For the past year, caffeine has had a strange effect on me. I drink soda or coffee -- and within minutes, I feel groggy, fuzzy headed, and almost kind of drunk. I get absolutely no stimulating effects. The more I drink, the more fuzzy-drunk I feel. Caffeine used to make me feel wonderful -- awake, cheerful, on-point. I've never drank an excessive amount (2 coffees a day, max). Can anyone explain what might be going on in my brain chemicals?
posted by the jam on Jun 24, 2009 - 18 answers

I just had an MRI and MRA in response to these issues, and the radiologist's report should be relayed to me in a day or two. I've already had one normal CT scan. I received a copy of all the images from this scan - should I look at them? [more inside]
posted by elektrotechnicus on May 29, 2009 - 10 answers

as a twenty-something, how do i address possible memory/cognitive issues with a doctor without both of us thinking i'm crazy? or am i crazy? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on May 20, 2009 - 19 answers

Since I last posted I've been feeling much better, but now have very new and strange symptoms. I've been seeing flashes in my vision, felt like I was misreading text or having difficulty expressing myself verbally (words came a bit more slowly than usual), and went to the ER when I saw (and a friend confirmed) my pupils were unevenly dilated. I've also had a recurring, painless rash of tiny red dots that is only ever present on my right hand, and comes and goes rather quickly. All symptoms started two or three weeks ago. I can't see a doctor for a week or two, but when I can, what kind should I see and what should I ask about? [more inside]
posted by elektrotechnicus on Apr 28, 2009 - 10 answers

I want to get pictures of my brain. What kind of pictures and how? Or is this ridiculous? [more inside]
posted by dame on Feb 4, 2009 - 20 answers

I am approaching 40. How do I stop my brain turning to mush?
posted by MrMerlot on Dec 21, 2008 - 24 answers

Would it be feasible to have a small electrode permanently implanted in my brain? [more inside]
posted by waxboy on Oct 16, 2008 - 13 answers

I'm making a certain type of typo more and more frequently. Should I be worried? [more inside]
posted by grumblebee on Sep 22, 2008 - 36 answers

How can we get our eight-year-old son diagnosed and feeling better? (long) [more inside]
posted by neilkod on Aug 11, 2008 - 16 answers

The thought or visuals of old people falling sends literal shivers down my spine. What's going on, psycho-bio-neuro-logically? What causes a physical reaction to an unpleasant idea? This seems deeply wired, is it "innate" in the brain?
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed on Jul 30, 2008 - 4 answers

Is it possible to get an MRI and have it read, without a referral? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Jul 18, 2008 - 12 answers

Jill Bolte Taylor uses a very clear cut dichotomy when explaining the respective roles of the left and right hemisphere: one is oriented towards parrallel processing of sense data, the other towards serial, conscious, target-oriented processing. Is this reflective of the modern state of the art neurological schientific knowledge? It's an intuitively attractive explanation. But is it true? It sounds simplistic. [more inside]
posted by jouke on Apr 22, 2008 - 13 answers

Can Fibromyalgia mimic the symptoms of a serious neurological illness? Do any Fibromyalgia sufferers out there have symptoms like mine, or have I been misdiagnosed? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Apr 11, 2008 - 17 answers

I have Tourette Syndrome, and I can't stop jumping up and down. Help me rewire my defective brain to channel this activity into something less destructive. [more inside]
posted by Juliet Banana on Mar 31, 2008 - 37 answers

Name-my-major, Hivemind. So I go to an unusual school in that we don't have clear-cut majors, and we basically pick an area of "focus". I'm actually currently (unofficially) studying my own brain, because it's strangely hampered in certain capacities (like the process of reading music, despite being very musical and understanding cognitively exactly what's going on), or performing basic math (despite endless repetition). It's also weirdly bolstered in other regards: I have an unbelievable propensity for forming the visual "distortions" one might associate with hallucinogens. [more inside]
posted by dmaterialized on Mar 13, 2008 - 14 answers

Help me explain what I call "cat mouth" to my boyfriend. [more inside]
posted by letahl on Jan 11, 2008 - 23 answers

Amateur neurologists, please read! What is going on in my head?? [more inside]
posted by missuswayne on Nov 17, 2007 - 19 answers

Who has imaginary friends, and why? [more inside]
posted by laughinglikemad on Nov 2, 2007 - 31 answers

My mother remembers events incorrectly, but is convinced this was how it happened. Is there a term for this? What can it be a symptom of? Is it common? Is it psychological, neurological, sth-else-ical? [more inside]
posted by ClarissaWAM on Sep 17, 2007 - 46 answers

Why do people tend to gravitate more strongly towards music that was popular in their teen years? [more inside]
posted by desjardins on Jul 30, 2007 - 43 answers

I have intense, constant muscle tension on the right side of my neck. I think Botox will help, but my neurologists think it won't. Either convince me they're right or convince me I'm wrong. Oh, and is the anticholinergic drug I took three days ago making this problem worse? If so, what do I do about it? [more inside]
posted by Clay201 on Jul 1, 2007 - 16 answers

