Los neurotransmisores, las hormonas y la memoria segun Braverman

Distintas funciones de los neurotransmisores en relación a la memoria. Resumen de neurotransmisor, función y suplementos que lo favorecen.

Dopamina: (aminoácido precursor: tirosina) estimula la memoria operativa. Cromo, rhodiola, tiamina. Levantamiento de pesas. Ajedrez.
Acetilcolina: (aminoácido precursor: fosfatidilserina, acetil-l-carnitina) estimula el acceso a la memoria y su velocidad y la memoria inmediata. Manganeso, hupericina, ácido lipoico. Escribir.
GABA: (aminoácido precursor: glutamina) ayuda a organizar la memoria especialmente la verbal. Inositol, vitaminas B, aminoácidos de cadena ramificada. Caminatas en la naturaleza. Meditación, cantar, rezar.
Serotonina: (aminoácido precursor: triptófano) ayuda a la memoria visual y la percepción. B6, Hipérico, aceites de pescado. Ejercicio aeróbico, meditación.

Incrementar el efecto del GABA (ej. clonazepam) permite bajar la ansiedad y así retener más información.

Incrementar la serotonina (ej. sertralina) puede permitir dormir bien y así recargar la función cognitiva del cerebro.

Las hormonas también afectan la memoria: hormona del crecimiento, vasopresina, DHEA, pregnenolona y en las mujeres: estrógenos y progesterona y en hombres testosterona.

El equilibrio se puede lograr mediante el uso de fármacos o la dieta (ej. los huevos contienen colina y glutamina que elevan la acetilcolina y el GABA respectivamente) o precursores (ej. aminoácidos). Los fármacos actúan más rápido pero considera ideal usarlos con precaución mientras se corrigen desequilibrios mediante otros recursos para lograr sostener el cambio a largo plazo.

Según el libro "The edge effect" de Dr. Braverman pág. 242-243
Se puede ver en http://books.google.com

Lo he puesto muy resumido y simplicficado (un poco como es el libro).

Braverman tiene un website en www.pathmed.com y hay un test para hacer gratis.

Ejercicio contra el Alzheimer y otros males

El ejercicio aumenta la proteína megalina que expulsa del cerebro a la proteína beta amiloide que se acumula en el cerebro de los enfermos de Alzheimer's .

Beat Alzheimer's with exercise

Charlotte Schubert

Exercise helps to flush a toxic molecule from the brain and causes a
beneficial one to move in and protect nerve cells, research on mice shows.
The discovery might help to explain why staying fit and keeping mentally
active seem to fend off Alzheimer's disease in humans.

"Our experiments support the idea that exercise is a good approach to all
types of problems in the brain and that a sedentary lifestyle is a risk
factor," says Ignacio Torres-Aleman, who led the study at the Cajal
Institute in Madrid.

Torres-Aleman and his colleagues were intrigued by previous studies showing
that exercise slows mental decline in mice engineered to mimic Alzheimer's
disease. They set out to discover the reason.

They found that exercise doubled the levels of a protein that helps to
flush molecules thought to underlie Alzheimer's disease out of the mice's
brains and into their blood. The protein, called megalin, ejects a
potentially destructive protein called amyloid-beta. In Alzheimer's
patients, amyloid-beta accumulates in clumps throughout the brain.

http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051128/full/051128-14.html

How to read a paper

How to read a paper

Education and debate
[Papers that go beyond numbers (qualitative research) ](http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7110/740)
Trisha Greenhalgh, Rod Taylor

[Papers that summarise other papers (systematic reviews and meta-analyses)](http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7109/672)
Trisha Greenhalgh

[Papers that tell you what things cost (economic analyses)](http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7108/596)
Trisha Greenhalgh

[Papers that report diagnostic or screening tests](http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7107/540)
Trisha Greenhalgh

[Papers that report drug trials](http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7106/480)
Trisha Greenhalgh

[Statistics for the non-statistician. II: "Significant" relations and their pitfalls ](http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7105/422)
Trisha Greenhalgh

