Discovering the place that holds the soul in the human brain?

Scientists claim to have found an "on - off" switch in the brain, which can lead people to enter or escape a conscious, alert state.

Dr. Mohamad Koubeissi and colleagues from George Washington University (USA) studied a patient with epilepsy and discovered electrical impulses of a certain brain area that made her "lethargic" during repetitive times. again. Ending the stimulation of the brain brought this female patient out of the plant state, and she did not have any recollection of what had just happened.

Mindfulness is a state of awareness of your surroundings. The lack of awareness is often associated with sleep. Even so, the mechanism of alertness, consciously, is still a bit mysterious, due to the exact reason why we sleep and the way in which the process is still a topic. argumentative.

Researchers have discovered the switch "turn on - off" the alert, conscious state of humans in the basal ganglia of the brain.(Photo: Corbis)

Therefore, new discoveries on switching on - off alertness can be extremely useful in certain areas of medicine.

According to New Scientist, Dr. Koubeissi's research team used a low-frequency deep brain stimulation method to try to help reduce seizures in patients. They discovered that this measure was 92% effective and did not harm the patient's memory.

However, when switching to high-frequency electrical impulses, the team found an interesting effect. As a result of stimulating the basal ganglia (claustrum) , an array of thin nerve cells located in the lower part of the center of the brain, of a 54-year-old female epileptic patient lost her consciousness.

This means, the patient does not respond to commands and just stares into space, while his breathing slows.

The basal ganglia (claustrum) is an array of thin nerve cells located in the lower part of the center of the brain.(Photo: Daily Mail)

When experts stop stimulating the basal ganglia, the patient regains consciousness and is completely unaware of what just happened. Within 2 days, each time the basal ganglia receives stimulation, the same thing happens again. Research results add authenticity, this is not the side effect of seizures.

Dr. Koubeissi likened the above effect to starting a car with the key. The discovery is expected to be used to help people trapped in a less alert state, such as a comatose, recovering a state of interest by stimulating the basal ganglia.

The researchers revealed, the next step, they will try to stimulate the brains of other patients to see what the basal ganglia plays in the alertness of the subject.