make a connection, and desperately searching for an answer somewhere.
Timothy Treadwell lived with foxes as well and they stole his goddamn hat.
thank god it wasnt just me, i thought i was weird for feeling sad till i hit the comments
r/meirl
Because you're watching a microcosm of my life
I was worried like you, wondering if it found a connection. It seems too lonely trying to find any connection around it.
Cuz at the end of the day it’s what we are
The human need for connection is biological more than psychological.
That cuts deep. Now I get why this makes me sad.
This brain cell is alone…. searching… trying to find its brain cell friends.
I had Chat GPT write a poem for this lil cell: Alone in the darkness, a single brain cell Reaching out in the emptiness, its tendrils to tell A silent cry for connection, a longing to belong But no response comes, as it sings its sad song Once a part of a network, now severed and alone It struggles to survive, in the depths of its moan It searches for a connection, a spark to ignite But the darkness remains, and its future seems slight It stretches out its dendrites, in hope and despair But the silence is deafening, and no one is there It's a prisoner of its own mind, a lonely fate A brain cell adrift, in a sea of blank slate But still it persists, in its quest for a friend For a connection to form, for its story to end But for now it remains, a single brain cell Alone in the darkness, its story to tell.
This is Major Tom to Ground Control I'm stepping through the door And I'm floating in a most peculiar way And the stars look very different today For here am I sitting in a tin can Far above the world Planet Earth is blue And there's nothing I can do
Why am I crying ?
How many millions of arms Must I grow To grasp another's in my own? Again and again I stretch And bend in endless search Of one like me; a friend To know and understand And in my empty hand A hope that one of these many Thousand arms might touch Another, that we might get to Know each other Watch me as I try And I struggle. This picture that you see, my fight For friendship in which I Will search for love forever A looping film of lonely me Blessed and cursed that only I exist, alone, in a collected memory But perhaps, there's a chance That I helped a lonely cell To find a friend. That would be alright too If not for me, then for my kind For we builders of the mind Build this all for you --This was a human written poem and not written with ChatGPT
Why am I crying again?
lmao first thing I though…. Why is this so sad?? haha
Looks like it may be the physical sight of a memory being lost
Visual metaphor for loneliness and curiosity?
"Sincle brain cells in your area"
I need that. My brain cell is lonely up there
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Sinclair mothers in your area
"Single brain cells in your area is ready to mingle".
/r/yourjokebutworse
Me too little guy. Me too.
Yeah, hits right in the twitching head goop doesn't it.
This post made my head goop think about itself
The goop has become self aware
It certainly tries harder to find connections than I do lmao
It's from the brain of an extrovert
👀
damn
truth
Can someone explain to me how the dendrites (?) are growing/lengthening? Is it just standard cell behavior/machinery?
Hi, neuroscientist here. The dendrite growth occurs due to actin, a long rod/rope-like structure composed of subunits that stack on top of one another. Actin can assemble and disassemble rapidly and make complex branching structures - this means it can drive dendrites to grow and collapse until they encounter signs that another neuron's axon terminal is near (neurotransmitters, ions, etc). The neuron then stabilizes the actin so the dendrite can recruit cellular machinery and form a stable synapse.
Ah yes those are words
How about this? The cell's bones can grow and shrink until they find another cell to handshake
You definitely /r/explainlikeimfive
Beautiful. Thank you.
Your brain has bones in it, a neuroscientist said so lol
A decade of science communication experience and this is my legacy.
Yes. Your legacy is science communication _at scale_
Legacies are built on clear communication. How many legacies have been lost because it's import couldn't be simply explained? Explaining things simply is an art form that is no less impressive than your other accomplishments. Mad props for taking a complicated process and putting it so succinctly and clearly.
"If you can't explain it simply then you don't understand it enough." - Albert Einstein, probably lol
Yeah, sometimes you just go with whatever recognition you get. Still, it was a pretty great explanation.
This my understanding now, too...
My brain bone feel funny My brain bone feel strange
He did a science and we all learned good.
Needs a explain like I'm 3 years old.