[Statistics for the non-statistician](http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7104/364)
Trisha Greenhalgh

[Assessing the methodological quality of published papers](http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7103/305)
Trisha Greenhalgh

[Getting your bearings (deciding what the paper is about)](http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7102/243)
Trisha Greenhalgh

[The Medline database ](http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/315/7101/180)
Trisha Greenhalgh

Via mindhacks.com

vida media de los nutrientes

La vida media de ciertos nutrientes, especialmente los hidrosolubles (ADEK son las vitaminas liposulubles), es corta. Por vida media se entiende el tiempo que tarda una dada cantidad de una sustancia en reducirse su concrentración en el cuerpo a la mitad por procesos biológicos.

La vida media de la vitamina B1 es de 2.5 horas. Por lo tanto conviene distribuir las dosis en varias tomas en el día o usar fórmulas de liberación controlada.

"The half-lives of certain important nutrients, especially water-soluble ones, such as the B-vitamins, are relatively short. (Half-life is the time required for any given amount or concentration of a nutrient to decrease by half, through biological processes.)

For example, the half-life of oral thiamine (vitamin B1) is only about 2.5 hours.1 So if it’s advantageous to maintain high levels of this vitamin (in your liver, for example) and not to let down your safety shield, it’s advisable to take three, or preferably four, servings daily. Otherwise your body is left with less than optimal protection against free radicals and is thus more susceptible to disease. With regard to vitamin C, which also has a short half-life, Linus Pauling advocated taking it throughout the day in divided doses, which overcomes this problem.2

Tallaksen CM, Sande A, Bohmer T, Bell H, Karlsen J. Kinetics of thiamin and thiamin phosphate esters in human blood, plasma and urine after 50 mg intravenously or orally. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 1993;44(1):73-8.
Hickey S, Roberts H. Ascorbate: The Science of Vitamin C. Lulu Press, Inc., Napa, California, 2004."

life-enhancement.com

Conferencia sobre extension de la vida en Atlanta

Se realizó la primera conferencia del Immortality Institute Life Extension Conference en Atlanta, GA el 5 de noviembre de 2005.

Hay una serie de trabajos que se pueden ver sobre temas que nos pueden interesar porque tienen que ver con la extensión de la vida, la biología, el cerebro, la inteligencia, etc.

La página principal es: http://www.imminst.org/conference/

There were a number of media and film teams covering the event.  ImmInst has planned a DVD of the even to be available soon.

Pictures of the conference are found here:
http://www.imminst.org/forum/index.php?act=ST&f=191&t=8443

Speakers power points (13) are found here: 
http://www.imminst.org/forum/index.php?s=&act=SF&f=191

Randy Wicker(ImmInst Advisor) has some conference video here:
http://www.randywickerreporting.blogspot.com/

BrainConnection.com - Tests Stress = Problems For Students

BrainConnection.com - Tests Stress = Problems For Students - Page 1: "
Tests Stress = Problems For Students
July 2000
by Daniel Edelstein


Anecdotal reports from educators, combined with a surge in prescriptions for such medications as Ritalin and Prozac, suggest that students are experiencing increased stress in the classroom. At the root of the problem, some researchers suggest, are schools that primarily rank students based on their test scores."

Inhaladores y parches de nicotina

Hay formas de administración de nicotina que tienen muchos menos efectos perjudiciales que fumar. ¿Pero cuán segura es la nicotina?.


