Ever wonder why the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and vice versa? This is why….whenever you touch something or move certain nerves need to tell the brain what just happened. At some point, these nerves cross over to the other side of the body then end up in the brain. When a nerve tract crosses over to the other side of the body it is controlled by the contralateral side of the brain. There is a center of the brain that controls sensation. However, some things are controlled elsewhere in the brain. This brings me to the cerebellum. The cerebellum is what we call ipsilateral. This means that the cerebellum controls the same side of the body. My right cerebellum was badly damaged so I have much worse problems on the right side of my body. As far as sensation is concerned, the cerebellum controls balance, posture, proprioception, etc. Not the sensation you get when touching something. So what is proprioception?? Proprioception means where your joints are in space. This is one way to test proprioception….close your eyes, have someone else wiggle a toe then hold it in the up or down position. Can you tell whether it’s up or down with your eyes closed? That’s proprioception. Mine is kinda messed up. It’s getting a lot better though. This site explains everything, kinda scientific though.
Categories: Brain stuff
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