A Wisdom Archive on ganglion

The five individual nuclei that make up the primate basal ganglia are the striatum, external segment of the globus pallidus (GPe), internal segment of the globus pallidus (GPi), subthalamic nucleus (STN), and substantia nigra. Some of these nuclei may be further subdivided: for example, the striatum is separated into the putamen, caudate nucleus, and nucleus accumbens; the substantia nigra is generally divided into the pars compact ...

Read more here: » Basal ganglia: Encyclopedia II - Basal ganglia - Anatomical subdivisions

There are several morphological characteristics that distinguish acanthocephalans from other phyla of parasitic worms. Acanthocephala - Digestion. Acanthocephalans lack a mouth or alimentary canal. This is a feature they share with the cestoda (tapeworms), although the two groups are not related. Adult stages live in the intestines of their host and uptake nutrients which have been digested by the host, directly, through their body s ...

Read more here: » Acanthocephala: Encyclopedia II - Acanthocephala - Morphological Characteristics

Some cases of carpal tunnel syndrome are due to work-related cumulative trauma of the wrist. It is commonly caused by strain placed on the hand, for instance gripping and typing, which are usually performed repetitively in a person's occupation. The condition was first diagnosed in Australia in the 1980s when musicians started to use synthesizers heavily and people using these instruments started to get hand and wrist pain. The condition went mostly undiagnosed in the US until the mid 1990s when computers became more popular in the workplace. There are a number of causes of carpal tunnel syndrome ...

Read more here: » Carpal tunnel syndrome: Encyclopedia II - Carpal tunnel syndrome - Causes

There are two easy methods to test for carpal tunnel syndrome. One is squeezing or clenching the hand and noticing a lack of strength. A second test, known as Phalen's maneuver, is performed by grabbing the fingers and pulling the hand back, towards the body, approaching but not reaching a 90 degree angle. If this position hurts, tingles or burns within the first 10 seconds then carpal tunnel syndrome exists. The quick ...

Read more here: » Carpal tunnel syndrome: Encyclopedia II - Carpal tunnel syndrome - Diagnosis

Long-term chronic carpal tunnel syndrome can result in permanent nerve damage. However, most carpal tunnel syndrome sufferers either change their hand use pattern or posture at work or find a soft tissue therapy that allows them to return to full activity without hand pain and sleep disruption. Most people end up prioritizing their activities and give up the least important activities so that they can minimize pain and perform the essential tasks. Many people change jobs to avoid continued repetitive stress tasks. Some find success by ...

Read more here: » Carpal tunnel syndrome: Encyclopedia II - Carpal tunnel syndrome - Long term recovery

"Basal ganglia"-like areas are observed in the central nervous systems of many species. The striatal and pallidal components can be clearly identified in all amniotes (mammals, birds, and reptiles) and amphibians. The anatomical connections of these nuclei and their pharmacology also appear relatively conserved. Non-tetrapod vertebrates such as fish also display basal ganglia-like structures, although the data is less clear in this case. The names given to the various nuclei comprising the basal ganglia can vary greatly depending on s ...

Read more here: » Basal ganglia: Encyclopedia II - Basal ganglia - Evolution and naming

Acanthocephala - General Patterns. Acanthocephalans have complex life cycles, involving a number of hosts, for both developmental and resting stages. Complete life cycles have been worked out for only 25 species. Having been expelled by the female, the acanthocephalan embryo is released along with the feces of the host. For development to occur, the embryo needs to be ingested by an invertebrate, almost always a crustacean (there is one known life cycle which uses a mollusc as a first intermediate host). Inside t ...

Read more here: » Acanthocephala: Encyclopedia II - Acanthocephala - Life Cycles

When practiced in a religious context, Kundalini is mostly beneficial and benevolent. However, examples exist of religious figures suffering from kundalini symptoms, such as zen master Hakuin and Saint Theresa. The physiological precursors of kundalini also have the potential to diverge into some peculiar types of pathology, as when induced to arise via violence and outside of a religious context, where it may be part of a post-traumatic response. Post-traumatic stress disorder researcher Dr. Jonathan Shay (1994) describes several cases with kundalini-l ...

