Ross: How our brains are really responding to coronavirus
Mar 17, 2020, 8:17 AM | Updated: 11:20 am
Our brains have been working overtime to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
(AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Even though there is no vaccine yet, we know that the body’s own immune system can successfully attack COVID-19 on its own.
That’s because we all have what’s called “adaptive immunity.”
“This adaptive immunity takes about two weeks to really get going, because the body’s got to learn it, figure it out, marshal all of its forces, bring those cells in, make those antibodies, all that has to happen, and that’s when people are getting so sick,” said Dr. Keith Jerome with the University of Washington.
Basically, the body needs a two-week lead time. So I told Dr. Jerome if I was in charge of evolution, I would have us evolve an “awareness immunity.” Because the body is controlled by the brain, and our brains have been hearing virus warnings for at least two weeks, right?
“The body’s controlled by the brain … so where are you going with this?” Dr. Jerome asked.
“Why doesn’t the immune system listen to the conscious part of the brain that listens to news and say ‘hey, get ready now’?” I countered.
“You know how the brain does that?” said Dr. Jerome. “How the brain does that; how all the human brains get together to do this is – they make a scientific endeavor and they make scientists, and they make vaccine manufacturers, and that’s how the brain actually does it. So it’s indirect, but it actually does what you said.”
I found that encouraging — maybe we are collectively evolving after all.
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