Neurochemical

A limerick a day hopefully keeps the neurologist away

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– Hat tip to Bar­bara Arrowsmith-Young

Mark Rosenzweig’s classic 1996 paper on neuroplasticity:

Psy­chobi­ol­o­gy of plas­tic­i­ty: effects of train­ing and expe­ri­ence on brain and behav­ior (Behav­iour­al Brain Research):

Abstract: Sup­port­ing Heb­b’s 1949 hypoth­e­sis of use-induced plas­tic­i­ty of the ner­vous sys­tem, our group found in the 1960s that train­ing or dif­fer­en­tial expe­ri­ence induced neu­ro­chem­i­cal changes in cere­bral cor­tex of the rat and region­al changes in weight of cor­tex. Fur­ther stud­ies revealed changes in cor­ti­cal thick­ness [Read more…] about A lim­er­ick a day hope­ful­ly keeps the neu­rol­o­gist away

Study issues warning: Opioid inhibitor naltrexone (often used to treat addictions) can reduce feelings of social connection

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Sci­ence has long known that hav­ing pos­i­tive social con­nec­tion is impor­tant to a hap­py and healthy life. But less is under­stood about how our brains sup­port and encour­age con­nect­ing with others.

While pri­or research has sug­gest­ed oxy­tocin plays a role in nur­tur­ing and trust­ing oth­ers, there­by strength­en­ing social bonds, many researchers also sus­pect that brain opi­oids are impor­tant to social con­nec­tion. [Read more…] about Study issues warn­ing: Opi­oid inhibitor nal­trex­one (often used to treat addic­tions) can reduce feel­ings of social connection