The New Brain Power from Philip Morris

Yep, it’s true. When nicotine-dependent human subjects abstain from cigarette smoking, they exhibit a decline in working memory. [Biological Psychiatry 58: 143-50, 2005] In fact, how are we going to tell the public, after all the years of saying nicotine in cigarettes is potentially harmful, that nicotine is maybe the best memory enhancing brain stimulant available. Nicotine skin patches could actually be used to enhance memory, or even treat Alzheimer’s disease. Nicotine skin patches even improve attention function among people with Attention Deficit Disorder! Better yet, nicotine is safe. [Current Drug Targets CNS Neurological Disorders 4: 423-31, 2002]

Get this, nicotine-treated mice develop less beta amyloid plaque in their brain than sugar-fed animals. Researchers in Sweden say nicotine drug treatment may be a novel protective therapy in Alzheimer's disease. [J Neurochemistry 81:655-8, 2002]


Here is where Philip Morris, the tobacco giant, comes in. According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, “Philip Morris has developed an inhaler that could deliver a nicotine mist deep into the lungs, giving smokers a satisfying dose of the addictive drug without the carcinogens, gases and toxic metals that make tobacco smoke so dangerous.”

Ver nota completa en knowledgeofhealth.com

Crean compuestos que pasan la barrera hematoencefalica

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-10/slu-arr102505.php

Alcoholism research reveals promising new approach to treating Alzheimer's
disease

ST. LOUIS -- Saint Louis University research shows a new class of drugs may
hold promise in treating brain chemical problems such as Alzheimer's
disease, says the principal investigator of research published in an early
on-line version of Peptides.

"We found that we can develop antisense ­ which is a molecular compound ­
to cross the blood brain barrier enough to alter brain function. This can
have a profound effect on treating diseases that occur because there is too
much or too little of a certain kind of protein in the brain," says William
A. Banks, M.D., professor of geriatrics and pharmacological and
physiological sciences at Saint Louis University and principal investigator.

"The blood brain barrier is the Holy Grail ­ it's the most difficult tissue
to pass through."  The article will run in the April print issue of Peptides.

Antisense molecules are very specific compounds that scientists can create
to plug into genetic pathways and block certain genes from producing
harmful proteins.

Many scientists believe that overproduction of the amyloid beta protein in
the brain causes Alzheimer's disease. Previous Saint Louis University
research has found that scientists can develop antisense to cross the blood
brain barrier and lower levels of amyloid beta protein in mice.

El aceite de lino aumenta el riesgo de cancer de prostata y el de pescado lo baja

En fin... siempre cosas contradictorias. Como mandé el oro mando esto.

Flax Seed Oil Actually Increases Prostate Cancer While Fish Oil Decreases It

A recent study of about 47,000 men has found the ALA omega-3 fatty acids stimulate the growth of prostate tumors in men. Of the men monitored over 14 years, some 3,000 struggled with prostate cancer and about one in seven were suffering from the advanced stages of the disease.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition July 2004 80(1);204-216

http://www.mercola.com/2004/jul/21/flax_seed_oil.htm

El aceite de lino incrementa el EPA

Este estudio es interesante porque muchas veces se dice que no es muy seguro que los aceites Omega 3 se conviertan adecuadamente en EPA (que está presente en los aceites de pescado junto con DHA y que es bueno para las arterias y el cerebro).


Eur J Clin Nutr. 1995 Mar;49(3):169-78. Related Articles, Links         

Supplementation with flaxseed oil versus sunflowerseed oil in healthy young men consuming a low fat diet: effects on platelet composition and function.

Allman MA, Pena MM, Pang D.

Department of Biochemistry, University of Sydney, Australia.
...
 The platelet eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) more than doubled in the group taking flaxseed oil
...
This study provides further evidence that consumption of alpha-linolenic acid-rich oils may offer protective effects against cardiovascular disease over linoleic acid-rich oils via their ability to decrease the tendency of platelets to aggregate.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7774533&dopt=Abstract

Denuncian vinculos economicos entre laboratorios y medicos

SALUD : INVESTIGACION DE LA REVISTA BRITANICA "NATURE"

Denuncian vínculos económicos entre laboratorios y médicos

Un estudio a nivel mundial señala que muchos profesionales que elaboran las guías para recomendar la prescripción de medicamentos reciben algún tipo de honorario. Dicen que eso atenta contra los pacientes.

Valeria Román.

