Nutrición, creatividad y rasgos psicológicos

Este artículo se encontraba en creativesubstances.com/nutritio-and-creativity pero desapareció.


A fines de archivo y porque es interesante lo pongo aquí. Si alguien tiene el artículo con los links, me interesa tenerlo. Creo que el autor se llama Ryan.




Creative Substances
January 18, 2009
Nutrition and Creativity
Filed under: Uncategorized — @ 11:23 am



Can nutrition and supplements enhance creativity? This is a question
I have been exploring for several years now. I have discovered a
wealth of scientific information that supports and/or suggests a
potential influence, but I have had a harder time finding feedback
from people consciously using nutrition and supplementation to
increase creativity. And so I have created this website to combine
the latest scientific discoveries with my own experimentation.



First, what are the scientific underpinnings of creativity? Recent
research into creativity has identified two important traits common
to creative individuals: schizotypy and low latent inhibition.
Schizotypy, as the name implies, refers to a set of personality
traits related to schizophrenia. An important distinction here is
that it is possible to have schizotypal traits and not actually have
schizophrenia. In short, there are four general schizotypal traits:
unusual experiences, cognitive disorganization, introverted anhedonia,
and impulsive non-conformity. The first two are considered "positive"
schizotypal traits while the latter two are called "negative."
Daniel Nettle published a study in which he analyzed the schizotypal
tendencies of artists and mathematicians, and observed that
successful poets and artists score higher in the first two categories
than the average population. Introverted anhedonia, or the inability
to experience pleasure was negatively correlated with success in all
artistic domains. His study can be found here.



Cognitive disorganization is strongly related to the second major
recent discovery about creative individuals – low latent inhibition.
Latent inhibition (LI) refers to the ability to screen out irrelevant
stimuli from conscious awareness. Historically, low LI has been
associated with psychosis, since people with schizophrenia and
bipolar disorder usually display low latent inhibition on common
tests of attention. Shelley H. Carson headed a study of Harvard
undergraduates which added an interesting twist to the old assumption.
Her study found that high lifetime creative achievement is strongly
correlated with low latent inhibition and high IQ. The idea is that
low latent inhibition can predispose individuals to either psychosis
or exceptional creativity, depending on the moderating influence of
intelligence. Of course, low latent inhibition could predispose
someone to both creativity and psychosis, which may help explain the
longstanding link between genius and insanity. As the poet Dryden
wrote in 17th century England, "great wits are sure to madness near
allied, and thin partitions do their bounds divide."



So there appears to be a link between schizotypal tendencies, low
latent inhibition and creative achievement. Dr. Keith Simonton noted
another important trend among highly creative individuals: they tend
to produce a lot and the quality of their work remains fairly constant.
Beethoven's greatest works, for example, were all produced during his
most prolific periods when he also created a lot of now largely
ignored pieces. Over the course of his life, Beethoven's probability-
of-success remained constant. For the rest of us this means that the
more we produce the better our chances of creating our finest work,
even if we have to sift through a lot of dirt to reach the gold. Go
here for a great summary of Dr. Simonton's work.



Having discussed the major recent discoveries about creativity, let's
return to the original question: can nutrition enhance creativity?
We now have some specific goals in mind through which to analyze the
influence of nutrition and supplements. We are looking to lower
latent inhibition (subjectively comparable to a rush of ideas). We
are looking to increase productivity. Shared among these is the
influence of dopamine, particularly in the mesolimbic pathway of the
brain. Increasing dopamine is therefore one target of our
nutritional approach to enhancing creativity.



First, let's consider supplements that may enhance creativity. I
have limited my research for the most part to naturally occurring
substances that the reader can easily obtain. Of course, you could
just take 5 mg. of d-amphetamine, which has been repeatedly shown to
reduce latent inhibition. However, I would like to focus on more
sustainable ways of enhancing creativity. The most effective "natural
" supplements I have found are SAM-e and NADH. Both are naturally
occurring in the human body and indirectly influence dopamine levels.
I have also experimented with deprenyl (selegiline). Although not a
naturally occurring substance, deprenyl does influence dopamine
levels and has been used to increase lifespan in laboratory animals.
My own experiments with deprenyl have been less than stellar, so I
only mention it as a hypothetical creativity enhancer which hasn't
really worked for me personally. I have also used amino acids like l-
tyrosine and l-phenylalanine (both precursors of dopamine) but with
likewise inconsistent effects. As an interesting alternative I would
mention the combination of maca and horny goat weed (epimedium).
Although usually combined to make a well-studied herbal aphrodisiac,
I believe the hormonal effects of these two herbs can influence
creativity. Maybe they just make you so horny that your drive to
create intensifies as well — but if it works, it works.



Lest we dwell too much on the healthy creativity enhancers, let's not
forget the old standby alcohol. Can dozens of famously alcoholic
writers and poets be wrong? There has been some scientific research
into the role of alcohol in the creative process, with one Finnish
study suggesting that it can definitely be useful in the incubation
phase. Assuming that alcohol can play a productive role in creativity,
you might want to make red wine your alcohol of choice.



Secondly, let's consider dietary approaches. When we eat, what we eat,
and how much we eat all have an influence on mood and attention. So
why shouldn't diet also influence creativity? I once spent a period
of about six months attempting to replicate the Ancient Greek diet.
I ate lots of fish and barley. Why on earth would I do such a thing?
Well, the culture of ancient Athens in particular produced more
geniuses per capita than any other culture before or since. What
they actually ate may not have had anything to do with it, but I felt
it was a worthwhile experiment nonetheless. Most recently diets that
imitate hunter-gatherer diets have attracted a lot of attention.
These diets usually exclude grains and as a result are relatively low
on carbohydrates. In my own experiments I have found hunter-gatherer
or Paleolithic-type diets to have an energizing effect. When
sticking to them I never felt the need for a nap in the middle of the
day, and I regularly experienced intensely euphoric moments. What
about the more mundane substances we daily choose to ingest? Coffee,
cocoa, and green tea all have a place in creative work.



Thirdly, let's consider daily habits. What about the influence of
exercise, sleep, sex, and light exposure on creativity? Can we learn
anything from the daily habits of eminent creators?



I started this website in order to share my own experiences with
nutrition and creativity, and I'd like to invite others to post their
own experiences below and in the other pages of this site.



Home
6 Comments »

1.

[...] creativity? Levels of SAM-e appear to be elevated in
children and in euphoric and manic people. As I've mentioned before,
creative individuals display many similarities to schizophrenics and
manic depressives. Dopamine [...]

Pingback by SAM-e – Does it Boost Creativity? «
creativesubstances.com — January 21, 2009 @ 9:00 pm
2.

[...] does make me think almost immediately of low latent
inhibition. As I've mentioned before, low latent inhibition appears
to be a quality common to creative individuals. Because they do not
filter stimuli as [...]

Pingback by The Insomniac's Muse: Sleep, Sleeplessness, and
Creativity « Creative Substances — January 22, 2009 @ 11:03 pm
3.

[...] adenine dinucleotide) increases dopamine via the enzyme
tyrosine hydroxylase. The influence of dopamine has been linked to
creative thinking in countless studies, and I have found NADH
especially useful for late night creative [...]

Pingback by Six Natural Ways to Enhance Creativity « Creative
Substances — January 28, 2009 @ 7:21 pm
4.

[...] few studies which suggest that it may be able to enhance
dopamine neurotransmission in the brain. Dopamine has been linked to
creative drive and idea generation in many studies, and enhancing
dopamine appears to be a significant approach to boosting [...]

Pingback by Arachidonic Acid Increases Dopamine « Creative
Substances — February 10, 2009 @ 10:01 pm
5.

[...] than in larger doses. It tends to simultaneously relax
the body while disinhibiting the mind (and lowering latent inhibition).
A single drink is probably best, and possible a second if a snack is
involved to help slow down [...]

Pingback by How Does Alcohol Affect Creativity? « Creative
Substances — February 18, 2009 @ 7:05 pm
6.

[...] selection favoring creativity. That is, creative people
tend to attract more partners, and the same genes that confer
heightened creativity can also lead to affective diseases. One
highly publicized study found that professional artists [...]

Pingback by Sex and Creativity « Creative Substances — February
20, 2009 @ 4:45 pm

Propiedades neurotróficas y neuroprotectoras del Cardo Mariano

En cultivo, el Cardo Mariano (Milk Thristle) aumenta el factor de crecimiento neuronal, induce el crecimiento de las neuritas en las células neuronales PC-12 y prolonga su supervivencia en cultivo.

Neurotrophic and neuroprotective effects of milk thistle (Silybum marianum) on neurons in culture

Smita Kittur1, 3 , Skuntala Wilasrusmee1, Ward A. Pedersen4, Mark. P. Mattson4, Karen Straube-West1, Chumpon Wilasrusmee2, Burk Jubelt1 and Dilip S. Kittur2(1)    

Abstract: Herbal products are being increasingly used as dietary supplements and therapeutic agents. However, much more research must be performed in order to determine the biological basis for their putative clinical effects. We tested the effects of milk thistle (Silybum marianum) extract on the differentiation and survival of cultured neural cells. Milk thistle enhanced nerve growth factor (NGF)-induced neurite outgrowth in PC-12 neural cells and prolonged their survival in culture. Milk thistle extract also protected cultured rat hippocampal neurons against oxidative stress-induced cell death. Our data demonstrate that milk thistle extract can promote neuronal differentiation and survival, suggesting potential benefits of chemicals in this plant on the nervous system.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/67670603tj4801h2/

Más sobre la respiración Sudarshan Kriya, dos ejemplos

Cada tanto alguien deja un comentario sobre mis posts sobre la respiración Sudarshan Kriya (El Arte de Vivir). Agradezco porque algunos son buenos, otros no.

Eso me motiva a buscar más información. Es así que encontré esto (el énfasis es mío), una técnica estimulante y otra relajante:

Luis Diego Cob, coordinador de programas e instructor de El Arte de Vivir en México, explicó que el sudarshan kriya es una poderosa técnica de respiración rítmica que colabora con el buen desarrollo físico, mental y emocional.

Su significa poder, darshan significa la visión y kriya es una práctica de purificación. El sudarshan kriya por tanto, es un método realmente purificador mediante el cual uno recibe una adecuada visión de su verdadero ser.

La técnica de respiración de fuelle es también conocida como "café instantáneo natural". Consiste en inhalar y exhalar vigorosamente por la nariz, coordinando un movimiento de brazos.

