fivehundredwords

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ppl in the age of cell phones: fucking up their necks

ppl in the age of books: fucking up their necks

ppl in the age of textile art: fucking up their necks

ppl in the age of picking lice: fucking up their necks

ppl in the age of cooking: fucking up their necks

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why neuroscience is cool

space & the brain are like the two final frontiers

we know just enough to know we know nothing

there are radically new theories all. the. time. and even just in my research assistant work i've been able to meet with, talk to, and work with the people making them

it's such a philosophical science

potential to do a lot of good in fighting neurological diseases

things like BCI (brain computer interface) and OI (organoid intelligence) are soooooo new and anyone's game - motivation to study hard and be successful so i can take back my field from elon musk

machine learning is going to rapidly increase neuroscience progress i promise you. we get so caught up in AI stealing jobs but yes please steal my job of manually analyzing fMRI scans please i would much prefer to work on the science PLUS computational simulations will soon >>> animal testing to make all drug testing safer and more ethical !! we love ethical AI <3

collab with...everyone under the sun - psychologists, philosophers, ethicists, physicists, molecular biologists, chemists, drug development, machine learning, traditional computing, business, history, education, literally try to name a field we don't work with

it's the brain eeeeee

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World's largest brain study of child trauma uncovers rewiring

The study – led by the Department of Psychology’s Dr Megan Klabunde – uncovered a disruption in neural networks involved in self-focus and problem-solving.

This means under-18s who experienced abuse will likely struggle with emotions, empathy and understanding their bodies.

Difficulties in school caused by memory, hard mental tasks and decision making may also emerge.

Dr Klabunde’s cutting-edge research used AI to re-examine hundreds of brain scans and identify patterns.

It is hoped the research will help hone new treatments for children who have endured mistreatment.

This could mean therapists focus on techniques that rewire these centres and rebuild their sense of self.

Trauma triggers

Dr Klabunde said: “Currently, science-based treatments for childhood trauma primarily focus on addressing the fearful thoughts and avoidance of trauma triggers.

“This is a very important part of trauma treatment. However, our study has revealed that we are only treating one part of the problem.

“Even when a child who has experienced trauma is not thinking about their traumatic experiences, their brains are struggling to process their sensations within their bodies.

“This influences how one thinks and feels about one’s ‘internal world’ and this also influences one’s ability to empathise and form relationships.”

Dr Klabunde reviewed 14 studies involving more than 580 children for the research published in Biological Psychiatry Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.

Large scale brain systems

The paper re-examined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans.

This procedure highlights blood flow in different centres, showing neurological activity.

The study discovered a marked difference in traumatised children’s default mode (DMN) and central executive networks (CEN) – two large scale brain systems.

The DMN and the posterior insula are involved in how people sense their body, the sense of self and their internal reflections.

New studies are finding the DMN plays an important role in most mental health problems - and may be influenced by experiencing childhood trauma.

The CEN is also more active than in healthy children, which means that children with trauma histories tend to ruminate and relive terrible experiences when triggered.

Study springboard

Dr Klabunde hopes this study will be a springboard to find out more about how trauma affects developing minds.

She said: “Our brain findings indicate that childhood trauma treatments appear to be missing an important piece of the puzzle.

“In addition to preventing avoidance of scary situations and addressing one’s thoughts, trauma therapies in children should also address how trauma’s impacts on one’s body, sense of self, emotional/empathetic processing, and relationships.

“This is important to do so since untreated symptoms will likely contribute to other health and mental health problems throughout the lifespan.”

Dr Klabunde worked with Dr Anna Hughes, also from the Department of Psychology, and Masters student Rebecca Ireton on the study.

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Scientists Discover a Potential Way to Repair Synapses Damaged in Alzheimer’s Disease

While newly approved drugs for Alzheimer’s show some promise for slowing the memory-robbing disease, the current treatments fall far short of being effective at regaining memory. What is needed are more treatment options targeted to restore memory, said Buck Assistant Professor Tara Tracy, PhD, the senior author of a study that proposes an alternate strategy for reversing the memory problems that accompany Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

Since most current research on potential treatments for Alzheimer’s focuses on reducing the toxic proteins, such as tau and amyloid beta, that accumulate in the brain as the disease progresses, the team veered away from this route to explore an alternative. “Rather than trying to reduce toxic proteins in the brain, we are trying to reverse the damage caused by Alzheimer’s disease to restore memory,” said Tracy. The findings appear in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

The work hinges on a protein called KIBRA, named because it is found in the kidney and the brain. In the brain, it is primarily localized at the synapses, which are the connections between neurons that allow memories to be formed and recalled. Research has shown that KIBRA is required for synapses to form memories, and Tracy’s team has found that brains with Alzheimer’s disease are deficient in KIBRA.

“We wondered how the lower levels of KIBRA affected signaling at the synapse, and whether understanding that mechanism better could yield some insight into how to repair the synapses damaged during the course of Alzheimer’s disease,” said Buck Staff Scientist ​​Grant Kauwe, PhD, co-first author of the study. “What we identified is a mechanism that could be targeted to repair synaptic function, and we are now trying to develop a therapy based on this work.”