Las asociaciones de médicos se reúnen, debaten y difunden lineamientos generales sobre cuáles son los tratamientos adecuados para cada enfermo. Se supone que la selección de fármacos sólo está orientada a salvar a los pacientes. Y que deja de lado cualquier interés comercial. Sin embargo, un estudio realizado por la revista británica Nature revela que no hay imparcialidad en gran parte de los paneles que aconsejan fármacos.

Incluso, se dio a conocer que hay integrantes de los mismos paneles médicos que directamente tienen acciones en las empresas que producen los fármacos. Es decir, según la revista británica, los "investigadores y médicos que escriben las normas para prescribir fármacos tienen amplias conexiones financieras con la industria farmacéutica".

http://www.clarin.com/diario/2005/10/20/sociedad/s-03201.htm

Healthy Head - Newsweek Health - MSNBC.com

Healthy Head - Newsweek Health - MSNBC.com : "Amen's latest book, 'Making a Good Brain Great,' published this month by Harmony (a division of Random House), is based partly on research that uses brain-imaging technology, called SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) scans, to help pinpoint problems in the brain. Patients at his clinics are injected with an extremely low dose of radioactive material. Then a technician uses a special nuclear medicine camera, which records the distribution of the radioactive material in the brain, to take a picture that reveals brain activity and blood flow. Some of the images have been reprinted in the book to show where and how Alzheimer's, drugs and disorders can affect the brain. When compared to a scan of a healthy brain, the difference is noticeable.

The good news, says Amen, is that before and after scans have also shown that brains can actually change with medication, behavioral therapy or a better diet and exercise. NEWSWEEK's Jennifer Barrett spoke with Amen about ways to improve our brain function. Excerpts:"

El lino como fuente de Omega 3 y su consumo adecuado

Como ya se sabe las semillas y el aceite de lino es una buena fuente de acidos grasos omega 3 (linolenico). Las semillas de lino contienen algunos compuestos que no son saludables si no se consumen con cuidado. En el sitio Flax Council of Canada hay muy buena informacion de la que extractamos lo siguiente:


 Linaza - Una Recopilacion sobre sus Efectos en la Salud y Nutricion
     por Diane H. Morris, PhD, RD


Las semillas enteras de linaza pueden ser almacenadas a temperatura
ambiente por al menos un año. Por otro lado, la linaza molida puede
ser almacenada a temperatura ambiente por al menos cuatro meses

 El almacenaje de la linaza entera ó molida en el
refrigerador ó congelador, prolonga su frescura.

 la linaza molida es estable
cuando se almacena a temperatura ambiente y se mantiene fresca por varios
meses, debido principalmente a su contenido de lignanos. Los lignanos son
antioxidantes poderosos que pueden proteger de la oxidación a las grasas
poliinsaturadas de la linaza. De hecho, la acción antioxidante del
secoisolariciresinol y el enterodiol es más fuerte que la de la vitamina E

El ácido alfa-linolénico (AAL) puede resistir las temperaturas del
horneado. Un estudio comprobó que el calentamiento de linaza entera y
linaza molida a 100°C ó 350°C por 60 minutos tenía un efecto muy bajo
en la composición de sus ácidos grasos ó su oxidación.

25 gramos (equivalente a dos cucharadas) de linaza molida

 las semillas enteras de linaza deben ser masticadas repetidamente
para remover la cubierta de la semilla y asegurar la digestión de los
nutrientes que radican en su interior.

 un adulto puede alcanzar el consumo adecuado de AAL comiendo
alrededor de 1 cuchda. de linaza molida al día.

El consumo de cantidades moderadas de linaza (por ej. 1 a 2
cuchdas.) diariamente, no debe representar riesgo alguno a la salud de
los Norteamericanos que tienen un consumo adecuado de proteínas y
yodo.

 la linaza contiene algunos compuestos que influencian la
absorción de los nutrientes en el cuerpo ó cuyos beneficios para la
salud se encuentran actualmente bajo estudio. Este capítulo describe el
papel de estos compuestos en la nutrición humana y algunas reacciones
alérgicas a la linaza.

