Suffering from depression and standard anti-depressants aren't working? You might want to read the transcript or listen to the podcast.
"Drugs that target the neurotransmitter serotonin have long been prescribed to treat depression. Now the spotlight is turning to other aspects of brain chemistry. In this episode, the neuropharmacologist John Krystal shares findings that are overturning our understanding of depression."
People in Baltimore have been dying of overdoses at a rate never before seen in a major American city.
The city was once hailed for its response to #addiction. But as #fentanyl flooded streets & ofcls shifted priorities, deaths hit unprecedented heights.
This is the first part in a series exploring #Baltimore’s overdose crisis.
In the past 6 yrs, nearly 6k lives have been lost. The death rate from 2018 to 2022 was nearly DOUBLE that of any other large city, & higher than nearly all of Appalachia during the prescription pill crisis, the Midwest during the height of rural meth labs or New York during the crack epidemic.
A decade ago, 700 fewer people here were being killed by drugs each year. And when fatalities began to rise from the synthetic #opioid#fentanyl, so potent that even minuscule doses are deadly, #Baltimore’s initial response was hailed as a national model. The city set ambitious goals, distributed #Narcan widely, experimented w/ways to steer people into treatment & ratcheted up campaigns to alert the public.
Climate Change presents a range of dire environmental and health challenges. Add brain disease to the list. New research shows that as weather conditions worsen, certain brain diseases — stroke, migraines, meningitis, even Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s — follow suit. Read more from Science Alert: https://flip.it/RDG4WP#Science#ClimateChange#Health#Brain#Neurology
Many years ago, on another platform, someone said that humans are digestive tracts that eventually evolved nervous systems and brains, and not the other way around.
And that has forever changed how I think about being human.
Here's one of the few more modern articles I found about this Arc gene and how brains work. "Arc Regulates Transcription of Genes for Plasticity, Excitability and Alzheimer’s Disease" https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9405677/
Op-ed: What we know about toxic chemicals and children’s mental health
"Evidence suggests chemical exposures are altering children’s brains. We need to tackle this interconnected crisis. "
".. a growing body of evidence connecting increased exposure to chemicals in the environment, such as lead, PFAS and BPA, to increased child mental health symptoms like anxiety and depression."
"Researchers led by Columbia University's Kristin Baldwin have created mice with hybrid brains -- part mouse, part rat -- that sense the odors of the world with their rat neurons.
It is the first time that an animal has been able to use the sensory apparatus of another to sense and respond accurately to the world and is one indication of how flexible the brain can be in integrating outside brain cells.
"This research is starting to show us how we can expand the flexibility of a brain so that it can accommodate other kinds of inputs, from human-machine interfaces or transplanted stem cells," says Baldwin, professor of genetics and development at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons."
'It's no surprise that your dog can learn to sit when you say "sit" and come when called. But a study appearing March 22 in the journal Current Biology has made the unexpected discovery that dogs generally also know that certain words "stand for" certain objects. When dogs hear those words, brain activity recordings suggest they activate a matching mental representation in their minds.'
Fascinating look at the various sciences focused on what happens in the brain at death. A field seemingly near to important breakthroughs that reflect on the nature of consciousness. I fall on the side of seeing consciousness a a capacity of the brain rather than as something that “inhabits" as part of its independent journey.
This study shows that Individual neurons coordinate to produce rhythmic waves that propel fluid through dense brain tissue, aiding the removal of debris from the brain. Understanding the process can help in neurodegenerative diseases.