Neuroscience Confessions

As you all know, my loyal readers, I am sick. Laryngitis and possibly influenza...that would explain the fever, the coughing, the sneezing, the sniffles, and the lack of voice. Though I must admit, I love the sound of my voice when it isn't there.

In any event, I was lying in bed yesterday after brain and behavior attempting to take a nap. My heart was absolutely pounding and I wasn't quite sure why. I figured flu+racing heart=death. Yes my dears, I thought I was going to die.

And I wasn't the least bit fazed. I thought that it would be unfortunate, as there are many things I have yet to do, but at least I wouldn't have to take anymore tests or write anymore papers.

I realized not only when I woke up, but also when I felt a bit better, that if I was going to die, I probably would have felt more afraid. But as I always say "I'm not afraid to die, I'm afraid to be killed". Dying of a natural cause...or rather dying without pain would, I think, be peaceful. Like the coolness of an autum breeze or some such thing.

You see, I feel that life is like a synapse. Your parents creating you is the action potential, and the body you're born in is naught but a vesicle. A vesicle for the soul that is.

Soon, you are born. We can imagine that being like the release of calcium into the presynaptic nerve and the release of neurotransmitters would be you. And you float on across the synaptic cleft until you reach that postsynaptic nerve. You sigh your last sigh and release the neurotransmitter that is your soul into the atmosphere.

This next part gets a bit tricky...the soul is then (I think at least) treated like acetocholyne but not exactly like it. The soul holds all your memories from previous encarnations, but bits are broken off and re-attached to the same soul, but in such a way that the new vesicle can't access them. Could you imagine remembering everything from your past life? Your mind would explode. We're not programed for that kind of thing...

In any event, yes. There's my theory for all you science-y types. Feel free to hypothesize--oh wait, you can't! Science only answeres answerable questions. Riiight, I forgot...