BOK_FINISH_9a.indd



The medulla oblongata is part of the brainstem or autonomic brain at the
top of the spinal cord. The central canal of the spinal cord continues into the
forth ventricle of the medulla. It is in the medulla that the nerves from the two
hemispheres cross over and head down the spine to control the opposite sides of
the body. The parasympathetic nerves that feed all the visceral organs down to the
intestines leave the spinal cord from this cranial area. However the colon, urinary
organs and the sex organs are parasympathetically fed by nerves leaving the sacrum
area at the bottom of the spine.
The substantia gelatinosa is the H shaped gray matter in the spinal cord which
surrounds the central canal. This is where the nerve fibers carrying information
from the peripheral to the central nervous system terminate. The Substantia
gelatinosa is made up of unmyelinated neurons, some of which inhibit pain signals
by producing opioids. Since kundalini invariably involves the sensation of bliss
part of the endorphin releases could be from the gray matter in the spinal cord
itself. Avram Goldstein, one of the first discoverers of endorphins proposed that
endorphins in the amygdala create the tingling down the spine, and the shuddering
discharge of emotion that we experience as a thrill. In the brain a thin outer shell
of cellular gray matter, (the cortex) covers the cerebral hemispheres and clusters of
cellular gray matter in the center of the brain form the deep nuclei. A nucleus is
a mass of nerve cell bodies and dendrites inside the CNS. Clusters of nerve cells
outside the CNS are referred to as ganglion.
The locus cerculeus in the floor of the forth brain ventricle is an alarm
center which helps attentiveness, and governs arousal, fear, anxiety and terror.
It has extensions of its noradrenergic neurons reaching into nearly every part of the
cortex, and is thought to be instrumental in directing the attention of the cortex.
Researchers have found both the Locus cerculeus and the amygdala and other
regions of limbic system to be practically saturated with shorted lived opioid
peptides (chained amino acids) called enkephalins.
opiates—In response to physical injury, terror, and severe emotional stress,
the amygdala, hypothalamus, brainstem, striatum and related limbic system nuclei
secrete enkephalins. Like corticosteroids, enkephalins are released as part of the
fight-or-flight response, and insure that an animal or human can continue to do
battle, or to successfully run away, although severely injured. Enkephalins are a five
amino acid protein chain, the smallest opioid to be used by the body. Although
the enkephalin combination of aminos is found within endorphins they actually
come from different precursors and have dissimilar distribution patterns. When
stained endorphin regions show up as definite streaks, pathways or fibers while
enkephalins tend to show up as discrete dots. The strongest of the opioids is the 17
chained amino acid dynorphin. Dynorphin in the spinal cord helps in processing
sensory information. As well as the spinal cord it is also found in parts of the
pituitary gland, the hypothalamus, medulla, pons and the mid brain.
The three genera of opioid peptides endorphins, dynorphins and enkephalins
are used as hormones in the body and something more like neurotransmitters in
the brain. They are inhibitory neurotransmitters, making it more difficult for the