"And of course, the brain is not responsible for any of the sensations at all. The correct view is that the seat and source of sensation is the region of the heart."

~Aristotle

So I had a MRI scan done for an experiment last month, and a few days ago they finally emailed me a few pictures!

It's pretty awesome, if I may say so myself. =D

After getting the imagines, I've been looking at them, identifying the different parts, etc, etc. And it's pretty cool how different parts look exactly like the diagrams that they use in textbooks. (i.e. the brain stem). Which is kind of stupid, I know, since they modeled the diagrams after actual brain parts, of course they'll look alike! Still, one of the small surprises, I guess...

Yeah, I need a life.

In Times of Great Stress.....

The solution? Stress balls!

"Stress-busting balls have been in use right from ancient civilization days for a wide range of medical uses. Apart from relieving stress, they were used to improve coordination, treat arthritis and rheumatism, improve the circulation of blood, and help you in focusing the mind during meditation. They also help in the treatment of carpal-tunnel syndrome."

Years, even as recently as months ago, I did not see the point of stress balls. Honestly, they seemed to hurt the hand more by squeezing it, rather than helping to relieve stress. Though, they do make great toys to chuck at people and what not.

So back in April/May, during IB exam time, and friend of mine and I, started carrying around our stress balls.

Her's was the world:

And mine, of a brain:

All throughout the exam period, I carried mine around, more as a humourous show piece, and a toy, than anything (if you think about it, the shape of our stress balls are quite ironic/funny/fitting). And occationally using them (and again, hand hurts from squeezing too much).

Then last week, something interesting happened. I was in class, the morning of my bio exam, trying to do some last minute cramming. While I was doing that, I noticed that I really wanted something to squeeze in my right hand. Alas, I did not bring my brain with me that day, but luckily my cell phone charm, is this rather large (for a cell) plushie, that is spherical/cube shaped.

(Which looks very much like this guy, sans the hole, and the cherries 2D on the side of this head)

So... is this stress ball using really usefull, or just a habit? Either way, it does provide some comfort at stressful times; especially with those of us who likes to fiddle with something when nervous (honestly, my scripts = dead by the end of a presentation). Either way, they come in very amusing shapes, and very fun to look at, at least.

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BD: Louis Armstrong, Barack Obama