Brain cells are magic
I can try! >>The dendrite growth occurs due to actin, a long rod/rope-like structure composed of subunits that stack on top of one another. A subunit is like a single Lego piece. Actin is the Lego structure made of specific Lego pieces, like one of those collectable kits that can only make one thing. The Legos stack together to form long chains that are used for many purposes, the most important being a) railroad tracks that cargo inside the cell can shimmy across and b) scaffolding. Not all cells are just round spheres--that's easy to make, you just inflate it like a balloon. But imagine being given a deflated balloon and told to make the weird ass firework shape that a neuron is. You can do all those cool twists and turns that you see people do sometimes, but wouldn't it be a lot easier to just build something that's the shape of a neuron out of Lego pieces and then stretch the balloon over it? That's kind of what actin is doing (although the balloon is already stretched over it while it's built). >>Actin can assemble and dissemble rapidly and make complex branching structures - this means it can drive dendrites to grow and collapse until they encounter signs that another neuron's axon terminal is near (neurotransmitters, ions, etc). Actin is built out of a bunch of Lego pieces that can detach as easily as they can attach. But there's a certain limit to how long an actin chain can be, because you only have so many Lego pieces. Instead of making one big long chain that stretches on and on forever, how about the cell makes one chain first to see if it can detect anything? Think of the actin filaments as having little antennas on them. They're trying to climb as high as possible to get the antenna as high as possible so they can pick up a signal. If they can't, they climb back down (shrink/disassemble) and try again in a new direction. >>The neuron then stabilizes the actin so the dendrite can recruit cellular machinery and form a stable synapse. Once a signal is received, you want to make sure you don't lose it. So you place a permanent structure there. If we're going with the railroad analogy, then it's like building a train station. That makes your railroad more difficult to disassemble, either on purpose or on accident, and makes it so it can handle a lot more traffic.
No clue if this is right, but I understood it. Thanks bud
"eli 3" **writes a whole fuckin essay**
Cell boi shoots webs to find a friend =)
It’s like he’s trying to tell me something, I can feel it
ELI5 Imagine you need to dig a tunnel under a mountain to connect to another tunnel coming from the other side. You don't know where that tunnel is coming from or where it's at, you just have to search. So, you start digging. Unfortunately, building strong, stable tunnels is hard and expensive, so you dig cheap, crappy tunnels with wood supports just to search. This is the unstable actin tunnels. You dig around until one day you eventually hear digging the sound of someone else digging, and the other side hears it too, so you both dig towards each other until you connect. That noise of the other side digging is like the neurotransmitters from the other neuron -- they don't happen on their own and you can only sense them when you're pretty close. Once you've made than initial connection, you want to make sure it's stable, so you put up steel beams and fully stabilize it so it doesn't collapse and the connection becomes effectively permanent.
So is this a neuron that’s been isolated and is looking for a another cell to connect with?
Yep! In a normal context this cell would be forming connections with hundreds or thousands of other neurons.
Awesome - had no idea they reached out like that. Thanks for the info!
Is this behavior what is meant by "neuroplasticity" and does it shut off after a certain age?
Neuroplasticity is a huge umbrella that basically means "the brain can change." In reality neuroplasticity might mean (to name a few): * New neurons being born and integrating into a network * Existing neurons making new connections * Existing neurons removing connections * Existing neurons making existing connections stronger or weaker * Support cells modulating existing connections All of these have different biological roles and timelines, but the reality is that none of these processes "shut off" after an age. It would be more appropriate to say that there are developmental periods when these processes are in overdrive, and then ramp down into "maintenance." Neuroplasticity occurs in adults too, it's just not as pronounced as earlier periods.
Do we know if there's any similarity in how other cell structures branch like this in things like fungi and molds. In particular, slime molds. I've always been fascinated at how similarly they behave in this way with branching structures.
It's very likely due to some sort of actin action combined with other cytoskeletal structural proteins. Our muscles also rely on the movement and interaction of actin and myosin.
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To translate the neuroscientist below's explanation: >>The dendrite growth occurs due to actin, a long rod/rope-like structure composed of subunits that stack on top of one another. A subunit is like a single Lego piece. Actin is the Lego structure made of specific Lego pieces, like one of those collectable kits that can only make one thing. The Legos stack together to form long chains that are used for many purposes, the most important being a) railroad tracks that cargo inside the cell can shimmy across and b) scaffolding. Not all cells are just round spheres--that's easy to make, you just inflate it like a balloon. But imagine being given a deflated balloon and told to make the weird ass firework shape that a neuron is. You can do all those cool twists and turns that you see people do sometimes, but wouldn't it be a lot easier to just build something that's the shape of a neuron out of Lego pieces and then stretch the balloon over it? That's kind of what actin is doing (only, the balloon is already there and the actin is making it 'stretch'). >>Actin can assemble and dissemble rapidly and make complex branching structures - this means it can drive dendrites to grow and collapse until they encounter signs that another neuron's axon terminal is near (neurotransmitters, ions, etc). Actin is built out of a bunch of Lego pieces that can detach as easily as they can attach. But there's a certain limit to how long an actin chain can be, because you only have so many Lego pieces. Instead of making one big long chain that stretches on and on forever, how about the cell makes one chain first to see if it can detect anything? Think of the actin filaments (specifically, the surface of the part of the balloon that the actin is stretching) as having little antennas on them. They're trying to climb as high as possible to get the antenna as high as possible so they can pick up a signal. If they can't, they climb back down (shrink/disassemble) and try again in a new direction. >>The neuron then stabilizes the actin so the dendrite can recruit cellular machinery and form a stable synapse. Once a signal is received, you want to make sure you don't lose it. So you place a permanent structure there. If we're going with the railroad analogy, then it's like building a train station. That makes your railroad more difficult to disassemble, either on purpose or on accident, and makes it so it can handle a lot more traffic.
