In prima parte am discutat neuroplasticitatea, in a II-a am vorbit despre flow si iata ca in sfarsit ajung la bucata de stiri care m-a determinat sa scriu seria. Continui povestea creierului si bag aici si lista TED de videoclipuri despre creier si succes.
Atentia acordata in fonduri investite in cercetarea neurologica din ultimele cateva decade este justificata si acut necesara: degeaba ne-am prelungit viata pana la 80-90 de ani daca avem creiere care inceteaza sa functioneze la 30-40 si la varste mai mici in cazul politicienilor. Daca oamenii in varsta cu creiere functionale pot fi de folos societatii, este greu sa ai un consiliu al inteleptilor / batranilor in care toti se-mbaloseaza, faca pipi pe ei si-ncep sa sforaie in mijlocul propozitiei. Si desi s-au inregistrat progrese, neurologii si neuropsihiatrii se plang ca nu exista suficiente creiere de studiat (bbc-no-brainer), si ca in continuare diferentele dintre creierul lui Einstein (prelevat, zic unii, fara acordul acestuia sau al familiei) si cel al unei maimute sau al unui om care n-a ajuns foarte departe sunt minime.
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Inclin sa cred ca asta se datoreaza si educatiei, care nu lasa urme vizibile in creier, dar permite cuiva sa-si maximizeze potentialul.
Creutzfeld-Jacob
Ne-a luat cateva decade ca sa interzicem hranirea vacilor cu alte vaci moarte, pentru ca ne trezim bolnavi de CJD, boala care ne lasa fara creier. Stiam ca aceasta boala care consuma creierul se transmite in sanul comunitatilor canibale, dar nu ne-am imaginat ca se transmite de la vaci la oameni, tot asa cum nu vrem sa credem ca daca indopam vacile si gainile cu hormoni si antibiotice, acestea nu ajung si in hrana umana. Unii sunt de parere chiar ca si in lipsa CJD, carnea de vaca are un continut mult per mare de prioni si afecteaza negativ creierul.
Parkinson si Alzheimer
Pana nu demult, aceste doua boli care, ca si prima, constau in degradarea structurala a creierului pana acesta nu-si mai poate indeplini functiile cognitive, erau vazute ca incurabile si determinate genetic sau cu cauze necunoscute. Studii recente arata cu totul altceva. In ce priveste Alzheimer, exista o oarecare corelare intre o concentratie masiva de aluminiu in creier si boala, dar nu este clar in ce masura aceasta este o cauza sau un efect (bbc-al). Lista de clipuri incearca sa prezinte cele mai importante idei si rezultate din lumea academica, dupa cum au fost in principal prezentate la TED, dar si in alte parti.
Brain-heart dichotomy
Dupa cum am mai spus, ne place sa vedem acest conflict intre logica si ratiune pe de o parte si emotie, intuitie si sentiment de cealalta ca un conflict intre cele doua emisfere cerebrale. Iata deci sumarul sus-mentionat din perspectiva acestei dichotomy:
- self-control si autodisciplina sunt buni predictori ai succesului in viata, poate si pentru ca astfel de oameni au sanse mai mici sa ajunga betivi sau drug addicts :)
- vinul este mai bun pentru inima decat berea, dar este mai rau pentru creier
- colesterolul are efecte negative asupra inimii si a circulatiei, dar este esential in dezvoltarea creierului (bbc-wine)
- muzica si in special cantatul la un instrument sunt exercitii excelente pentru creier, dar nu suficient de ample pentru inima si sistemul circulator
- activitatile intelectuale presupun in general repaosul si sunt bune pentru creier, in timp ce cele fizice necesita miscarea – tractoarele si animalele nefiind de bun augur pentru inima; si totusi, ateroscleroza rezulta in brain damage
- stimulantele pentru creier (cafea, tutun si chiar unele droguri ilegale) sunt bune pentru creier si reduc sansele de alzheimer, dar sunt deseori nocive pentru inima (mercurynews-cafea)
- ne simtim bine la caldura, dar se pare ca ne-am dezvoltat creiere mari in climate reci (bbc-big-brains-warm); pe de alta parte, desi ne place sa credem asta, creierele mari nu implica mai multa inteligenta in mod necesar, altfel ne-ar bate elefantii si balenele la sah
- Omega-3 care se afla in principal in uleiul de peste ajuta mult functionarea creierului si chiar si buna-dispozitie
