This 2020 review by a Hong Kong company’s researchers compared and contrasted measures of biological age: “More than a dozen aging clocks use molecular features to predict an organism’s age, each of them utilizing different data types and training procedures. We offer a detailed comparison of existing mouse and human aging clocks, discuss their technological … Continue reading Linear thinking about biological age clocks
This 2020 Spanish review analyzed recent clinical trials that used broccoli sprouts and their compounds. Stringent criteria for study selection resulted in few trials being considered: “We reduced the timeframe to the last years, from 2012 to the present. We focused our work on the data of studies carried out with human adults with different … Continue reading Reviewing clinical trials of broccoli sprouts and their compounds
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 better understand our internal origins of panic, here’s Dr. Arthur Janov’s interpretation of a 2013 Iowa study Fear and panic in humans with bilateral amygdala damage (not freely available): “Justin Feinstein did a study with those who had a damaged amygdala, the hub of the emotional system. They did not have normal fear responses. … Continue reading Flatten the Panic Curve April 13-17, 2020
Walked on the beach remembering the last time I lived here 40+ years ago, experiencing Sea Level in concert back then, still listening to their instrumentals now, along with these: It’s a lot like being little And wanting a brand new toy It’s a lot like being little And wanting a baby boy To call … Continue reading Sea Level
Three items to follow up yesterday’s The UK downgraded COVID-19 a week ago: 1. From March 24, 2020: Oxford Epidemiologist: Here’s Why That Doomsday Model Is Likely Way Off “Fewer than one in a thousand who’ve been infected with COVID-19 become sick enough to need hospitalization, leaving the vast majority with mild cases or free … Continue reading The evidence says..
This 2019 US study investigated the context of creative ideas: “Creative inspiration routinely occurs during moments of mind wandering. Approximately 20% of ideas occurred in this manner. Although ideas that occurred while participants were both on task and mind wandering did not differ in overall quality, there were several dimensions on which they did consistently … Continue reading Wander into creativity?
This 2019 McGill review discussed long-lasting effects of perinatal stress: “Epigenetic processes are involved in embedding the impact of early-life experience in the genome and mediating between social environments and later behavioral phenotypes. Since these phenotypes are apparent a long time after early experience, changes in gene expression programming must be stable. Although loss of … Continue reading The epigenetics of perinatal stress
A pair of 2019 Virginia studies involved human mother/infant subjects: “We show that OXTRm [oxytocin receptor gene DNA methylation] in infancy and its change is predicted by maternal engagement and reflective of behavioral temperament.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6795517 “Epigenetic dynamics in infancy and the impact of maternal engagement” “Infants with higher OXTRm show enhanced responses to anger and … Continue reading Using oxytocin receptor gene methylation to pursue an agenda
This 2019 McGill rodent study found: “Prenatal stress exacerbates pain after injury. Analysis of mRNA expression of genes related to epigenetic regulation and stress responses in the frontal cortex and hippocampus, brain structures implicated in chronic pain, showed distinct sex and region-specific patterns of dysregulation. In general, mRNA expression was most frequently altered in the … Continue reading Prenatal stress heightened adult chronic pain
This 2019 Washington State University rodent study found epigenetically inherited transgenerational effects in great-grand offspring due to their great-grandmothers’ toxicant exposures during pregnancy: “Previous studies found an increased susceptibility to obesity in F3 generation rats ancestrally exposed to the pesticide DDT, and an increase in a lean phenotype in the F3 generation rats ancestrally exposed … Continue reading A transgenerational view of the rise in obesity
Let’s compare and contrast a 2019 meta-analysis and a 2017 review of using acetyl-L-carnitine to treat diabetic neuropathy. A 2019 Brazilian meta-analysis Acetyl‐L‐carnitine for the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy of four previous trials stated: “The risk of bias was high in both trials of different ALC doses and low in the other two trials. … Continue reading Too cheap for clinical trials
This 2019 French/Italian rodent study used the PRS model to investigate its effects on circadian activity: “The aim of this study was to explore the influence of PRS on the circadian oscillations of gene expression in the SCN [suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus] and on circadian locomotor behavior, in a sex-dependent manner. Research on transcriptional … Continue reading Perinatal stress and sex differences in circadian activity
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
This 2019 rodent study from the labs of Dr. Michael Skinner at Washington State University found: “The exposure of a gestating female during fetal gonadal sex determination to DDT can promote the epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of obesity and disease. Transgenerational pathologies (F3 generation) of late puberty, obesity, testis, prostate, and multiple disease were observed in … Continue reading Transgenerational diseases caused by great-grandmother DDT exposure
