The Weird and Wonderful World of Body Modifications

Body modification is the deliberate alteration of one's physical appearance. It is the wilful action that produces a permanent or semi-permanent modification to the body that is not normally found in nature. 

In the last 30 years, body modifications have experienced a resurgence and increase in popularity, spanning a wider range of social classes and including a long list of practices. From the simple haircut and earrings to the piercing of lips, nipples and genitals, from eyeball bleaching to subdermal horns or bars, or implantation of bio-polymers to augment the size of breast and buttocks; from anabolic steroid injections for bodybuilding, to extreme fasting- all are examples of altering one's appearance over time [1]. Importantly, many of these practices are no longer related to cultural traditions and have become commercialized and legitimized by society. They are especially influenced by media that dictates the current ideals of beauty and fashion. The perception of beauty and morphing the body to obtain it, however, has evolved over time; and with it have also evolved the techniques and tastes for how to modify the body [2].

A Brief History of Body Modifications

History abounds with examples of body modification. Culturally imposed body alterations have been performed for centuries with strong religious or socio-economical belief. The aristocratic class of Mayan civilisation used to compress the skulls of new born babies. Their cranium would be elongated into a shape believed to resemble that of the gods. In China, the feet of young girls were bound together tightly to reshape them into petit stubs to mimic a lotus flower. These women could hardly walk or work, and as such belonged to the privileged high-classes. Many other cultures, from Japan to the islands of Samoa, have empowered their sense of tribal community by tattooing their bodies and faces with symbols of affiliation. While many of these practices were supposed to enhance beauty or infuse power to the beholder, other alteration included the forceful branding, tattooing or scarification of slaves and war prisoners to symbolise their diminished identity or their status as objectified property [3].

While many of these practices have disappeared, other dehumanising and disfiguring operations, such as female genital mutilation, are still conducted to date. Although all the above examples can be considered forms of body modifications, today the term encompasses a different and largely less harmful set of transformative practices.

A collection of bodymodifications, source: Wikimedia Commons

What Drives Body Modification Today?

The definition of body modification today is based firstly on the concept of voluntarism. It is a practice undertaken by active subjects, often after long consideration of the results and side effects. A second distinction must also be made between voluntary body modification and that due to medical purposes. These include all operations that are required and performed by the medical establishment. Prosthetic fittings, gender reassignment and cosmetic surgery, therefore, while broadly falling under the idea of a physical modification, should not be considered as such [4].

Tattoos and piercings: a style statement

 

Body modification, according to the community that endorses and promotes it today, means piercing, tattooing and cutting - in its extreme forms. Simply piercing one's ears is considered ornamental rather than transformative. Bearers of body modifications sit through hours of excruciatingly painful procedures to obtain what they want. The reasons behind extensive remodelling of the self have been the subject of much investigation - and are, indeed, most fascinating to understand from a psychological point of view. A sense of belonging to subcultural or religious groups or a demonstration of resistance against society are strong motivations driving body alteration. However, the primary force driving the desire to modify some part of the body is embellishment. The transformation is seen as a work of art, a novel quality that renders one more beautiful. Through this piece, the bearer also establishes their identity. They are special and exhibit their distinctive and unique trait to prove it. Reshaping some part of the body may also involve an act of catharsis: either to forget something or to never forget it, and it becomes part of one´s personal narrative of life. The pain felt during the actual operations is another common reason to undergo transformative operations. Testing one's limit, enduring the hardness, feeling the endorphins rush: all generate a sense of pleasure and reward alongside the physical pain, and a potential sense of atonement. Finally, reckless impulsivity also often leads to body modification [5]. But would you not regret waking up with the Chinese symbol for ‘soup’ tattooed on your arm?

Body Modification of the Future?

Body modification today is enjoying a rise in popularity, promoted by tattoo conferences and websites dedicated exclusively to body alteration (for those adventurous, check out BME.com). But what could be the body modifications of the future? Some college students are experimenting with subdermal implants of magnets to perceive the energy fields of metal objects - a sort of sixth sense [6]. But while the power to feel when a mobile phone is charged might be more useful than attractive, will the body modification community accept other forms of aesthetic transformation or enhancement? For example those that could be moulded by genetic modification? It's a brave new world.

by Maria Lucia Pigazzini, PhD Student AG Kirstein

[1] Featherstone, Body and Society, 1999

[2] Adams, Sociologial Prespectives, 2009

[3] Rubin, Marks of civilization, 1988

[4] Lane, Sociology Compass, 2017

[5] Wohlrab et al., Body Image, 2007

[6] Wired Gear http://bit.ly/2soFHnh, 2006

A New Experience for the Adventurous Neuroscientist

In anticipation of Halloween, today's article is about an unusual type of meal.