Read more here: » Kundalini: Encyclopedia II - Kundalini - Pathological Kundalini

Contemporary spiritual literature often notes that the chakras as described in the esoteric kundalini documents bear a strong similarity in location and number to the major endocrine glands, as well as nerve bundles called ganglions. One speculation is that the traditional practices have formalized a method for stimulating the endocrine glands to work in a different mode which has a more direct effect on consciousness, perhaps ultimately by stimulating the release of DMT by the pineal gland, which may ...

Read more here: » Kundalini: Encyclopedia II - Kundalini - Kundalini and physiology

Blood Transfusion The introducing of blood from the vascular system of one animal or person into the blood vessels of another. Selecting a person for a donor whose blood matches that of the recipient takes no account of the subtle personal and karmic qualities, both active and latent, which are carried over from the donor's lifestream.
 
The protean influence of personalized blood, thus directly transmitted, is conveyed to the other person with greater potency than would result even from drinking it. No laboratory findings of supposedly healthy blood can ever reveal the latent seeds of karmic disease, or of mental or psychological disorder, which will manifest in due time unless destroyed, even when transplanted into a different vital culture-medium. Moreover, transfusion may result in an increased or abnormal activity of such germinating seeds which thus have been involved with the physical conditions and the life issues of another person. W. Q. Judge, speaking of the esoteric teaching on the influence of the body's tissues on the soul, says:
 
"We say that the blood cells and the fluid they float in receive and transmit sensation.
 
"Each sub-division among the physical sheaths performs not only the duty of receiving and transmitting sensations, but also has the power of retaining a memory of them which is registered in the appropriate ganglions of the body, and continually, from there, implanted in the corresponding center of sensation and action in the astral body. At the same time the physical brain has always the power, as is of course a common fact, of collecting all the physical sensations and impressions" (Echoes of Orient 2:37).
 
The transfusion of blood is an unconscious reminiscence of Atlantean practices.

 
(See also: Blood Transfusion, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary )

Nabhichakra nabhicakra (Sanskrit) [from nabhi navel + chakra wheel, circle, focus, nerve-ganglion]
 
The chakra (mystical wheel, center, or focus of energy) situated at and around the navel, said to be the seat of Sakti or kama.

 
(See also: Nabhichakra nabhicakra, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary )

Plexus (Latin) A network, used anatomically for certain networks of nerves or blood vessels. The nerve plexuses forming part of the sympathetic nervous system are closely related functionally to the viscera, and serve as coordinating centers for the various nerve tissues which regulate their muscular and organic action. They are intimately related to mental and emotional states, to such an extent that the chief of them, the solar plexus, has been called the abdominal brain.
 
The word has been used in theosophy to translate the Sanskrit chakra (wheel, nerve ganglion), but these chakras are better defined as forming centers in the vital-astral constitution of the organism. They are centers or foci of pranic energy, having special qualities which may be correlated to other groupings, such as the seven principles, the seven rays, etc. The seven chakras are: sacral, prostatic, epigastric (solar), cardiac, laryngeal, frontal, and cavernous.
 
Any attempt by an untrained student, without a teacher, to try to develop these chakras is sure to cause disaster, since it can result only in the arousing of powerful forces which he has not yet acquired the means to control, and which will therefore control him. Once awakened, they cannot be put to sleep again, and the result will be disorganization, physical or mental or both, manifested in disease, insanity, depravity, or death; in the worst cases, the unfortunate dabbler may set his feet on a path of black magic ending in the final separation of his spiritual ego from its hapless psycho-vital-astral-physical vehicle.
 
The spiritual and higher intellectual powers and faculties must be cultivated first; and this cannot be done by any attempt at artificial stimulation based on fixing the attention on spots in the body or head. The only safe way to practice the chela life is to forget about the body and its mechanism, thus allowing evolution to proceed in its natural course, and dangerous forces to life quiescent until they come naturally and harmoniously into operation.

 
(See also: Plexus, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary )