Revealed! - How Powers Work (Discussion thread)

[getkuhl]

If Mohinder says that the powers come from the adrenal glands, and then it looks as though he is going to extract it from Maya..... then why has the focus for three seasons been on Sylar eating brains?? That sounds like they jumped tracks on us or something

[Frost27]

Apparently they come from the top of your kidneys... Who knew? And all this time Sylar has been poking around in the wrong place.

[getkuhl]

well if that is true then technically sylar would have zero abilities, maybe i am just missing something, or perhaps mohinder was wayyyy wrong considering the outcome of his situation. i think that formula is right and mohinder is wrong....

[warriorrenegade]

No. The powers manifest through the adrenal glands Like an on/off switch. The brain still holds the key to how and why a power works and is..Nothing has changed.

[Merfish]

The brain has all the info, and tell the adrenal glands to make it i think

[dru-zod2501]

If the adrenaline only activates the process, that would mean there's already something in the bloodstream that is the basis of the abilities, so the brain may still be the loci

[pjack]

If Mohinder says that the powers come from the adrenal glands, and then it looks as though he is going to extract it from Maya..... then why has the focus for three seasons been on Sylar eating brains?? That sounds like they jumped tracks on us or something

Sylar doesn't eat brains. We never saw what he did until now with Claire and we had to use our imaginations on what he did. They made us all believe that's what he did. Even Claire said, "Are you going to eat my brain?" lol
But I think that's were we tell ourselves HOW to use these powers. The brain is the command center for the body so it say how to walk, eat, sleep and use extraordinary powers. As far as what triggers this, it very well can be from the adrenal glands. I'm sure most of use aren't dr.s so how do we really know that's not possible.

BTW. Sylar has the ability to extract that from the brain to use for himself and Peter, well you know....

[warriorrenegade]

If the adrenaline only activates the process, that would mean there's already something in the bloodstream that is the basis of the abilities, so the brain may still be the loci

Yes. Mohinder said this. That a person who was injected with the Hero/virus their individual blood chemistry would determine what powers they got.

[Lex'sLover]

ya thats what im thinking.. its in the glands.. but the brain makes it happen.. and might i add... Sylar is NOOOT a brain eater! notice he did not eat any part of Claires brain? he simply touched it.. an Claire said... 'Aren't you going to eat my brain" and he is like "Claire.. Thats disgusting"

[Yoshua]

Well that answers that question

Back in episode 2-11 forum there was a debate about how the powers worked. I said that Adam Monroe would never die in the coffin because a chemical in his brain would keep bringing him back to life.


Hmmmm sounds about right.

Original Thread


Ninth Doctor still around?

[spokesnwheels]

Connection between the brain and the adrenal glands

The pituitary gland is located in the brain and helps to regulate the activity of the adrenal glands.

That is tie between the two.

[Kardiac]

No. The powers manifest through the adrenal glands Like an on/off switch. The brain still holds the key to how and why a power works and is..Nothing has changed.

Exactly... the brain is the steering wheel, the adrenal gland is the starter.

[The Ninth Doctor]

Back in episode 2-11 forum there was a debate about how the powers worked. I said that Adam Monroe would never die in the coffin because a chemical in his brain would keep bringing him back to life.


Hmmmm sounds about right.

Original Thread


Ninth Doctor still around?

I'm still here lol.


This was a very....odd reveal to say the least. Because we've seen plenty of powers that are always on, not brought on by stress. (Adam's was definitely a stressful manifest, but didn't Claire just get a minor cut or something?) And also examples of powers that have nothing to do with adrenalin (IE, Micah).

Anyway, as Sylar showed us, the powers are still in the brain, but the brain just needs to send a signal to the adrenal glands to secrete adrenalin to turn on the powers in the brain. Somewhat redundant, but meh.


(About the Adam debate... let's not start that again lol. Laws of Physics still say that he can't live forever, proof that he can't still exists, proof that he can still exists, neither stance has all the evidence supporting it, and as Mrs. Petrelli dream shows he's going to be dug out before anyone can be proven right or wrong.)

[Mischael12]

The adrenal glands are there for a more instinctual basis, the reaction of fight or flight. It would explain why many manifestations of the powers occurred when the individual was in a life or death situation, this ties in with the instinctual side of the brain reacting. When the individual learns to activate their powers, its now having the brain tell the adrenal glands what to do.

It would make sense as well why Isaac could only paint when he was on heroin, which is known to cause the pituitary gland to signal the adrenal glands to secret adrenaline.

In cases of people like Todd, his powers were pretty much tied to his emotions, the more emotional he got the stronger the radiation released, which also points to a higher adrenaline level in his body. Since we usually have adrenaline flowing in our bodies in small amounts I believe, it would mean that a small amount of his powers would always be active. Not enough to do full harm.

When one learns to control their powers its basically the brain controlling the levels of adrenaline in the system, though I would argue some people always have a consistent level, people like Claire, may have extremely high adrenaline in her body, too be used whenever. This would explain the rapid healing, and her bodies inability to feel the pain, it probably starts healing the moment the damage is done now.

I should point out that adrenaline isn't always triggered by stress, excitement, and happiness can also be factors to trigger it, as well as other emotions that are positive and negative.

Thats just why it makes sense to me though....

[DoomsDay15]

The adrenal glands are there for a more instinctual basis, the reaction of fight or flight. It would explain why many manifestations of the powers occurred when the individual was in a life or death situation, this ties in with the instinctual side of the brain reacting. When the individual learns to activate their powers, its now having the brain tell the adrenal glands what to do.

It would make sense as well why Isaac could only paint when he was on heroin, which is known to cause the pituitary gland to signal the adrenal glands to secret adrenaline.

In cases of people like Todd, his powers were pretty much tied to his emotions, the more emotional he got the stronger the radiation released, which also points to a higher adrenaline level in his body. Since we usually have adrenaline flowing in our bodies in small amounts I believe, it would mean that a small amount of his powers would always be active. Not enough to do full harm.

When one learns to control their powers its basically the brain controlling the levels of adrenaline in the system, though I would argue some people always have a consistent level, people like Claire, may have extremely high adrenaline in her body, too be used whenever. This would explain the rapid healing, and her bodies inability to feel the pain, it probably starts healing the moment the damage is done now.

I should point out that adrenaline isn't always triggered by stress, excitement, and happiness can also be factors to trigger it, as well as other emotions that are positive and negative.

Thats just why it makes sense to me though....

This.