Glucósidos Cianógenos
Los glucósidos cianógenos son un grupo de substancias naturales que
se encuentran en las plantas que liberan cianuro, un compuesto que es
venenoso cuando es degradado por las enzimas ó ácidos orgánico
Por otra parte, el consumo de productos horneados con linaza parece
tener un efecto mínimo en los niveles de tiocinatos urinarios.

El lino como fuente de Omega 3 y su consumo adecuado

Como ya se sabe las semillas y el aceite de lino es una buena fuente de acidos grasos omega 3 (linolenico). Las semillas de lino contienen algunos compuestos que no son saludables si no se consumen con cuidado. En el sitio Flax Council of Canada hay muy buena informacion de la que extractamos lo siguiente:


 Linaza - Una Recopilacion sobre sus Efectos en la Salud y Nutricion
     por Diane H. Morris, PhD, RD


Las semillas enteras de linaza pueden ser almacenadas a temperatura
ambiente por al menos un año. Por otro lado, la linaza molida puede
ser almacenada a temperatura ambiente por al menos cuatro meses

 El almacenaje de la linaza entera ó molida en el
refrigerador ó congelador, prolonga su frescura.

 la linaza molida es estable
cuando se almacena a temperatura ambiente y se mantiene fresca por varios
meses, debido principalmente a su contenido de lignanos. Los lignanos son
antioxidantes poderosos que pueden proteger de la oxidación a las grasas
poliinsaturadas de la linaza. De hecho, la acción antioxidante del
secoisolariciresinol y el enterodiol es más fuerte que la de la vitamina E

El ácido alfa-linolénico (AAL) puede resistir las temperaturas del
horneado. Un estudio comprobó que el calentamiento de linaza entera y
linaza molida a 100°C ó 350°C por 60 minutos tenía un efecto muy bajo
en la composición de sus ácidos grasos ó su oxidación.

25 gramos (equivalente a dos cucharadas) de linaza molida

 las semillas enteras de linaza deben ser masticadas repetidamente
para remover la cubierta de la semilla y asegurar la digestión de los
nutrientes que radican en su interior.

 un adulto puede alcanzar el consumo adecuado de AAL comiendo
alrededor de 1 cuchda. de linaza molida al día.

El consumo de cantidades moderadas de linaza (por ej. 1 a 2
cuchdas.) diariamente, no debe representar riesgo alguno a la salud de
los Norteamericanos que tienen un consumo adecuado de proteínas y
yodo.

 la linaza contiene algunos compuestos que influencian la
absorción de los nutrientes en el cuerpo ó cuyos beneficios para la
salud se encuentran actualmente bajo estudio. Este capítulo describe el
papel de estos compuestos en la nutrición humana y algunas reacciones
alérgicas a la linaza.

Glucósidos Cianógenos
Los glucósidos cianógenos son un grupo de substancias naturales que
se encuentran en las plantas que liberan cianuro, un compuesto que es
venenoso cuando es degradado por las enzimas ó ácidos orgánico
Por otra parte, el consumo de productos horneados con linaza parece
tener un efecto mínimo en los niveles de tiocinatos urinarios.

Mecanismos de la arterioesclerosis

Una nota en www.lef.org explicativa de los mecanismos de la arterioesclerosis, a pesar de que al final promueve ciertos productos comerciales.

Why Our Arteries Become Clogged As We Age
By John Colman

Preserving and Restoring Brain Function

Preserving and Restoring Brain Function
By Dale Kiefer

Una nota en www.lef.org

Recomiendan:

GPC Benefits Brain Health
Glycerophosphocholine, or GPC (formerly called L-alpha glycerylphosphorylcholine, or choline alfocerate)

Ashwagandha and the Brain
Ashwagandha is a medicinal plant used in India to treat a wide range of age-related disorders.53-63 Its most remarkable effect may involve its ability to preserve the health of the aging brain.

