Допаминово-серотониновые новости :)

Пабмед принёс новую пачку статей о допаминергической и серотонинергической системах:

Neuropharmacology. 2011 Apr 12.
Enhanced effects of amphetamine but reduced effects of the hallucinogen, 5-MeO-DMT, on locomotor activity in 5-HT(1A) receptor knockout mice: Implications for schizophrenia.

van den Buuse M, Ruimschotel E, Martin S, Risbrough VB, Halberstadt AL.

Behavioural Neuroscience Laboratory, Mental Health Research Institute, Parkville, Melbourne, Australia; Department of Pharmacology, University of Melbourne, Australia.

Neuropharmacology. 2011 Apr 15.
Possible involvement of serotonin 5-HT2 receptor in the regulation of feeding behavior through the histaminergic system.

Murotani T, Ishizuka T, Isogawa Y, Karashima M, Yamatodani A.

Department of Medical Science and Technology, Division of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, 1-7 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.

Neuropharmacology. 2011 Apr 17.
Differential effects of cocaine and MDMA self-administration on cortical serotonin transporter availability in monkeys.

Gould RW, Gage HD, Banks ML, Blaylock BL, Czoty PW, Nader MA.

Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, United States.

Neuropharmacology. 2011 Apr 19.
Dopamine-related drugs act presynaptically to potentiate GABA(A) receptor currents in VTA dopamine neurons.

Michaeli A, Yaka R.

Institute for Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.

Neuropharmacology. 2011 Apr 7.
High concentrations of MDMA ('ecstasy') and its metabolite MDA inhibit calcium influx and depolarization-evoked vesicular dopamine release in PC12 cells.

Hondebrink L, Meulenbelt J, Meijer M, van den Berg M, Westerink RH.

Neurotoxicology Research Group, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.177, NL-3508 TD Utrecht, The Netherlands; National Poisons Information Centre (NVIC), National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), P.O. Box 1, NL-3720 BA, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.

Кое-что новое о парацетамоле

Ацетаминофен, он же - парацетамол, при передозировке может приводить к разным последствиям. Этот, казалось бы безопасный и популярный препарат может способствовать развитию заболеваний печени.

Acetaminophen Overdose May Be Painkiller Confusion

Всё кажется сексуальным, если человек в определённом настроении

Забавные выводы о степени возбуждённости и восприятия эротического контекста:

Maybe our culture-deprived society needs to get out of the house and experience more art. A new study suggests that women find Georgia O’Keefe paintings “erotic” during their menstrual cycle, which is pretty much a no-brainer, considering O’Keefe’s flower paintings are infamous for their uncanny resemblance to female genitalia. According to researcher Jeffrey Rudski, a psychologist at Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania, who published the study in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, participants were more likely to use sexual terms to describe O’Keeffe’s art in the days leading up to and including ovulation. After ovulation, the paintings appeared less suggestive. By Georg(ia), put down that O’Keefe-reefer, and get a grip. O’Keefe is no more erotic than Michaelangelo’s David. But when you’re experiencing raging hormones from hell during your menstrual cycle, trust me, everything is erotic.
I wouldn’t classify myself as someone with an abnormally large sex drive, but I have the same “appetite,” if you will, as the next red-blooded gal. And when my body begins to pump out the hormones faster than a teenage boy, everything I look at with remotely suggestive-imagery becomes erotic. National Geographic photo spreads, Ken dolls, football games (men with massive shoulders patting each others’ bottoms! HAWT), hard-boiled eggs, tall glasses of milk, even perps in handcuffs being shoved into a cop cruiser. Don’t ask me why, but my cheeks get redder than a Red Delicious orchard on harvest day.
So what exactly is this study trying to prove? I don’t actually see a benefit to singling out O’Keefe’s work as particularly erotic. They’re just flowers. Whether O’Keefe intended them to look like va-jay-jay’s is up for debate, but surely the purpose of art is to ask questions, provoke thought, and take you on an emotional journey. If that journey is toward SexyTown, so be it, but this study feels like old news retold with a new twist.
If you want erotic imagery, we have this nifty invention called The Internets where saucy Jpegs and naughty AVIs can be viewed at your leisure. Leave O’Keefe and her flowering lady-bits alone.

Post from: BlissTree
Newsflash: Everything Looks Erotic When You're Horny

Передозировки лекарствами

Оказывается, в США существует проблема, выходящая на уровень эпидемии.
Подробнее об этом в статье: Narcotic pain relief drug overdose deaths a national epidemic  

О том, как в мозгу генерируется музыка!

Creativity and the Brain: Learning From Jazz Musicians and Rappers

Category: Nifty Fifty
Posted on: April 1, 2011 10:00 AM, by Joanna Pool


How does the brain create and perceive music? More specifically, what goes on inside the heads of musicians when they're in the groove composing a song or improvising with their instruments or voice? These questions have long intrigued researcher Charles Limb, and to find answers he's turned to studying the brains of some likely individuals: jazz musicians and rap artists.

In this quest, Charles brings some interesting credentials. He's an auditory surgeon by training, specializing in a surgery called cochlear implantation - a way to help deaf people hear again. He currently practices at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore where he is Associate Professor of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery. Charles is also a musician, playing the sax, piano and bass, and serves on the faculty of Johns Hopkins' Peabody Conservatory of Music.

Says Charles: "I feel really lucky to be able to combine all of these passions in searching for a better understanding of how the mind perceives complex auditory stimuli such as music, and what parts of the brain are involved in musicians when they are deep in the process of creating and improvising."

In conducting his research, he uses functional brain imaging (fMRI) -- a technique that can measure the changes in blood flow within the brain, indicating neural activity -- to study musicians' brain regions as they improvise music on a small keyboard. For the past decade, he's been working with jazz piano players, revealing astonishing new data about the way the brain creates art.

His research has also recently branched into a new genre: hip-hop. Although originally
more of a jazz and classical music fan, Charles became increasingly intrigued by hip-hop's raw, grassroots characteristics the more he heard the music. He also soon realized striking similarities between jazz and rap which he found relevant for his study.

Read more about Charles here.

Watch a bit about studying how the brain reacts to creative situations. What activities do you think would be interesting to understand how the brain works during those activities?

Статья с http://scienceblogs.com/usasciencefestival/2011/04/creativity_and_the_brain_learn.php там же можно посмотреть видео