When I heard that the MedNeuro newsletter was doing an issue on food and the brain, I naturally jumped at the chance to write an article. The excitement! The fun! The opportunity to explore a new frontier… in culinary arts. Yes, dear reader, this is an article all about cooking and eating brains.

But Are Brains Edible?
The short answer is “of course”! Like almost every other part of the body, the brain and spinal cord may be used from an animal to prepare various dishes. In fact, brain consumption in one form or another is practiced by groups worldwide. In Western Europe and North America, brain consumption is decreasing, as more desirable cuts of meat become more widespread and affordable. While you may not be able to find brain at the local Lidl or Netto, specialty butchers in Berlin will occasionally have calf brains for sale. Elsewhere in the world, brain still forms an important part of a traditional diet. For example, in Mexico, one can sometimes find “tacos de sesos”, while in parts of Indonesia, “gulai otak” (beef brain curry) is very popular.

Photo Giddy, "Brain Candy"

But Are Brains Safe to Eat?
In addition to changing demand for more “user-friendly” types of meat, brain consumption has decreased to concerns about its safety. Most readers are probably familiar with the string of deaths linked to Mad Cow (aka Creutzfeld-Jakob) Disease in the mid-1990s. This condition is still poorly understood, but is believed to stem from proliferation of prions in the brains and spinal cords of cattle that were fed remnants of other animals who died of the disease [1]. Humans who also ate meat from these animals became ill with neurological symptoms, and then swiftly died of generalized brain atrophy. Since the time of the first outbreak, most governments have taken aggressive steps to curtail the use of cattle byproducts as livestock feed, but cases still occasionally pop up every few years.

Consider yourself warned

 By and large, consumption of brain in Europe and North America should be relatively safe.
Another question of brain safety is worth mentioning, though is quite unlikely to apply to most would-be brain consumers: In the 1950s, a strange neurological disease was first noticed among the Fore region of Papua New Guinea. Eventually, the disease later christened “Kuru” was traced to practices of mortuary cannibalism, where family members of a recently deceased person would consume their remains in a gesture of respect. It was later determined to be another form of prion spongiform encephalopathy, much like Creutzfeld-Jakob [1]. These days, outbreaks are much more rare, but due to a long incubation period (2-20 years), cases still pop up [2]. So in case you are considering trying out human brain, consider yourself warned…

But Are They Good for You?
Ironically, brains are probably most dangerous in terms of their nutritional content. As any good neuroscientist knows, a good deal of the brain is formed by fatty myelin-covered axons. Thus, with small differences across species and methods of brain preparation, brain is extremely high in fat and cholesterol! For example, a serving of “pork brains in milk gravy” contains an estimated 1170% of daily-recommended cholesterol intake [3]! On the other hand, brains are also rich in omega fatty acids such as DHA [4]. All of this really takes “brain food” (see"The ABCs of Brain Foods - How to Eat Smart") to a whole new level.

Brain is extremely high in fat

But Are They Tasty?
The most important question of all! Although I’ve eaten some pretty “interesting” dishes in my life, I can’t say that I’ve ever (knowingly) tried brain. I’m a vegetarian, but I’m also quite curious. Hmmm… Perhaps the best thing to do is leave this here for exploratory purposes:

Swabian Brain Soup (Schwaebische Hirnsuppe)

  (adapted from http://eatsmarter.de/rezepte/schwaebische-hirnsuppe)

Please note: The editors of the MedNeuro newsletter hold no responsibility for the safety, nutritional value, or tastiness of the following recipe suggestion!

Ingredients:

• 1 onion
• 2 tbs butter
• 2 tbs flour
• 750 ml water or beef stock
• 1 tsp salt
• 0.5 tsp grated nutmeg
• 125 ml milk or cream
• 2 tbs chopped parsley or chives
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 veal brain

Instructions:

1. Rinse brain with hot water to remove blood and other connective tissue. Chop into small cubes.
2. Peel and chop the onion. Saute with butter until golden-brown in a large pot and stir in flour. Pour in water/stock and simmer for 40 minutes. Add salt, nutmeg, and brain, and simmer for a further 10 minutes.
3. Finally, add milk/cream, parsley/chives, and stir in the egg yolk. Serve soup hot with crusty bread.

Guten Appetit, and let us know how it goes!

[1] Wadsworth et al, PNAS, 2008
[2] Collinge et al, Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 2008
[3] http://bit.ly/1g5qTPN
[4] http://bit.ly/1CVhbcw

by Constance Holman, PhD student AG Schmitz

This article originally appeared 2015 in CNS Volume 8, Issue 3, Food for Thought. 

