Pain is essential for survival, but it can also be an enormous burden. We explain the different types of pain and why a broken bone doesn’t really hurt.
Brain
Many people find it unbearable to watch another person suffer. Physical mishaps make them uncomfortable, physical violence in movies is almost unbearable. But what is really going on inside us when this happens?
Unpleasant sounds can cause physical reactions. In some cases, this is a remnant of human evolution. In other cases, it is a disorder.
Some people look and act like everyone else. But suddenly their limbs start twitching, they start screaming, they start shouting profanities – without ever meaning to. This is what it feels like to have Tourette Syndrome.
Some people can smell colors – or sense sounds and smells and thus experience the world in a completely different way, because they perceive much more than other people.
Many people regularly solve brain teasers to stay mentally young, as they are afraid of becoming forgetful in old age. But can they really improve our memory and even prevent dementia?
Just ten minutes of acute oxygen deficiency can cause irreparable damage to our brain. If it lasts longer, we become unconscious and fall into a coma.
What made Einstein’s brain different from other people’s? And why was the world’s most ingenious thinking organ stored in a mayonnaise jar?
Almost everyone has encountered déjà vu – the sudden feeling of having experienced a similar situation before. But where does it come from?
Pregnancy changes the brain – according to a study by the University of Barcelona. And what is even more astonishing is that the brain becomes smaller.
