Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Classically Conditioned Allergies


    It was extremely surprising to me to read that scientists were successfully able to condition guinea pigs to become allergic to odors simply by pairing these odors with a protein that induced allergies. Seeing the evidence of how our minds are directed shaped and manipulated based off of processes that we are not in active awareness of, is truly astonishing. I am allergic to many things, including almost all of nature. Pollen knocks me off my feet for a solid two months, and simply stepping outside during allergy season can ignite a sneezing, itchy, hive ridden reaction on my body. Reading this has made me curious as to how much of my reaction is the actual pollen, and how much could possibly be the conditioned response to me stepping outside during a time in which the substance I am allergic to is likely to be in the air.  In accordance to what these researches have found, just the sight of the oak trees could signal a reaction on my body. 

      Since it seems that we can be classically conditioned in many ways, I wonder if you would be able to trick your body and reverse certain allergies, or ailments that you might already have. It seems kind of wild, and while there are many genetic factors laced in with this discussion, I have learned throughout this course that our minds shape so much more of who we are and how we feel, than I ever thought possible.  

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