The Dancing Brain

Neural Correlates of Dance

Dancing is most definitely my favorite form of art. It is actually one of the few forms that can be placed in both the categories of arts and sports (maybe we should start calling it a ‘spart’!). Dancing beautifully integrates complex motor learning and memory, rhythmic musical synchronization, and creative emotional expression. As a neuroscientist and a dancer, I feel compelled to summarize here the links between these two fascinating fields and some interesting features of the dancing brain.

Dance Performance

Not surprisingly, the brain areas that are activated during dancing are mostly the ones involved in the planning and execution of movements (motor cortex and basal ganglia), in receiving feedback from the muscles (somatosensory cortex), and in the fine tuning and coordination of movements (cerebellum) [1].

Brown and colleagues looked more deeply into which brain areas are activated by particular aspects of dancing. They placed amateur tango dancers in a positron emission tomography scanner while performing leg movements on a designed apparatus. The putamen (part of the basal ganglia) was strongly activated only when the subject danced to regular, metric music, but not to an irregular rhythm. The cerebellum was implicated in matching dance steps to music and the superior parietal lobule was engaged in spatial guidance of leg motions [2].These findings suggest that different areas of the central nervous system are responsible for the control of specific and distinct tasks in dancing.

Source: Chris Gash

Dance Observation

Other neuroimaging studies observed the brain's response to visual observation of dance. Dancers trained in either ballet or capoeira (a Brazilian martial art) and non-dancers watched videos of both these styles while their brains were scanned. All subjects showed activation of brain areas involved in action observation and simulation networks – the “mirror neuron system”.

However, activation of these areas was stronger in dance experts and even stronger when the dancers saw movements they had been trained to perform, compared to watching movements they were unfamiliar with. There was no difference in the brain activity of non-dancers while watching ballet or capoeira [3]. This shows that even passive observation of dance activates movement areas in the brain as if you were moving yourself, and that dancers have an enhanced neural representation of their personal motor repertoire.

With Practice Comes Adaptation

An interesting study showed that the brain of ballet dancers adapts to prevent them from feeling dizzy. Brain scans revealed that the vestibular cerebellum, an area responsible for the perception of dizziness, is smaller in dancers compared to non-dancers [4]. This demonstrates that even the vestibular response is sensitive to training. Also, skilled dancers depend less on vision for postural control compared to non-dancers. Instead, they rely on their highly accurate proprioception – the sense of awareness of body parts’ positions in space [5].

DANCING INCREASES NEURAL CONNECTIVITY

Professional dancers are also trained with motor techniques to perform highly demanding moves in apparently effortless ways. An electromyography study showed that, when performing swinging leg movements, skilled ballet dancers selectively applied minimal muscle tension at the very same position where the sway force was maximal. This means that they learn to optimize motor function and consequently reduce energy costs in terms of force and muscle contraction [6].

Benefits of Dancing

Several studies have observed better balance, posture, proprioception, and cardio-respiratory resistance in dancers compared to non-dancers. But don’t think you would have to become a professional to profit from these benefits. Even short episodes of breakdance training increase balance skills in young amateurs [7].

Dance practice has the potential to improve not only motor, but also cognitive skills. An impressive 21-year study showed that frequent dancing is highly protective against dementias, such as Alzheimer’s disease, lowering the risk as much as 76%! It was also found to be much more beneficial than doing crossword puzzles (47% reduced risk), reading (35%) or swimming or bicycling (0% – no difference at all) [8].

DANCERS RELY ON PROPRIOCEPTION MORE THAN VISION

Neuroplasticity is likely responsible for this effect. When we dance, we enrich our brain, making split-second decisions and creating new synapses and neural paths that become especially valuable as we age.

Dancing is not only physically demanding, it is cognitively demanding as well. So when you dance, you are exercising both your body and your brain. Regular dance training makes you improve innumerable motor and cognitive skills, contributes to brain plasticity, and enhances social interaction. And, all health benefits aside, dancing is simply fun! How much better can it possibly get?

[1] Hänggi et al, Hum Brain Mapp, 2010
[2] Brown et al, Cereb Cortex, 2006
[3] Calvo-Merino et al, Cereb Cortex, 2005
[4] Nigmatullina et al, Cereb Cortex, 2013
[5] Golomer and Dupui, Int J Neurosci, 2000
[6] Lepelley et al, Exp Brain Res, 2006
[7] Ricotti and Ravaschio, Gait Posture, 2011
[8] Verghese et al, N Engl J Med, 2003

by Mariana Cerdeira, PhD Student AG Harms

This article originally appeared 2015 in CNS Volume 8, Issue 2, Art. And the Brain.

