How do split-brain patients manage coordinated motor tasks? | AskScience Blog

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Monday, April 17, 2017

How do split-brain patients manage coordinated motor tasks?

How do split-brain patients manage coordinated motor tasks?


How do split-brain patients manage coordinated motor tasks?

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 07:47 AM PDT

I've read about how people, after a complete corpus callosotomy, can continue performing tasks requiring coordinated action from their right and left sides, e.g. running. Yet, if the brain hemispheres can not communicate directly, then in such cases, how does the coordination, or even the initiation of a gross action occur? Could it be like this:

Let's say there is a stimulus to run, e.g. a dinosaur comes chasing and both hemisphere fire, yet whichever side gets going first, the other side starts complementing it with a response that will keep the body balanced and running. E.g. If one side speeds up, the other either agrees and speeds up accordingly, or maybe it quarrels. But both sides know that it is in their interest to escape the velociraptor.

Essentially, I'd guess that the hemispheres' coordination is via the feedback that they receive from the already effectuated actions of their other half. Maybe this occurs on a subconscious level for both sides? Anyways, if true, I can't understand how it doesn't lead to massive problems, e.g. you see your Ex and one side want's to interact and the other wants to walk off. On the other hand, does the operation enable legitimate multitasking?

Finally, as a extra, is there any resolution for the debate on whether split brains constitute to 2 incomplete minds in 1 body? It seems reasonable to say, no? Sorry for the long post.

submitted by /u/infernotongue
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[physics] If a bullet is shot straight up in the air, how long does it hang motionless before returning? Can this length of time be measured?

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 06:49 PM PDT

What does the blast site look like after a nuclear detonation in the middle of a mountain?

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 04:53 PM PDT

North Korea has been testing nuclear devices in tunnels dug deep into a mountain. After a detonation, what does the blast site look like? Is it a large empty cavity? Is it a space filled with pulvarized rock?

Also, considering their nuclear devices are in the relatively low kiloton-range, what would a moderately sized megaton-range blast site look like?

submitted by /u/webby_mc_webberson
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Why do some places show a long-term decline in sea level and others a rise?

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 08:38 PM PDT

There's a sea level monitoring site in Alaska that shows a long-term decline in sea level.

I don't understand how this can happen? If there is a global sea level rise shouldn't everywhere be rising?

Genuinely curious. Thanks.

submitted by /u/outbackdude
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If a bullet is shot straight into the air; how fast/dangerous will it be when it comes back down ?

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 05:17 AM PDT

So if I'm not wrong with this, it would be as fast as it was when fired if there was no air resistance. How much slower will it generally be in reality ? Is it still deadly ? How much damage can it still cause ?

submitted by /u/plusko
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Why is iron attracted to a magnet, but chromium isn't?

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 08:09 AM PDT

(Below 38 degrees Celsius, at least.)

The explanation I've always gotten is, roughly, 'well, in chromium each atom pairs with another atom, cancelling out the magnetic field' (i.e. antiferromagnetism) - but this leaves a lot to be desired. Why do such pairings form in chromium but not in iron? And why do such pairings form in such a way to cancel out the magnetic field? On a large scale, it's energetically favorable for magnets to orient themselves such that their fields add - why is it any different on an atomic scale?

submitted by /u/PMOS-FTL
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Is there any validity to the claim that Epsom salts "Increase the relaxing effects of a warm bath after strenuous exertion"? If so, what is the Underlying mechanism for this effect?

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 07:43 AM PDT

This claim is printed in wide type on this box of ES we've got & I'm curious.

submitted by /u/Gargatua13013
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How much environmental impact does municipal solid waste have versus industrial waste?

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 09:32 PM PDT

I can't seem to find any estimates or data about tonnage or environmental impact on industrial waste, what reason is there for this? How does industrial waste compare to municipal waste?

submitted by /u/_nightwatchman_
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Why, in String Theory, would other dimensions be curled up for us not to perceive them ?

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 02:27 AM PDT

String Theory suggests that there are more than 3 spatial dimensions. The proposed reason we don't see those dimensions are that they are "curled up" (Brian Greene uses the example of a hose or a cable that, viewed from afar, is a straight line, but to an ant it's something that can be walked over and around). However, in the famous "Flatland" thought experiment, the flatlanders have no perception of the 3rd dimension. Extrapolating from this, I don't understand the requirement of those extra dimensions to be curled up for us not to perceive them. We wouldn't perceive them simply because we don't exist in them. So what am I missing ?

submitted by /u/glaurent
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Can units of temperature be defined in terms of mass, length, and time?

