Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 8454 GoodLifeFamilyMag.com JULY | AUGUST 2016 goodHEALTH Our Amazing Brain CONSCIOUSNESS AND CONCUSSION by Ralph B. Lilly, M.D. | Contributor Of all the organs in the body, the brain is, to me, the most fascinating. It is so complex in some respects but in others so simple. Nestled within our skull, the brain is composed of billions of cells called neurons. Each one is organically wired through a complex array of thousands of connections to transmit electromagnetic impulses to other neurons. Together with the supporting cells and blood vessels, the brain contains all the electrolytes and chemicals necessary for survival of the entire nervous system. Those signals affect how we think, move and interact in our environment every day. What is Consciousness? Those electromagnetic wave forms in our brain produce the complex functions that we describe as “consciousness.” We learned as children about the five senses (smell, taste, vision, hearing and touch), which are components of the brain’s many responsibilities. In reality, there are other sensations, such as our ability to orient ourselves in space and three-dimensional perception. Our senses generate our emotions like fear, joy and sadness. Our responses are based on all the information we are continually taking in, and our brains have to make judgments and decide on actions to take 24 HOURS A DAY. So…the brain is the essential organ of consciousness. And, because we are all unique individuals, our behaviors are equally unique. The memories contained in our neural network are constantly in a state of change. It’s like electronic storage of all of our prior conscious experiences, our learning, and our sensory and motor experiences. All of these are transformed to become our individual responses to external stimuli. The way your brain takes in all that information and how it chooses to respond is individual to YOU. What is Concussion? Concussion is considered a transient alteration in these brain functions. Many in the medical community have chosen to use the term concussion as a replacement for the term “mild traumatic brain injury” because there is NO brain injury that should be considered “mild,” especially for the victim, family, friends, employers, and the community. The brain can suffer trauma in many ways, but the dynamics of the impact to the skull or of the brain slamming against the inside wall of the skull as it accelerates and decelerates cause the physical symptoms patients experience. The damage caused to the brain impacts the way the nervous system is able to function.