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Meet your other brain

For years, changes in the brain –whether from learning to ridea bike, taking a Prozac, or sinking into Alzheimer’s disease – have been attributedto the activity of neurons and the small chemical junctions between them,called synapses. Targeting synapses is like fiddling with the connections ateither end or calling the cable company. But ignoring the wiring in between maybe a mistake.

“All ideas about communication and plasticity in thenervous system were focused on the synapse,” says Douglas Fields at the NationalInstitutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. That’s starting to change, as he and other neuroscientists realise that neurons alone are not enough to explain our brain’s plasticity – its ability to learn, adapt, and form new memories.

“All ideas about communication and plasticity in the nervous system were focused on the synapse,” says Douglas Fields at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. That’s starting to change, as he and other neuroscientists realise that neurons alone are not enough to explain our brain’s plasticity – its ability to learn, adapt, and form new memories. What it comes down to is myelin, the fatty sheath that envelops most neurons. We are used to thinking of it like insulation along a cable – allowing electrical impulses to zip along faster. But we are learning that this fatty layer is not like a wire’s insulation, installed uniformly and left unattended. Instead, it is dynamic and autonomous, customising itself to match the brain’s demands. The cells that produce it respond in real time to our cognitive needs: new insulation is laid down to help the brain master a skill; a frayed section can be replaced. What’s more, these additions and renovations continue well into adulthood.

This new kind of plasticity has come as a shock to many researchers. Bill Rebeck at Georgetown University in Washington DC has been a professor of neuroscience for over a decade, but when he heard about it last year, he was gobsmacked. “Wait, really?” was all he could mutter. And plasticity is just the start. Because they are not nerve cells, which are notoriously hard to tinker with, we might be able to tweak them manually to give the brain an extra boost when needed, or to help mend the damage behind conditions such as multiple sclerosis. It turns out a most vital part of our cognitive potential has been hiding in plain sight.

To better understand why myelin is so important, you need to look at how information travels around the brain. A neuron sends electrical impulses zipping down long projections called axons to the synapse, a small gap that chemicals called neurotransmitters travel across. These relay the signal to neighbouring neurons. Myelin keeps the information tightly confined within the axon, allowing a speedy trip.

Wired for learning

The substance is thought to have evolved to allow animals to react quickly. But myelin does more than just speed up our reflexes, it is also crucial to learning, development and behaviour. “Ultimately it allows us to have clever brains,” says William Richardson, who studies neuronal plasticity at University College London.

Hints about the role of myelination in cognitive abilities come from the way it is produced during our lifetime. A small amount is made as we develop in the womb, but after birth it takes off, and we see surges as infants learn to crawl, walk and talk. By about age 4, the rate of myelination slows, and teenagers still have the prefrontal cortex left to myelinate – an area crucial for planning and consideration of consequences. Until then, processing in the prefrontal cortex is slow and inefficient and teens remain precariously impulsive. The finer circuitry is complete by the time we reach our 40s, but from the 60s onwards the coverings start to fray and degenerate, which fits with the common experience of cognitive decline as we age. As myelin degenerates, the signals get fuzzier.

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Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength.

Sigmund Freud (via psych-facts)

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Just a little image I made back when I was first tip toeing into Psychology!

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Early ideas on Psychopathology: Mental disorders were attributed to demons or the devil possessing people making them go insane. Religion so not for the win.

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FOLLOW wewantinsanebrains !!!!!

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This is well put. We need to be more mindful of those around us. Some people do not choose to be depressed, they're just born that way. BE OPEN MINDED!

A person with depression does not choose to be depressed any more than a diabetic chooses not to produce insulin.

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Another Anxiety Zine Preview!

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COLLEGE FRESHMEN’S MENTAL HEALTH HITS NEW LOW

According to Lynn O’Shaughnessy article on CBS, UCLA administers an annual survey to college freshmen nationwide. The latest findings show that the mental health of 2014’s college freshman IS AT AN ALL TIME LOW.

"Nearly one in 10 students in UCLA’s 2014 study said they frequently felt depressed, and their assessment of their overall emotional health is at the lowest level since UCLA started asking the question.”

O’Shaughnessy also states this may explain why a lot of Universities are in need and relying on mental health facilities more and more in the past couple of years.

The survey also found that students are also spending less time with friends, and more time on social media for interpersonal interactions. Some students indicated they needed help with interpersonal interactions, yet rated themselves higher on critical thinking and problem solving skills.

Also, it is mentioned that students entering college now are less experienced with drinking than students from 20 to 30 years ago. However, binge drinking is high for these students, currently at 40 percent.

Student affiliation with religion is at an all time low.

Affiliation with Spirituality is at an all time low.

WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THE WORLD. (aka US!)

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i do, i do, i do,

you should too.

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Frontal Lobe:

 Carries out higher mental processes such as thinking, decision making, and planning

Parietal Lobe:

Processes sensory information that had to do with taste, temperature, and touch

Occipital Lobe: 

Responsible for processing visual information from the eyes

Temporal Lobe: 

Responsible for processing auditory information from the ears (hearing)

brainmadesimple.com

Photocred: http://www.brainbehavioroptimization.com/index.php?rmm=Brain