I and some others I've spoken to have the ability to see a plethora of random images or movies (and sometimes sounds or other sense-imagery) in our imaginations at will. These manifest when we relax our minds a little and will the images to come -- they might be connected or not, bizarre or not -- a lot like dreams, really. What is the scientific name for this phenomenon and how common is it?
posted by Malad on Jun 21, 2007 - 21 answers

Can you please recommend a great neurologist in the New Haven County (Connecticut) area? [more inside]
posted by sneakin on Jun 15, 2007 - 2 answers

Hypotension/hypovolemia as a low-pass filter: I got cut, I went into shock, and then everything started sounding funny. I'd guess it was a 40 dB (±10) rolloff, which began near 200 Hz (±50) and left me with nothing above 1kHz. How in the world? Story, discussion of numeric estimates, off-the-cuff physiological speculations, etc... [more inside]
posted by eritain on May 12, 2007 - 24 answers

Out of curiosity: sometimes when I hear people talk, I get a strange feeling in the back of my head. [more inside]
posted by god particle on Apr 30, 2007 - 22 answers

I become dull and emotionless for stretches of 3-5 hours at a time. I don't feel depressed, I just feel absolutely nothing. I can play my favorite, rock-out song and it feels the same as listening to CSPAN. I can kiss my girlfriend and I might as well be kissing my hand. It happens regularly, usually in the afternoon, but not every day. Sometimes coffee or food can snap me out of it, sometimes not. The difference between being in or out this "mode" is very distinct. When I'm not in the "mode", I experience a pretty full, normal range of emotions and I'm not what you'd call depressed at all. Have other people experienced this? Any ideas of what causes it or how I can beat it? I hate missing out on experiences while stuck in this zombie-land.
posted by anonymous on Dec 18, 2006 - 17 answers

What the heck was wrong with my mom’s cat? [more inside]
posted by weirdoactor on Dec 8, 2006 - 7 answers

From the age of 17 until about 30, I was doing alot of 'partying', enough binge drinking and bong tokes to have surely killed a lot of brain cells. Currently I may go out hard like once every two months. I always partied like a rockstar, and have probably 'forgotten' more wild nights than my tamer aquaintances have probably ever experienced. I am not exactly proud of this. And now, after all these years of neurological irresponsibility, I seem to be walking around in a constant cognitive haze. Some days are better than others, but for the most part, I feel like I just woke up, feeling groggy, all day long. A kind of perma-fog. All of my cognitive functions seem to be a little numbed. My question for all the neurologists out there is what is causing this post-hangover fog on my brain, will it ever go away, and what can I do to lift it away. Do I need to get a B12 injection, eat lots of fish, lay off the sauce, or am I simply going to be in this purple haze forever.....
posted by jasondigitized on Oct 3, 2006 - 30 answers

What experiments have been carried out where animals perform better than us at particular cognitive tasks? [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on May 9, 2006 - 13 answers

Need help with a neurology problem/research... [more inside]
posted by dobbs on Apr 6, 2006 - 7 answers

I find the Bush Jaw Thing incredibly creepy. What the hell is behind it, and has he always done it? [more inside]
posted by interrobang on Dec 7, 2005 - 31 answers

How do you get a doctor's attention? [more inside]
posted by booksandlibretti on Nov 29, 2005 - 45 answers

For as long as I can remember, I've had an odd physical reaction to things that disgust me. My feet and hands ache, and I lose fine motor control - I can't make my hands do what I want them to do. They just hang there, dead, until the feeling passes. This reaction is strongly tied to disgust - other strong emotions such as joy, anger or sadness don't have the same effect on me. When I asked my GP about this, he just shrugged. He said that he'd never heard of this before, but that our bodies sometimes act in strange ways and that I shouldn't be too worried about it. Does anyone know what this is about? Is there a name for it? What does it mean???
posted by freshwater_pr0n on Nov 12, 2005 - 8 answers

Has anyone ever done a study on the neurological effects of the first week or two of a love relationship? There's got to be some sort of brain chemical released during that period... but what is it? Or, in broader terms: What's responsible for that heady, crazy, giggly feeling that both guys and girls get?
posted by SpecialK on Oct 17, 2005 - 12 answers

Tickle Me. [more inside]
posted by peacay on Jul 3, 2005 - 24 answers

My father was just diagnosed with polymyositis. His muscles are deteriorating and he can hardly dress himself, let alone drive two hours to his work or even do his work from home. Has anybody had a family member of close friend with this condition? What can I and my siblings and my mother expect? What can we do for him, if anything?
posted by billysumday on Jan 3, 2005 - 4 answers

Does anyone have experience with tests required for a diagnosis of ADHD in adults? [MI] [more inside]
posted by nprigoda on Feb 29, 2004 - 9 answers