Benefits of Cholesterol to Brain Development Essay -- Biology

What do you think of when you hear the word cholesterol? It's pretty common to think that it makes you gain weight, it is bad in large quantities, and it is generally unhealthy. But a recent experiment has shown that although it can be bad in some ways, it is good for you in other ways. One of the most important parts of your body is your central nervous system (CNS). It includes your spinal cord and your brain, and it is run by cells called neurons. These neurons, with the help of synapses, send electrical signals throughout the body. So what do neurons and synapses have to do with cholesterol? If you do not have cholesterol during certain parts of your life cycle, you actually do not develop many synapses. Even those that do form are destined to be inefficient at transmitting signals to the brain and body. Who cares if you have a lot of efficient synapses? An easy comparison is between the CNS and a computer. The brain thriving off of a lot of synapses, a computer running much better with more RAM. Your computer still works if it does not have a lot of RAM, and it will do what you ask it to; however, if it does have a lot of RAM, it will do what you ask more efficiently and faster. Likewise, if you do not have many synapses, your brain and CNS will still work at a much lower level. If you do have a lot of synapses, everything will work faster. Your brain will send signals to the rest of your body efficiently so you can react faster, think faster, etc. This leads us into the article that you should be able to understand completely by the end of this web page. Before this discovery was made, scientists had no idea that cholesterol was responsible for these events. Follow along with us to an explanation of the previous ... ...a viable solution. Now that you know that your brain is all you have, there are some considerations to be made. Do you really want to smoke marijuana when you consider that being high means killing off neurons? What about that kegger next weekend? That kills brain cells too. More specific than the ties to drug and alcohol abuse, this article talks about the gray areas of life. The human body is an amazing machine. It is extremely adaptive, and it requires a lot of fuel to run. Avoid entirely wiping out a common substance from your diet without doing the proper research. Who knows, perhaps cutting that food from your meal might put you in deeper trouble than you thought possible. References "CNS Synaptogenesis Promoted by Glia-Derived Cholesterol." Science Magazine. 9 Nov 2001: 1354-1357. 3 Nov 2003 http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/294/5545/1354. Benefits of Cholesterol to Brain Development Essay -- Biology What do you think of when you hear the word cholesterol? It's pretty common to think that it makes you gain weight, it is bad in large quantities, and it is generally unhealthy. But a recent experiment has shown that although it can be bad in some ways, it is good for you in other ways. One of the most important parts of your body is your central nervous system (CNS). It includes your spinal cord and your brain, and it is run by cells called neurons. These neurons, with the help of synapses, send electrical signals throughout the body. So what do neurons and synapses have to do with cholesterol? If you do not have cholesterol during certain parts of your life cycle, you actually do not develop many synapses. Even those that do form are destined to be inefficient at transmitting signals to the brain and body. Who cares if you have a lot of efficient synapses? An easy comparison is between the CNS and a computer. The brain thriving off of a lot of synapses, a computer running much better with more RAM. Your computer still works if it does not have a lot of RAM, and it will do what you ask it to; however, if it does have a lot of RAM, it will do what you ask more efficiently and faster. Likewise, if you do not have many synapses, your brain and CNS will still work at a much lower level. If you do have a lot of synapses, everything will work faster. Your brain will send signals to the rest of your body efficiently so you can react faster, think faster, etc. This leads us into the article that you should be able to understand completely by the end of this web page. Before this discovery was made, scientists had no idea that cholesterol was responsible for these events. Follow along with us to an explanation of the previous ... ...a viable solution. Now that you know that your brain is all you have, there are some considerations to be made. Do you really want to smoke marijuana when you consider that being high means killing off neurons? What about that kegger next weekend? That kills brain cells too. More specific than the ties to drug and alcohol abuse, this article talks about the gray areas of life. The human body is an amazing machine. It is extremely adaptive, and it requires a lot of fuel to run. Avoid entirely wiping out a common substance from your diet without doing the proper research. Who knows, perhaps cutting that food from your meal might put you in deeper trouble than you thought possible. References "CNS Synaptogenesis Promoted by Glia-Derived Cholesterol." Science Magazine. 9 Nov 2001: 1354-1357. 3 Nov 2003 http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/294/5545/1354.