- am invatat foarte mult in ultimii ani despre creier in special in urma avansurilor in metode de a obtine “poze ale creierului” (brain-image); un “neuroeconomist” poate prezice deciziile unei persoane pe baza unei astfel de poze (bbc-neuroeconomics)
- plasticitatea creierului este dependenta de regenerarea neuronilor (sci-daily-new-neurons)
Gripa, drogurile si dementa – alzheimer
Iata articolul din Canadian Press care explica pe larg legatura dintre gripa si distrugerea creierului:
Some flu viruses may set up sufferers to get Parkinson's later in life: study
By Helen Branswell Medical Reporter (CP) – 2 hours ago
TORONTO — Infection with some kinds of influenza viruses may set up people to be at higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease later in life, a new American study suggests.
The work, inspired by the story behind the 1990 movie "Awakenings," suggests some aggressive strains of flu that can pass into the brain may deplete dopamine-creating neurons, leaving a person more vulnerable to developing the neurodegenerative disease at a later date.
"I am very confident (that) ... viruses will be considered a player in the etiology of PD (Parkinson's disease)," said senior author Dr. Richard Smeyne, a neurologist and neuroscientist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.
"Not a direct cause, but maybe the initiating cause... It sets you up."
"Awakenings" was the story of how American neurologist Oliver Sacks figured out he could revive people suffering from a strange sleeping sickness called encephalitis letharagica or von Economo's encephalopathy using the newly discovered Parkinson's drug L-dopa.
An epidemic of von Economo's encephalopathy in parts of Europe and in North America was recorded from about 1915 to 1926. A couple of decades later some of the survivors of the event descended into a catatonic state which Sacks correctly identified as Parkinsonian.
The overlap of the initial outbreak with the 1918 Spanish flu led some people to conclude infection with that virulent virus was the trigger for the illness.
Smeyne has been studying whether there is a viral component to the development of Parkinson's disease. Unusual clusters of cases have led researchers to believe exposures to environmental agents like pesticides or bacterial or viral infections may contribute to the development of Parkinson's in some people.
The most famous of the clusters involved a Vancouver TV show in the late 1970s on which a young Michael J. Fox worked. Fox and several other members of the production developed Parkinson's at an early age.
In discussions with colleagues in St. Jude's renown influenza research team, Smeyne and his team decided to look at whether influenza viruses might be one such trigger using another highly virulent flu virus - the H5N1 avian flu variety. A co-author of the paper is Dr. Robert Webster, a leading figure in the world of influenza.
The article, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, traced the entry and progression of the H5N1 avian flu virus in the brains of infected mice. The scientists found the aggressive H5N1 virus killed about 17 per cent of dopamine-creating neurons.
Smeyne said a corresponding loss in humans - if it occurs - wouldn't be enough to trigger Parkinson's on its own. But it could predispose a person to be more vulnerable to developing it, or speed up the point in life at which someone might develop the neurodegenerative disease, he said.
An expert on the virus that caused the Spanish flu, Dr. Jeffery Taubenberger, said the study raises an interesting hypothesis, but does not answer the question of whether flu viruses play a role in the development of Parkinson's.
"I think that it's certainly interesting to think about ... certain viruses that might be able to replicate in neuronal cells as an example of something that could lead to an insult, a physical insult, that could lead to some kind of neurodegeneration," said Taubenberger, an influenza researcher at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.
