Rebecca M Walton
Similar to a spider’s web and its labyrinth of connections
A variety of paths, as it crawls in all directions
Up, down, left, right, fast, slow, then still
A cortical network elicited an action, with or without my will
Some view this phenomenon as simply a computation
Others argue we have an elusive power within
This proposed dichotomy is intriguing, yet I’m still wondering:
What could the reason have been?
It’s not so simple to say A plus B equals C
It’s more like a puzzle, the solution too obscure to see
Each strand in the web physically has a start and end
But where these fibers truly come from is difficult to comprehend
You must know adjusting the network is anything but rare
So to say I have a fixed design would certainly be unfair
I won’t go looking in the DSM browsing for a definition
I won’t make diagnosing my primary mission
I instead see all individuals as a delicate mosaic of junctions
The series of trillions of synapses that lead to one’s functions
Growing up I often heard: “you’re just wired this way”
But if that is really the case, I am of the same nature today
There is the innate and then there is the next layer
For both chemicals and experiences can influence behavior
So how are we all so unique in our actions, reactions, and manners?
It’s not as if this is suddenly clear under an MRI scanner
The intricacies of the brain allow us to vary to the n-th degree
Meaning every human in this world is quite different from me
It’s not hard to look at the tangible – the effect and the cause
The mechanisms and circuits all follow a standard set of laws
So I can tell you how the spinal cord allows you to bend your knee
But think about how the nervous system interacts with what we can’t see
Think about how the world outside is able to provoke what is inherent
Now let me ease your worries: the consequences aren’t so apparent