Contact Juggling and Brain Physiology

The following is a charming example of the cerebral coordination that takes place when a complex set of movements occurs in the form of a synchronized symphony within the brain. This particular example is a man performing what is known as “contact juggling”

Planning for these rehearsed and learned movements occurs in the postfrontal or pre-Rolandic areas of the brain where the rehearsed and learned movements are stored.

Execution of these movements emanates for its final execution, from the motor cortex, also called “Rolandic area of the brain cortex”.



 Courtesy of
Credits: lindzeetryo
Music by: Yan Tiersen
Source: trueactivist.com

During the process of learning complex coordinated motions with trial an error, require storage in the memory. This memory is mechanical and sequential memory, which is stored in the parietal lobe and filtered and perhaps corrected by the cerebellum.

Even the act of hesitation in physiology is a complex process.

When there is hesitation to execute a motion, there is an intervention of the visual pathways, as well as the visual cortex of the brain, located in the medial (internal) portion of the back of the brain on both sides.

This connects to the planning area of the parietal cortex (situated behind the Rolandic or motor area) thus, inhibiting a possible erroneous, or a perilous movement,

(function of the planning area of the parietal lobe).

Fine tuned coordination between sight and the cerebellum block the descending stimulus to the thalamus. For example when you are going to grab something, if  you were to  see a snake …. Or that the object you are trying to grab is red hot…and you suspect or feel such temperature in forehand.

                                              Courtesy of Wikipedia 

These delicate and coordinated movements can be seen in the functional MRI of trained subjects. Functional MRI, is still equivocal when it comes to visualizing the intra-cerebellar, connections and functions. Conversely, the pathways of the brain (as opposed to the cerebellum) itself have been thoroughly analyzed.

 It is able to visualize vascular changes that occur in different parts of the brain as these portions increase in their function and consequently oxygen consumption, and vascular changes in blood supply. Another study that provides useful physiologic information is the PET (positron emission tomography). 

The cerebellum regulates the tone of the muscles, and its coordination to achieve “accurate” or perfect movements, by means of coordination, of the crude signals coming from the Thalamus above.

The neural pathways are still a mystery that is slowly unfolding

Evolutionarily, the outer layers of the cortex, in the cerebellum, are the latest to appear in the history of the “new parts” of such organ (neo-cerebellum).

Conclusion:

The topic of brain function is fascinating and still a fertile field of study and improvement. We are but scratching the surface of what is the function and potential of our brains.  Complex sets of motion such as the one seen in the Jugglers video are more mundane than we would guess. We use the same parts of the brain for functions, such as driving, cooking, walking and jogging.  The key to higher motor skills and coordination lies in consistent practice and repetition.

There are no limits.

*Positron emission scan begins by giving an IV of a marked isotope of the glucose (radioactive), which then is take up by cells in the brain that are functioning at the moment of study (active cells).  A special helmet worn by the patient that bears thousands of sodium iodine crystals that pick up the emission off positive electrons emitted by the crystal that captures the positive electron.Within the Sodium Iodine, 2 photons are produced that shoot in opposite directions and are visualized on the image reconstruction computer.

Guest Blogger

Rafael G. Magana Santos  M.D. FRCS (Ed). Neurosciences and Neurosurgery.