Phantom pain is one of the areas examined in this week's Strange But True column.
Former Cleveland Browns quarterback Derek Anderson and Brett Favre chat in 2008 at Cleveland Browns Stadium.What's the flip side of the brain mutating pain by distracting a patient from nerve damage or other problems? For example, in a 2010 playoff game, Vikings quarterback Brett Favre seriously injured his ankle and hamstring. He was taken out of the game briefly but came back and played through the pain, which reclaimed his attention after the game's end.
The brain can create pain, as it does in people's experience of "phantom limb sensations," when it misinterprets the spontaneous central nervous system activity occurring in the absence of normal sensory input, explains David G. Myers in Psychology: Tenth Edition.
Just "as the dreamer may 'see' with eyes closed . . . so some seven in 10 amputees may feel pain or movement in nonexistent limbs. . . . An amputee may even try to step off a bed onto a phantom limb or to lift a cup with a phantom hand." As psychologist Robert Melzack surmises, "the brain comes prepared to anticipate 'that it will be getting information from a body that has limbs.' "
People with hearing loss may experience phantom sounds, ringing in the ears -- "tinnitus." Those who lose vision due to glaucoma, cataracts, diabetes may "experience phantom sights -- nonthreatening hallucinations." Some with nerve damage have had taste phantoms, "such as ice water seeming sickeningly sweet."
As Myers emphasizes: "We feel, see, hear, taste and smell with our brain, which can sense even without functioning senses."
How do you cure an anorexic eel?
When a 3-foot-long green moray eel that had long been kept in a barroom finally outgrew its tank, the bartender donated it to the New England Aquarium.
It soon settled in behind the rockwork of the tank, as eels often do, says veterinarian Beth Chittick Nolan in "The Eel and the Bartender," included in the book "The Rhino With Glue-on Shoes."
For several days, the eel stayed hidden and refused food -- not uncommon especially after a move -- but this behavior continued despite trying to entice it with live bait, etc. They even dimmed lights to simulate the previous barroom habitat. It refused to eat.
In desperation, they summoned the bartender for help. No sooner had he approached the tank than a small head appeared in the far corner, slowly pulled its lean body in front of the man and began undulating in a smooth rhythm. The bartender then hand-fed the eel a piece of fish. From that day, the eel did not refuse to eat.
"Their bond was even more elemental than the eel's hunger for food," Nolan marvels.
OK, all you "nymskulls," you're familiar with synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, acronyms and pseudonyms. But how about some of the lesser-known members of the "nym" family (Greek for "name," or "word") such as aptronyms, ananyms, allonyms and autonyms?
An "aptronym" is a name especially suited to one's profession, says Anu Garg in "The Dord, the Diglot and an Avocado or Two." Examples: astronaut Sally Ride; poet William Wordsworth; football player Jim Kiick; and tennis champion Margaret Court.
An "ananym" reverses letters of another name, such as talk-show hostess Oprah's production company Harpo, or Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel) penning many books under the name Theo LeSieg.
With an "allonym," another person's name is adopted as a pen name. For example, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison published "The Federalist Papers" -- essays about the U.S. Constitution -- under the name of the Roman official "Publius." Some literati believe Shakespeare's works were written by various people who used his allonym.
Of course, more regular folks can fall back on an "autonym," which just happens to be a person's real name.
Brothers Bill and Rich Sones are Cuyahoga County residents who research and write the Strange But True column. Send questions to strangetrue@cs.com.Source: http://www.cleveland.com/pdq/index.ssf/2012/05/brett_favre_phantom_pain_eels.html
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