Con los ojos cerrados, se colocan los brazos doblados y pegados al cuerpo, el dorso de las manos cerca de los hombros. Se suben con fuerza y con las palmas abiertas mientras se inhala una sola vez rápida y vigorosamente. Al exhalar con fuerza por la nariz, se bajan los brazos golpeando levemente las costillas con los codos, quedando en la posición inicial. Se hacen varias repeticiones.

Una técnica de relajación muy buena para antes de dormir consiste en acostarse boca arriba, colocar las manos sobre el abdomen. Inhalar profunda pero suavemente. Exhalar lentamente, presionando un poco con las manos para sacar todo el aire. Repetir varias veces.

La primera respiración y otros aspectos del curso se pueden ver en este video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMdEtJUJodA

Vuelta a probar Sulbutiamina

Resulta que he vuelto a probar Sulbutiamina. Pueden ver la descripción de Juan Carlos aquí: http://www.drogasinteligentes.com/sulbutiamina.html

Antes no me había resultado mucho pero esta vez le noto un claro efecto estimulante. No son necesarias altas dosis sino más bien esperar unos días.

En Argentina se consigue como Megastene, es de receta pero no hace falta, no está clasificada como psicotrópico. Es medio cara.

La forma de actuar no está clara, parece que modula la dopamina, acetilcolina y glutamato (le tengo desconfianza a este por ser excitotóxico y a los colinérgicos por aumentar la rumiación y el bajo ánimo) en distintas partes del cerebro.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sulbutiamine

Me parece que me pone un poco nervioso, pero en mí eso es común. para mí el mejor nootrópico sería el que modulara la ansiedad y el ánimo.

Me parece un producto muy interesante, uno se siente más despierto y con más movilidad. Se puede combinar con una toma moderada o baja de café, mate o lo que sea que les dé un poco de cafeína. Esta combinación viene en un producto que se llama Spike de Biotest.

También estoy haciendo un poco de ejercicio, lo cual ayuda. El ejercicio es el mejor nootrópico.

Si alguien tiene experiencia que postee. Gracias.

Elimino los cometarios anónimos?

Blogger, al menos en esta plantilla, no parece tener la opción para poner un comentario usando un nombre y un email. Se puede ingresar un nombre y un URL, pero nomuchos lousan ni tienen uno, me interesa más el email para contactar a la persona si me interesa.

Creo que es bueno poder dejar comentarios anónimos, pero se debería poder poner un email oculto también no?.

Medicinas herbales con posible acción antidepresiva

Me interesó esta tabla de Remedios Herbales, sus principios activos y posibles mecanismos de acción que encontré en un PDF:
http://psicofarmacologia.info/curso/antidepresivos.pdf

Aumentar la solubilidad de la cúrcuma

He leído muchos artículos sobre los beneficios de la curcumina, un principio activo en la cúrcuma, el conocido condimento ya mencionado en este blog.

El problema es que la curcumina no se absorve muy bien. Tampoco consigo la curcumina sola sino cúrcuma, la especie en polvo.

Para aumentar la absorción de la curcumina en la cúrcuma estoy haciendo lo siguiente. Como es liposoluble, pongo un poco en un vaso de leche y lo caliento, lo cual también se supone aumenta la solubilidad. Cuando lo retiro agito nuevamente y dejo reposar para que sedimente el exceso y tomo solamente la leche que quedó teñida de un intenso color amarillo-naranja.

No tengo forma de comprobar si lo que hago tiene algún efecto, pero al menos desde la lógica no parece incorrecto.

Si tienen mejores ideas por favor comenten.

Cúrcuma para la falta de sueño y el estrés crónico

Dos artículos que muestran beneficios de la curcumina que nos pueden interesar salieron en The Durk Pearson & Sandy Shaw® Life Extension News™ August 2009

Chronic Stress: Curcumin Protection in Chronically Stressed Rats

The authors conclude: "These results raise the possibility that increased cell proliferation and neuronal populations may be a mechanism by which curcumin treatment overcomes the stress-induced behavioral abnormalities and hippocampal neuronal damage. Moreover, curcumin treatment, via up-regulation of 5-HT1A receptors and BDNF, may reverse or protect hippocampal neurons from further damage in response to chronic stress, which may underlie the therapeutic actions of curcumin."
http://www.life-enhancement.com/article_template.asp?id=2120


Sleep Deprivation: Curcumin Protects Against Behavioral Alterations and Oxidative Damage in 72 Hour Sleep-Deprived Mice

As the authors explain, "sleep deprivation stimulates hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis resulting in an increased production of corticosterone that leads to cell damage." Excess corticosteroids are known to cause neuronal damage and, hence, impair cognitive function. Curcumin is a powerful scavenger of the superoxide anion, the hydroxyl radical, nitrogen dioxide, and protects against singlet-oxygen-induced DNA strand breaks.1
http://www.life-enhancement.com/article_template.asp?id=2121

El problema con la curcumina es la baja biodisponibilidad (ver http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/curcumin). Algunos le agregan biperina, la mezclan con aceite, etc. En el último artículo dan la forma que usan (como siempre promocionan su producto):

The results suggest that, if taking curcumin to help overcome the negative effects of sleep deprivation, take separately from an L-arginine supplement. After a poor night's sleep, we take curcumin the morning after and L-arginine later that day.

The least expensive way to take curcumin (and a method we use) is to take it as whole ground turmeric root (the spice used in cooking, especially heavily in Indian food). One benefit of this source of curcumin (about 40% of ground turmeric is curcumin) is that it contains, in addition to curcumin, chemically related molecules called curcuminoids that are also beneficial.2,3 We generally take 2 capsules of ground turmeric (each containing 600 mg) 3 or 4 times/day in our Turmeric Root Power™ as well as getting more in our brain maintenance formulation GalantaMind Plus™ capsules (no taste!) If you are taking GalantaMind Plus, you are getting 92.8 mg. curcumin (in 2 capsules/day) or 139.2 mg curcumin (in 3 capsules/day) from turmeric root powder.

Posteando nuevamente

Como varias veces antes, tuve problemas con Blogger.

Creo que ahora anda y estuve enviando un par de mensajes que fueron al grupo de discusión por no poder ponerlos acá.

Hasta pronto.

Ojo con el Hiperico

El Hipérico es cada vez más conocido, pero no sé si tanto se conoce que
produce disminución de los niveles de muchas drogas (entiendo por esto
cualquier molécula incluso medicinal) por interactuar con el citocromo
P450. Lo cual lo hace prácticamente poco usable.

Ver http://www.aeii.org/articulo/hyperi1.htm

Una forma de saber posibles interacciones entre drogas (o alimentos,
moléculas al final) es  buscar cómo se metabolizan, por ejemplo poner en un
buscador: droga citocromo P450 (o el que sea).

Como ejemplo, acabo de ver que el hipérico afectaría las concentraciones de
T4, la hormona de reemplazo tiroidea que mucha gente toma.

Esta página que acabo de encontrar trae muy buena información molecular
http://www.drugbank.ca/

Suplementar con vit E alfa baja la gama

Nuevos estudios muestran el problema de suplementar con una sola forma de
la vitamina E. Si se administra alfa tocoferol, la forma gama, que tiene
importanets funciones, baja dependiendo de la dosis.
The gamma form of vitamin E demonstrates several superior properties (such
as trapping reactive nitrogen species and detoxifying nitrogen dioxide)
compared with alpha vitamin E.
...
The results demonstrate that alpha vitamin E levels increased in proportion
to the dose administered. However, at every dose of alpha vitamin E, gamma
vitamin E concentration was significantly suppressed. No beneficial changes
in surrogate markers of atherosclerosis were observed, consistent with the
negative results of prospective clinical trials using alpha vitamin E
http://pmid.us/19303966

Las dosis más bajas de alfa tocoferol usadas en el estudio (con paciente d
ediabetes mellitus tipo 2) fueron de 200 IU.

Esto es un lío. Había leído otros artículos pero no los tengo a mano.
Habría que ver qué discusiones se arman en la red.

¿Comentarios?.

Probando citrato de magnesio

He leído muchas cosas buenas sobre la suplementación con magnesio. Las recomendaciones van desde los calambres, el stress hasta la depresión.

El problema con el magnesio es el tipo de sal. Hay mucho debate sobre cuál es la sal más adecuada (biodisponible).

Si se quiere una acción no estimulante supongo que los aspartatos quedan de lado.

Terminé comprando citrato de magnesio. Un poco porque me recuerda que el famoso deprenyl liquido es citrato y se supone que es más biodisponible que la fórmula en tabletas que creo es  clorhidrato. En un escrito de Discovery, los fabricantes originales del deprenyl líquido se decía que el citrato facilita el pasaje al cerebro. ¿Será posible que el citrato de magnesio llegue más al cerebro aportando más magnesio a las neuronas y modulando su funcionamiento?. Pura especulación.

Como el citrato es caro (compré Total Magnesiano grageas por 30 a 33 pesos y monedas con descuento) si no veo gran diferencia creo que voy a volver al cloruro de magnesio que tiene un gusto feo pero es económico. En farmacias lo venden fraccionado y en las droguerías se consigue en cantidad a bajo precio. Lo he comprado alguna vez en una droguería industrial, supongo que la pureza no será tan mala.

Si tienen comentarios por favor dejen su opinión o únanse al grupo de discusión sobre Nootrópicos

B3 mejora el Alzheimer

La vitamina B3 muestra efectividad en reducir los déficits cognitivos en la enfermedad de Alzheimer.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Nov 19 - Nicotinamide reverses the cognitive

deficits in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, according to a

new report.

Nicotinamide administered for 4 months beginning at 4 months of age

prevented cognitive deficits and improved short-term spatial memory in the

3xTg-AD mice, the authors report in the November 5th issue of The Journal

of Neuroscience.

Nicotinamide did not appear to alter the production of amyloid-beta, but

did reduce the steady state levels of Thr231 phosphorylated tau, which is

associated with microtubule depolymerization.

Treatment with nicotinamide also upregulated proteins associated with

increased microtubule stabilization and upregulated p25, which is linked to

improved learning and memory, the investigators say.

http://medgenmed.medscape.com/viewarticle/583878_print

Nuevos posts

Ahora que Blogger comenzó a andar como parece que debiera voy a poder actualizar y recuperar posts.

Acualicé los posts pero veo que quedaron con la fecha original. No sé qué es peor.

En todo caso lean para abajo desde este aviso y los encontrarán.