The team first measured the levels of KIBRA in the cerebrospinal fluid of humans. They found that higher levels of KIBRA in the cerebrospinal fluid, but lower levels in the brain, corresponded to the severity of dementia.

“We also found this amazing correlation between increased tau levels and increased KIBRA levels in the cerebrospinal fluid,” said Tracy. “It was very surprising how strong the relationship was, which really points to the role of KIBRA being affected by tau in the brain.” The team is exploring this phenomenon further, in hopes that KIBRA could be used as a biomarker of synaptic dysfunction and cognitive decline that could be useful for diagnosis, treatment planning, and tracking disease progression and response to therapy.

To figure out how KIBRA affects synapses, the team created a shortened functional version of the KIBRA protein. In laboratory mice that have a condition mimicking human Alzheimer’s disease, they found that this protein can reverse the memory impairment associated with this type of dementia. They found that KIBRA rescues mechanisms that promote the resilience of synapses.

“Interestingly, KIBRA restored synaptic function and memory in mice, despite not fixing the problem of toxic tau protein accumulation,” said Kristeen Pareja-Navarro, co-first author of the study. “Our work supports the possibility that KIBRA could be used as a therapy to improve memory after the onset of memory loss, even though the toxic protein that caused the damage remains.”

Along with other treatments that already exist or will come in the future, a KIBRA therapy to repair synapses could be a valuable addition. “Reducing toxic proteins is of course important, but repairing synapses and improving their function is another critical factor that could help,” said Tracy. “That’s how I see this making the biggest impact in the future.”

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Fonte:Pinterest

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go at your own pace friends 🐌

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excerpt from my article, "Against Meditation, For Meditation"

Brains with impaired mind-body connection are brains lacking the capacity to integrate body sensations into a meaningful representation of their environment. They faultily navigate distances and ground surfaces, thus amplifying risk of falls. Their navigation of social interactions suffers just as much. If brains are trained to interpret their bodies, they will recognize and aptly respond to environmental, emotional, and social bodily cues in all situations. Their mind-body connection will be strengthened with regular use. It is difficult for age-related or ailment-related attackers to successfully kill a connection this robust.

Find the full article on my Academia page -

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is it just me or is the bee in serious thought with their arms crossed in the last photo

Hoplitis papaveris (Megachilidae) is a leafcutting bee that lines its nest with poppy petals

photos source

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being healthy means having well-functioning bodies and brains

being healthy means taking medications your body and brain needs to function well

being healthy means eating to give our bodies and brains the nutrition they need to function well

being healthy means building social connections that don't make you compromise practices that keep you healthy

being healthy means having a job to earn a livelihood in which you have the time and resources to practice health

being healthy means having or working towards a loving relationship with your body and brain, even on the days they sabotage you

being healthy means taking care of yourself on the days you are angry with you

being healthy means understanding that food that is nutritious and makes you feel good is accepted better by your body

being healthy means not putting off work when you can to get one extra hour of sleep

being healthy means purposely sleeping in some days

being healthy means stretching your legs and back for every 2 hours you sit down

being healthy means enduring the discomfort of adjusting to a new lifestyle that doesn't make you want to die everyday

being healthy means making financial choices that make you feel assured when you can and eventually give you more control over your timings

ultimately, being healthy means watching cat videos

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September 21 - World Alzheimer’s Day

On this day, Alzheimer’s Disease International organizes events to raise awareness of the latest developments on Alzheimer's research, treatments, clinical trials, etc. conducted all across the globe.

On top of that, every year they release an almost 500-page report with papers on clinical, social, emotional, and financial consequences on people with Alzheimer's Disease, their caretakers and loved ones, and healthcare systems and policies.

They've also made multiple articles about diverse topics that highlight the timeline of Alzheimer's research and awareness progression in the world. This includes major drug trials, statement on donepezil and anti-dementia medications, their work with policymakers, etc.

This information is available for each year. Their webinar, "COVID-19 vaccines: The global dementia movement and how you can help" describes the journey of the vaccine from WHO's Dr. Shalini Desai. It further gives a unique insight into the lives of those with dementia and how their lives were affected by the pandemic.

Indulge in reliable dementia research to your heart's content at the link below. Bye :)

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what’s really ironic about the “just let everyone get infected w covid!! herd immunity!!” arguments now is that letting the virus run rampant through the world has actually achieved the opposite: everyone may get infected, but then they’ll just keep getting infected. delta infections didn’t protect against the original omicron variant. omicron BA.1 doesn’t protect you against BA.2.12.1. none of them really protect you against BA.4 and BA.5. mass infection is not going to create mass immunity, it just means that with every infection you’re rolling the dice on what this unpredictable and very creative virus is going to do to you

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Grandma's box of medicines

I distinctly remember fetching grandma her box of medicines and grimacing at how colorful its insides were. But I contained my incredulity. Grandma was alive and well because of these medicines, how do I word my hesitation against that?

