Attendance in class today was as low as the number of classmates with hangovers was high. Last night was our school's spring formal and each neuroscience professor managed to crack a joke about the impaired brains of our absent colleagues.
TIL: There is an area in the brainstem (the parvocellular reticular nucleus) that controls involuntary movements of facial expression. Since this is a separate tract from voluntary movement, it makes possible some peculiar disorders. When such a person is asked to smile, they can't, but if you tell a joke, they will smile normally - assuming the joke is funny. Don't start accusing people of having brain damage just because they don't appreciate your terrible puns.
The Artery of Percheron is an anomalous formation where the diffuse arterioles that normally supply the thalamic midbrain region are consolidated into one small artery. This is dangerous because a small clot can block this vessel and cause a stroke characterized by an immediate loss of consciousness.
Nociceptor is the term for a pain receptor. The prefix comes from the Latin word for "harm," the same word found in the Hippocratic idiom Primum non nocere - "First, do no harm."
The drug naloxone is an opioid receptor antagonist that can block the placebo effect. This is of special interest because it shows that the placebo effect is not purely psychological but somewhat physiological.
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