The brain has 170 billion cells. The brain develops in the fetus with 250,000 new cells per minute! There are a total of 170 billion cells in the human brain. Half of them are neurons that conduct nerve signals, while the other half are support cells called glia. The nerve cell has two types of extensions: dendrites branch out in the cell’s vicinity and receive impressions that are sent to the cell body. The other extension is called an axon and conducts electrical signals from the cell either to the next nerve cell or to an end organ, which is often a muscle. The point where two nerves meet is called a synapse. A series of chemical reactions occur there. Each nerve cell can connect with between 10,000 and 150,000 synapses. And all this information must be processed correctly! The brain’s network is infinitely more complex than any computer network we know of. It surpasses human comprehension to understand that the brain’s development in most of us proceeds correctly when there are infinite possibilities for things to go wrong.
We take some things for granted and never think about them: What makes us hungry? What makes us feel full? Why do we get tired? We need sleep to store away the day’s events so that the brain is ready for the next day’s experiences. Sufficient sleep is actually important for everything that happens in our body. We empty the bladder five to six times a day. There is a sphincter muscle that prevents urine from leaking uncontrollably all the time. This muscle automatically relaxes when we need to empty the bladder. Who saw the need for such a muscle? The same applies to the sphincter muscle of the rectum. It becomes particularly troublesome if this muscle does not function. Biological literature explains all these conditions with evolution. We may wonder: Who saw the human need for wheat, rice, and potatoes, and was able to provide us with this food? I allow myself to believe that the functionality of life is best explained by intelligent cause.
What happens in the body is controlled and regulated. Without control mechanisms, the chemical reactions of life would run amok. I will show a simple example of such control and regulation: The pituitary gland is a pea-sized organ located under the brain – just behind the bridge of the nose. The pituitary gland produces hormones that control the formation of other hormones. The pituitary gland produces, among other things, the hormone ACTH, which causes the adrenal cortex to produce cortisol. Cortisol enters the bloodstream and is carried around the body, and also reaches the pituitary gland, which has sensors that monitor the amount of cortisol in the blood. If the cortisol concentration is too low, the pituitary gland produces more ACTH. This mechanism is often referred to as backfeeding.
From the book of prof emeritus Kjell J. Tveter “So much to wonder about”