Brainiology

A haven for neurologists, neuroscientists and psychiatrists! Home sweet home!

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DAY 1: WHY?

Post 1, Paragraph 1, Sentence 1! Wow, this is very exciting. Just as everybody else is starting their new year with a resolution, I’m trying to do the same, but to the next level! Not just trying to meditate once a day, or learning to hold your breath for 3 minutes (although, that would be cool), this is a whole other beast.

Turning up the intensity, I’ve decided to try and train for a triathlon. I’m rubbish in the pool, haven’t ridden a bike for years, and am not the best runner in the world, so this is certainly going to be interesting… 

So down to the pool I go for the very first of many swims. I’ve got all of my kit ready only to find that the pool is closed over lunch time today. It looks like I’m coming back this evening! 

With any luck, I hope to look like this guy within a year!

Here’s to a happy new year, and I hope you all set out to achieve new goals, and climb new heights!

[brainiology]

A friend of mine is training to do a triathlon! Feel free to check him out if you’d like!

Am also hoping to breath some new life into brainiology, and get some more posts up!!

Watch this space 😁

[brainiology]

Hey Brainiologists!

I found this very interesting, hope you guys like it! It turns out that the hormone cortisol determines how alert you are, and the more cortisol in your blood, the more alert you are - so you should try to have your coffee when these levels are at their lowest!

Your cortisol levels fluctuate in a cycle, and so you should have your coffee between 9:30 and 11:30

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They’re mind reading robots sent from the future!!

... ok, maybe not, but they’d make pretty great poker players! :)

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Hey Brainiologists!

Don’t ever try to be normal, stay your awesome selves! :)

#normalisoverrated

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Hello- I got a little angry and reblogged a question that was asked about if psychology is a science. I just wanna clarify that it is because it uses the scientific method. I'm glad that you agreed but you used the example of the show bones which called it a pseudoscience and said that would be more accurate. Just remember pseudoscience is about stuff that doesn't use the scientific method to study things. Psychology does use it though :)

Hey Akalay,

I see what you mean! After some intensive googling, I agree! Thanks for your input :)

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I've messaged you guys already, but am now getting the chance to scroll through your blog. I feel inspired as I read! 🙆🏼 I am looking for some good reads to purchase. Current (in the sense that points are still relevant.) Good sources. Something Interesting. Any suggestions? I am pursuing psychology and neuroscience. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! Megan

Hey Megan,

I’m glad that you’re enjoying the page! :) 

Personally, as far as the neuroscience goes, I love anything by Oliver Sacks!

If you’ve heard of Norman Doidge, then you must check out his books, too. He writes about plasticity, and it’s incredible! Another author to check out is Malcolm Gladwell. I’ll have a think of some more, but I hope that helps a little! 

[brainiology]

We are messaging about an opportunity that may be of interest to you and your followers. We are seeking participants to complete a survey about treatment preferences for PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder). No diagnosis or experience with PTSD is needed. Potential benefits include receiving information about treatment options. Participants may enter a drawing for a $10, $25, or $50 Visa e-gift card. More info is available on the blog. Please publish if you think your followers may benefit.

Hey Brainy People!

Take a look at this message from PTSD Pref Study if you fancy :)

[brainiology]

To that person asking if psychology is a science, if I may, the way it is classified is as a social science. So yes it is a science of the mind. Whereas neurology is not social in that it looks at the anatomy of the brain and its electrical impulses.

Hey Anon!

Absolutely! You put it much better than I could! :) 

[brainiology]

[brainiology]

Genetics and Environment Impact Familial Depression

We here at ResearCHLA document the work coming out of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. We thought you and your followers would be interested in this post of ours about a CHLA study that looked at the genetics of familial depression risk using brain MRI scans.

http://researchlablog.org/post/137762222219/genetics-and-environment-impact-familial

[brainiology]

Falling in Love!!

Hello, brain people!

Love!! What on earth happens to your brain as you fall in love? There are three stages that we all go through as we fall in love with that special somebody: Lust, Attraction, Attachment

During Lust, sex hormones are released - this being oestrogen and testosterone in women and men respectively.

Throughout Attraction, you feel all wonderful and love-stricken! You can’t think of anything other than that special somebody. There are three main neurotransmitters that are involved in this stage, with each type acting within a specific pathway in the brain. These neurotransmitters are: Adrenaline (Epinephrine), Dopamine, and Serotonin.