Los títulos son éstos:


Blogger no anda bien 24/03/08

El misterio del Sudarshan Kriya de Ravi Shankar 10/03/08

Nootropics - Past, Present, and Future powerpoint 26/02/08

PBS Special "Change Your Brain, Change Your Life" ... 26/02/08

Omega 3 y aspirina contra el dolor y la inflamacio... 23/02/08

Cómo estudiar para rendir con éxito los exámenes 11/02/08

Comer bananas 8/02/08

Correlacion entre velocidad al caminar y del pensa... 26/01/08

Disculpen las molestian y gracias.

nuevo test 2009

hola y lefiz 2009!

edit: bueno parace que al fin anda! estén atentos

worldofmolecules.com buen recurso sobre moleculas

Esta página tiene una serie de datos útiles:

www.worldofmolecules.com

Google apesta

Estoy harto de Blogger. Google se extiende, compra cosas pero no las hace funcionar.

Hace meses que no puedo postear porque las funcionalidades de este blog no están activas. Es lento, se pierde tiempo y te arrepentís de haber confiado.

Les sugiero que si quieren seguir los temas se suscriban a la lista de discusión en Nootrópicos en Yahoo! Grupos

¡Estoy enojado!.

Pronto

Pronto vuelvo a postear.

La lista de discusión sigue activa.

Blogger no anda bien

Hace tiempo que Blogger no funciona como debe, por eso no se ve posts.

El misterio del Sudarshan Kriya de Ravi Shankar

Me llama la atención que de tanto en tanto alguien deja un comentario en mi post "Como realizar la respiración Sudarshan Kriya de Ravi Shankar" diciendo que hicieron el curso y que no es así tal cual se explica.

Les agradezco, pero no entiendo por qué no comentan en el blog o en nuestra lista de discusión sobre Nootrópicos cómo es realmente. Pareciera que es algo que se desea mantener oculto. Como ya dije en los comentarios el conocimiento se escribe y se comenta, sino es argumento de venta. Por publicar un conocimiento no se arruina, al contrario, se enriquece y además no crea competencia porque sino todos seríamos cirujanos con tal de leer un librito y no es así. A qué se teme?. ¿Es liberadora una enseñanza que promueve el ocultamiento y el egoísmo (y el negocio porque el curso es caro)?.

Me gustaría saber más sobre Sudarshan Kriya y sobre otras formas de meditación como el Zen.

Nootropics - Past, Present, and Future powerpoint

Nootropics - Past, Present, and Future una presentación en powerpoint por Will Block

On Wed., January 16th, 2006, Will Block gave a lecture to the Silicon Valley Transhumanist Meetup Group titled "Nootropics, Past, Present & Future." The discussion was quite interesting and was followed by extensive questions and answers.

PBS Special "Change Your Brain, Change Your Life" Dr. Amen

We are providing the links below for you to view the full PBS Special "Change Your Brain, Change Your Life."( If you find the video playing slowly from your link please try another as demand for the video varies from server to server).

http://amenclinics.com/server1

http://amenclinics.com/server2

http://amenclinics.com/server3

Edit 2009: parece que estos videos no se encuantran disponibles ya.

Omega 3 y aspirina contra el dolor y la inflamacion

Para el alivio del dolor en procesos inflamatorios como la artritis se puede probar una combinación de Omega 3 y aspirina antes de acostarse. Esto parece bueno también para procesos inflamatorios neurológicos como el Alzheimer.

...aspirin, a partial inhibitor of the COX-2 enzyme, can largely convert this enzyme to a machine that prefers acting on the omega 3 fats

...

For relief of pain such as that associated with arthritis, you might want to try ½ aspirin (160mg) along with an extra dose of the supplement of DHA/EPA before bed time, but be sure first to consult with your physician.

Feeling Pain? Try a DHA, EPA, and Aspirin - Juvenon Health Journal

Cómo estudiar para rendir con éxito los exámenes

Basados en investigaciones psicológicas estos son unos consejos para estudiar más efectivamente (a pesar de parecer contra lo que se supone debe hacerse), por Dr. Nate Kornell (UCLA):

Espaciar el estudio. En vez de sesiones maratónicas y noches en vela, conviene repartir el material de estudio, por ejemplo un día estudiar un capítulo o lo que sea y otro día repasar.

Hacerse preguntas. Preguntarse y examinarse a sí mismo crea memorias poderosas. Además permite diagnosticarse y corregirse antes del examen. Pero el secreto es no testearse inmediatamente después de estudiar cuando la memoria está fresca, hay que hacerlo después de un tiempo.

Resumir e integrar. Después de ir a clase o estudiar un capítulo conviene resumir los puntos principales. Este proceso conocido como integración del conocimiento crea una memoria duradera de lo estudiado y tiene el beneficio de obligarte a recordar el material (para resumirlo). Una forma de aplicar esto es aprender enseñando, es decir contarles a otros lo que aprendimos. Explicar requiere capacidad de resumir y de integrar y además permite advertir los propios fallos y deficiencias.

Ver más en Inglés en How to study en bps-research-digest.blogspot.com

Comer bananas

Brain Power : The banana has proven to boost brain power. 200 students at a Twickenham (middlesex) school were helped through their exams by eating bananas at breakfast, break and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

agrivinsa.com  lista otros beneficios además de este.

Correlacion entre velocidad al caminar y del pensamiento

Parece que la velocidad con que caminan los ancianos es un indicador del rendimiento mental.

Among the elderly, slower walkers have slower brains

Older people who walk more slowly also perform less well on tests of mental performance - an association researchers say could prove useful for diagnosis and therapeutic interventions.

Vitaminas B para preservar la memoria

Según un estudio dosis adecuadas de viaminas del grupo B (vean que no son exageradas, especialmente la B6 que ya vimos puede dar problemas en megadosis, sí es alto el ácido fólico) disminuyen la presencia de proteína beta amiloide en la circulación sanguínea, un indicador de senilidad.

Can a person maintain good memory and recall for 115 years? A recent report published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging, documents the case of a 115-year old woman with remarkable preservation of her mental faculties. A more recent report in the same journal points to a simple array of B vitamins (25 mg vitamin B6/pyridoxine, 2000 mcg vitamin B9/folic acid, 400 mcg vitamin B12) which dramatically decreased levels of beta-amyloid in the blood circulation. Beta amyloid is the plaque that builds up in the brain with advancing age that is implicated in Alzheimer's disease. After two years on vitamin therapy, blood levels of beta amyloid only increased by 4.9%, compared to 18.5% in a group received an inactive placebo tablet. Elevated blood levels of beta amyloid is an indicator of the onset of senility. [Neurobiology of Aging 29: 303-06, 2008]

Via Knowledge of Health

El mismo autor reporta otra buena cualidad del ácido fólico, reducir el riesgo del virus del papiloma humano.

Women with high folic acid levels exhibit a 73% reduced risk for the Human papilloma virus. [Cancer Research 2004; 64: 8788]

Hiperico contra el Alzheimer

La milenaria yerba de San Juan, también conocida por "liberar los malos espíritus" en la época de la Inquisición, atrae una vez más a los científicos. Uno de sus 10 compuestos activos, la hiperforina, el mismo que tiene el efecto antidepresivo, promete prevenir y tratar el alzheimer.

Biología molecular: Yerba San Juan sorprende de nuevo

4 factores que agregan 14 años de vida

Un estudio en el Reino Unido de 25.000 personas demostró que las que no cumplen con las siguientes pautas mueren en promedio 14 años antes que los que las siguen:

* no fumar

* comer suficientres frutas y verduras

* hacer ejercicio

* beber moderadamente

Via futurepundit.com

Bloguean sorbe el uso de drogas para mejorar el rendimiento mental

Cada vez más los weblogs se hacen eco del tema, principalmente en USA donde hay mucha competencia y medicalización de estos problemas:

Nature article 'Professor's little helper'.
Nature forum 'Would you boost your brain power?'.
via  mindhacks.com

Cognitive Enhancers in Academic Doping

La pasionaria es buena para la ansiedad

La pasionaria (passiflora incarnata, passion flower, passiflower) es una buena hierba para la ansiedad leve. No produce somnolencia y actúa bastante rápido.

Es una buena opción para quienes necesitan controlar el estrés o la ansiedad y mejorar el ánimo.

La estuve probando y me gustó. La forma en que prefiero tomarla es en gotas, así controlo la dosis. Se vende en farmacias o dietéticas como extracto o tintura. La tintura es casi 5 veces más concentrada y se nota por su color más oscuro.

El ejercicio mejora la funcion ejecutiva del cerebro

"In humans, exercise improves what scientists call "executive function," the set of abilities that allows you to select behavior that's appropriate to the situation, inhibit inappropriate behavior and focus on the job at hand in spite of distractions. Executive function includes basic functions like processing speed, response speed, and working memory, the type used to remember a house number while walking from the car to a party."

Exercise on the Brain [NYT]

Los consejos de Hyla Cass para mejorar la capacidad mental

Top Tips for Natural Mind Enhancement

If your razor-sharp intellect is blunted and your memory is failing you, here's what to do for that extra mental edge:
Take a B complex supplement that provides 50 mg each of vitamins B3, B5, B6, 50 mcg of B12 and 400 mg of folic acid (in addition to what's in your multivitamin); also take 1,000 mg of DHA/EPA or eat fish three times a week.
Your mind-boosting formula can contain any or all of the following. Experiment with the individual products to get your own special mix.
Start with 60 mg of ginkgo
add in 200 mg of phosphatidyl choline
200 mg of DMAE
10 mg of vinpocetine
and 50 mg of phosphatidyl serine. These doses are acceptable in a combined formula, but again, use your own response as the measure.

Other Tips:
Do some aerobic exercise to oxygenate your brain, raise endorphins, and as an added bonus, burn some fat.
Take a bath with essential oils of lemon, eucalyptus, cinnamon or peppermint dispersed in the water, or scent your room with them.
Listen to stimulating music.
Maximize the light in your room with natural daylight or full-spectrum lighting.

Por Hyla Cass, que no sé cuanta credibilidad tiene pero no parece mal orientado. Hay otros consejos (stress, energía, ánimo) en la nota Top tips for natural highs.

En realidad que las vitaminas B sean todas en 50 mg es algo infundado y más bien porque es así como se venden.

Hoy estaba acelerado y era por la hydergina

Hoy a la mañana estaba bastante acelarado y quería hacer cosas y rápido
pero tenía un poco de ansiedad.

No entendía bien qué pasaba, hasta que me acordé de que había tomado 2,25
mg de hydergina que hacía mucho que no tomaba. Casi seguro que esa fue la
causa.

Por lo tanto voy a tomar la mitad de la dosis la próxima vez.

Rhodiola ayuda en la depresion y a estudiantes

Parece que sigue el interés en la hierba Rhodiola como adaptógeno, mejorador del ánimo y de la agilidad mental.

