Those pilots who had survived reported sudden onset of dizziness and confusion, causing them to lose control of their aircraft. Dr. Bucha found that helicopter rotor blades, when turning at certain speeds, could cause flashes of sunlight at frequencies coinciding with the electrical frequencies of the central nervous system (brainwaves), inducing symptoms similar to epileptic seizures, including disorientation, nausea, etc.

The Bucha effect has been considered as a principle for various forms of non-lethal weapon.

The insula is the part of your brain where all of your internal sensory input comes together, from your heart, lungs, stomach, intestines, and so on. They signal needs such as thirst, hunger, and the need to breathe. The insula also gets input from a separate set of receptors on your skin and mouth: temperature, pain, itch, ache, and touch. Many inputs, such as being pinched, will signal both the insula and your body touch maps.

The insula is a critical part of what it means to be human, to have “sentiment, sentience, and emotional awareness”. Of all the mamals, only humans and other primates have this rich set of input into the insula. “It is here that the mind and body unite. It is the foundation for emotional intelligence.”

The insula plays a key role in pain management. Pain is handled in the same way as an emotion, both of which result in elevated activity in the insula. This is why meditation and biofeedback can both be effective ways to deal with chronic pain. By helping someone learn to turn down the activity in their insula, they can learn to reduce the ongoing sensation and stress from pain. The same kind of learning can help people who are anxious, and have a generally high level of arousal in their insula, to be less anxious and stressed.

http://www.amazon.com/Body-Has-Mind-Its-Own/dp/1400064694

What do golfer’s yips, the ability to see auras and the hypnotic appeal of video games all have in common? Each arises from the brain’s body map. New York Times science contributor Sandra Blakeslee and her son, science writer Matthew Blakeslee, begin with a quick overview of the sense of touch. According to the Blakeslees, body maps are created by the brain, using touch, to spell out the brain’s experience of the body and the space around it. These maps expand and contract to include objects such as clothing, tools or even your car. [...]

The body in motion generates its own set of changing mental maps, distinguishing the graceful from the clumsy. Maps are plastic, report the Blakeslees, yet they also have permanence: successful dieters may still feel overweight, and amputees retain a map of the missing limb. Varied and revealing, this will intrigue readers interested in the clinical perspective on self-perception.