Epinephrine is released during your body’s “stress response”, making your blood levels of adrenaline and cortisol increase. This means that even meeting with that somebody can make your heart race, as you also start to sweat. How lovely!

Dopamine is closely related to our brain’s “appetite system”, the system that is active whilst we are craving something. Dopamine stimulates “desire and reward”, and does this by triggering a rush of pleasure! This has a very similar affect to cocaine on the brain! Love is a drug!

Serotonin is an anti-depressant, and may also explain why, when falling in love, your love stays on your mind.

Finally, we have attachment! This is the tight bond that keeps couples together long enough for them to raise children. Yet again, we have chemicals to thank for this! These are: oxytocin and vasopressin.

Oxytocin, the cuddle hormone :), is a very powerful hormone released by men and women during orgasm, and is said to deepen the feelings of attachment between the couple, making them feel much closer to each other. As the theory goes, the more sex that the couple has, the deeper the connection they feel for one another. Sounds good to me! :) 

Vasopressin is an anti-diuretic hormone that works with your kidneys to control thirst. Although little is known about the affects of this hormone, when male prairie voles were given a drug that suppresses the effect of vasopressin, the bond with their partner fell apart immediately, as he then would fail to protect his partner.

So go out there! Bump into a complete stranger, tell them about yourself, and fall in love! :)

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Recently someone told me psychology isn't a science. Is that true?

Hey Anon!This is a tricky one, but I would personally say that psychology is a science :) The way I see it, neuroscience and psychology are two different ways of looking at something similar. Psychology looks at the mind, whereas neuroscience looks at the brain, which is part of the mind :)P.S. If anybody watches Bones, you'll know that Dr Brennan thinks psychology is a pseudoscience, which may be a better description, but you know I think of psychology as a science :)I hope this helped a little bit! :)

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For anybody having a bad day, or going through a rough patch, just remember that things will get better! :) Think positive :)

Source: positivedoodles

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15,000 Followers!

Thank you all so so much for your support! 15,000 is amazing, and is 15,000 more than we ever thought that we would be able to get, so thank you all so much!! There are some special posts coming soon, we promise! :)

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Hey I'm a 15 year old swede guy and I really want to study human behavior and the actions of psychopaths and sociopaths. It's problably my favourite subject to talk about. I wonder what's your favourite subject to talk about?

Hi Anon!

I’m glad you enjoy psychopaths - they’re good fun to study, because there’s something fundamentally different about them! I’ll try to find a few things to say about them on this blog, but for me, at the moment I’m really into learning about schizophrenia and affective disorders, and how the two tend to end up on a spectru, but also LOVE! How on earth does falling in love work neurologically? How is it that this special person neurophysiologically changes us? How is it that we always think of them and can’t live without them? I love learning about this, about neuromodulators like oxytocin, which control the strength of connections (synapses) between neurons. But it’s all a lot of fun, really! :) 

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Are you saying it's okay to take the life of another human because you can chose whether to kill it or not?

Hi anon!

Thanks for the input :) There’s no easy answer, I’m afraid. It depends what model of ethics you follow (deontology, consequentialism), but it is never black or white, sadly.

Have you ever heard of the trolley problem?

Imagine this: A train is running uncontrollably down the tracks. No brakes. Sadly, there are 5 people chained the tracks, who will be killed unless you flick a switch, which will change the train onto tracks that have 3 people chained to the tracks.

Either 5 people get killed, or you become responsible for the death of 3 innocent people by flicking this switch.

So, is it alright to take the lives of these humans because you can choose whether they are killed or not? Is it logical to spare some lives by killing 3 people instead of 5?

There’s no easy answer, I’m afraid :( Should you be allowed to decide what happens to your body? Absolutely. Is it wrong to abort babies, essentially killing them? Some people think so. There’s no easy answer, but I believe that we should be allowed to decide what happens to our bodies. Perhaps the answer is educate youngsters on sexuality and pregnancies, but in some cases, pregnancy will occur no matter how much protection you use - these are the cases that I think abortion should be acceptable for, being the next step from emergency contraceptives.

I hope this helped at all :)

Thanks for the question, anon! :)

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Hi, may I know how this blog came about?

Hi Joel-l! :)

This blog came about when my girlfriend and I were in school doing our A levels, we are both crazy about the brain, she wants to be a neurosurgeon, and I love the psychiatric side.

Neither one of us thought that anybody would like this page at all, so we’re thankful for anybody who does like this page! We love having a little space that we can call ours :)