Yo la he probado pero no de una marca reconocida. No noté un claro efecto. Recomiendo, si pueden, comprar la del Swedish Herbal Institut o alguna que tenga respaldo.

La buena noticia es que según el artículo en Canadá se está cultivando en la provincia de Alberta. Puede ser que tengamos un producto accesible y de buena calidad.


Meanwhile, Wikman and the Swedish Herbal Institute, which makes a rhodiola
extract called SHR-5, have continued laboratory and human tests. In 2000,
they reported that SHR-5 protects snail embryos from heat, copper, and
oxidative stress. When given the herb extract, fewer of the embryos died
after exposure to these stressors than did embryos not given the extract.

Also in 2000, Wikman and his colleagues in Russia published results from a
randomized, double-blind trial of university students who took SHR-5 at the
end of a semester. Students taking the herb for 20 days fared better on
measures of fatigue and mental performance than did students who took a
placebo. Another study published in 2000 found an antifatigue effect of the
herb among 56 physicians working night shifts.

sciencenews.org

Conviene distribuir el estudio en el tiempo

Estudiar en grandes bloques no ayuda al aprendizaje a largo plazo. Conviene hacerlo por partes y repasar, es decir distribuir el estudio en el tiempo.

In other words, as reported in the August issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, �massing� all the study on a single topic into a single session reduces long-term retention. It�s better to leave it alone for a while and then return to it. Rohrer and Pashler also wanted to see if the duration of study breaks might make a difference in learning. It did. When two study sessions were separated by breaks ranging from five minutes to six months, with a final test given six months later, students did much better if their break lasted at least a month. So, rather than distribute their study of some material across just a few days, as millions of school children do when given a different list of vocabulary or spelling words each week, students would be better off seeing the same words throughout the school year.
futurepundit.com

Vuelve el uso de LSD en psicoterapias

The Royal Society of Chemistry reports that a research project investigating the potential benefits of LSD assisted psychotherapy for people with terminal illnesses has been given the go-ahead by the Swiss authorities.

mindhacks.com

Anoche tome hydergina, hoy mi combo y voy mejor

Ayer tenía que escribir un trabajo pero no podía, la magnitud de la tarea
me tenía mal (sumado a preocupaciones personales de otro tipo).

Tomé en forma sublingual una última dosis de hydergina de 1.5 mg que tenía.
Sentí algún pequeño efecto. Igual no pude trabajar.

Al irme a dormir me sentía todavía alerta. Tomé una pequeña dosis de
ansiolítico (benzodiacepina), ojo esto no es para jugar, pero lo comento
porque puede tener que ver con el efecto final. Dormí bastante bien, me
pregunto qué habrá tenido que ver en esto la hydergina.

Al despertarme hoy bastante temprano (hay buen sol y eso ayuda a despertar
y al ánimo) y antes de desayunar tomé en ayunas dosis normales de DMAE (lo
vengo tomando hace unos días a este controvertido suplemento), TMG,
piracetam, un poco de cinc y tomé mate cocido con una pizca de ginseng rojo
y jengibre. Después un vaso de leche, no tenía mucha hambre pero hay que
aportar algo de proteínas.

Como resultado me siento mejor (a pesar de que tengo los mismos problemas)
y ahora estoy escribiendo com mayor facilidad. Incluso tipeo mejor. No
quiero agrandar la cosa ni promover el uso de nada, solamente reportar para
mi propio control y que ustedes comenten.

Lo único diferente que agregué a mi dieta ayer fueron semillas de lino
molidas para agregar omega 3 (que se sabe son buenos para el cerebro pero
esto es una dosis baja) y otros nutrientes.

Si tienen éxito con algún suplemento que los ayude sobre todo en tareas de
estudio y escritura me interesa.

Un producto del que quisiera tener más conocimiento por experiencias es la
hupericina (huperzia, Huperzine A).

Alguien experimento con hupericina?

No encuentro muchos reportes sobre el uso de hupericina (huperzia serrata, hupericine).

Además de inhibir la degradación de la acetilcolina tiene otras propiedades, pero no sé si en una persona que no tenga graves problemas funciona bien. He visto algunos estudios en jóvenes estudiantes que parecen indicar efectividad o reportes de mayor concentración, pero no muchos coemntarios en foros.

Si alguien quiere comentar sería interesante.

Recordatorio sobre nuestra lista de discusion

Si existe alguien que lea esto y además se interesa en el tema, lo animo a que deje comentarios si los tiene (puede hacerlo en forma anónima) y que se una a nuestra lista de discusión en Yahoo! Grupos.

Las discusiones se pueden seguir por email o mediante la página web.

   ar.groups.yahoo.com/group/nootropicos

Allí podemos tratar temas en forma más privada y responder preguntas prácticas. Ya somos unos cuantos.

La importancia de las proteinas en el desayuno

En un estudio se vió que el hábito de algunos estudiantes de incluir jamón y queso en el desayuno los ayudaba en el rendimiento escolar.

El buen efecto se atribuye a que un desayuno rico en proteínas produce una liberación más lenta de glucosa.

Report: Ideal breakfast has ham, cheese

LONDON, June 24 (UPI) -- A scientific study of British students' eating habits has found eating ham and cheese for breakfast can significantly improve cognitive functioning.
...
"It is all down to the glucose release of the breakfast into the bloodstream. The slower the release, the better the pupils performed," Benton said of his study's findings.
...
"The high protein in the breakfast will release into the system slowly, and therefore it will suppress the appetite for longer, and prevent children from snacking," he told the newspaper.

sciencedaily.com

Merk nutrition y Office of Dietary Supplements NIH

Buenos sitios de referencia en nutrición y suplementos dietarios:

Merk Nutrition: General Considerations

Office of Dietary Supplements • NIH Clinical Center • National Institutes of Health

Rehabilitacion Biomecanica Avanzada del trauma cerebral

Leyendo el diario me enteré de esta técnica que no conocía.

"Advanced Biomechanical Rehabilitation" cuya
traducción al castellano es: Rehabilitación Biomecánica Avanzada.
• ABR es el único método de rehabilitación basado en la biomecánica
que proporciona una recuperación de la estructura músculo-esquelética
y funciones motoras a niños y jóvenes adultos con daño cerebral.

http://www.abrtherapy.com.ar

La Isradipina de uso en hipertension frenaria el parkinson

La Isradipina, una droga conocida y de uso en Argentina (DYNACIRC SRO NOVARTIS
Calcioantagonista Antihipertensivo ) frena el parkinson en un modelo de la enfermedad en ratones.

Explicado sencillamente y sin mayores exactitudes el mecanismo protector consiste en que la isradipina bloquea los canales de calcio y así hace que la neurona deteriorada que produce dopamina (son limitadas y tienden a morir especialmente en el parkinson) deje de usar calcio para activar su funcionamiento y vuelva a usar sodio como una neurona sana y joven.

La droga podría también beneficiar al hacer necesario menor dosis de medicaciones como la L-DOPA y mantenerla eficaz y no tener que usar cada vez dosis mayores como les pasa a los pacientes de parkinson.

Se habla también del posible uso preventivo y terapéutico en parkinson.

Drug slows and may halt Parkinson's disease

CHICAGO -- Northwestern University researchers have discovered a drug that slows – and may even halt – the progression of Parkinson's disease. The drug rejuvenates aging dopamine cells, whose death in the brain causes the symptoms of this devastating and widespread disease.
...
Dopamine is a critical chemical messenger in the brain that affects a person's ability to direct his movements. In Parkinson's disease, the neurons that release dopamine die, causing movement to become more and more difficult.
...
"Our hope is that this drug will protect dopamine neurons, so that if you began taking it early enough, you won't get Parkinson's disease, even if you were at risk. " said Surmeier, who heads the Morris K. Udall Center of Excellence for Parkinson's Disease Research at Northwestern. "It would be like taking a baby aspirin everyday to protect your heart."

Isradipine may also significantly benefit people who already have Parkinson's disease. In animal models of the disease, Surmeier's team found the drug protected dopamine neurons from toxins that would normally kill them by restoring the neurons to a younger state in which they are less vulnerable.

The principal therapy for Parkinson's disease patients currently is L-DOPA, which is converted in the brain to dopamine. Although L-DOPA relieves many symptoms of the disease in its early stages, the drug becomes less effective over time. As the disease progresses, higher doses of L-DOPA are required to help patients, leading to unwanted side-effects that include involuntary movements. The hope is that by slowing the death of dopamine neurons, isradipine could significantly extend the time in which L-DOPA works effectively.

"If we could double or triple the therapeutic window for L-DOPA, it would be a huge advance," Surmeier said.
...
Because he's a physiologist, Surmeier decided to investigate whether the electrical activity of dopamine neurons might provide a clue to their vulnerability. All neurons in the brain use electrical signals to do their job, much like digital computers.

First, Surmeier observed that dopamine neurons are non-stop workers called pacemakers. They generate regular electrical signals seven days a week, 24 hours a day, just like pacemaker cells in the heart. This was already known. But then he probed more deeply and discovered something very strange about these dopamine neurons.

Most pacemaking neurons use sodium ions (like those found in table salt) to produce electrical signals. But Surmeier found that adult dopamine neurons use calcium instead.

Sodium is a mild mannered ion that does its job without causing a whit of trouble to the cell. Calcium ions, however, are wild and rambunctious.
...
"The reliance upon calcium was a red flag to us," Surmeier said. Calcium ions need to be chaperoned by the cell almost as soon as they enter to keep them from causing trouble, he noted. The cell has to sequester them or keep pumping them out. This takes a lot of energy.
...
Surmeier theorized that the non-stop stress on the dopamine neurons explains why they are more vulnerable to toxins and die at a more rapid rate as we age.
...
When the neurons are young, Surmeier found they actually use sodium ions to do their work. But as the neurons age, they become more and more dependent on the troublesome calcium and stop using sodium. This calcium dependence – and the stress it causes the neurons --is what makes them more vulnerable to death.

What would happen, Surmeier wondered, if he simply blocked the calcium's route into the adult neuron cells" Would the neurons revert to their youthful behavior and start using sodium again"

"The cells had put away their old childhood tools in the closet. The question was if we stopped them from behaving like adults would they go into the closet and get them out again"" Surmeier asked. "Sure enough, they did."

When he gave the mice isradipine, it blocked the calcium from entering the dopamine neuron. At first, the dopamine neurons became silent. But within a few hours, they had reverted to their childhood ways, once again using sodium to get their work done.

"This lowers the cells' stress level and makes them much more resistant to any other insult that's going to come along down the road. They start acting like they're youngsters again," Surmeier said.

The next step will be launching a clinical study.

