Deadly Feasts: Second Connection Discussion Questions
- What signs of mental illness did Bertha display that show she was suffering from physical damage to the brain? (Page 47)
- Why did neuropathologists consider the “spongiform change” in CJD to be unimportant? (Page 50-51)
- Do you agree that the “spongiform change” should be ignored by neuropathologists? Explain why. (Page 50-51)
- Compare and contrast the two diseases: Kuru and CJD. (Page 51-52)
- How does the brain function similarly to a central telephone switchboard? (Page 53)
- What are the important functions of the cerebrum and how did Kuru and CJD affected the cerebrum? (Page 54-55)
- How are the two diseases (Scrapie and Kuru) similarly the same? (Page 63)
1. Bertha had signs of physical damage to the brain, she had a "dazed expression, silly giggling twitching eyes and unsteady walk (p 47)" and her personality changed, she became negligent to her appearance and had no desire to bathe or eat.
ReplyDelete3) I disagree that the "spongiform change" should be ignored. I also find it strange how it was ignored through the decade. I disagree because the "spongiform change" condition must of occurred because of a reason. Thus, this condition proved to be a key to the CJD diagnosis.
ReplyDelete2. They made a huge mistake to think that the CJD was unimportant. That enables the doctor to find out the importance of CJD and eventually it went in to the findings.
ReplyDelete5. The brain is like a central telephone switchboard because it processes information through signals that are transmitted between each other. this allows the brain (like people) to "address each other and interact."
ReplyDelete4. Kuru is responsible for 300 cases per year in the Fore population of approximately thirty-thousand. Over the past five years, more than half of the deaths in the worst-hit Fore settlements have been caused by kuru. A rare degenerative disease, the brain damage caused by kuru is similar to that caused by Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Although Creutzfeldt-Jakob is typically a disease of middle-age, kuru seems to exclusively target women and children.
ReplyDelete