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The Neurologic Disorders in Film
Published in Eelco F. M. Wijdicks, Neurocinema—The Sequel, 2022
A reasonably good depiction of cataplexy is in the more recent film Ode to Joy (2019) , starring Martin Freeman and Morena Baccarin and directed by Jason Winer. The attacks show not only knee-buckling and falling to the ground but also absurdly rigid tumbling backward. Unconsciousness is inaccurate. Retaining consciousness distinguishes catalepsy from syncope. As expected, strong, happy emotions trigger catalepsy; these include exchanging vows, intimacy, and seeing babies and puppies. (The inventive movie tagline is “He has never been happier. And that is the problem.”) Other symptoms of cataplexy are not depicted, but that is an understandable choice for a comedy. The filmmaker may not know what to do with excessive daytime sleepiness, hallucinations both hypnagogic (before falling asleep) and hypnopompic (with awakening). There is often a feeling of weightlessness. In one hospital scene, with everyone laughing, Charlie, the patient, tells them “it’s not funny,” and this addition by the screenwriter is astute. Many bystanders find the disorder amusing, which is annoying and insensitive to those affected by the disease.
Physiology Related to Special Environments
Published in Peter Kam, Ian Power, Michael J. Cousins, Philip J. Siddal, Principles of Physiology for the Anaesthetist, 2020
Peter Kam, Ian Power, Michael J. Cousins, Philip J. Siddal
Various studies have revealed a number of physiological changes caused by zero gravity, or weightlessness. There is a redistribution of about 2 L of body fluids from the dependent parts of the body to the thorax, neck and head. This is because, under zero gravity, there is no hydrostatic effect on the veins in dependent limbs, and pooling of blood decreases. The neck veins are engorged, and the head may be bloated. The cardiac output increases at the onset of weightlessness. Antidiuretic hormone production is decreased and atrial natriuretic peptide increased by the increased venous pressure stretching the atrial and venular volume receptors. Consequently, diuresis occurs and this reduces the increased intrathoracic blood volume. The cardiac output and heart rate are reduced by reflex decreases in sympathetic activity and increased parasympathetic tone. Myocardial workload decreases, and some ventricular atrophy occurs as a result of this ‘deconditioning’. For an unknown reason, bone marrow activity ceases, and red and white cell counts fall.
Physiology of Equilibrium
Published in John C Watkinson, Raymond W Clarke, Christopher P Aldren, Doris-Eva Bamiou, Raymond W Clarke, Richard M Irving, Haytham Kubba, Shakeel R Saeed, Paediatrics, The Ear, Skull Base, 2018
Floris L. Wuyts, Leen K. Maes, An Boudewyns
The insular cortex is a part of the cerebral cortex folded deep within the lateral sulcus and is believed to have a main role in the processing of vestibular signals.48,49 Moreover, a predominant role of the right hemisphere in the cortical processing of vestibular afferents has also been proven in the meta-analysis by zu Eulenburg et al. 47 More specifically, zu Eulenburg et al. suggest that operculum parietale 2, a histological defined part of the human parietal operculum in the right hemisphere, is the core region of the human vestibular cortex and possibly processes only vestibular information instead of multisensory input. Recently, changes in the vestibular cortex have been shown in an astronaut returning from space.50 Space is a unique lab to investigate the effect of unusual physiological stimuli on the human body such as weightlessness. These preliminary findings corroborate the concept of neuroplasticity and may guide further research to find possible causes in the brain of vestibular disorders such as visual vestibular mismatch among others. Until recently, many vestibular dysfunctions were traditionally attributed to peripheral vestibular lesions, but the brain will become more and more important in vestibular physiology.
The development path of the medical profession in China’s engineering universities from the perspective of the ‘four new’ disciplines
Published in Annals of Medicine, 2022
Li Yan, Huijing Hu, Yu Zheng, Yin Zhou, Le Li
Taking the fields of aeronautics, aerospace, and navigation as an example, the medical profession should study and attempt to solve various medical problems that arise in the special environments of aviation, aerospace, navigation, and underwater exploration to ensure the safety, health, comfort, and working ability of operators and professionals in these environments [18]. The changes in cardiovascular function and circulatory system regulation caused by space flight directly affect the health and work performance of astronauts, with weightlessness being the most important environmental factor [19]. At present, researchers have some experience with the physiological changes and adaptation patterns of the human body during short-term aerospace flight, but their understanding of the patterns and characteristics of cardiovascular changes caused by long-term weightlessness and the mechanisms underlying the related physiological effects is not comprehensive, and the corresponding cardiovascular protection measures still need to be improved [20]. Clarifying and solving these problems is an urgent need for China’s manned spaceflight strategy.
Current knowledge about the impact of microgravity on the proteome
Published in Expert Review of Proteomics, 2019
Sebastian M. Strauch, Daniela Grimm, Thomas J. Corydon, Marcus Krüger, Johann Bauer, Michael Lebert, Petra Wise, Manfred Infanger, Peter Richter
Spaceflights cause several adverse consequences, particularly weightlessness, when humans stay in space for long periods of time. The development of preventive measures requires a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying adaptation of cardiac cells to µg. Feger et al. found that cardiomyocytes may respond to µg in three ways. First, cells upregulate mitochondrial proteins to preserve energy production what promotes short-term survival. Second, a disruption of protein translation at the rough endoplasmic reticulum decreases the levels of specific ribosomal proteins leading to a disruption of protein translation and overall protein. This, finally, may contribute to the development of cardiac atrophy. Third, their data suggest that µg triggers protein misfolding in cardiomyocytes [86].
Neuro-Ophthalmic Literature Review
Published in Neuro-Ophthalmology, 2020
David A. Bellows, Noel C.Y. Chan, John J. Chen, Hui-Chen Cheng, Peter W MacIntosh, Jenny A. Nij Bijvank, Michael S. Vaphiades
Optic disc oedema is known to develop in astronauts during long-duration spaceflight. The authors aimed to investigate whether a ground-based analogue of weightlessness can reproduce critical features of spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome. They enrolled 11 healthy participants and 20 astronauts to study their peripapillary total retinal thickness and peripapillary choroid thickness quantified from optical coherence tomography (OCT) images. The OCT were recorded before, during, and after 30 days of strict 6-degree head-down tilt bed rest for healthy individuals, and before and during approximately 30 days of spaceflight for astronauts. They found that peripapillary total retinal thickness increased more among 11 individuals exposed to bed rest than among 20 astronauts (mean difference between groups of 37 μm, p = .005). Conversely, choroid thickness did not increase among the bed-rest group but increased significantly among the astronauts (mean difference between groups of 27 μm, p < .001). They postulated that individuals exposed to 6-degree head-down tilt bed rest might experience a greater elevation in intracranial pressure compared to astronauts during spaceflight. In addition, preserved gravitational gradients during bed rest may explain the lack of increase in choroid thickness during bed rest, which differs from the lack of gravitational gradients during spaceflight. They expect this model will be assistive in the development of effective countermeasures that will protect the eyes of astronauts during future space missions, but there are some differences in the head-down tilt model compared with actual spaceflight.