The MMM of aging: mood, memory, movement

Alzheimer's,Dementia,Neurodegenerative diseases,Neuroprotectors,Parkinson's — Tags: , , , , — 6:55 am

“Thinking, Moving, Feeling”: What Do They Have in Common?

This question opens a review of age-related declines, their inter-relationships, mechanisms, and the ways to postpone if not avoid them. The authors discuss the occurrence of depression and mood disorders during normal, premature or pathological aging, reminding that the usual suspects – serotonin and norepinephrine – indeed decline as people age as well as in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases (A, Granholm et al., Mood, Memory and Movement: An Age-Related Neurodegenerative Complex? Curr Aging Sci. 2008 July ; 1(2): 133–139.)

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The seven effects of ketone bodies making them powerful neuroprotectors

Ketone bodies,Neuroprotectors — Tags: , , , — 9:27 am

There are seven traits allowing ketones to serve as neuroprotectors during brain damage:

  1. they require only three steps to enter the Krebs cycle (footnote a) – compare with 9 steps obligatory for glucose;
  2. they cause  inhibition of glycolysis, thus decreasing free radical formation;
  3. they increase production of ATP (footnote b);
  4. they increase mitochondrial energy efficiency;
  5. they increase antioxidant activity of glutathione peroxidase (footnote c);
  6. they spare pyruvate from processing in the Krebs cycle

Source: Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism (2008) 28, 1–16

Footnotes
a) The Krebs cycle or the citric acid cycle is a metabolic pathway involved in the conversion (“burning”) of carbohydrates, fats and proteins into CO2 and H2O to generate energy in the form that can be used by living organisms.
b) ATP: Adenosine Triphosphate, the ultimate “energy molecule”.
c) Glutathione peroxidase: a powerful scavenger of free radicals.

Books by Alexander Luria in English

Methodology,Theories — Tags: , , , , — 6:52 am

A.R. Luria was one of the most significant psychological researchers and theorists of the 20th century. He is considered to have founded the field of neuropsychology, and he had a great influence on and was influenced by the work of Lev Vygotsky, whose cultural theory of child development is now very much in vogue.

Luria’s books on Amazon

Autobiography of Alexander Luria: A Dialogue with the Making of Mind
The working brain

 The Working Brain: An Introduction To Neuropsychology
A book about vast memory

 The Mind of a Mnemonist: A Little Book about a Vast
Memory
A man in a shuttered world. The history of a brain wound

 The Man with a Shattered World: The History of a Brain
Wound
The nature of human conflicts The
Nature of Human Conflicts
The Neuropsychology of Memory

A serious reason to avoid energy drinks: they can cause seizures

Epilepsy,Miscellaneous — 12:16 pm

Energy drinks usually contain a lot of of caffeine, sugar, usually taurine [used to prevent oxidative stress induced by exercise 30, and to enhance weight loss (2) and to reduce anxiety levels, (3)], B-vitamins, ginseng, inositol [preliminary results exist that it can be effective in treating depression, and panic attacks, (4)], an anti-oxidant carnitine, and Guarana, rich in caffein. (more…)

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