- #1
BillDoor
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In my attempt to obliterate my ignorance I'd like to discuss something related to the recent news story about a young man who attached two clamps to his nipples and then had a friend plug it into a wall socket. http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978486647" <-- News Story
I got into a debate(from an admittedly relative point of ignorance) over whether or not the young man suffered direct brain damage from the shock or if it was entirely the oxygen deprivation from his heart stopping.
Basically, "their" argument was that it probably didn't hit his brain because it took the path of least resistance. My argument was that given the amount of fluid in the body and the nature of the central nervous system and its connection to the brain it would seem dubious that the brain would not incur direct electrical damage. Now, a second question: if the young man's brain was indeed directly damaged (rather than indirectly via oxygen deprivation), was the voltage enough to cause a significant amount of brain damage? And, I'm not even sure what constitutes "significant" brain damage.
Also, I was reading up on "path of least resistance" when I came upon this article: http://ecmweb.com/mag/electric_path_least_resistance/. So, unless I'm misunderstanding, the electrical current took every path available in his body in inverse proportion to the amount of resistance in each path? I guess what it comes down to is the bio-conductivity of the connections of the chest to the brain.
Well, I'd like to assert that while I'd enjoy being correct, my real goal is to understand. Thank you for your time!
I got into a debate(from an admittedly relative point of ignorance) over whether or not the young man suffered direct brain damage from the shock or if it was entirely the oxygen deprivation from his heart stopping.
Basically, "their" argument was that it probably didn't hit his brain because it took the path of least resistance. My argument was that given the amount of fluid in the body and the nature of the central nervous system and its connection to the brain it would seem dubious that the brain would not incur direct electrical damage. Now, a second question: if the young man's brain was indeed directly damaged (rather than indirectly via oxygen deprivation), was the voltage enough to cause a significant amount of brain damage? And, I'm not even sure what constitutes "significant" brain damage.
Also, I was reading up on "path of least resistance" when I came upon this article: http://ecmweb.com/mag/electric_path_least_resistance/. So, unless I'm misunderstanding, the electrical current took every path available in his body in inverse proportion to the amount of resistance in each path? I guess what it comes down to is the bio-conductivity of the connections of the chest to the brain.
Well, I'd like to assert that while I'd enjoy being correct, my real goal is to understand. Thank you for your time!
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