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Researchers just built a synthetic human gut microbiome. Now they can test it like never before

Standford.

The microbiome is a community of microorganisms that are found to cohabit in a given environment. The human gut has its own set of microorganisms that are markedly different from those on the skin. Over the years, the study of the human gut microbiome has attracted interest after researchers have found it to play a role in neural development as well as response to immunotherapies when treating cancer.

Updated View on the Relation of the Pineal Gland to Autism Spectrum Disorders

Circa 2019 The pineal gland is often misunderstood even today we still are glimpsing the vast universe of the human mind but until we can essentially know all input and output of the human brain we may not know everything that is needed for proper care of the human brain much like back in the 1900s when we still talked about aether or even miasma. We can see Manu things like the pineal gland produces dmt, HGH, melatonin, aswell as many other biological functions for circadian rhythm even dreams but still are scratching the surface.


Keywords: autism, pineal gland, N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), melatonin, neural plasticity.

Citation: Shomrat T and Nesher N (2019) Updated View on the Relation of the Pineal Gland to Autism Spectrum Disorders. Front. Endocrinol. 10:37. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2019.

Received: 16 October 2018; Accepted: 16 January 2019; Published: 5 February 2019.

Particle physics on the brain

face_with_colon_three circa 2018.


Understanding the fundamental constituents of the universe is tough. Making sense of the brain is another challenge entirely. Each cubic millimetre of human brain contains around 4 km of neuronal “wires” carrying millivolt-level signals, connecting innumerable cells that define everything we are and do. The ancient Egyptians already knew that different parts of the brain govern different physical functions, and a couple of centuries have passed since physicians entertained crowds by passing currents through corpses to make them seem alive. But only in recent decades have neuroscientists been able to delve deep into the brain’s circuitry.

On 25 January, speaking to a packed audience in CERN’s Theory department, Vijay Balasubramanian of the University of Pennsylvania described a physicist’s approach to solving the brain. Balasubramanian did his PhD in theoretical particle physics at Princeton University and also worked on the UA1 experiment at CERN’s Super Proton Synchrotron in the 1980s. Today, his research ranges from string theory to theoretical biophysics, where he applies methodologies common in physics to model the neural topography of information processing in the brain.

“We are using, as far as we can, hard mathematics to make real, quantitative, testable predictions, which is unusual in biology.” — Vijay Balasubramanian

Psilocybin therapy seems to help some people give up drinking alcohol

Psilocybin, the psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms, may help people with alcohol dependencies abstain from drinking. Nearly half of those who took the drug as part of a 12-week therapy programme no longer drank more than eight months later, according to results from the largest trial to date on psilocybin and addiction.

Michael Bogenschutz at NYU Langone Health in New York and his colleagues recruited 95 adults who were diagnosed with alcohol dependence. None of the participants had any major psychiatric conditions or had used psychedelics in the past year.

Everyone in the group went through a 12-week therapy programme. Most weeks, they had a roughly 1-hour long session with a therapist and a psychiatrist where they received cognitive behavioural therapy for alcohol use disorder.

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