Got a question about your brain? Ask our guest neurologist, Dr. Cuanang
Dr. Joven Cuanang at his Cafe Scientifique talk on the brain and art at the Mind Museum.
Do you give a lot of thought to your brain? We do, but then we fractured our skull when we were 8 and had to have electroencephalography, which in the 70s involved sticking 32 needles into the nerve endings on our skull. A formative experience, no? Since then we’ve been wondering what’s in there, how it works, and whether we can cause people’s brains to explode like in Scanners.
On Friday we’re doing a podcast with our favorite neurologist and art lover, St. Luke’s Medical Director Dr. Joven Cuanang. We’re going to ask the expert the questions we’ve been hoarding over the years, like:
Does free will exist?
What causes migraines? What’s the best way to treat them?
You mentioned that the brain needs glucose and sleep. What other food is good for your brain?
Are we our brains? Are we our memories?
What happens when we sleep? Are we correct in assuming that writing gets done during sleep? (Our excuse for sleeping 8 or 9 hours a night.)
In Mike Alcazaren’s Puti, the protagonist loses the ability to perceive color. Can that really happen?
We read somewhere that humans use only a small percentage of their brain power during their lifetimes. How do we maximize the use of our brains?
Can a brain overheat and blow up like an overloaded electrical transformer?
What causes zombies? Can they be saved?
Do you believe in psychic powers? If clairvoyance is possible, where in the brain does it happen? Could Charles Xavier exist outside of comic books?
Our overenthusiastic parents had us take every IQ test in existence. How do you feel about IQ tests? Is it possible that a high IQ only means you’re good at taking tests?
We love Oliver Sacks’s essays about people who mistake their wives for hats or relive the same year over and over again or have phantom limbs. What are some of the strange neurological disorders you have encountered?
What part of the brain governs smiling, and is it bigger in Pinoys?
How can people prevent Alzheimer’s disease and dementia?
From reader and former student of Dr. Cuanang, Dr. Feelgood:
Did you really work with Dr. Adams, who wrote neurology’s bible, at Harvard?
Any hilarious/horrible stories from your internship and residency?
What current developments in Neuroscience research are you most hopeful about?
Post your questions in Comments and we’ll cover them in our podcast.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
September 30th, 2013 at 09:53
Among the five senses, which one is the best to use in memorizing and recalling information?
I heard from someone that the olfactory cells in the hollows of our sinuses has direct access to the memory center of our brains. Is this true? It amazes me that the rain, sinangag, hot chocolate and coffee, and even the “malansang isda” brings me back to the rice fields of my childhood, the time when the price of galunggong was 15 pesos a kilo. Siguro masyadong lang talaga ma-emote at cinematic with smell-surround ang pag recall ko.
Lately, I kept on forgetting transactions related to money, unsure if friends already paid for things they’ve bought from me in the last 5 minutes. I kept pestering them, asking for they payments. Do our brains have a love-hate relationship with money?
Is there a cure to paranoia? Can I just slap my sister like crazy ’till she snaps out of it? Being lukaret in a funny way is freedom.
I was usually diagnosed with tension headaches. Fortunately in the last five years, I no longer have such episodes. Ironically, they never occur in my most emoterang palaka mode. I know, “tension” in tension headache may not really be associated with emotions but more on the physiological side. Does it mean my being too emotional lately – I’ve lost count already because of my sister’s paranoia – has driven away the “tension” in my headaches?
There’s this episode on Solar News’ Stories about the heart. They said that the heart is another “brain” in itself able to control the body and the brain. Do you believe that we have two brains – the heart and the one inside a skull?
September 30th, 2013 at 12:18
Whoa, this is going to be at least an hour (or two), I’m hoping.
September 30th, 2013 at 16:30
Does modafinil work? Is it available here? Can you give prescription for it?
September 30th, 2013 at 16:46
ritalin, adderall, et. al. … have you tried any one out of curiosity? is it really equivalent to a test-taker as steroid is to an athlete?
September 30th, 2013 at 19:14
Can a person who’s currently trying to lose weight (diet and exercise) still have his brain function optimally during that period? I’m worried that using up the body’s energy through exercise is also starving the brain of the glucose it needs for more demanding mental tasks.
September 30th, 2013 at 20:33
My job involves constantly going through a lot of information. I’d like to think I am an analytical type and would normally enjoy distilling tons of data to arrive at a conclusion. Of late I’ve been having challenges in terms of clearing up headspace that’s needed to perform my job as well as I’d like to. I have also become more forgetful, can barely recognize the notes I take during meetings and lose track of time easily.
I get an adequate amount of sleep (~6-8 hrs per day), perform moderate exercise at least 5x a week and try to keep my intake of food as healthy as possible. What would you suggest to “sharpen” my brain so I can be more effective at my job as well as outside the office.
September 30th, 2013 at 22:28
What does it mean if a person has a tendency to repeat her thoughts to herself – phrases, the last bits especially – realizing it only after several repetitions? Is it just ‘common’ OCD or overthinking, or is it something more alarming?
Thanks!
September 30th, 2013 at 22:47
Narito ang aking mga katanungan. (Makikisuyo ng pagsala sapagkat hindi ako sigurado kung pang-neuro ba ito o pang-psychiatrist.)
1. May lamat na ba sa utak ang mga nakaranas ng brief psychosis/ hysteria/ hypomania/ mania/ depression at similar na karamdaman?
2. Kung ang isang tao’y nawala sa katinuan, maaari ba siyang maibalik sa dati?
3. Posible bang mangyari ang nangyari sa A Clockwork Orange kung saan ni-recalibrate ang utak upang mapigilang gumawa ng mga makamundong bagay?