"This animal study suggests that calcium channel blockers, drugs currently used to reduce blood pressure, might someday be used to slow the steady progression of Parkinson's disease," said Walter J. Koroshetz, M.D., deputy director of the NINDS.

Los 14 mejores alimentos para el cerebro

Pon buen alimento en tu cerebro cada día. Eres lo que comes. Cada célula en tu cuerpo se hace de nuevo cada 5 meses. Eres literalmente lo que comes.

En el libro Super Foods hay una lista de los 14 mejores alimentos, que son todos muy buenos para la función del cerebro. Intente incorporarlos en su dieta cada semana.

Aquí está la lista: arándanos (la mayoría de las bayas, pero especialmente arándanos), brócoli, habas (pinto, navy, lima, garbanzos, lentejas, sugar snap peas, guisantes), naranjas, avena, calabaza (puré, no pastel), salmón silvestre, espinaca, soja, té (especialmente verde), tomates, pavo (o pollo), nueces, y yogur.

Según el lugar a las "bayas" se las llama "frutos rojos" y a las "habas" chauchas, arvejas.

De:
Put good food into your brain each day. You are what you eat. Every cell in your body makes itself new every 5 months. You literally are what you eat. In the book Super Foods there is a list of the 14 best foods, which are all very good for brain function. Try to incorporate them into your diet every week. Here s the list: blueberries (most berries, but especially blueberries), broccoli, beans (pinto, navy, lima, chickpeas, lentils, sugar snap peas, peas), oranges, oats, pumpkin (squash not pie), wild salmon, spinach, soy, tea (especially green), tomatoes, turkey (or chicken), walnuts, and yogurt.

amenclinics.com

Citicolina mejora la memoria en ratas tratadas con bromazepam

Citicoline antagonizes bromazepam-induced amnesia in rats
X. Antón Alvarez 1 *, Begoña Vecino 1, Juan Enrique Perea 2, Danilo Daniele 2, Ramón Cacabelos 1
1EuroEspes Biomedical Research Center, A Coruña, Spain
2Laboratorios Baliarda, Buenos Aires, Argentina
email: X. Antón Alvarez ( euroespes@lcg.servicom.es )


*Correspondence to X. Antón Alvarez, Department of Neuropharmacology, EuroEspes Biomedical Research Center, Santa Marta de Babío, 15166-Bergondo, A Coruña, Spain. Tel and Fax: 34-81-78 05 05.

Funded by:
 Laboratories Baliarda, Argentina
 EuroEspes Foundation, Spain
Keywords
citicoline • bromazepam • acquisition • retention • memory • amnesia • motor co-ordination • exploratory activity

Abstract
Citicoline is an endogenous intermediate in the biosynthesis of brain phospholipids and acetylcholine used for the treatment of neurodegenerative processes associated with head trauma, stroke, brain aging, cerebrovascular pathology and Alzheimer's disease. In this study we have investigated the effects of citicoline on acquisition and retention in passive avoidance and spatial discriminative learning tasks in control rats and in bomazepam-treated animals. Interactions of citicoline with bromazepam on exploratory behaviour (anxiolytic/sedative activity) and motor co-ordination (myorelaxing activity) were also evaluated to test the specificity of the cognitive effects of citicoline. Our results indicate that citicoline reverses bromazepam-induced amnesia, improves retention in control rats, and has no significant effects on spontaneous activity and motor co-ordination when given alone or in combination with bromazepam. According to these results we conclude that citicoline acts as a promnesic and anti-amnesic drug with no sedative-myorelaxing activity in rats. Therefore, this compound might be of use for the specific treatment of cognitive impairments associated with the chronic use of benzodiazepines. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)


10.1002/(SICI)1099-1077(199711/12)12:6<547::AID-HUP922>3.0.CO;2-T

wiley.com

Movimiento de ojos para mejorar la memoria

Según un estudio mover los ojos lateralmente por 30 segundos mejora la memoria al hacer que los hemisferios cerebrales interactúen más entre si.

Se le presentaron listas de palabras a los sujetos y algunos hicieron movimientos horizontales de ojos por 30 segundos, tras los cuales reconocieron más palabras.

Sugieren probar mover los ojos de esta manera cuando uno no puede recordar por ejemplo dónde dejó un objeto.

Moving Your Eyes Improves Memory, Study Suggests

If you're looking for a quick memory fix, move your eyes from side-to-side for 30 seconds, researchers say.

Horizontal eye movements are thought to cause the two hemispheres of the brain to interact more with one another, and communication between brain hemispheres is important for retrieving certain types of memories.

Nuevo blog de Juan Carlos

Como hacía tiempo que no sabía de las actividades de Juan Carlos me dí una vuelta por drogasinteligentes.com y veo que abrió un weblog:

blogs.periodistadigital.com/francotirador.php

Los temas prometen ser más variados que los nootrópicos y de mayor interés para los europeos. Espero que le vaya muy bien.

El propranolol disminuye la melatonina y podria usarse en depresiones estacionales

Siempre hay que tener en cuenta las interacciones de lo que uno toma y de las sustancias que las drogas tienden a disminuir. En este caso el efecto del propranolol de disminuir la melatonina es probado como tratamiento de la depresión estacional donde se altera la producción de melatonina por falta de luz.

Clinical Trial of Propranolol for Seasonal Affective Disorder

The purpose of this study is to determine what dose of a new timed-release tablet of the drug propranolol will reduce secretion of the hormone melatonin in healthy volunteers. This study will also determine whether suppressing melatonin will improve depressive symptoms in people with seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

SAD (sometimes referred to as winter depression) is a condition in which people experience depression as a result of seasonal variations in light. Human brains have a circadian pacemaker that regulates many body functions. As the seasons change and light duration varies, the circadian pacemaker regulates seasonal behavior by transmitting a signal of day length to the pineal gland, which secretes the hormone melatonin. Melatonin secretion increases in the winter as the duration of light decreases.

Otros artículos:

El propranolol se absorbe mejor de día.

Hallaron en la cola de quirquincho efectos positivos en la memoria

Sabía que la Huperzia Serrata es la fuente de la hupericina que se vende como suplemento para la memoria por su efcto inhibidor de la acetilcolintransferasa, la enzima que degrada el neurotransmisor acetilcolina. No sabía que la cola de quirquincho, más conocida como estimulante sexual 8dicen que hay que usarla recién cortada y que la están extinguiendo) era una especie de huperzia.

La nota:

Los especialistas experimentan con la planta Huperzia saururus, más conocida como cola de quirquincho, explican los investigadores en el periódico digital www.hoylauniversidad.unc.edu.ar.


Propiedades
Esa especie aunque es muy conocida por sus atributos afrodisíacos en la medicina tradicional se le reconocen propiedades estimulantes de la memoria Ese uso poco convencional nos llevó a estudiar sus componentes químicos ya que no había investigaciones que justificaran su incidencia sobre este proceso explica Mariel Agnese docente y directora del trabajo
...
Los especialistas experimentan con la planta Huperzia saururus, más conocida como cola de quirquincho, explican los investigadores en el periódico digital .

diario La Capital

Otras hierbas que estudian:

Entre las especies de la zona se detectaron que algunas tienen propiedades anticoagulantes (Flaveria bidentis), que podría servir para el desarrollo de un medicamento antitrombótico; otras antimicrobianas (Dalea elegans), útiles para combatir las cepas resistentes a los antibióticos; y también antiinflamatorias y analgésicas (Acmela decumbens), usada para calmar el dolor de muelas.

Demasida memoria y neurogenesis

Why Too Much Memory May Be A Bad Thing

Science Daily — New research from Columbia University Medical Center may explain why people who are able to easily and accurately recall historical dates or long-ago events, may have a harder time with word recall or remembering the day’s current events. They may have too much memory – making it harder to filter out information and increasing the time it takes for new short-term memories to be processed and stored.
...
“In our world, we are constantly bombarded by new information so we are constantly filtering –and if we did not do this, we would be overwhelmed,” said Dr. Malleret. “Our research indicates that those with better working memory may have fewer new neurons being developed in their hippocampus, which helps them forget old and useless information sooner and enable them to take in new information faster.”

sciencedaily.com

Vuelvo a tomar Polper B12 Forte

Después de haber tomado un comprimido por doe meses y medio y hacer una
interrupción de entre uno y dos meses, vuelvo a tomar un comprimido de
Polper B12 Forte (lab. Casasco) en ayunas por la mañana.

Veremos si noto algún efecto. De la experiencia anterior he notado que es
más bien calmante o estabilizante que estimulante.

Notas sobre alimentacion en Infobae

Son bastante simples pero interesantes. Comenta sobre los nutrientes fundamentales para el rendimiento cerebral y los alimentos que los contienen.

Alimentación y salud mental (Parte I)
por Leticia Radavero / Marzo 28 de 2007

Alimentación y estados de ánimo (Parte II)
por Leticia Radavero / Abril 02 de 2007

77 sugerencias para aprender mejor

Pocas menciones a los nootrópicos en esta nota pero muy interesdantes conceptos y referencias sobre cuestiones de aprendizaje.

Los divide en categorías:
Health
Balance
Perspective and Focus
Recall Techniques
Visual Aids
Verbal and Auditory Techniques
Kinesthetic Techniques
Self-Motivation Techniques
Supplemental Techniques
For Teachers, Tutors, and Parents
For Students and Self-Studiers
Parting Advice
Sources For This Article

Hacking Knowledge: 77 Ways to Learn Faster, Deeper, and Better

Vitaminas B en estomago vacio

¿Alguien ha experimentado o sabe de los efectos de las vitaminas B cuando
se toman fuera de las comidas?.

A mí las vit B me hacen bien y estoy probando repartirlas durante el día en
vez de tomarlas una o dos veces con las comidas. Estoy probando tomarlas en
el desayuno, aunque este sea a veces sólo un café.

Omega 3 para la materia gris

Omega-3s boost grey matter, findings may explain why omega-3s seem to improve mood

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, March 7 – Omega-3 fatty acids, found in fatty fish like salmon, are associated with increased grey matter volume in areas of the brain commonly linked to mood and behavior according to a University of Pittsburgh study.
...
Animal research has shown that raising omega-3 intake leads to structural brain changes. In a separate study presented by Dr. Conklin at the society’s meeting last year, Pitt researchers reported that people who had lower blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids were more likely to have a negative outlook and be more impulsive. Conversely, those with higher blood levels of omega-3s were found to be more agreeable and less likely to report mild or moderate symptoms of depression. In the study being presented today, the researchers sought to investigate if grey matter volume was proportionally related to long-chain omega-3 intake in humans, especially in areas of the brain related to mood, helping them attempt to explain the mechanisms behind the improvement in mood often associated with long-chain omega-3 intake.
...
The researchers discovered that participants who had high levels of long-chain omega-3 fatty acid intake had higher volumes of grey matter in areas of the brain associated with emotional arousal and regulation – the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex, the right amygdala and the right hippocampus.