Today, years later, grandma's box has gotten more elaborate, and I learned that all the medicines she takes daily do more harm than good. Sadly, my grandmother is a part of a growing concern in medicine: overmedicalization I.e. receiving or taking more medicines than required.

Overmedication can happen due to well-intentioned physicians and caretakers being cautious, the elderly self-medicating, or ignorant physicians and caretakers being dismissive. Many elderly people ask their doctors to prescribe medicines to prevent experiencing pain or discomfort. This demand should not be catered to so easily, unless consuming a combination of drugs is absolutely necessary. Further, elders should be informed of adverse drug reactions that can deteriorate their systems.

The reputation of modern medicine and its miraculous pharmaceutical industry have wordlessly made a promise to silence every painful indication by the body, especially aging bodies. No doubts, their work saves lives. Unregulated, though, their intentions steer toward making every ache, no matter how natural for an age group, disappear. Who could be blamed for wanting to stop experiencing pain?

Hospitalization because of adverse drug reactions is preventable. To succeed, collective effort from physicians and patients and other people involved is necessary. To deprescribe elderly patients, a line of acceptance must be drawn between sickness in aging and normal symptoms of aging. Medicines treating sickness and essential symptoms of aging can be life saving. However, treating every ailment that is a simple byproduct of time and life experiences on the body is likely to result in adverse drug reactions including dizziness, breathing problems, confusion, disorientation, difficulty in walking, etc.

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OKAY THIS ARTICLE IS SO COOL

I'm going to try to explain this in a comprehensible way, because honestly it's wild to wrap your head around even for me, who has a degree in chemistry. But bear with me.

Okay, so. Solids, right? They are rigid enough to hold their shape, but aside from that they are quite variable. Some solids are hard, others are soft, some are brittle or rubbery or malleable. So what determines these qualities? And what creates the rigid structure that makes a solid a solid? Most people would tell you that it depends on the atoms that make up the solid, and the bonds between those atoms. Rubber is flexible because of the polymers it's made of, steel is strong because of the metallic bonds between its atoms. And this applies to all solids. Or so everybody thought.

A paper published in the journal Nature has discovered that biological materials such as wood, fungi, cotton, hair, and anything else that can respond to the humidity in the environment may be composed of a new class of matter dubbed "hydration solids". That's because the rigidity and solidness of the materials doesn't actually come from the atoms and bonds, but from the water molecules hanging out in between.

So basically, try to imagine a hydration solid as a bunch of balloons taped together to form a giant cube, with the actual balloon part representing the atoms and bonds of the material, and the air filling the balloons as the water in the pores of the solid. What makes this "solid" cube shaped? It's not because of the rubber at all, but the air inside. If you took out all the air from inside the balloons, the structure wouldn't be able to hold its shape.

Ozger Sahin, one of the paper's authors, said

"When we take a walk in the woods, we think of the trees and plants around us as typical solids. This research shows that we should really think of those trees and plants as towers of water holding sugars and proteins in place. It's really water's world."

And the great thing about this discovery (and one of the reasons to support its validity) is that thinking about hydration solids this way makes the math so so so much easier. Before this, if you wanted to calculate how water interacts with organic matter, you would need advanced computer simulations. Now, there are simple equations that you can do in your head. Being able to calculate a material's properties using basic physics principles is a really big deal, because so far we have only been able to do that with gasses (PV=nRT anyone?). Expanding that to a group that encompasses 50-90% of the biological world around us is huge.

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I will always be enamored by the fact that one of our space critters is roaming around on the moon while I gaze at it.

Chandrayaan 3 was a huge success. How did I confirm this? We heard firecrackers and cheers late into the night.

An astonishing feat, and one expected from the desi scientists, is this missions compact budget. A mere $75 million. While ISRO is receiving well-deserved recognition for this caveat, the institution highlights its contributors in the article "The Making of Chandrayaan-3: collaborative effort under the 'ISRO culture'."

They further explain making major improvements in the Lander of the spacecraft based on the violent landing that destroyed Chandrayaan-2. Leaving no room for failure this time, Chandrayaan-3 left Earth with a lander, "with the capabilities to autonomously handle wider range of dispersion, improvements in sensors, software and propulsion systems, full level redundancies in addition to exhaustive simulations and additional tests being conducted towards ensuring a higher degree of ruggedness in the lander."

The success of this mission showed more than ISRO's grit and intelligence. It showed the magic of generous collaboration between institutions and the human beings running them on their endeavor into something so much greater than themselves. However, this is the tip of the iceberg, and in the years to come, I hope nations around the world can collaborate in even harmonious ways for sustainable progress and humanity's greater good on Earth and in space.

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When a physicist falls in love :)

Richard Feynman's love letter to his deceased wife, 1946.

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i know we're all sick of self-care being a marketing tactic now, but i don't think a lot of us have any other concept of self-care beyond what companies have tried to sell us, so i thought i'd share my favorite self-care hand out

brought to you by how mad i just got at a Target ad

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there is no such thing as being "behind in life" but it's okay to recognise that you missed out on some things whilst you were busy surviving