For each neurochemical there is an optimal amount which differs for every individual. Above or below this amount, mental function will not improve markedly or will even decrease. Drug effects may be subtle at first, requiring a period of learning for full realization of its benefits. The schematic diagram here shows how neurotransmitters carry messages […]
The mind so strongly depends on temperament and the disposition of bodily organs, that if it is possible to find some means which will make men generally more wise and more clever than they have been till now, I believe that it is in medicine one should seek it. . . . It is true […]
Catecholamines are responsible for a number of different effects in normal humans. They are involved in control of locomotor (moving about) behavior, aggressive behavior, sexual behavior, food intake, and behavior dependent upon positive (reward) and negative (punishment) reinforcement. Acetylcholine controls muscle tone and motor activity and has a role in memory, learning, and long-term planning, […]
Read more The Decline of Your Brain’s Chemical Messengers III
Norepinephrine (NE) is another of the brain’s arsenal of neurotransmitters, important in primitive drives and emotions like sex and in memory and learning. When the level of NE in the brain is too low, people become depressed and their immune systems do not function normally. (That’s because NE can cause the brain to release growth […]
Read more The Decline of Your Brain’s Chemical Messengers II
In senile degeneration the nerve-cells are surrounded by neuronophages which absorb their contents and bring about more or less complete atrophy. —Elie Metchnikoff, The Prolongation of Life (1908) Mind, mind alone, Is light, and hope, and life, and power! —Ebenezer Elliott (1833) Your brain works because your-nerves talk to each other with chemicals called neurotransmitters […]