4. Paano mapagbubuti ang memorya bukod sa pag-inom ng Glutaphos, Memo Plus Gold, Brand’s Essence of Chicken at iba pang artipisyal na paraan?
Ito na muna sa ngayon. Maraming salamat sa pagpapaunlak.
September 30th, 2013 at 23:14
greeneggsnham: Ayyy! Can’t claim to be an expert, but it sounds like you need a break. 72 hours by yourself in a remote spot with no phone or internet.
Or you could try Zen. Works for our friends who overthink.
October 1st, 2013 at 03:10
1. Are Sigmund Freud’s mental theories still relevant in the postmodern world of medicine?
2. Is it possible to create multiple personalities consciously?
3. Which is actually true–brain cells do not regenerate anymore or otherwise?
4. If many intelligent people still commit stupid mistakes, is there something wrong in the brain that made brainy people choose/make “mistakes”?
5. Do you subscribe or otherwise to the “afterlife” experience, or are the “good” drugs administered make the “heavenly” visions possible?
6. And, do you still remember all the parts per se of the human brain, or as time passes by, diminish a bit of information?
That’s all, YOUR GRACE.
October 1st, 2013 at 07:54
Is it true that shaking a baby hard leads to brain damage? If so, should we also avoid tossing/catching babies up in the air?
October 1st, 2013 at 09:14
greeneggsnham: kailangan mo ng bakasyon!
October 1st, 2013 at 14:49
Hi JZ/Jouvs – sadly I have just come back from a 16 day VL last month.
Dont get me wrong though. Im not miserable unhappy etc. I’d just like to hear fr the brain doctor what he would suggest so that I can do things better. I guess one-two day breaks every so often just to decompress might be a good place to start.
October 1st, 2013 at 18:13
Mga Katanungan ko kay Dr. Cuanang
1.) Bakit kaya madalas akong magising ng 3:00AM , 3:01AM , hanggang 3:05 AM ng madaliang araw at kinikilabutan ako? (dahil kaya yan sa mga horror movie na napapanood ko na ang 3:00AMish ay naglalabasan ang mga evil spirit at napasok na sa utak ko at naging habit ko nang magising ng ganong oras. (Kainis ) pano po kayang maalis yun?
2.) Naniniwala ba kayong may multo or some freaking spirit or totoo bang ang multo ay ang sarili natin?
3.) Ang lalaki ba(moviestar, basketball player) bang pumapatol(dahil sa pera) sa bading ay bading rin? (btw may inistalk akong male star last week sa isang asian city si male star may kasamang matabang matandang gay at naglalakad sila sa kalye at karay karay ang kanilang luggage at sinundan ko sila at gora sila ng isang hotel (for sure pa booking si male star at sosyal si beki overseas booking pa rich si ateng) kung nagbabasa yung dalawa here si male star naka black polo shirt at khaki pants at si beki majubiz na di kagandahan. uyyy!! na sight ko kayo !! teh magkano damage?
October 1st, 2013 at 19:42
swanoepel: Itatanong namin kay Dr. Cuanang ang tamang sagot. Ito ang mga sagot namin.
1) Nanood ka ng The Conjuring anoh?
2) Palagay namin, ang multo ay timewarp. Biglang nagkaroon ng dalawang timespace sa iisang lugar. Para sa kanila, ikaw ang multo.
3) Aba, may blind item. Ang sagot sa tanong mo: Sa Pilipinas? Hindeh daw.
October 1st, 2013 at 19:46
greeneggsnham: Aha! “…so that I can do things better.” Maybe you’re too hard on yourself. Often we are our own worst judges.
October 1st, 2013 at 23:03
May isa pa akong katanungan, Your Grace.
Ito’y pinangangambahan kong itanong, pero nabasa ko na may similar experience kayo.
Tuwing ako’y nasa gitna ng paggising-pagtulog, pagtulog-paggising, may radiohead na makulit na… kumukulit… at nagsasabi ng sari-saring walang saysay na bagay. Hindi ko masabing naririnig ko ito, pero mayroong “ganoong radio” na produkto ng aking isip. Kapag nag-on na ang “radio” sa umaga, alam ko na oras na upang bumangon. Ang tanong: kailangan ko bang magpa-MRI o kumonsulta sa isang espesyalista?
October 2nd, 2013 at 00:43
silentfollower: Naku, iba ang radiohead na nararanasan namin. Hindi salita kundi awitin. Minsan, nagigising kami sa umaga na may tumutugtog na kanta sa aming isip. Madalas ito ay awiting ilang taon na naming hindi naririnig, tulad ng Karma Police o theme song ng Cow and Chicken.
Itatanong namin kay Doc.
October 2nd, 2013 at 22:05
Maraming salamat, Your Grace.
Ang tanging natatandaan ko lang na nanggaling sa radiohead ay “oatmeal in a hospital” at “half-empty cup for the gasoline boy” na walang saysay para sa akin dahil wala akong kakilalang nasa ospital noon at hindi ako nagdadala ng tasa sa sasakyan. Ang lahat ng iba’y naglaho na sa paggising, parang panaginip.
Ang pangamba ko’y baka mayroon akong tumor sa utak, sumabog na ugat, o kaya’y… gasp!!!… nagbabadyang schizophrenia!
October 2nd, 2013 at 22:32
Haha you may be right JZ. I still subscribe to what you said to another reader “it’s not good to be too self-satisfied at such a young age”. Hence the aspirational self-improvement.
Will look up zen! Would your friends have recommended resources / classes to learn more abt..uhh being zen?