Phosphatidylserine Maintains Brain Cell Membranes
Phosphatidylserine, a natural and integral component of every cell membrane, is a powerful weapon in the fight against brain aging.

Grape Seed Counters Brain Cell Aging
Wine has always been popular, but its health benefits are now the subject of intense scientific scrutiny. Wine is an excellent source of beneficial polyphenol compounds. For those unwilling or unable to imbibe regularly, the remarkable benefits of grape polyphenols are available through grape seed extracts.

Vinpocetine Enhances Brain Circulation
Vinpocetine is a semi-synthetic derivative of the periwinkle (Vinca minor) plant. Developed more than three decades ago, vinpocetine has been hailed as an important neuroprotective agent with several key mechanisms of action.

Pregnenolone Promotes Nerve Growth
Pregnenolone is a powerful natural hormone that is synthesized directly from cholesterol in the mitochondria, the "power plants" contained in all human cells. Pregnenolone for supplemental use is derived from a compound that occurs naturally in wild yams.

Ginger and Rosemary: Natural Anti-inflammatories
The next time you need relief from pain or inflammation, consider heading for the spice rack rather than the medicine cabinet. Some of nature´s most potent anti-inflammatories are found in ginger and rosemary.

Proponen que hubo un cerebro primigenio comun

Mother of All Brains Probed

By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News

­ All brains originated from a single common ancestral brain that emerged
at least 700 million years ago, according to a recent analysis of brain
studies from the past decade.

The finding suggests this mother brain for all creatures with a central
nervous system ­ such as insects, birds, animals and humans ­ evolved only
once before each species underwent its own evolutionary course.

"What we see today in humans, insects and all other multicellular animals
with a central nervous system are probably just variations of one ancient
scheme," said Rudi Loesel, who conducted the analysis.

Loesel, a scientist in the Department of Developmental Biology and
Morphology of Animals at RWTH Aachen University in Germany, added, "What
this ancestral brain looked like, we do not know. Its architecture might
have been very simple, but the basic genetic mechanisms and the principal
chemical setup was already there (before 700 million years ago)."

The researchers don't know what the creature that contained the mother of
all brains looked like. Some scientists speculate that it could have been a
segmented flatworm, while others think it was a more complex creature.

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20050926/brain.html

Proporcion entre vitaminas C y E

Also of great importance as an antioxidant is vitamin E, which ideally should be taken along with vitamin C in a ratio of roughly 1 part E for every 3 1/2 parts C. In long-lived wildlife, the ratios of these two antioxidants are typically found to be between 1:4 and 1:6. However, most animals have very low body fat—roughly 2–4%, which is far lower than that of humans. Hence the recommended ratio of 1:3 1/2. (It’s interesting to note that vitamin E and ascorbyl palmitate together constitute a good system for protecting foods from oxidation.)

life-enhancement.com

Polemico: afirma que el stress no incrementa la necesidad de vitaminas

drmirkin.com:

September 18, 2005
Stress Does Not Increase Need for Vitamins

Several years ago a major drug company claimed that its vitamin pills helped to relieve stress from the "complications of everyday life" and gave their products names such as "StressTabs." The New York Attorney General forced them to stop their deceptive advertising, but many people still remember and believe this claim. There is no evidence that stress increases your needs for vitamins or that taking vitamins will help you handle stress. When you eat vitamins in pills or in your food, they go into your bloodstream and then into cells. They function by combining with other chemicals in cells called apoenzymes, to form complete enzymes that cause reactions to proceed in your body. All chemical reactions in your body require enzymes to make them go, and that is why vitamins are essential. For example, all of the B vitamins form enzymes that convert food to energy. But since enzymes only start chemical reactions and are not used up by them, they can be used over and over again and only minuscule amounts are needed from your diet.