While this finding suggests that omega-3s may promote structural improvement in areas of the brain related to mood and emotion regulation – the same areas where grey matter is reduced in people who have mood disorders such as major depressive disorder – investigators note that more research is needed to determine whether fish consumption actually causes changes in the brain.

eurekalert

Lo de siempre, correlación no implica causa, pero hay buenos indicadores afavor de los aceites de pescado.

Revista Nueva: Entrenar el cerebro

Hay una nota en la Revista Nueva (que sale con los diarios)

Entrenar el cerebro

“Por todas estas razones, el programa de entrenamiento cognitivo dejó de ser interesante únicamente para las personas que presentaban algún tipo de problema cognitivo per se –expone la licenciada Roca–. Esto no quiere decir que con el entrenamiento se pueda evitar una enfermedad. Lo que hace es proteger el deterioro cognitivo, suma factores protectores”. Es por eso que cada vez son más los centros y hospitales que desarrollan este tipo de programas.

El ejercicio incrementa la feniletilamina y mejora el animo

Parece que hay nuevos datos de por qué el ejercicio mejora el ánimo: incrementa la feniletilamina. Un dato más a favor de que el ejercicio es uno de los mejores nootrópicos y el más accesible y barato.

Parece que el chocolate tiene feniletilamina y por eso le adjudican el efecto en el ánimo. ¿Comer chocolate antes de hacer ejercicio potenciaría los efectos descriptos en la nota?.

También se venden suplementos de feniletilamina, pero no sé si son efectivos, si su efecto produce acostumbramiento ni nada.

Hay un Dr. (Sabeli?) que utilizó deprenyl + DL fenilalanina para incrementar la feniletilamina en depresiones.


Scientists may have identified a chemical which could explain why exercise is an anti-depressant.

Until now, it has not been clear why exercise has that effect.

But, doctors from Nottingham Trent University suggest the chemical phenylethylamine could play a part.

Phenylethylamine is a naturally produced chemical that has been linked to the regulation of physical energy, mood and attention.

An enzyme changes the chemical into phenylacetic acid. There is evidence that levels of both substances are low in the biological fluids of depressed patients.

In what are thought to be the first attempts to test the effects of exercise on levels of the chemical, the researchers found, overall, levels of the acid increased by 77% after exercise.
...
They suggest phenylacetic acid could also be important because it can cross from the blood to the brain, something endorphins cannot do.

BBC

Evaluacion Polper B12 Forte

Como saben hace un tiempo (un mes y medio por lo menos) que estoy tomando Polper B12 Forte (aminoácidos y B12, ver fórmula).

Creo que es un producto interesante. El efecto me parece más bien calmante, debe ser porque no tiene aminoácidos excitatorios. Por tener 1 mg de vitamina B12 me parecía que iba a notar un efecto estimulante por toda la historia que se cuenta de la inyecciones de B12.

Lo voy a seguir tomando hasta completar por lo menos dos meses y después repetir al menos 15 días. En el prospecto dice tomar al menos por 15 días seguidos.

Invito al que lo haya probado a que comente. El producto es elaborado en Argentina por laboratorio Casasco y lamentablemente no es barato (unos $46 los 30 comprimidos).



Nota editada: La información de prospecto ahora está acá:
http://www.casasco.com/productos/prospectos/POLPERB12%20FORTE.pdf

La fórmula es la siguiente:

Cada comprimido recubierto contiene:
Glutamina 150,00 mg; Fosfotreonina 40,00 mg; L-Triptofano 100,00 mg; Fosfoserina 120,00 mg; Arginina clorhidrato 300,00 mg; Cianocobalamina 1,00 mg.
Excipientes: Povidona 20,00 mg; Hidroxipropilmetilcelulosa .21,30 mg; Celulosa microcristalina 119,93 mg; Croscarmelosa sódica 8,00 mg; Estearato de magnesio 22,93 mg; Polimetacrilato 13,41 mg;
Polietilenglicol 6000 2,15 mg; Punzó 4R laca alumínica 0,66 mg; Dióxido de titanio 2,64 mg; Talco 13,41 mg; Sacarina sódica 0,47 mg.

El precio ya aumentó bastante.

Los primeros grupos de discusion sobre nootropicos

Cuándo se empezó a discutir el tema de los nootrópicos, smartdrugs en internet?.

Al parecer el grupo más antiguo fue el newsgroup rec.drugs.smart donde el primer post (según Google) fue el 8 de abril de 1996. Le sigue el grupo Yahoo "smartdrugs" (originalmente eGroups que luego compró Yahoo) fundado el 10 de junio de 1998. No existían ni las cookies en ese tiempo.

Es decir, usenet por un lado y lista de discusión por email con interface web por el otro, los medios de discusión en internet que eran populares en los primeros tiempos

Ninguno de esos grupos tiene mucha actividad hoy. Los grupos se van agotando y además aparecieron los foros con interface predominante web, para ver con navegador (que la gente puede llenar con figuritas).

Tal vez haya habido grupos anteriores en algún perdido BBS (Bulletin Board System, conectado por módem previo a internet). ¿Alguien sabe?.

Ah... qué nostalgia...

Uno de los primeros sitios web sobre el tema smartdrugs fue el de CERI (Cognitive Enhancement Research Institute) de los autores de los libros Smart Drugs and Nutrients, Ward Dean y John Morgenthaler. También se quedó detenido.

Francis Crick usaba LSD cuando descubrio la estructura del ADN

Nobel Prize genius Crick was high on LSD
when he discovered the secret of life

Copyright 2004 Associated Newspapers Ltd. Mail on Sunday (London)

August 8, 2004

BY ALUN REES

...
Crick, who died ten days ago, aged 88, later told a fellow scientist that he often used small doses of LSD then an experimental drug used in psychotherapy to boost his powers of thought. He said it was LSD, not the Eagle's warm beer, that helped him to unravel the structure of DNA, the discovery that won him the Nobel Prize.

Despite his Establishment image, Crick was a devotee of novelist Aldous Huxley, whose accounts of his experiments with LSD and another hallucinogen, mescaline, in the short stories The Doors Of Perception and Heaven And Hell became cult texts for the hippies of the Sixties and Seventies. In the late Sixties, Crick was a founder member of Soma, a legalise-cannabis group named after the drug in Huxley's novel Brave New World. He even put his name to a famous letter to The Times in 1967 calling for a reform in the drugs laws.


Algunos dicen que dosis muy bajas de LSD tienen un efecto nootrópico (no alucinógeno) similar a la hydergina, que por supuesto es mucho más segura y fácil de dosificar, para no hablar de lo legal.

Balance entre acido folico y vitamina B12

El ácido fólico protege contra el envejecimiento cerebral, salvo que haya una deficiencia de vitamina B12, en cuyo caso lo empeora.

Un buen recordatorio de que no se puede andar tomando megadosis de cualquier cosa sin tomar algunas precauciones. Otro caso que se comentó es el de que altas dosis de B6 pueden dañar la corteza según unos experimentos.

Folic Acid Slows Brain Aging Unless B-12 Deficient

In a January 2007 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, A David Smith of University of Oxford surveys recent reports on the health effects of higher folic acid consumption. In a nutshell: Folic acid appears to slow brain aging for those who have lots of B-12 but for those with B-12 deficiency higher folic acid consumption makes the brain decline more rapidly.

Patentes de nootropicos

Con el nuevo buscador Google de patentes se pueden buscar fácilmente patentes de nootrópicos.

No quiere decir que los inventos patentados sean buenos ni resulten, sino que se logró patentar. Lo bueno es que muchas veces se explican algunos procesos o se puede concer sustancias con usos potenciales.

Ejemplo: nootropicos en Google patents

N-acetil-cisteina contra malos efectos del alcohol

Aparentemente la N-acetil-cisteina protegería contra algunos efectos nocivos del alcohol (acetilaldehido?), pero habría que tomarla antes de beber para que realmente protega y no se vuelva pro-oxidante al tomarla durante o después.

Ganan concurso usando la ciencia cognitiva

Who Wants to Be a Cognitive Neuroscientist Millionaire?

A researcher uses his understanding of the human brain to advance on a popular quiz show.

seedmagazine.com

Algunos extractos:

The first technique I drew upon was priming. The priming of a memory occurs because of the peculiar "connectionist" neural dynamics of our cortex, where memories are distributed across many regions and neurons. If we can recall any fragment of a pattern, our brains tend to automatically fill in the rest.

Another cognitive process essential for winning on Millionaire is intuition, or more precisely, knowing how to make decisions based on intuition. What if you have a feeling about an answer? What should you do with your hunch? Folk wisdom holds that on standardized tests you should go with your first impulse. Research tends to support this idea: a first impulse is more often correct than a second, revised decision.

Cognitive models developed by my advisor Gail Carpenter suggest that a more effective way to evaluate an intuition is to consider its mnemonic associations. If you can mentally trace some of the cognitive links of an intuition (through a process similar to priming), these links may suggest whether the intuition is meaningfully connected to the correct answer or whether the link is trivial, incidental, or wrong

One aspect of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? that I completely failed to prepare for was my interaction with Meredith. I never even considered the inevitable repartee between host and contestant. Our department does not put much emphasis on social cognition and social psychology

In some ways, the Meredith fake-out is the most vexing of all the show's anxiety-stirring techniques since it comes at the contestant's moment of greatest vulnerability.

I considered another cognitive capacity explored in my department: theory of mind, the ability to imagine other people's perspectives. I contemplated the show's writers themselves, imagining them sitting at their keyboards composing three fake but credible answers. "Stuffy head" struck me as resembling the kind of manufactured distraction I might come up with.

"D, persistent cough, final answer."


via mixingmemory

Vencimiento del deprenyl y otras medicinas

Un interesante post en el newsgroup rec.drugs.smart:
Expiration Date of Deprenyl (Jumex brand selegiline)??
Un autor afirma que la mayoría de los productos conserva la potencia y no se vuelven tóxicos por años.

Mutacion genetica en chicos hiperactivos?

