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Wish you could get rid of bad memories? Scientists say they may have found the key
[Scientists] say they have found the key chemical that helps our brains inhibit [...] unwanted, intrusive memories [open, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00956-z] [DX]. That's a big deal, because the discovery could help pioneer new ways to help people get past debilitating thoughts, according to a new study published in Nature Communications this week.
So what's the key? It's a neurotransmitter called GABA — a chemical in the brain that sends messages between nerve cells, according the study's author, Michael Anderson, a professor at the University of Cambridge. Anderson and the rest of his research team revealed in the study that GABA levels within the hippocampus — a vital part of the brain when it comes to memory — are strong predictors of whether or not you can block unwanted thoughts from resurfacing.
Think of GABA as foot soldiers in the hippocampus, Anderson said in a statement. Their mission? To block your intrusive thoughts. You and your brain's prefrontal cortex (the brain's "master regulator") are the commander of that brigade of neurotransmitter troops, the researchers wrote. But if you don't have enough GABA soldiers on the ground in your hippocampus to block the things your prefrontal cortex doesn't want to think about, you're probably going to keep thinking about them.
"When this capacity breaks down, it causes some of the most debilitating symptoms of psychiatric diseases — intrusive memories, images, hallucinations, ruminations, and pathological and persistent worries," Anderson said.
γ-Aminobutyric acid: That's another ingredient for my homebrewed soma mix.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @09:37PM (5 children)
Sure there is a measure. Are you satisfied or not? Do you feel you are a productive member of society? Is your outlook on life positive? Do you feel alienated? Is it hard to be alive? Are you seeing or hearing entities that no one around you seems to perceive?
Come on, man. Nobody is convinced by your war of terminology.
(Score: 2) by meustrus on Monday November 06 2017, @10:17PM (4 children)
The only one of your "measurements" that is actually measurable - hallucinations - is a symptom of psychosis, not depression.
This isn't about terminology. This is about the difference between science and pseudoscience.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 07 2017, @01:04AM (3 children)
The patient can give a you measurement for the others; that's the whole point of therapy: To help close the mismatch between a person's fantasy and a person's reality, whether it's psychological or chemical.
(Score: 2) by meustrus on Tuesday November 07 2017, @03:03PM (2 children)
The patient can tell you that they would like things to be better than they are, but they almost never have a real baseline to compare it to. There are exceptions: women experiencing post-partum depression know what "normal" feels like and can provide a better measurement as to whether they are reaching their desired "normal". But it's still a subjective measurement, and when you consider the millions of people who have lived with mental illness their entire lives without experiencing "normal", it becomes impossible to piece apart the symptoms of the illness from the symptoms of other people reacting negatively to your abnormal behavior. Often, common problems that most people can deal with successfully become the focus of a person's self-criticism even when the real issue is something deeper that is preventing them from dealing with these problems normally.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 07 2017, @08:33PM (1 child)
You could even make measurements "objective" measurements at that first consultation, say with an fMRI, and then track how treatment affects the measured signals.
(Score: 2) by meustrus on Wednesday November 08 2017, @05:22PM
To do that, we would need consistent, effective ways to interpret fMRI data into mental health metrics. There are two major problems with this: 1, we don’t have objective mental health metrics or even a baseline “normal” that applies to everyone; and 2, everybody is different and even if you were to tailor the treatment to each individual, your baseline would then be based on the abnormal state you are trying to correct.
These problems could be solved with more research. But right now, we’re not there, and lacking effective objective standards the industry has developed around the best subjective standards that are available.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?