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Your gut is directly connected to your brain, by a newly discovered neuron circuit:
The human gut is lined with more than 100 million nerve cells—it's practically a brain unto itself. And indeed, the gut actually talks to the brain, releasing hormones into the bloodstream that, over the course of about 10 minutes, tell us how hungry it is, or that we shouldn't have eaten an entire pizza. But a new study reveals the gut has a much more direct connection to the brain through a neural circuit that allows it to transmit signals in mere seconds. The findings could lead to new treatments for obesity, eating disorders, and even depression and autism—all of which have been linked to a malfunctioning gut.
The study reveals "a new set of pathways that use gut cells to rapidly communicate with ... the brain stem," says Daniel Drucker, a clinician-scientist who studies gut disorders at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute in Toronto, Canada, who was not involved with the work. Although many questions remain before the clinical implications become clear, he says, "This is a cool new piece of the puzzle."
[...] Additional clues about how gut sensory cells benefit us today lie in a separate study, published today in Cell. Researchers used lasers to stimulate the sensory neurons that innervate the gut in mice, which produced rewarding sensations the rodents worked hard to repeat. The laser stimulation also increased levels of a mood-boosting neurotransmitter called dopamine in the rodents' brains, the researchers found.
Combined, the two papers help explain why stimulating the vagus nerve with electrical current can treat severe depression in people, says Ivan de Araujo, a neuroscientist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, who led the Cell study. The results may also explain why, on a basic level, eating makes us feel good. "Even though these neurons are outside the brain, they perfectly fit the definition of reward neurons" that drive motivation and increase pleasure, he says.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 24 2018, @01:47AM (2 children)
Dopamine (or lack of) is also involved in Parkinson's Disease. PD comes in many "flavors" (over a dozen, I've heard), and is far from fully understood. Another interesting thing I've learned since a relative came down with PD is that there is no test to determine if you have it--the "test" is to get on the meds (levidopa or similar) and see if your symptoms improve.
It would be very cool if this discovery led to another type of treatment for Parkinson's.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday September 24 2018, @08:51AM (1 child)
... but not actual Parkinsons.
They _all_ cause hand tremor which for my from time to time is so severe that I am unable to type. Fortunately Cogentin as well as over-the-counter Benedryl helps quite a lot with this.
More serious is that antipsychotics can cause a form of brain damage called Tardive Dyskinesia.
In my own case, while Risperdal was quite effective at a very low dose at first, over time a phenomenon known as Brain Plasticity led to my requirement for increasingly higher doses; those high doses resulted in a minor, non-permanent form of TD in which I repeatedly opened and closed my mouth. A casual observe might think I was chewing gum with my mouth open.
Severe TD is generally permanent and causes repetitive motions of one's entire body, fortunately rarely that motion can be so severe that it puts on in a wheelchair.
Oddly TD doesn't generally cause dismay to those who experience it, rather other people are disturbed by it, in my own case my ex would mimic my mouth motions, leading me to stop doing it for a while but as soon as my attention wandered I'd start opening and closing it again.
I don't take Risperdal anymore. Happily perphenazine works well for me and so far has not caused TD.
Akathesia is an inability to sit still, which too can be debilitating. Fortunately for me I've never experienced it.
If you get severe TD your only option will be to stop taking your current antipsychotic. In principle you could run out of different kinds of antipsychotics but I've never heard of that actually happening.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Monday September 24 2018, @07:00PM
I can relate to something like that. An inability to keep your legs still.
Cause:
Arthritis Specialist: Try this Tramadol (generic for Ultram) for your pain! Be sure to take it every single day.
Results:
* Yes it helps a lot for pain
Bad Side effects:
* I was in a good mood. All the time. Every day. Happy. This is just not natural. I think I'm a generally cheerful and happy person. Always looking for a punch line. At this point in my career only goal to get modded funny. But this kind of good mood is just not natural.
* Can't sit still. Can't stop jittering. Figeting.
* Some sleep difficulty.
* only once: auditory hallucinations. I wake up in the night. I think I hear voices talking outside my house. But when I listen, there is nothing there. Try to go back to sleep. Mind wanders. Hear the sound of voices again. But nothing intelligible. When I listen to hear what is said, nothing is there.
That was the final straw. I quit taking it.
No thanks! I'll go back to occasionally using hydrocodone thank you. I've taken it for a long time and have no trouble stopping taking it when I don't need it.
So I stop the Tramadol. And it has withdrawal symptoms. Which only increased my motivation to stop taking it and never take it again.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.