Thursday, August 16, 2012

On a Tangent

Before I figured out the gluten thing, I did general research on topics that interested me.   Like dreaming and depression.   I was really interested in crying and tears for a while.   I once cried for three solid weeks, wanted to know how that was even possible. 

There isn't a lot of writing on the topic, but it is known that emotional tears contain lactate and other brain chemicals associated with metabolic stress (as opposed to chemically induced tears which don't).  Everyone always assumes that tears are caused by sadness.   But that's not true.   There are tears of happiness too.    The event they actually seem to have in common is: great amounts of neural reorganization.   A large change that needs to be assimilated quickly-   for example a death or other catastrophe, or even a big success. 
Anyhow, what I believe happens is the synapses start reorganizing and all kinds of chemicals are released in the process.   The astrocytes usually flush these metabolites on a constant basis but the overwhelming volume causes the fluid to overflow through the olfactory bulb and tear ducts.   (A lot of you write to me and tell me you are crying.   I think I overload your brains...)

I looked for a mechanism in the cerebral sinuses for a while but never could find one.
It looks like someone just found a candidate:

Previously Unknown Cleaning System in Brain: Newer Imaging Technique Brings 'Glymphatic System' to Light