10 Body Functions You Never Knew the Reasons For
Our body does curious things, like yawn or hiccup just to name a few. But why does this
happen? After doing some research, I've compiled a list of 10 of the
most common-yet-odd things our body does with simple scientific
explanation of the “how” and “why”. These are the questions you've
always asked yourselves but never gotten an answer.
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Alcohol-Induced Blackouts:
If you ever indulged and consumed large amounts of alcohol, there's a good chance that you cannot recall some of the time while you were intoxicated. Studies show that alcohol can prevent the brain from transferring data from short-term to long-term memory. It interferes with your brain's receptors that transmit glutamate, a compound that carries signals between neurons. are in-charge of sending signals between parts of the brain. This causes some neurons to work, while others are blocked, effectively preventing different parts of your brain from communicating with each-other and you from remembering events that occur during that time. |
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The Appendix:
For years, doctors treated the appendix as a vestigial organ that is more harmful than useful. Appendices can become inflamed and rupture, posing a serious threat to our life. Doctors would perform unnecessary appendectomies on healthy appendixes for years, as a preventative measure. After
years of research, however, researchers finally discovered the reason
we still have the appendix – it provides a safe haven for the good
bacteria that live in our guts in times of severe sickness, keeping them
safe while the body fights the infection and allowing them to return to
the digestive system, boosting our immunity
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A Lump in your Throat:
Have you ever felt like there’s
something in your throat when you know full well that there isn’t
anything there? This is most common when we get bad news or when we’re
on the verge of crying. This reaction is part of the “Fight or Flight”
mechanism in humans when they are under severe stress or are in danger. Part
of the response includes hastened breathing. This is aided by your
vocal chords expanding to allow more air intake. When you then try to
swallow, your muscles effectively work against each-other, causing the
lumpy sensation.
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That shiver down your spine:
That shiver in the base of your
spine, often accompanied by goosebumps, can happen in different
situations. It often occurs while you’re experiencing a stressful
situation, when your brain releases large amounts of adrenaline into
your system, increasing your alertness and reaction time. Adrenaline
also causes hair to stand on end and your muscles to contract. This can
also happen when experiencing other intense emotions, such as love or
when you hear music you really like, as it too can cause the release of
adrenaline.
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Wrinkled Fingers/Toes:
You probably noticed that after
spending a prolonged time in a bath or a pool, your fingers and toes
become wrinkled. Scientists now believe they’ve solved this mystery;
Experiments showed that people with wrinkled fingers/toes have a better
grip of wet surfaces. It is
believed that this has helped our ancestors use tools better in watery
conditions. Their enhanced abilities improved their survival rate,
leading to the gene that causes finger-wrinkling to become as
wide-spread as it is today.
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Motion sickness: Many of us can suddenly feel sick when they’re in a vehicle in motion, sucg as cars, ships and airplanes. The feeling is usually that of dizziness and nausea, with possible vomiting. The reason for this is that your body senses one thing, while your eyes see something different – for example: you’re sitting in ship, and while it looks like the water is calm, your inner ear senses that the ship is rocking. This leads to a sense of imbalance within the inner ear which in turn lead to nausea, which, if not cured, can lead to vomiting. |
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Tickling: We’ve all been tickled sometime in our life. It can be fun, but most people don’t like it and would rather avoid it altogether. Recently, a researcher named Christine Harris offered the explanation that might surprise you: She claims it may be a way to teach us fighting skills. She points out that tickling is often performed by family members, causing the recipient to convulse and try to “escape” from the sensation quickly, and thus teaching the recipient how to escape from an attacker without causing physical or psychological harm. |
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Phantom Vibration Sensation:
Do you ever feel like your phone is
vibrating, pull it out only to discover that it isn’t? This is a known
medical condition, called “phantom vibration syndrome”. Currently, the
most likely explanation for this is that your brain is misinterpreting
signals it is getting from your body due to slight movement of the fabric of your clothes, believing it’s the phone.
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Yawning:
It’s so contagious, just looking at a
picture of a person (or animal) yawning, or even reading about it now,
may cause you to yawn. In 2014, an encompassing theory finally emerged,
explaining that the body yawns to cool down the brain. Yawning
draws in cold air and increases the circulation in the brain, removing
excess heat. It’s known that our brain heats up during stressful
situations and before exercise, as well as when we’re tired. And when
we’re bored – the increased circulation keeps the brain more alert.
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Hiccups:
Everyone goes through a bout of
hiccups during their life, and except in rare cases, this involuntary
reaction dissipates quite quickly. Scientists now believe that hiccups
evolved as a way for infants to expel air from their stomach, allowing them to burp themselves and effectively suckle milk. This theory is corroborated by the fact that only mammals hiccup.
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mardi 30 septembre 2014
10 Body Functions You Never Knew the Reasons For
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