Brain Killer

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Old 10-06-2006, 04:52 AM
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Brain Killer

Just read this article and found it interesting:

"There is a portion of man's brain that separates him from the rest of the animal world. It is the portion of the brain that is directly behind the forehead and is called the prefrontal lobe. It is highly refined and belongs to man alone. It is the seat of what we call the conscience. It is in the conscience that man decides his battles of right or wrong action.

It is this part of the brain that drugs and alcohol attack first. Over a period of time man desensitizes his feelings of guilt and anxiety that are necessary to balance his life and separate him from pure animal decisions. Thus, over a period of time, the addict actually performs a prefrontal labotomy on himself."

I don't know how factual this is, but it sounds legitimate to me. I'm going to research it some more.
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Old 10-06-2006, 05:28 AM
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That would make sense of many things. In my husbands case, when he's drunk, I would wager he is using about 1/8 of his deep posterior, inferior, part of the brain called the peanut part of the brain. Coincidentally, the re is a part fo the womans anatomy that is a defing characteristic to them. Sometimes 100% of their thinking comes from this part of the brain. It is called the ovary part of the brain. Ha!
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Old 10-06-2006, 05:47 AM
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I am wondering if there has been some real brain damage and/or if it's just a naturally occurring progession based on his genetic predisposition. Maybe the drugs and alcohol are just self medication for the insanity they inherited. Have I mentioned that my AH's mother is so crazy, she pulled a gun on her own daughter a couple of years ago. And my AH's father died of a heroin induced heart attack when AH was only 6 years old. The things we find out after we get married... If we knew them before hand, the world would not have a problem with over population. Seriously, if men and women got to know each other before their peanuts and ovaries got to know each other, who would breed?
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Old 10-06-2006, 09:17 AM
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Hi Grace,

So how did it come about that you gave your BF all your life savings to by a home?


All the crazy things we do uh?

Ngaire
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Old 10-06-2006, 10:09 AM
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Grace,
I don't know the source of your article but women do have a prefrontal lobe.
Much of what is read on the web is incorrect and not the result of valid research. I hope this helps.
cmc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prefrontal_lobe
here are a few paragraphs from the (above) link

The frontal lobe is an area in the brain of vertebrates. Located at the front of each cerebral hemisphere, frontal lobes are positioned in front of (anterior to) the parietal lobes. The temporal lobes are located beneath and behind the frontal lobes.

In the human brain, the precentral gyrus and the related cortical tissue that folds into the central sulcus comprise the primary motor cortex, which controls voluntary movements of specific body parts associated with areas of the gyrus.

The Frontal lobes have been found to play a part in impulse control, judgment, language, memory, motor function, problem solving, sexual behavior, socialization and spontaneity. The Frontal lobes assist in planning, coordinating, controlling and executing behavior. People that have damaged frontal lobes may experience problems with these aspects of cognitive function, being at times impulsive; impaired in their ability to plan and execute complex sequences of actions; perhaps persisting with one course of action or pattern of behavior when a change would be appropriate (perseveration).

The so-called executive functions of the frontal lobes involve the ability to recognize future consequences resulting from current actions, to choose between good and bad actions (or better and best), override and suppress unacceptable social responses, and determine similarities and differences between things or events.

The frontal lobes also play an important part in retaining longer term memories which are not task-based. These are often memories with associated emotions, derived from input from the brain's limbic system, and modified by the higher frontal lobe centers to generally fit socially acceptable norms (see executive functions above). The frontal lobes have rich neuronal input from both the alert centers in the brain-stem, and from the limbic regions.
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Old 10-06-2006, 10:21 AM
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hmmmm So the joke... I would rather a bottle in front of me then have a frontal lobotomy.

Maybe there is more to it then just being a reversed joke?

Being dropped on my head as a child makes sense now *LOL*
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Old 10-06-2006, 09:35 PM
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This really makes sense. I remember learning that alcoholics become concrete thinkers. They lose their ability to thing in the abstract. I have no idea if this is true but it would seem so. If you suspect that alcohol is efecting someones thinking, you can assess them to se if they are concrete thinkers or abstact thinkers. In other works, concrete thinkers take things literally. Abstract thinkers, think outside the box, they are better problem solvers. Ask these questions. What do these phrases mean? "A rolling stone gathers no moss". and "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones". An alcoholic would tend to say that a stone rolling around won't grow moss on it and If you throw stones around a glass house, you might break a window. An abstract thinker would say, It's important to stay busy and active and maybe people should have a good long look at themselves before they comment on others. This isn't earth shattering information but it does help to understand how an alcoholic sees things in a literal sense. I would imagine they wouldn't get hints well. I think this is why we roll our eyes at them most of them time with the things they say.
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Old 10-07-2006, 04:02 AM
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Thank you for the information from Wikipedia. The article was referring to man as the species, not the sex.

I know, without doing any research, that drugs and alcohol kill brain cells. After reading the Wikipedia article, I would think that it ALSO effects the prefrontal lobe, along with all the other areas of the brain.

I loved the joke about having a bottle in front of me rather that a frontal lobotomy. Good one!
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Old 10-07-2006, 04:32 AM
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Interesting. Makes me wonder about my FIL who is also an alcoholic. I don't trust him, I think he doesn't tell the truth and I think he embellishes things to his advantage. Leaves out certain details when talking to some to make his case sound better.
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Old 10-07-2006, 05:41 AM
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Hi,heard years ago,that drinking large amounts,and over the years,that the brain eventually ,starts to,shrink.Dont know how valid this information is.But it is also said that this is what wet-brain is about.A loved one i know died of wet-brain.
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Old 10-07-2006, 07:55 AM
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Originally Posted by Grace
Thank you for the information from Wikipedia. The article was referring to man as the species, not the sex.

I know, without doing any research, that drugs and alcohol kill brain cells. After reading the Wikipedia article, I would think that it ALSO effects the prefrontal lobe, along with all the other areas of the brain.

I loved the joke about having a bottle in front of me rather that a frontal lobotomy. Good one!

I have read that while alcohol effects/damages every part of the brain (in fact, the entire body) at a certain amount, the primary site is indeed on the prefrontal area. Thanks for this interesting and informative post!
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Old 10-07-2006, 08:22 AM
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As most of us know, alcohol doesn't really enhance any part of a man or woman anantomy, if you know what I mean.
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Old 10-07-2006, 08:37 AM
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It's always interesting and makes me even more curious when we share about these things.
This thread brings to my attention just how it does affect the brain... and helps me to understand a bit more about the subject.
One thing I hear alot about from counselors and in meetings is how emotional maturity is often halted at the age when abuse begins, but it also happens to a person when other trauma occurs. There is a higher percentage rate of alcoholism in people who began to drink at earlier ages.. from age 8 to 11. How much is a brain issue I sure don't know...but from what we have discussed it must be a huge part.
thanks to all who have shared... I love to hear what others are thinking.
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Old 10-07-2006, 10:48 AM
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Originally Posted by mallowcup
As most of us know, alcohol doesn't really enhance any part of a man or woman anantomy, if you know what I mean.
Oh you are so wrong.
The more I would drink, the more beautiful you will look (if that is possible) *wink*
And I can dance like Fred Astaire. I can sing like Perry Como. And I become so smart...yes I really do. I know everything and no one can tell me different.

*LOL*
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Old 10-07-2006, 01:03 PM
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You are so right Best! LOL
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Old 10-07-2006, 02:33 PM
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From my files...

http://www.alcohol-drug.com/neuropsych.htm
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