It was Super Bowl weekend and local news had an article about repetitive brain injury. The article gave me pause since I have had two bumps to my head, one years ago and one recently. When our daughter was young, I tripped going down the basement stairs. My head broke through the plaster of the side wall and I saw stars. Several weeks ago I tripped on the step into the garage and hit my head on the concrete floor. In both cases my hands were full and I couldn’t save myself, which in itself is dangerous enough. With the exception of a headache, I was lucky in both cases.
Another article spoke about research into woodpecker brains since they slam their heads into trees up to 12,000 times a day. The chemical which accumulates in human brains with Alzheimer’s or neurodegenerative diseases appears to be protective in woodpeckers. Further study is warranted.
So the little birds which attract our attention with their tap, tap, tap on trees,
could be valuable in the research into some of our most dreaded diseases.
I will never hear that tap again without a thought for the brain behind it.