"But I think that it is a bit extreme to take a mouse study and then say that there might be a link in humans to Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease."
Taubenberger, who led a team that excavated viral remnants of the virus that caused the Spanish flu and then sequenced the virus, said a sort of mythology has encompassed the 1918 virus, ascribing to it powers it probably did not have.
Work he has done looking at whether the virus was responsible for the epidemic of von Economo's encephalopathy does not support a link, he said. He and his team have studied preserved brain tissues of people who suffered from the condition, looking for traces of viral RNA. They found nothing.
They also looked at whether the 1918 virus travels into the brain when mice are experimentally infected with it. It does not. The combined work, Taubenberger said, led his team to conclude the data don't support a strong link between the 1918 flu and the outbreak of von Economo's encephalopathy.
He suggested a study of survivors of H5N1 infection could shed light on whether they suffer any neurological or neurodegenerative conditions that might be linked to that virus.
Smeyne said the neurodegenerative aspect his team sees with H5N1 probably does not exist for all flu viruses and may not be true for the milder swine flu or H1N1 virus causing the current flu pandemic.
"It's a fairly mild form of influenza. There doesn't seem to be encephalitis associated with it," he said.
"That would suggest we would not see it (crossing into the brain). But I think without the direct experimental evidence which we need to look at, I think that we can't say one way or the other at this point."
Follow Canadian Press Medical Writer Helen Branswell's flu updates on Twitter at CP-Branswell
Este cunoscut de multa vreme ca invatatorii si profesorii, cat si medicii si asistentele medicale au sanse mai mari de a suferi de dementa la batranete decat restul populatiei. Ipoteza cea mai raspandita era ca gripa, la care acestia sunt mai susceptibili, luand-o tot timpul de la copii si pacienti, “loveste” in neuroni, crescand de 4-5 ori sansele de dementa geriatrica.
Exista de asemenea exemplul lui Michael J. Fox care a capatat Parkinson la o varsta relativ frageda impreuna cu cativa colegi cu care a jucat in Vancouver intr-un show. Astfel de “ciorchini epidemici” sugereaza ca nu intotdeauna un virus e de vina, ci ca anumiti factori de poluare sau otravuri pot avea efecte similare.
Un alt studiu ingrijorator arata ca pana si mici cresteri in colesterol la varsta de 40 de ani cresc seminificativ sansele de dementa la varste inaintate (nyt-middle-life-alzheimer), dar pe de alta parte, aceste sanse pot fi micsorate exersand creierul (wp-x-dementia), tot astfel cum exersand muschii pcg crestem potenta sexuala.
Sources / More info: wiki-cjd, wiki-parkinson, wiki-alzheimer, wiki-brain, cp-flu-brain, bbc-no-brainer, bbc-wine, , bbc-al, bbc-big-brains-warm, stroke-podcast, brain-image, bbc-neuroeconomics, mercurynews-cafea, sci-daily-new-neurons, parkinson-spread, google-news-brain-exercises, google-news-some-flu, bbc-flu-(non)panic, wp-x-dementia, nyt-middle-life-alzheimer, neurology-dementia-delay, yt
The Mindful Brain by Daniel J. Siegel (Hardcover - Mar 27 2007)
My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey by Jill Taylor (Hardcover - May 13 2008)
Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John J. Ratey and Eric Hagerman (Hardcover - Jan 10 2008)
Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving At Work, Home, and School by John Medina (Hardcover - Mar 18 2008)
Making a Good Brain Great: The Amen Clinic Program for Achieving and Sustaining Optimal Mental Performance by Daniel G. Amen M.D. (Paperback - Dec 26 2006)
Magnificent Mind at Any Age: Natural Ways to Unleash Your Brain's Maximum Potential (Hardcover) 
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks (Paperback - Sep 23 2008)
This Is Your Brain On Music by Daniel Levitin (Paperback - Aug 28 2007)
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