I was watching YouTube videos with Michael and the most interesting thing happened.
Let me start at the beginning. Michael loves going to Canada’s Wonderland with his kids in the summer. We discovered a channel that films all the rollercoasters while riding them (which is really not allowed at Wonderland.) While watching the rides, I felt like I was on the rollercoaster. The sensation in my stomach…leaning when the car moved…light headedness…etc. I did notice that certain styles of rollercoasters, I had no sensation with.
Curious!?!
I only felt sensation when two things were true. The coaster was typical with the car wheels on the bottom and the car was moving forward. Like the typical rollercoaster you may imagine. Coasters attached at the top or that went backwards, I had no sensation at all.
Why?
Experience. I have never been on a boomerang style coaster. That coaster style goes forward and then travels backward on the same tracks. I have never been on a suspended coaster. Suspended coasters are attached at the top of the car, like a chair lift on a ski hill. That means I have no memory of the sensation. I don’t know how it feels.
I decided to watch the videos with Kyle. He has been on all the different types of roller coasters. As I watched him watching the videos, he did exactly what I did on all of the videos.
This is a wonderful example of sensory memory and how our body responds to it.
Do you remember what I wrote about the new research on the neuroscience of pain? When Emilie’s cat bit the inside of my knee, a ticklish spot, and I laughed. Then went and bit my big toe and it hurt because I had stubbed my toe many times and it hurt.
Our pain responses are also built on experience.
There are two types of neurons that communicate with our central nervous system via the peripheral nervous system. Sensory neurons (afferent neurons) and motor neurons (efferent neurons.) Sensory neurons work via our senses of eyes, ears, nose, mouth and skin. They bring this information to the central nervous system. Efferent neurons bring information away from the central nervous system to muscles and organs.
We smell a food we like via the afferent neurons and our digestive systems responds via the efferent neurons.
When you go to try new food, you taste first with your eyes and then perhaps smell it. Our eyes are one of our biggest sensory input sources.
Now remember a paper cut. We often don’t feel them until we see the bleeding. Then we experience the pain in the area because we remember how paper cuts feel and react accordingly.
Now back to the rollercoaster. Because I have experience, my eyes experience the ride (afferent) and my body moves or my stomach drops or I feel dizzy (ears)(efferent.) The coasters that I haven’t experienced, I have not created a neuro response to and so I feel nothing.
It is just simply…so interesting!!