Interaccion calcio y magnesio

Me puse a ver un informe para médicos que tengo de hace tiempo que intenta explicarles por qué en el producto Berocca (creo que esto está en casi todo el mundo) le ponen calcio y magnesio juntos a pesar de que se sepa que se afectam mutuamente.

En una parte dice que: a nivel del sistema nervioso, el magnesio actúa como antagonista del calcio, al impedir la liberación excesiva de catecolaminas -tal como ocurre, por ejemplo, en situacionesde stress (Classen y Hirneth, 1987; Henrotte et. al., 1985 ;Henrotte, 1986; Iseri y French, 1984, Levine y Coburn 1984). A nivel de la sinapsis, una mayor concentración de magnesio inhibe la liberación de acetilcolina por medio del antagonismo del calcio (Goodman y Gilman, 1985).

La disciplina es mas importante que la inteligencia

Self-discipline matters more than IQ
An American study has found that a school pupil’s self-discipline is a stronger predictor of their future academic success than their IQ, leading researchers to conclude that self-discipline may be the “royal road” to building academic achievement.

In a first study, Angela Duckworth and [Martin Seligman](http://www.psych.upenn.edu/~seligman/) (Positive Psychology Centre, University of Pennsylvania) recruited 140 school children (average age 13 years) at the start of the academic year. In the Autumn, the children, their parents and teachers, all completed questionnaires about the children’s self-discipline. The measures asked things about the children’s ability to follow rules, to avoid acting impulsively, and to put off instant rewards for later gratification. Scores from the different measures were combined to create an overall indicator of self-discipline.

The researchers found self-discipline predicted all sorts of academic measures taken seven months later, including the children’s average grade for the academic year, their Spring exam result and their selection into High School.

A second study with 164 children (average age 13) followed a similar procedure but also involved the children taking an IQ test in the Autumn. Self-discipline again predicted later academic performance, as measured by their average grade for the year and their Spring exam result. Moreover, the researchers found that the children’s self-discipline scores accounted for twice as much of the variation in their later academic performance as their IQ did.

The researchers said “Underachievement among American youth is often blamed on inadequate teachers, boring textbooks, and large class sizes. We suggest another reason for students falling short of their intellectual potential: their failure to exercise self-discipline”.
__________________________________

Duckworth, A.L. & Seligman, M.E.P. (2005). [Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adolescents](http://tinyurl.com/72uqk). Psychological Science, 16, 939-944.

Via: http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2005/12/self-discipline-matters-more-than-iq.html)

Interesante leer los cometarios también.

Para recuperar sueno hay que dormir mas temprano

Para recuperar sueño es mejor irse a dormir antes que quedarse más tiempo durmiendo, según un estudio, dado que esto último incrementa el desfase y hace más difícil volver a levantarse temprano.

 "If you have been working long hours, the best way to recover from a sleep deficit is to go to bed earlier rather than sleeping in."

Wake Time Influences Circadian Clock More Than Bed Time

Yael Waknine
Medscape Medical News 2005.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/507491?rss

June 28, 2005 — A late wake time causes a significantly greater phase delay in the circadian rhythm than does a late bedtime, according to the results of a small prospective study presented at the 19th Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Denver, Colorado.

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