Tag Archive for: Neurotransmission

Gut-Brain Axis

Nutrition has a major impact in mental health.

The distinction between psychiatric and neurological disorders is evermore unclear.

Psychotropic drugs can modify Cerebral metabolism, though can’t rewire brain-circuits.
Brain metabolism is controlled by blood and oxygen flow.
No psychotropics target these two basic vital elements.
Current medication still targets neurotransmission only.

My impression is that research always overlaps the basics.
Scientists know that essential enzymes regulating metabolism are produced by blood-cells, so that a new field of research is developing, GBA, the Gut-Brain Axis.

GBA

GBA is deemed as a virtual Communication Network connecting the Brain with Gut-bacteria and the Endocrine System.

The Gut and Adrenal Glands are major manufacturers of Serotonin, Adrenaline and Dopamine, the 3 main cerebral neurotransmitters, yet the brain produces these chemicals independently.
However, 90% of Serotonin is produced in the Gut and it’s responsible either for Mood and Intestinal Functions.

Based on this assumption, we deduce that Adrenal Neurotransmitters send Signals to the brain.

Henceforth, there are two lines of thought defining GBA:

  1. The Vagus Nerve connecting the brain with the gut directly.
  2. The connection between the Hippocampus and Hypothalamus.

Both models work on Signals and Memory.
The Hypothalamus is the Feeding center, the Hippocampus the Memory Center.
This connection would remind us when to eat by regulating Metabolism and Mood.
The Vagus Nerve would complement the process through Nerve Fibers.

This Communication Network would explain the codependency between Brain and Gut.

New developments are expected.



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Procrastination in ADHD/ASD

Procrastination is not Laziness. It is typically associated with ADHD.

Talking about the labeling of every single human behavior, Procrastination is making the charts.

Nobody’s lazy anymore: the new vocabulary for ‘Laziness’ is ‘Procrastination’.

The most disturbing part is that Procrastination is being deemed as an emotional disorder and major feature of ADHD.
I can be easily distracted, though not lazy.
Procrastination is Distraction to me.

Distraction does slow-down productivity, although it’s not associated with Lethargy.
In fact, we are mostly hyperactive when distracted.

ADHD rarely manifests individually, it is a component of most Mental Disorders, last but not least, Autism.

Neurons are divided into Recipients and Receivers separated by Synapses, spaces where neurotransmitters temporarily pool up, before being absorbed by receiving Receptors.
This process is continuous and interchangeable.

In ADHD, the neurotransmitters are not re-absorbed in the recipient cells, accounting for deficiency of serotonin and dopamine, major players in Attention and Reward, resulting in impaired cognitive function.

ADHD treatment is gaining momentum in the cure of Autism and Clinical Resistant Depression.

Latest findings from Dopamine Transporter scans, show abnormalities in Young-Adult Autistics.
We know that Dopamine has an important role in motor-skills Memory.
Parkinson’s disease is the most common form of neurodegenerative illness characterized by loss of motor coordination.
Lack of dopamine is a general symptom.
The specific pathology of Parkinson’s is the inability to recycle unused dopamine clogged in Transporters.
The same pattern applies to autism. What was previously thought of autistic Stimming, could be early- onset Parkinson’s, with autistics having 6 times more chances of developing the disease later in life.
New dopaminergic medications are under study.

References 
NeuroscienceNews.com
Autism and Parkinson’s Share a Hidden Neural Defect






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Executive Dysfunction

Description: It is not yet understood whether Executive Dysfunction is a Signal or Neurotransmission s disruption.

Brain anatomy alone is worth a whole encyclopedia.
Since this is not an academic journal, I’ll dissect the brain in its main 3 regions: Cerebrum, Cerebellum, Brainstem.
Although interconnected, some researchers entertain the notion of 3 separate brains within the cranial cortex: the Cerebrum is the largest anterior portion associated with Action. The Cerebellum is the smaller posterior portion where Neuronal Signals originate. The Brainstem is the lowest posterior portion connected to the Spinal Cord, processing tactile and motion nerve signals.

The Cerebellum is mostly associated with Spectrum Disorders.
Speculation wants that the Cerebellum and Cerebrum are disconnected in ADHD.
This would explain Procrastination, the failure to take action in the long-term.

The logic would be that stimulant-induced Dopamine and Adrenaline as in Neurotransmission, enhance Signals from the Cerebellum to the Cerebrum through electric synaptic impulses.
Dysfunctional brain electrical-activity is responsible for several disorders, Epilepsy the most common…

A Signal can be a thought, a decision, a memory, a skill, an intention…
When Signals don’t travel to the anterior Cerebrum, the first visible manifestations are Time Blindness, Lack of Motivation, Crisis, Burnout, all linked to Executive Dysfunction.

You will remember that healthy Executive Functioning revolves around Learning.
The same is for Dysfunction.
I will analyze how the aforementioned effects impair Memory and Learning.

Time Blindness is the first symptom of failing Signaling.
When Signals don’t reach the Cerebrum, we can’t execute them, therefore we lose the sense of urgency, referred to as  ‘Time Blindness’, literally: the sufferer cannot distinguish between day and night, the Circadian Rhythm acts on Fatigue only in order to put us to sleep, regardless of light or darkness.
A potentially fatal condition in the long-run.

With no sense of urgency, we automatically lose Motivation by tackling deadlines on the last day, reminded by the calendar or notebook. This ‘induced’ Sense of Urgency turns into a Sense of Crisis, or a State of Panic and Mania combined: Sparking adrenaline puts us in a 24 hours nonstop Work-mode.
Eventually, we do the job, not without paying the inevitable ultimate Price: Burnout.

For the record, Burnout is former Nervous Breakdown, far more explicitly dramatic defined and universally comprehensible.
Burnout is laughed off by youngsters who think it’s a harmless joke recovering in a good overnight sleep… far from truth.
Burnout can be irreversible or trigger multiple mental and physical illnesses.

Neurodivergence is NOT awesome, let’s stop pretending and advocate for Awareness and Acceptance instead!
This is real Empowerment, not praising our miseries.

Rant said, what’s the cure?
There is no cure.
Medications target symptoms, not illness, a more profitable approach for pharmaceuticals, nevertheless.
Literature is plentiful. The answers always equal and partial.
As for ADHD, Reward enhancing dopaminergic compounds are the only solution.

There are Solutions to everything. Cures for nothing.


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