(via gilbertnorrell)
Give up defining yourself - to yourself or to others. You won’t die. You will come to life. And don’t be concerned with how others define you. When they define you, they are limiting themselves, so it’s their problem. Whenever you interact with people, don’t be there primarily as a function or a role, but as the field of conscious presence. You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are.
Eckhart Tolle (via scout)
(via cucumberbatchin)
Neuron Loss in Schizophrenia and Depression Could Be Prevented With an Antioxidant
Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) deficits have been implicated in schizophrenia and depression. In schizophrenia, deficits have been particularly well-described for a subtype of GABA neuron, the parvalbumin fast-spiking interneurons. The activity of these neurons is critical for proper cognitive and emotional functioning.
It now appears that parvalbumin neurons are particularly vulnerable to oxidative stress, a factor that may emerge commonly in development, particularly in the context of psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, where compromised mitochondrial function plays a role. parvalbumin neurons may be protected from this effect by N-acetylcysteine, also known as Mucomyst, a medication commonly prescribed to protect the liver against the toxic effects of acetaminophen (Tylenol) overdose, reports a new study in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry.
Dr. Kim Do and collaborators, from the Center for Psychiatric Neurosciences of Lausanne University in Switzerland, have worked many years on the hypothesis that one of the causes of schizophrenia is related to vulnerability genes/factors leading to oxidative stress. These oxidative stresses can be due to infections, inflammations, traumas or psychosocial stress occurring during typical brain development, meaning that at-risk subjects are particularly exposed during childhood and adolescence, but not once they reach adulthood.
Their study was performed with mice deficient in glutathione, a molecule essential for cellular protection against oxidations, leaving their neurons more exposed to the deleterious effects of oxidative stress. Under those conditions, they found that the parvalbumin neurons were impaired in the brains of mice that were stressed when they were young. These impairments persisted through their life. Interestingly, the same stresses applied to adults had no effect on their parvalbumin neurons.
Most strikingly, mice treated with the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine, from before birth and onwards, were fully protected against these negative consequences on parvalbumin neurons.
“These data highlight the need to develop novel therapeutic approaches based on antioxidant compounds such as N-acetylcysteine, which could be used preventively in young at-risk subjects,” said Do. “To give an antioxidant from childhood on to carriers of a genetic vulnerability for schizophrenia could reduce the risk of emergence of the disease.”
“This study raises the possibility that GABA neuronal deficits in psychiatric disorder may be preventable using a drug, N-acetylcysteine, which is quite safe to administer to humans,” added Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry.
A pack of Iberian Wolves (C. lupus signatus).
Spain’s wolf population is estimated at 2,000 and growing. Wolves are considered a game species, though they are protected in the southern regions of the country. Compensation is paid for livestock damage, though this varies according to regional laws.
(via Wikipedia)
(via rhamphotheca)
“Though I am often in the depths of misery, there is still calmness, pure harmony and music inside me. I see paintings or drawings in the poorest cottages, in the dirtiest corners. And my mind is driven towards these things with an irresistible momentum.”
(via cucumberbatchin)
Truer words were never spoken. From The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde.
Image credit: Barbara Concu
Greenland’s Glacial Melt May Slow, Study Suggests
by Becky Oskin
Greenland’s galloping glaciers will likely slow their rapid retreat in the coming century, scientists project based on a new computer modeling study.
In the study, published today (May 8) in the journal Nature, researchers resolve one of the biggest uncertainties about Greenland’s future contributions to sea-level rise: the behavior of its outlet glaciers. These massive ice rivers drain to the ocean, adding both surface runoff water and icebergs to the sea. The researchers discovered that Greenland’s outlet glaciers retreat in episodic pulses, which account for the past 10 years of dramatic ice loss…
(read more: Our Amazing Planet)
Title: Pink Rabbits
Artist: The National
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the national // pink rabbits
you didn’t see me, i was falling apart
i was a television version of a person with a broken heart
(via gilbertnorrell)