Seguramente polémico:

Detectan una mutación genética en la mayoría de los niños hiperactivos
Los niños hiperactivos, que representan más del 4% de la población infantil,
sufren una impulsividad excesiva que podría estar producida por una mutación
genética, según una investigación de la Universidad de Harvard. Esta mutación
genética, detectada en la mayoría de los niños afectados por esta enfermedad,
influye en la expresión del gen transportador de norepinefrina, uno de los
principales “mensajeros” químicos del cerebro, provocando hiperactividad y
déficit de atención. Los resultados sugieren que esta mutación genética
aumenta la probabilidad de tener esta enfermedad, pero serán necesarias nuevas
investigaciones para extraer conclusiones definitivas al respecto.
22/12/2006
tendencias21.net

El cerebro aprende mientras dormimos

Una vez más encontramos un artículo que muestra la importancia de dormir bien, sobre todo si queremos manetner bien la mente y la memoria (además de no engordar como se ha mostrado recientemente y de no alterar la resistencia a la insulina):

El cerebro aprende mientras dormimos
Un grupo de investigadores del Insituto alemán Max Planck, entre los que se
encuentra el premio Nobel Bert Sakmann, han podido demostrar en vivo el
funcionamiento sincronizado de dos áreas del cerebro relacionadas con el
registro y almacenamiento de recuerdos durante el sueño. Gracias a un sistema
experimental, han podido registrar el comportamiento neuronal del llamado
hipocampo y de la corteza cerebral, que parece ir “a juego” en los cerebros de
ratones anestesiados, lo que vierte algo de luz sobre un proceso que hasta la
fecha ha permanecido sin explicar: cómo generamos y guardamos en nuestro
cerebro los recuerdos y cómo pasan de ser recogidos como recuerdos a
corto-plazo a quedar grabados en la memoria como recuerdos a largo-plazo.
22/12/2006
tendencias21.net

Fumar afecta el metabolismo cerebrall

Por si quedan dudas que fumar es malo para la salud. El lado bueno: dejar de fumar eprmite restablecer la química cerebral:

Fumar afecta (también) al metabolismo cerebral
El tabaquismo crónico afecta a las células nerviosas y altera la composición
química del cerebro, según el primer estudio realizado con la técnica de
espectroscopia de protones por resonancia magnética (MRS) con el fin de
vincular la adicción a la nicotina con la neuroquímica. Asimismo, dejar de
fumar restablece el orden natural de la sustancias químicas que permiten un
funcionamiento normalizado de nuestro cerebro, revela la misma investigación.
Cuarenta y tres fumadores que lo habían dejado demostraron que el proceso de
deterioro puede invertirse, y que el daño tiene solución.
15/12/2006
tendencias21.net

Videos de cientificos famosos en beyondbelief2006.org

Discusiones sobre la ciencia y religión. Hay neurocientíficos.

beyondbelief2006.org/Watch/

Sunday, November 5, 2006
Session 1 (watch)       Steven Weinberg, Lawrence Krauss, Sam Harris, Michael Shermer
Session 2 (watch)       Neil deGrasse Tyson; Discussion: Tyson, Weinberg, Krauss, Harris, Shermer
Session 3 (watch)       Joan Roughgarden, Richard Dawkins, Francisco Ayala, Carolyn Porco
Session 4 (watch)       Stuart Hameroff, V.S. Ramachandran

Monday, November 6, 2006
Session 5 (watch)       Paul Davies, Steven Nadler, Patricia Churchland
Session 6 (watch)       Susan Neiman, Loyal Rue, Elizabeth Loftus
Session 7 (watch)       Mahzarin Banaji, Richard Dawkins, Scott Atran
Session 8 (watch)       Scott Atran, Sir Harold Kroto, Charles Harper, Ann Druyan

Tuesday, November 7, 2006
Session 9 (watch)       Sam Harris, Jim Woodward, Melvin Konner; Discussion: Harris, Woodward, Konner, Dawkins, Paul Churchland
Session 10 (watch)      Richard Sloan, V.S. Ramachandran, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Terry Sejnowski

Mejorar la absorcion de la curcumina

En este artículo se recomienda consumir la curcumina (el principio activo de la cúrcuma) junto con aluna grasa como aceite de pescado o un emulsificante como la lecitina dado que sino no se absorbe bien.


If your physician agrees with the addition of curcumin and DHA along with the main treatment program, we think that Alzheimer’ patients might want to try the combination of curcumin and dha (should be taken together, because curcumin is not absorbed well unless it is dissolved).  Lecithin appears to improve absorption because it is an emusifier.

Curcumin can be obtained on the web and is fairly inexpensive.. Brands such as Jarrow or Life extension may be okay. For example you can purchase the Jarrow Brand Curcumin95 from Nutrition Dome

or purchase the Sabinsa manufactured curcumin with a pepper compound from Life Extension

For prevention DHA from fish oil or salmon oil (which has slightly higher DHA than EPA and may be superior) could be sufficient.

If however, the disease has initiated, there is membrane loss, and it may be necessary to take purer DHA eg from algae, which can be purchased from Martek dhadepot.com (neuromins200) , and is unfortunately fairly expensive (up to $600 per year)..

DOSES: Although clinical trials are needed, safe doses and extrapolation from animal studies would suggest that.....

if AD is diagnosed.. 600 mg minimum of DHA with 2000 mg curcumin, plus 1 capsule of lecithin.

For AD prevention.. 400 mg DHA (or 2000 mg fish oil, which has only 360 mg DHA) and 1000 mg curcumin (together).

Fighting Alzheimer's

La bioperina es criticada por algunos porque inhibe enzimas de desintoxicación.

La falta de oxigeno desencadenaria el Alzheimer

Song’s team found that oxygen deprivation triggers a greater activation of the BACE1 gene. More beta-amyloid means more plaques and, in turn, more neuron death. So getting enough oxygen to the brain may help stave off Alzheimer’s in people with known risk factors, says Song.

Drugs called vasodilators, which enlarge the blood vessels, may help to increase the flow of oxygenated blood to the brain, Song suggests.

Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0606298103)

Newscientist

Me pregunto si el ejercicio aeróbico (algo que hacen bastante poco los ancianos) no sería también un buen preventivo de esa falta de oxigenación cerebral.

Hablando de drogas, uno de los oxigenadores cerebrales mejor tolerados y no muy caros es la vinpocetina (por ejemplo Kantor de Bagó en Argentina).

Memoria, estres post-traumatico y propranolol

The Memory Pill

If you experienced a painful or traumatic event, would you want a pill which could lessen the bad memories of what happened? That option might soon be here because of a drug called propranolol.
Videos en 60minutes.yahoo.com


1. Making Memories
See a study showing how memories are made
 
2. The Drug
Experimenting with propranolol
 
3. The Study
Could propranolol help treat PTSD?
 
4.Mind Control?
Are there wrong reasons to use the drug?

Contenido de cafe�na en el mate

Me pasan esta información que es interesante para los que tomamos mate. Los valores de cafeína son más bajos de lo que pensaba y de lo que se indica en páginas en internet.

* La infusión preparada con una cucharadita de Mate Cocido Instantáneo Taragüi aporta aproximadamente
0,002 grs. de cafeína.

* Yerba Mate en cebadura Taragüi: - 50 g en 500 ml -: entre 180 y 220 mg. aproximadamente
(esto teniendo en cuenta el porcentaje de palo, que no contiene cafeína, y
el porcentaje de extractabilidad desde la infusión (aprox. 65%)).

* Mate Cocido Unión: - 3 g en 200 ml -: 27 mg. aproximadamente (teniendo en
cuenta un 100% de extractabilidad).

Relacion entre fumar y deficit de atencion

Los déficits de atención podrian ser motivantes del hábito de fumar y deberísn ser tenidos en cuenta al ahora de realizar tratamientos para dejar de fumar.

Columbia Study Examines ADHD’s Role in Smoking

New York ­ Are you easily forgetful, distracted, impulsive or fidgety? Do you find that smoking helps you alleviate these symptoms?

Columbia University Medical Center researchers are investigating whether these most common symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) could be causing people to smoke. If that is the case, will treatment for ADHD combined with the standard treatment to help people quit smoking ­ the patch with counseling ­ increase the quit rates for smokers trying to quit?

Covey and her colleagues are recruiting smokers who have been diagnosed with ADHD or who may have symptoms of ADHD but have not yet been diagnosed, to be part of a study that will help them quit smoking. Approximately 7-8 million adults in the U.S. have ADHD. Smoking is twice as common in this population as in the general population.

Research has shown that most smoking in the U.S. occurs among people who have psychiatric conditions, such as alcohol or drug abuse, major depression, anxiety and ADHD. One line of research has shown that smokers with these conditions “self-medicate” their symptoms with nicotine, the primary addictive substance in tobacco.

Participants in the study will receive the nicotine patch, behavioral counseling, and a drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of ADHD called methylphenidate (brand name CONCERTA®). Because methylphenidate and nicotine act on the brain in a similar way, the premise is that treatment with methylphenidate when trying to quit smoking may reduce symptoms of ADHD while also reducing tobacco withdrawal symptoms.

Libro The Brain Manual

Hay capítulos de muestra en PDF


The Brain Manual

- The step-by-step guide for men to achieving and maintaining mental well-being.

by Dr Ian Banks

£14.99
 
 

Break a leg, burn your hand or cut your finger and the injury is obvious. They're the equivalent of a flat tyre - an easily observed fault. Problems under the bonnet are trickier to deal with. So it is with the human body - the workings inside the head are often beyond comprehension.

Fortunately, you don't have to be a brain surgeon or a rocket scientist to undertake simple maintenance of your mental faculties. But you do need a manual to follow - the new Brain Manual from Haynes.

Written by Dr Ian Banks, author of the NHS Direct Health Care Guide, a frequent broadcaster, President of the European Men's Health Forum and a practising casualty doctor, the Brain Manual emphasises positive steps to improved mental well-being.

There are tips for healthy eating and an explanation of the biophilia effect (why getting close to nature makes us feel better). Relationships and stress are covered as is the effect of ageing on the brain. Brain malfunctions and disorders are explained - with information about how to avoid them or how to cope with their effects.

Functional problems, such as the effects of a stroke, are also included. And there's a useful guide to the likely effects of alcohol and other recreational drugs.

Of course, many people prefer to ignore what is happening ?under the bonnet' but they are dismissing a serious problem. Nearly 13 million working days were lost to stress-related illness in 2004. Some of the causes of stress are not obvious - deaths from heart attack or stroke increase significantly on the day of a big football match for instance.

Some of the many "fact or fiction?" questions answered in :

All brains start life as girl brains.
True! The default brain in the developing foetus is female.

People can hear colour.
Strange as this may sound, it is fact. Approximately 1 in 25,000 people have this condition called synaesthesia - meaning joined sensation.

Humans only use 10% of their brains.
This is a popular myth but false.

Los examenes mejoran la memoria

A pesar de ser insufribles ahora parece que haypruebas 2científicas" de que los exámenes son "buenos". Eso si no te matan de ansiedad...

