Brain-function enhancing

Histamine in the nervous system may participate in a variety of brain functions. Several of the suspected physiological roles for histamine are related to its ability to increase the neuronal excitability [1, 2,15]. For example, mutant mice lacking the H, receptor show defective locomotor and exploratory behaviors [57], Neuronal histamine may increase attention and/or arousal by many mechanisms, including by enhancing sensory input [58], All available evidence from several species shows that histaminergic neurons, when activated, increase wakefulness... 

Neuro steroids, which may be physiological modulators of brain activity, enhance GABAa receptor function 297 The three-dimensional structures of ligand-gated ion channel receptors are being modeled successfully 297 Mouse genetics reveal important functions for GABAa receptor subtypes 297... 

Neurosteroids, which may be physiological modulators of brain activity, enhance GABAa receptor function. 

Why don t any of these medications work Clearly, they boost nerve cell activity. Some of them do enhance cognition in animals. But they do little for dementia patients. Why is this The explanation is probably that the small benefit of these medications pales in comparison to the widespread damage to nerve cells caused by dementia. The difference between a dementia s ability to compromise the way the brain works and a medication s ability to enhance brain function is so great that the medication produces no noticeable improvement. 

For the specific information-flow route lt if awareness per se is intrinsically different from brain functioning and more intimately related to psi information, this freeing of awareness from such intimate connection with brain structure would automatically make it more sensitive to psi impulses. Thus, d-ASCs in which people feel their awareness is less habituated, less bound to structure, such as hypnosis or some meditative states, might be particularly valuable for enhancing psi functioning. (Whether this would be useful psi functioning is another question because you not only have to free up awareness from habitual but irrelevant places, but also still have to be able to direct it to the relevant information.)... 

When it comes to alternative medicines and therapies that, like gingko biloba, claim to enhance your brain function, never underestimate the power of your own expectations. Not only does your brain influence how you think and feel, but the nature of your thoughts and expectations can influence how your brain and body functions. Thus, if you expect that a drug will act in a certain way on your brain and behavior, then it is much more likely to do so, at least for a while this is the essence of the placebo effect. It s ironic, and possibly way too convenient, that your brain decides for itself how it will experience the drug that it has decided to take. 

In summary, although its advocates claim that Ritalin corrects an imbalance in the brain or enhances brain function, the reality is not so simple. The only thing certain is that Ritalin, like any external substance that reaches the brain, has a high probability of disrupting the normal mental process in unexpected ways. 

Description of the psychedelic experience as a kind of dream state where one is wide awake and remembering or as a state in which right hemispheric brain functions are amplified is consistent with most experiential reports. These are usually full of comments about enhanced sensitivity to rhythm as well as new appreciations of music and dance. 

The concept of stress sensidzation , whereby early life stressors can induce an enhanced reactivity to later environmental adversities (review ed in Read et al., 2005), may also be relevant to the etiology of schizophrenia. This phenomenon, w hich results in abnormal activation of the HPA axis, is thought to involve alterations in the mesolimbic dopamine system (review ed in Laruelle, 2000) resulting in excessive release of dopamine, a hallmark of psychotic episodes (Laruelle et al., 1996). Taken together, it appears likely that prenatal developmental abnormalities in limbic stmctures that regulate the HPA axis predispose this system to sensitivity to stressors in early childhood and adolescent maturation. This predisposition may then play a key role in the precipitation of psychotic episodes, as well as the deterioration of brain function that accompanies the progression of the disease. 

Additive stimulant effects of caffeine Caffeine is present in many products that contain ephedra alkaloids, and those who take these products might also be consuming considerable quantities of caffeine in coffee, tea, and soft drinks. Caffeine can enhance the undesirable effects of ephedrine on the heart, blood supply system, and brain function. 

In my case the decisive period of experimentation that built into my brain the urge to clarify the unknown neurochemical mechanism of the acquisition of a drive fell between 1951 and 1953. After 50 years of continuous analysis of this problem, it has become my firm belief that the mammalian brain reached its highest level of organization with the evolution of specific cortical enhancer regulation enabling it to acquire drives. I also propose that this development culminated in the appearance of the Homo sapiens, the only mammalian species whose fife is primarily based on the acquisition of unnatural drives. It seems to me that just as the discovery of the force of mutual attraction among all bodies led to a sound interpretation of the world around us, the discovery of the force of mutual attraction between cortical neurons will lead to a sound interpretation of a brain function which is inseparable from conscious perception. 

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