An archive of long-form inquiry
The Taxonomy of Intellect
5 Entries · Updated
Myelin is the nervous system's answer to a physics problem: how to move a signal quickly along a thin, leaky biological wire. This paper traces how the insulating sheath and the gaps between its segments turn a slow, decaying current into a fast, self-renewing pulse — and what happens when the insulation fails.
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Stress is not a mood; it is a hormonal cascade with a clear anatomy. The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis converts a perceived threat into a measured dose of cortisol, then shuts itself off. This paper follows the signal down the axis and asks what goes wrong when the off-switch stops working.
Memory has to be written somewhere. Long-term potentiation is the leading candidate for the physical act of writing — a lasting strengthening of the connection between two neurons that fire together. This paper follows the molecular sequence that turns a moment of coincident activity into a durable change in the brain.
Blood glucose is held within a narrow band by two hormones pulling in opposite directions. Insulin lowers it; glucagon raises it. This paper — distributed as a typeset PDF — reads their interplay as a control system, and shows how diabetes is best understood as that control loop coming apart.
The brain is bathed in blood yet walled off from it. The blood–brain barrier is the wall — a living membrane that admits fuel and blocks intruders. This paper examines how the barrier is built, why the brain needs one, and why it is the central obstacle in treating neurological disease.