Music and the Rhythmic Brain

Music is universal and has no boundaries. But why has music evolved when there seems to be no real purpose for it like survival or reproduction? 

via pixabay

Researchers believe that music is important to human evolution in various ways: by helping babies to learn a language, aiding in the transfer of knowledge or history over generations and social bonding. Music is much more complex than just sound - it is organized, melodious and rhythmic.

Physics of Music
Music comprises fundamental elements such as pitch, tempo, timbre, key and intensity. Being a singer, I was interested in knowing the differences in the structure of distinct kinds of music and how our brains perceive them. Doing some reading, I found out that there are two major musical tunings: 'just intonation' and 'equal temperament'.

WITHOUT MUSIC, LIFE WOULD BE A MISTAKE.

- FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE -

 
Western classical and most modern music are based on a 12-tone equal temperament system. In this musical tuning, 12 equal intervals divide the octave, with the same frequency ratio between adjacent notes. Just intonation is a musical tuning in which the octave consists of seven frequency notes which are members of harmonic series and are related by ratios of whole numbers. Indian classical music, bagpipes and barbershop quartets are based on the just intonation system [1].

Perception of Music
Have you ever wondered what is going on in your brain while you are listening to Beethoven’s 9th symphony? How are you able to disentangle the complex sounds of different instruments? And why do you feel this indescribable bliss while listening to music? How exactly do our brains process music?
Processing of music activates different prefrontal, temporal and cerebellar brain regions. Music or sound are basically the vibration of air molecules which traverses the ear drum, through the middle ear to the inner ear, where the frequency and intensity of sound waves are encoded as electrical signals by hair cells. These signals are relayed to the auditory brainstem and midbrain, where low-level processing such as interaural level and time differences occurs. This information about sound is then sent to the thalamus and to the primary auditory cortex.

UNCERTAINTY MAKES MUSIC BEAUTIFUL

Feature detection – such as pitch, rhythm and other higher-order processing – happens in the primary auditory cortex. Neurons of the auditory cortex can respond to a range of sound frequencies. These are tonotopically organized; meaning frequencies ranging from low to high are represented in the brain by neighboring regions [2]. During the perception of music, multiple sounds are processed simultaneously. The auditory system forms links between the sounds based on the fundamentals such as pitch, timing, harmony as well as the spatial location of the sound [3]. In addition, processing lyrics requires the brain's language centers.

Melody and Rhythm Processing
Studies implicate the secondary auditory cortex in melody processing, which involves comparing an anomaly or out-of-tune pitch in a melody with previous music knowledge [4]. On the other hand, the motor areas, parietal cortex, frontal cortex and cerebellum are involved in rhythm processing. A study has shown that the electrical activity in the brain occurs in phase with the beats of the rhythm [5]. An intriguing aspect of music processing is the activation of the visual cortex. Research shows that music evokes visual imagery in the listener’s mind according to the variation in the music [6].
Listening to music also activates the pleasure center in the brain (nucleus accumbens), which evokes the strong “blissful, intoxicating” feeling [7]. In Indian classical music, a ‘raga’, or series of four or more notes (in harmonic series), is known to evoke specific emotions inside the mind of the listener [8]. Our brains are also constantly predicting upcoming sequences in a song based on patterns and beats, creating a sense of anticipation. But scientists have found out that some aspect of surprise or uncertainty in music also increases its aesthetic beauty [9]!

LISTENING TO MUSIC INDUCES VISUAL IMAGERY

Music production requires complex motor control movements such as timing (as in rhythm), sequencing and spatial organization of motor movements (as in playing the notes on musical instruments). This involves various brain regions such as the primary motor cortex and the supplementary motor area, cerebellum, and basal ganglia [10].  An interesting study showed that, while playing a duet, brain waves become synchronized between the two guitarists [11]. Music indeed has an immense power on our minds that transcends our understanding!

[1] http://bit.ly/1QUrLEy
[2] Lauter et al, Hear Res, 1985
[3] Deutsch, Front Biosci, 2007
[4] Brattico et al, Brain Res, 2006
[5] Snyder and Large, Brain Res Cogn Brain Res, 2005
[6] Zatorre and Helpern, Neuron, 2005
[7] Salimpoor et al, Nat Neurosci, 2011
[8] http://bit.ly/1Q87JFf
[9] http://bit.ly/1JORqwv
[10] Zatorre et al, Nat Rev Neurosci, 2007.
[11] Sänger et al, Front Hum Neurosci, 2012

by Aarti Swaminathan, PhD Student AG Schmitz
This article originally appeared 2015 in CNS Volume 8, Issue 2, Art. And the Brain.