Appreciate The Brain

It can be fun sometimes to just take a moment to think about the complexity of the human brain.

That can also makes it easier to understand why brain injuries are so serious.

Think about all the reflex actions our bodies perform and check out this from the Brain Injury Association of California:

Another useful reflex is the flexion withdrawl that occurs if your bare foot encounters a sharp object. Your leg is immediately lifted from the source of potential injury (flexion) but the opposite leg responds with increased extension in order to maintain your balance. The latter event is called the crossed extension reflex. These responses occure very rapidly and without your attention because they are built into systems of neurons located within the spinal cord itself.

It seems likely that the same systems of spinal neurons also participate in controlling the alternating action of the legs during normal walking. In fact, the basic patterns of muscle activation that produce coordinated walking can be generated in four-footed animals within the spinal cord itself. It seems likely that these spinal mechanisms, which evolved in primitive vertebrates, are probably still present in the human spinal cord.