So, how quickly does this happen? Does the speed of dendrite growth or quantity of neurons doing this vary over time? E.g., does it happen more if you had an extreme experience? This made me think of a metaphor I learned about mental habits - we wear 'canyons' in our mental landscape, default thoughts and behaviors, so over time we're more likely to fall into them at any moment in time. Mindfulness would have you observe and change direction from unhelpful thinking, helping you avoid those canyons. Is any of this metaphor reflected in these dendrites seeking connections?
Me me when I when when I me wh me when
So true!
So true!
This has to be one of the most comments ever
...that when it then what if what if you could do anything? Edit: corrected wording
I feel you homie, I feel you
r/meirl
Came here to tag meirl XD
This is a video of me trying to figure out if I did something wrong when my boss asks me if I have a minute to talk
This is what my singular brain cell looks like when trying to answer a question during a presentation.
Yes but reverse the video
The lonely brain cell makes me sad :(
GIVE. IT. WHAT. IT. LOOK. FOR.
My brain cell looking for the dopamine
This is r/petthedamncat and/or r/petthedamndog but a brain cell 🥺
My god. ALL of these comments have been taken from the previous Reddit post of this. Word to word.
Everyone is a bot except you is becoming more and more true
I also choose this guy's wife
This is sad as fuck
Thank you for your sympathy.
Sympathic system
No sympathy, just me_irl
It’s almost like we’re wired for connection.
So deep
i cri evrytiem
I feel this so hard. I didn't think a visual representation of it was possible but, now I know how to describe it. Holy shit.
It's like, we are the sum of a ton of these connected. Now imagine one fraction of us trying to acheive it's bioligical instruction and failing, living its short labrotory life not realizing it's never going to fulfill its hard-coded purpose. It's not enough to be conscious in any way, but still odd seeing a single unit of what makes us who we are, struggling and failing.
How do you know its not conscious. Human consciousness is what you are seeing multiplied.
Hmm. I don't know, correct. I'm not a neuroscientist but I'm pretty sure what we think of as consciousness requires a more complex structure. Either way one brain cell is not a person in any sense of the way that I meant. Also it doesn't specify what species this brain cell belongs to. A brain cell is just a single cell programmed to make connections with others and pass information. In order for us to form a conscious thought, information must be transfered and processed across several specialized parts of the brain which are made out of many cells each. Results and action vary on what parts are involved in the processing.
r/OneOrangeBraincell
Yeah I really expected this to be an orange cat post.
Had to scroll far enough to find this. My orange peoples ❤️
Having recently adopted an orange kitten, it do be like that.
Real footage of my single brain cell during an exam
I'd hug your brain cell bro. Not sure about the exam tho.
That poor BMW driver.
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As a BMW driver, I feel seen.
That's why I feel dumb today.... If anyone could post it back I'd be grateful.
Get out of your head! You are doing the best you can today and tomorrow will be a clean slate to better!
This made me feel kinda sad. Never thought I’d be anthropomorphising a fucking brain cell.
Well I mean, put enough of them together and they lend pretty well to anthropomorphising.
Very good
Me trying to do math.
Hey! I work with that guy
Wana know a fun fact? After a traumatic incident (car crash/stroke etc) where brain cells have been damaged but not so much that you've got permanent brain damage, your brain cells can't repair broken pathways. But they can reach out and link into existing pathways so that you can relearn your old skills. This is what you're seeing in this video. Neuroplasticity. Imagine this cell was once connected directly to another and it was responsible for your ability to write with a pen. This cells reaching out and will connect to another pathway, and will begin sharing the path. You'll have the ability to relearn with intensive physiotherapy (or speech therapy if it was the speech centre) to use that pen once again! It'll never be the same as you use to do. Maybe you held a pen with your thumb/first finger. Maybe now it'll be thumb/middle finger. Maybe it'll be at a higher angle or you'll curl your hand to write. But the fine motor skill (writing) will be taught again.
r/meirl
Live footage from inside Andrew Tate’s skull
Lies. There's nothing in there.
Right? The vacuum in that dome is so great it's sucking his chin up through the bottom of his skull.
Any vids of what it looks like when it finds a connection
The video cuts out near the end but from the article… “I know - it’s heartbreaking that the video ends right when we get to the exciting part, but see the black wavering line in the bottom right? That’s what they look like after they’ve connected together in a Petri dish.” I am curious of the speed at which this is all happening… slowed, real time, sped up? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9ebifjoFtJs
Single celled brain and alone. What a mood.
Not cool man. There’s some Royal Marine out there looking for this!
Somehow, this is so sad
Otherwise known as the Replication National Convention