emotions


Smell [Show Notes]

Smell Basics

Air goes in your nose and flows over the smell sensors.

Your nose and sinus cavities act as a resonating chamber for your voice.  That’s why you sound funny when you hold your nose or when your nose is stopped up from a cold or allergies.  This is important in talking and singing.

What makes something smell?

Volatile molecules evaporate at normal temperatures and pressures, so actually molecules of the thing are in the air and available to go in your nose.  Don’t think about this too hard….

The smelling sensors are on the roof of the nasal cavity –> olfactory receptors (olfactory is the fancy word for smelling).  The molecules fit into the receptors like a key in a key hole.  Our brain likes to categorize things, and so certain compounds have similar structures and get lumped together (“smells like eggs” but you know it’s not real eggs).

The olfactory receptors send the signals to the olfactory bulb (which is the area in the brain that translates all the smells and allows you to identify a smell).  It’s not a very long trip….

The olfactory bulb is a part of the limbic system (the emotion center).  this is why smell is more strongly connected to emotions and memory – even stronger than sight and sound.

Smell Tidbits

If you go to the perfume counter at a department stores, you’ll find that they all start smelling the same.  The perfume department will have coffee beans because it helps clean out the receptors.

Coffee-scented, caffeinated perfume <– free idea!!

Inflammation and mucus congestion blocked off the receptors.

No concrete evidence of why pregnant women get a “super smeller” during pregnancy.

One rogue molecule won’t make you smell something.

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Music Credits:  “Radio Martini” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/


Seems like only yesterday [Show Notes]

Temporal Lobe Basics

The temporal lobe is located on each side of your head by your ears.  It helps you process auditory input and identify sounds.

There is a special area called Wernicke’s area.  It helps identify the meaning behind speech and vocal tones.  This is different from Broca’s area, which is just able to identify some sounds as being words.

This is where your long-term memory lives, like facts and knowledge (declarative).

Emotionally charged memories are also held in the temporal lobe, but they have a special connection to the amygdala (which is part of the limbic system).  These memories have a high level of detail, and usually can’t be recalled without also recalling the emotion.  They also don’t have a sense of time.

Mind Games

Memories in the temporal lobe can lead to déjà vu.

The temporal lobe allows you to see a simple or incomplete image and fill in all sorts of details, whether it be the details of the image or a long train of connected memories.

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Sleep Hygiene

A Definition

Sleep Hygiene: how conducive your night time and bedtime habits are for restful sleep on a regular basis

Your body performs important processes while you sleep.

Risk of disease is increased when you don’t get enough sleep.  Heart disease, diabetes, and stroke, just to name a few.

4 Areas of Sleep Hygiene

  1. Environment
    • dark (all of our light-emitting toys are bad for our sleep) – your body makes serotonin stimulated by light, and then melatonin when the light is gone.
    • temperature – your body sleeps well when it’s cool, kind of like hibernation. Gotta get past REM sleep because REM sleep is not restful sleep
  2. Habits
    • no naps – recovery processes can be inefficient
    • exercise (vigorous exercise during the day; slow & calming exercise late at night)
    • getting adequate natural light – so your brain isn’t confused about which chemical it needs to make
    • consistent routine – your brain likes predictable patterns
  3. Consumption
    • stimulants – caffeine, nicotine
    • alcohol – initially makes you sleepy, but can disrupt sleep when the liver finishes processing it into sugar
    • large meals – can cause indigestion which can disrupt sleep
    • drastic dietary changes – fluctuating amounts of sugar in the blood stream or digestive discomfort
  4. Mindset
    • bed is for sleep – not a place for work or studying or eating
    • avoid emotional stress – positive (i.e. excitement) or negative (i.e. anger)

Tidbits

CPAP machine – helps in sleep apnea, which is wear the body doesn’t get enough oxygen during sleep.  Oxygen is needed for all sorts of processes.  If the body can’t get the oxygen, then it probably isn’t using the nutrients and energy sources available, and it can lead to feeling awful, even after a night of sleep.

Nothing good comes from a lack of sleep.

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Thrive with sleep [Show Notes]

3 Areas Thrive When You Sleep

1. Productivity 

  • Memory
  • Attention span
  • Creativity

2. Health

  • Decreased risk for cardiac disease
  • Inflammatory chemicals are cleansed out
  • Weight management – certain metabolism processes only happen while you’re sleeping
  • Tissues heal and rebuild
  • Reaction time improves

3. Emotions

  • Stress hormones are removed from your system
  • Gives your serotonin production a break, so you get a fresh supply in the morning (Serotonin is your happy chemical)

The Bottom Line

The cells in your brain (neurons) run on electricity (aka the flow of positive and negative charges).  Sleep allows the electricity to reset, so it’s really to flow quickly and efficiently the next morning.  You live longer when you get enough sleep.

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Music Credits:  “Radio Martini” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/