Testing Boosts Memory

By Jennifer Cutraro

Students who break into a cold sweat at the thought of a pop quiz might feel better once they learn about a side effect of test-taking: The practice appears to enhance memory, possibly even more than studying. What's more, according to a new study, testing also helps students remember material that wasn't on the exam in the first place.

Over the past several years, cognitive scientists have documented a phenomenon called the "testing effect," in which taking a test, rather than studying, boosts an individual's ability to remember the material later on. The research led psychology doctoral student Jason Chan and his colleagues at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, to wonder whether testing also affects memory for untested materials.

To test the theory, the team had 84 undergraduate students read a passage about toucans, a topic the researchers believed would be unfamiliar to psychology undergraduates. After reading the passage, one-third of the students were dismissed, one-third were asked to read an additional set of study materials that covered the same information as the original passage, and one-third were asked to take a brief short-answer test on the original material. The next day, all participants returned to take a final short-answer test, which included questions from the previous day's brief test as well as new questions.

Efecto del estres cronico sobre la atencion

Chronic stress affects attention by altering neuronal growth in the brain (ver completo)

Anxiety and depression can make a person feel as if he’s battling his own brain, complete with wounds and scars. Traumatic events ­ war, divorce, the death of a loved one ­ can trigger these disorders, and scientists are just beginning to clarify the biological connection. Now, working neuron by neuron, researchers have found that life experiences actually appear to change the length and complexity of individual brain cells. In a recent study published in The Journal of Neuroscience, Rockefeller University scientists show that chronic daily stress affected neurons in two different areas of the rat brain, showing for the first time a link between anxiety symptoms and the dynamic anatomy of the brain.

One of the characteristic manifestations of prolonged stress is decreased performance in tasks that require attention, including the ability to shift focus as well as to learn and unlearn information. Bruce McEwen, Rockefeller’s Alfred E. Mirsky Professor and head of the Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, was interested in finding out how this translates to changes in the brain itself. So he and Conor Liston, a graduate student in McEwen’s lab, compared neuronal change in stressed and unstressed rats.

The researchers stressed out a dozen rats by keeping them in painless restraints for six hours a day. Then, after 21 days, they used a complex progression of trials to test how quickly the rats learned to make associations between different cues and the location of hidden food. First, Liston provided two different materials for the rats to dig in, such as sand and sawdust, and buried food consistently under only one. Next, he left the food in the same material but scented it with strong spices (like cumin or nutmeg) that were unrelated to the food’s location.

Rejunte de links sobre Sapolsky

transcript of 's How I Write Conversation.
http://www.stanford.edu/group/howiwrite/Transcripts/Sapolsky_transcript.html

video
http://vodreal.stanford.edu/urp/hiw/040903.ram

datos biograficos
http://www.stanford.edu/group/howiwrite/Bios/robertsapolsky/

Depression in the Brain
http://www.lcmedia.com/mind377.htm

Anxiety (cited)
http://www.mcmanweb.com/anxiety.htm

Weblog post about Sapolsky with links
http://jollysocratic.blogspot.com/2005/10/robert-sapolsky-on-stress.html

Taming Stress
An emerging understanding of the brain's stress pathways points toward
treatments for anxiety and depression beyond Valium and Prozac
By Robert Sapolsky
http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=00083A00-318C-1F30-9AD380A84189F2D7

'Monkeyluv': Primates Are People, Too
By JAMIE SHREEVE
Published: November 6, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/06/books/review/06shreeve.html

"Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers"
by David Ruenzel

Dr. Robert Sapolsky is a Professor of Neurology at Stanford University.
Dr.Sapolsky Spoke at the Brain Connection to Education Spring Conference 2000.
http://www.brainconnection.com/topics/printindex.php3?main=fa/zebras

A Conversation With Robert Sapolsky
by Simon Hanson, Ph.D.
http://www.brainconnection.com/topics/printindex.php3?main=conv/sapolsky

Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers : An Updated Guide To Stress, Stress Related
Diseases, and Coping ("Scientific American" Library) (Paperback)
by Robert M. Sapolsky
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0716732106/104-6068630-1823122?v=glance

También buscar en Google video y YouTube.

DHA, p300 latency and Memory

DHA and Memory

Myanaga, K, Yonemura, K et al. DHA Shortens p300 latency in healthy persons. International Conference on Highly Unsaturated Fatty Acids in Nutrition and Disease Prevention 1996. Barcelona, Spain.

A certain type of brain wave called p300 is linked to memory and learning. The faster the rate of transmission, the more efficiently the brain is functioning. The rate declines with age, and is slower in people with dementia. To demonstrate if Omega-3 fatty acids influence this brain function, researchers took 26 normal adult volunteers hooked them up to electrodes and gave them a test that determined their p300 rate. Immediately after taking the test, they were given supplements of either EPA or DHA (both are derivatives of Omega-3 from fish). Two hours later, their brain waves were measured, and this time the p300 rate was significantly faster in the group given the DHA supplements, supporting their hypothesis that DHA might enhance mental abilities in adults as well.

No todo es malo con la edad para el cerebro

STUDY SHOWS YOUR BRAIN GETS BETTER WITH AGE!

Brain-imaging is revealing many things about our brains that challenge the way we’ve traditionally thought about brain function and development. Here’s a report on a brain-imaging based study released this month …

It turns out the brain is more like fine wine than cheap beer: It gets better and more sophisticated with age, according to a new University of New Mexico study. The body stops producing gray matter – the stuff the brain's thinking lobes are made out of – at about age 16.

But white matter – the connective fiber between the lobes that allows parts of the brain to interact with each other – continues to grow until about age 45, according to the study by UNM's Health Sciences Center and New Mexico VA Health Care Systems.

“It looks like in some ways people between ages 35 to 45 are actually at their prime in terms of brain development,” said Cheryl Aine, a UNM researcher and lead author of a paper that details the findings in the Oct. 1 issue of the journal NeuroImage.

Scientists used to think it was all downhill for the brain after the teenage years, because gray matter stops developing and shrinks as people enter their 20s, Aine said. In the study, scientists scrutinized that theory by imaging the brains of people in three age groups – people 20-29, 35-45 and those older than 60.

They found that gray matter becomes more refined, and the white matter “superhighway” that sends information between them keeps growing well into adulthood. “We lose some of the gray matter because we get rid of the extra synapses we don't use,” Aine said. “It's more sculpted after that. It's more efficient.”

When it comes to memory and learning, young brains do still have an edge, said Janice Knoefel, a physician in geriatrics at the VA Hospital who also worked on the study. “Attention tends to decline and memory tends to decline as we get older,” she said. “But we use different strategies to remember things.”

by Sue Vorenberg
from the Scripps Howard News Service

Another thing we’re learning is just how much it matters that we care for our brains. Proper nutrition, rest, physical and mental exercise are essential to keeping our brains in prime condition as we age. Our internal research here at Amen Clinics is bearing that out. The function (or lack thereof) of certain brain areas has an impact on our behavior, life and family.

The good news is, the better we can identify the parts of the brain that are either working too hard or not hard enough, the better we can focus our treatment on that area. So, there’s hope for all of us on “the back side of forty”. Our brains really can improve with age and the proper care. And, as we understand the brain better, I believe our best brain-health days are yet to come!

To Your Brain Health,

Daniel

Daniel Amen, M.D.
www.amenclinics.com

Las frutillas son buenas para la memoria

Fisetin, a naturally occurring flavonoid commonly found in strawberries and other fruits and vegetables, stimulates signaling pathways that enhance long-term memory, report researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.
...
Besides strawberries, fisetin is found in tomatoes, onions, oranges, apples, peaches, grapes, kiwifruit and persimmons. Gingko biloba leaves, while rich in other flavonoids, do not contain fisetin.

While eating strawberries sounds like an enjoyable alternative to popping a pill, Maher cautions that it would take about 10 pounds a day to achieve a beneficial effect, which might prove too much even for the most avid strawberry lovers.

sciencedaily

Alga Wakame

Parece que al alga Wakame (Undaria pinnatifida) le están encontrando muy buenas propiedades para prevenir enfermedades. El Wakame contiene un carotenoide llamado fucoxantina (fucoxanthin en Inglés) que no está presente en otras algas como el Nori y reduce los daños en modelos animales de infartos cerebrales, inhibe el cáncer, la hipertensión e incluso disminuye la obesidad.

Algunos especulan que el consumo de Wakame podría ser el factor responsable de la longevidad de las mujeres asiáticas de Bergen County, USA quienes tienen una expectativa de vida de 90 años.

Demasiado bueno para creerlo, pero se pueden encontrar los artículos en pubmed.com

¿Tendrá el gusto inmundo de las otras algas?.

Fanatica del Ginkgo

Name: Cor Kwant
About Me: Teacher, creator and webmaster of The Ginkgo Pages, a non-commercial awarded homepage about all aspects of the Ginkgo biloba tree, translated into German, French, Spanish and Dutch.

Su blog es: The Ginkgo Pages Forum - Blog

Incluye un interesante post en el que detalla las marcas de ginkgo que pasaron los tests de Consumerlab.

Atlas del cerebro

"We have essentially mapped each individual gene in the mouse brain, about 21,000 genes in all, down to the cellular level," said Allan Jones, chief scientific officer at the Allen Institute for Brain Science.

www.brainatlas.org

quinasa M zeta proteina que refuerza la memoria

Noticia interesante a pesar de los errores de ortografía.

"El trabajo se publicó el pasado 25 de agosto en Science y en él se describe la encima llamada quinasa M zeta. Esta proteína conserva la memoria a largo plazo a través un refuerzo persistente de las conexiones sinápticas entre las neuronas. Inhibiendo la enzima los científicos fueron capaces de borrar los recuerdos almacenados en un día o incluso en un mes. Esta función en el almacenamiento de la memoria es específica de esta proteína porque inhibiendo otras moléculas similares no se obtienen los mismos resultados."

novaciencia

Nutricion y salud mental

Un artículo sobresimplificador y remanido (además de peligrosamente antifármacos) pero del que se puede sacar alguna recomendación.

Four brain chemicals -- serotonin, catecholamine, GABA and endorphin -- are essential for proper mental health, each affecting a different area of the brain. Some of us, unfortunately, have a genetic predisposition to lack these chemicals. Additionally, the modern mainstream diet is deficient in the amino acids that our brains need to make these neurotransmitters. As a result of these factors, incidence of depression and anxiety has reached epidemic proportions.

Achieve optimum mental health by supplementing deficient brain chemicals instead of resorting to dangerous antidepressant drugs