nervously reading google scholar while in the line for the roller coaster. turns out these are so bad for the brain
like so bad
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hollyhoppet wrote
rollecoasters carry risks, but it's not like riding one once is going to turn your brain to goo lol
twovests OP wrote
So, there have been surprisingly scant studies, and recent ones (the scariest of which being this very limited 2017 pilot study) suggest that just one CAN turn your brain to goo, perhaps. The newer 4D coasters especially seem concerning.
This is all to say "riding one once can give you significant brain damage" is a statement that's very plausibly true! But also, the lines were short, and I rode many of them in succession, and am very sore.
While pontificating this in the line for The Brain Scrambler, after having had ridden the Mind Eraser, I was also wondering a (more serious) version of the title.
When working with neural networks, there was a fun idea that adding another layer of neurons increased the dimensionality of items and allowed shapes to fold, introducing useful nonlinearities to a model. People likened those to how brain folds increase surface area and nonlinear interconnectivity.
So, it's a fun and maybe overly optimistic idea that gently shredding the outer layers of the brain introduces more nonlinear interconnectivity that can be re-mapped by the learning mind. It's a much funner idea than the more likely "brain damage causes brain damage" idea.
This is all in the realm of "this seems plausible to me" and makes me lament how sad the state of science already was even before the United States significantly gutted its research. But it made for a good post title I think.
When I was a kid I liked to hit myself in the head really hard with text books, and I think I have better executive functioning and academic achievement than most of my friends. I like to tell myself that was good for my brain instead of bad for my brain.
anethum wrote
ah, it's comparable to soccer headers? i mean... soccer does have its cte problems with headers, but those in the paper are really mild headers with just 7m/s balls (apparently even youth footballers average 20m/s for crossing passes). also it's not even the sport called "football" with the biggest cte problem isn't it. hahah.
interestingly subject A seemed to have less brain deformation due to stronger neck. better start working those muscles, 2v
twovests OP wrote
did this at the park and they kicked me out
(that said, they are comparable but they do find almost 2x more rad/sec. but this is also concerning for someone who thinks sports as they exist are something of an Evil Coliseum type of deal)
apparently progesterone helps with brain damage.... much for me to consider.............
anethum wrote
[cut to 2v in 3 years time, with thick neck and big naturals, queuing up for the rollercoaster for the 7th time] maybe i should get into soccer
emma wrote
yes, it can. the brain is a muscle.
alenky wrote
they can with a hammer