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 02:47 PM PDT

I have heard all fundamental quantities can be expressed as a measurement based on these 3 quantities (i.e. kilogram, metre, second). I was just wondering how exactly temperature can be represented in this way.

submitted by /u/CallMeDoc24
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Is there a clear neurological distinction between addiction and just really wanting something, or are they on the same spectrum?

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 12:25 PM PDT

Does that make sense?

And additionally, from a psychological point of view, are things like hunger and thirst similar to addictions, just beneficial rather than harmful?

submitted by /u/tjenatjenatjena
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Can someone please help me find the original paper about "Compton scattering"?

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 10:02 AM PDT

Can someone please help me find the original paper about "Compton scattering" by Arthur holly compton? I can't find it for some reason, i would love to have a link to it!

submitted by /u/idoogy
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Can someone explain to me the vapor carburetor?

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 06:11 PM PDT

How does a vapor carburetor make car that previously made 10mpg to 84mpg/us? (23.5215 to 2.80017 l/100km)

submitted by /u/Knightofjustice123
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How can a hole in superconductor contain magnetic flux?

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 09:27 AM PDT

A WoPhO problem from here reads as follows:

A rectangular superconducting plate of mass m has four dentical circular holes, one near each corner, see figure. Each hole carries a certain magnetic flux (all the four fluxes are equal and of the same polarity). The plate is put on a horizontal surface which is also in a superconducting state. The magnetic push between the plate and the surface compensates the weight of the plate when the width of the air gap beneath the plate is dd, which is much smaller than the distance between the plate's and holes' edges (denoted by Δ in figure); dd is also much smaller than the radii of the holes. When the plate levitates in such a way above the support, the frequency of its small vertical oscillations is v. Next, a load of mass M is put on the plate, so that the load lays on the plate, and the plate levitates above the support. What is the new frequency v' of small vertical oscillations (when the load and plate together oscillate up and down)?

Maybe my question is stupid, but... how can a hole in superconductor carry a magnetic flux? Can it be explained this way: the superconductor was cooled to its critical temperature in the presence of appropriate magnetic field and it somehow remembers that magnetic field?

submitted by /u/virnoy
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Concerning the triangle as a musical instrument, and the sound(s) it emits, would a square or a circle or any other shape sound any different?

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 10:32 AM PDT

What is it about the chemistry between humans/living creatures and mercury that can kill us?

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 06:31 PM PDT

Title says it all really. What is going on chemically with mercury that it has the designation of 'toxic'? I mean, even contact with the skin can allow it into the body right? Does it act like a neurotoxin, does it ionised the electrons in the cell or something crazy? I know that virtual all heavy metals can cause poisoning, but they're not complex concoctions, they're the pure molecular form, and they just sent to wreak massive damage throughout the body

submitted by /u/MegaJackUniverse
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How is protein synthesis regulated spatially?

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 09:58 PM PDT

Hey yall,

Sophomore Biology major here and I've been wondering exactly what function in the body makes it possible for certain cells in the body to produce proteins that other cells are unable to make. I know that there are tissue-specific promoters in our DNA, but I want to know how does a cell, for example, know that it is an beta islet cell in the pancreas and produce insulin versus an eye cell that makes alpha crystalline?

Thanks so much!

submitted by /u/efrs291
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How are proteins able to "know" what task to carry out?

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 09:34 PM PDT

I understand that they form into particular shapes to allow various molecules through like the Na, K channels & pumps found in the axons of neurons that structurally can only let a particular type of ion through with very selective permeability, but how are some able to swim to where they need to go and carry out tasks? It's beyond me.

submitted by /u/SingularianNeuralNet
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Why are so many hybrids sterile?

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 12:38 PM PDT

Shouldn't the problems with hybrids be spread over different sections of the genome? Rather than always in the genetic code for reproduction. Or different problems in different hybrid species rather than the same in all cases.

submitted by /u/Alaric_Silvertongue
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How does our body control how much blood flows into specific areas?

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 12:10 PM PDT

If I hold my hand up for a minute or two, it becomes pale. If I do a handstand for a minute, my head becomes red. If I stand on my feet however, everything seems fine and I don't get troubles with not having enough blood in the upper parts of my body. How do we control that?

submitted by /u/SpiceNut
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Can ingestion of phenylalanine in sodas lead to conversion into tyrosine?

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 02:56 PM PDT

So I was reading that tyrosine can be created by converting phenylalanine via phenylalanine hydroxylase. Can the phenylalanine used in diet sodas be used for this conversion? If someone drinks a lot of sodas including phenylalanine, could this lead to an excess of tyrosine?

submitted by /u/GabrielSH77
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