Consider this a partial repost of Moral Fiber: “We are all self-reproducing bioreactors. We provide an environment for trillions of microbes, most of which cannot survive for long without the food, shelter and a place to breed that we provide. They inhabit us so thoroughly that not a single tissue in our body is sterile. … Continue reading How will you feel?
This 2020 review subject was carnitine, acetyl-L-carnitine, and its other molecular forms: “Carnitine is necessary to deliver long-chain fatty acids from cytosol into mitochondria. Carnitine homeostasis is maintained by diet and renal absorption, as only a small amount (about 25%) is obtained by endogenous biosynthesis. Defective fatty acid oxidation occurs with reduced intracellular levels of … Continue reading A case for carnitine supplementation
This 2020 Swiss review subject was potential glutathione therapies for stress: “We examine available data supporting a role for GSH levels and antioxidant function in the brain in relation to anxiety and stress-related psychopathologies. Several promising compounds could raise GSH levels in the brain by either increasing availability of its precursors or expression of GSH-regulating … Continue reading Treating psychopathological symptoms will somehow resolve causes?
This 2020 review attempted to consolidate thousands of research papers on oxytocin: “Chemical properties of oxytocin make this molecule difficult to work with and to measure. Effects of oxytocin are context-dependent, sexually dimorphic, and altered by experience. Its relationship to a related hormone, vasopressin, have created challenges for its use as a therapeutic drug. Widely … Continue reading Unraveling oxytocin – is it nature’s medicine?
If you can stand the woo of two Californians trying to outwoo each other, listen to these five podcasts with a sleep scientist. https://peterattiamd.com/matthewwalker1/ “Ambien, sedation, hypnotives, are not sleep. Sleep is a life support system. It’s the Swiss army knife of health. Lack of sleep is like a broken water pipe in your home … Continue reading Sleep
While rereading a review in Eat broccoli sprouts today, it occurred to me that I haven’t needed to take migraine medicine during the 9 weeks I’ve been eating broccoli sprouts every day. Since 14 weeks of lockdown overlap this period, it’s also possible that I’ve avoided triggering conditions. I look at brightly-lit screens all day, … Continue reading Do broccoli sprouts treat migraines?
Learned helplessness is a proven animal model. Its reliably-created phenotype is often the result of applying chronic unpredictable stress. As we’re finding out worldwide, forcing humans to learn helplessness works in much the same way, with governments imposing what amounts to martial law. Never mind that related phenotypes and symptoms include: “Social defeat Social avoidance … Continue reading Forcing people to learn helplessness
To follow up Using COVID-19 as a cover story, what other previously unacceptable agendas are now in play? 1. The United Nations is using COVID-19 to advocate a global 10% tax. From the March 27, 2020, document at https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/sg_report_socio-economic_impact_of_covid19.pdf: “A large-scale, coordinated and comprehensive multilateral response amounting to at least 10 per cent of global … Continue reading Using COVID-19 as a cover story Part II
This 2019 Australian review subject was fetal adversities: “Adversity during the perinatal period is a significant risk factor for the development of neurodevelopmental disorders long after the causative event. Despite stemming from a variety of causes, perinatal compromise appears to have similar effects on the developing brain, thereby resulting in behavioural disorders of a similar … Continue reading A review of fetal adverse events
This 2019 German human study found: “A critical role of BDNF [brain-derived neurotrophic factor] methylation in human amygdala response to negative emotional stimuli, whereby: High BDNF methylation rates were for the first time shown to be associated with a high reactivity in the amygdala; and High BDNF methylation and high amygdala reactivity were associated with … Continue reading Emotional responses and BDNF methylation
This 2019 US rodent study concerned transmitting poor maternal care to the next generation: “The quality of parental care received during development profoundly influences an individual’s phenotype, including that of maternal behavior. Infant experiences with a caregiver have lifelong behavioral consequences. Maternal behavior is a complex behavior requiring the recruitment of multiple brain regions including … Continue reading A drug that countered effects of a traumatizing mother
Update: this was retracted on February 23, 2021. The retraction note is at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-84474-5. This 2019 New York rodent study investigated multiple avenues to uncover mechanisms of obsessive-compulsive disorder: “Psychophysical models of OCD propose that anxiety (amygdala) and habits (dorsolateral striatum) may be causally linked. Numerous genetic and environmental factors may reduce striatum sensitivity and … Continue reading OCD and neural plasticity
This 2019 UK review discussed delusions, aka false beliefs about reality: “Delusions are characterized by their behavioral manifestations and defined as irrational beliefs that compromise good functioning. In this overview paper, we ask whether delusions can be adaptive notwithstanding their negative features. We consider different types of delusions and different ways in which they can … Continue reading Do delusions have therapeutic value?
Here’s a 2018 article from two researchers involved in the Dunedin (New Zealand) Longitudinal Study. They coauthored many studies, including People had the same personalities at age 26 that they had at age 3. The paper’s grand hypothesis was: “A single dimension is able to measure a person’s liability to mental disorder, comorbidity among disorders, … Continue reading Fear of feeling?
It’s dawned on me that although links in blog posts are indexed by search engines, links in comments may not be. Here’s a post to elevate links in three comments that may have escaped notice. From A review of biological variability: “It is my view that all researchers have a narrow focus on what they … Continue reading Unindexed comment links?
Surface Your Real Self 