In the 1930's, Hans Selye of McGill University in Montreal reported that the adrenal glands contain the highest concentration in the body of vitamin C. The adrenal glands make cortisol from vitamin C. When a person is under stress, the adrenal glands make tremendous amounts of cortisol and the concentration of vitamin C in them drops. However, scientists have known for more than forty years that the levels of vitamin C in the adrenal glands are still high enough to continue to produce cortisol and that giving extra vitamin C will not increase production of cortisol. So the myth that vitamins treat stress is based on a misinterpretation of one study on one vitamin, and that research did not show that taking extra vitamins prevents stress."

Several years ago a major drug company claimed that its vitamin pills helped to relieve stress from the 'complications of everyday life' and gave their products names such as 'StressTabs.' The New York Attorney General forced them to stop their deceptive advertising, but many people still remember and believe this claim. There is no evidence that stress increases your needs for vitamins or that taking vitamins will help you handle stress. When you eat vitamins in pills or in your food, they go into your bloodstream and then into cells. They function by combining with other chemicals in cells called apoenzymes, to form complete enzymes that cause reactions to proceed in your body. All chemical reactions in your body require enzymes to make them go, and that is why vitamins are essential. For example, all of the B vitamins form enzymes that convert food to energy. But since enzymes only start chemical reactions and are not used up by them, they can be used over and over again and only minuscule amounts are needed from your diet.

In the 1930's, Hans Selye of McGill University in Montreal reported that the adrenal glands contain the highest concentration in the body of vitamin C. The adrenal glands make cortisol from vitamin C. When a person is under stress, the adrenal glands make tremendous amounts of cortisol and the concentration of vitamin C in them drops. However, scientists have known for more than forty years that the levels of vitamin C in the adrenal glands are still high enough to continue to produce cortisol and that giving extra vitamin C will not increase production of cortisol. So the myth that vitamins treat stress is based on a misinterpretation of one study on one vitamin, and that research did not show that taking extra vitamins prevents stress."

Articulo en SciAm Mind sobre los nootropicos y sobre la conciencia

SciAm Mind: 'Smart drugs' and consciousness:
The new edition of [Scientific American Mind](http://www.sciammind.com/) has hit the shelves and two articles are freely available online: one on '[smart drugs](http://www.sciammind.com/article.cfm?articleID=0000E503-E27C-1329-A27C83414B7F0000)' and the other on the problem of [consciousness](http://www.sciammind.com/article.cfm?articleID=00019F6C-E9EC-1329-A41C83414B7F0000).

The article on 'smart drugs' or 'cognitive enhancers' is by neuroscientist [Michael Gazzaniga](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Gazzaniga) - most renowned for his work on [split-brain](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-brain) patients.

Gazzaniga examines the ethical implications of having a society cranked-up on pharmaceutical brain enhancers, and looks at the science behind some of the most recent developments in the field.

He makes one particularly interesting point in relation to the relatively developed field of memory enhancing drugs, which have the potential to make the important process of forgetting more difficult:
For a society that spends significant time and money trying to be liberated from past experiences and memories, the arrival of new memory enhancers has a certain irony. Why do people drink, smoke marijuana and engage in other activities that cause them to take leave of their senses? Why are psychiatry offices full of patients with unhappy memories they would like to lose? And why do victims of horrendous emotional events such as trauma, abuse or stressful relationships suffer from their vivid recollections? A pill that enhances memory may lead to a whole new set of disorders.

The article on consciousness is by [Christof Koch](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christof_Koch), who highlights recent research which has looked for the '[neural correlates](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neural_correlate_of_consciousness) of consciousness' - i.e. which parts of the brain are active when conscious experience is known to occur.

This is a common but controversial approach to understanding consciousness, and one that has been championed by Koch in his own work.

Additional articles that appear in the print edition only include a discussion of the developing mind of infants and what it could tell us about the differences between men and women, the psychology of child-parent interaction and how it is understood (or misunderstood) by the courts, plus an exploration of synaesthesia.


[Link](http://www.sciammind.com/) to Scientific American Mind.

—[Vaughan](http://tinyurl.com/6udmu).

En http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2005/09/sciam_mind_smart_d.html