Friday, February 27, 2009

Pineal LSD

R and I have been long supporters of Dr. Callaway (a neuroscientist) and his hypothesis that some type of endogenous tryptamin based psychedelic created in the pineal gland could be pointed to for the reasons why we have dreams as well as hallucination during dream, or similar states of mind. He also hypothesized that the endogenous DMT psychoactive drug could be the cause of all these mentations.
I recently read an article that supported Callaway in his idea of a pineal gland produced psychoactive agent but rather than DMT they state the possibility of it being LSD-25. The authors of the article don’t really say why they chose LSD-25 besides the idea that reaction to LSD was exhausted in some chimpanzees that had their frontal lobes removed. This seems to be based off the same notion of the pineal gland creating some type tryptamin psychedelic and all tryptamin drugs would stop having an effect if the frontal lobes were removed.

The article continues to talk about patients who have diseases in which their nerve fibers that causes a severed relationship between the pineal gland and the cervical ganglinon who would experience schizophrenia. The authors of the article go on to say that the isolation of the pineal gland from the light zeitgeber or nervi conarii could maybe stop schizophrenia or at least limit it.

Regardless of further studies being done on this subject; it is nice to see that others have taken notice to the pineal gland for its psychedelic potential.

-L

Pineal LSD

R and I have been long supporters of Dr. Callaway (a neuroscientist) and his hypothesis that some type of endogenous tryptamin based psychedelic created in the pineal gland could be pointed to for the reasons why we have dreams as well as hallucination during dream, or similar states of mind. He also hypothesized that the endogenous DMT psychoactive drug could be the cause of all these mentations.
I recently read an article that supported Callaway in his idea of a pineal gland produced psychoactive agent but rather than DMT they state the possibility of it being LSD-25. The authors of the article don’t really say why they chose LSD-25 besides the idea that reaction to LSD was exhausted in some chimpanzees that had their frontal lobes removed. This seems to be based off the same notion of the pineal gland creating some type tryptamin psychedelic and all tryptamin drugs would stop having an effect if the frontal lobes were removed.

The article continues to talk about patients who have diseases in which their nerve fibers that causes a severed relationship between the pineal gland and the cervical ganglinon who would experience schizophrenia. The authors of the article go on to say that the isolation of the pineal gland from the light zeitgeber or nervi conarii could maybe stop schizophrenia or at least limit it.

Regardless of further studies being done on this subject; it is nice to see that others have taken notice to the pineal gland for its psychedelic potential.

-L

Pineal LSD

R and I have been long supporters of Dr. Callaway (a neuroscientist) and his hypothesis that some type of endogenous tryptamin based psychedelic created in the pineal gland could be pointed to for the reasons why we have dreams as well as hallucination during dream, or similar states of mind. He also hypothesized that the endogenous DMT psychoactive drug could be the cause of all these mentations.
I recently read an article that supported Callaway in his idea of a pineal gland produced psychoactive agent but rather than DMT they state the possibility of it being LSD-25. The authors of the article don’t really say why they chose LSD-25 besides the idea that reaction to LSD was exhausted in some chimpanzees that had their frontal lobes removed. This seems to be based off the same notion of the pineal gland creating some type tryptamin psychedelic and all tryptamin drugs would stop having an effect if the frontal lobes were removed.

The article continues to talk about patients who have diseases in which their nerve fibers that causes a severed relationship between the pineal gland and the cervical ganglinon who would experience schizophrenia. The authors of the article go on to say that the isolation of the pineal gland from the light zeitgeber or nervi conarii could maybe stop schizophrenia or at least limit it.

Regardless of further studies being done on this subject; it is nice to see that others have taken notice to the pineal gland for its psychedelic potential.

-L

Pineal LSD

R and I have been long supporters of Dr. Callaway (a neuroscientist) and his hypothesis that some type of endogenous tryptamin based psychedelic created in the pineal gland could be pointed to for the reasons why we have dreams as well as hallucination during dream, or similar states of mind. He also hypothesized that the endogenous DMT psychoactive drug could be the cause of all these mentations.
I recently read an article that supported Callaway in his idea of a pineal gland produced psychoactive agent but rather than DMT they state the possibility of it being LSD-25. The authors of the article don’t really say why they chose LSD-25 besides the idea that reaction to LSD was exhausted in some chimpanzees that had their frontal lobes removed. This seems to be based off the same notion of the pineal gland creating some type tryptamin psychedelic and all tryptamin drugs would stop having an effect if the frontal lobes were removed.

The article continues to talk about patients who have diseases in which their nerve fibers that causes a severed relationship between the pineal gland and the cervical ganglinon who would experience schizophrenia. The authors of the article go on to say that the isolation of the pineal gland from the light zeitgeber or nervi conarii could maybe stop schizophrenia or at least limit it.

Regardless of further studies being done on this subject; it is nice to see that others have taken notice to the pineal gland for its psychedelic potential.

-L

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Niacin and Flush

Since the last few days I have been working on starting a research paper as well as continuing more research into a few books and have not had a lot of time, I wanted to write something fun, interesting, and short for our readers. A lot of what I write about is just concepts I have been thinking about late at night when I can’t seem to go to sleep because I am thinking too much. As funny as it sounds, thanks to this blog and the uses of different supplements, I don’t seem to have that problem as often as I used to. I still had a continuing question last night about the effects of one supplement I have been taking, vitamin b3 or Niacin. I know that R wrote some great information about Niacin in the past, but my main question is that why are some flushes that I experience with Niacin greater than others?

Two days ago I took Niacin after not taking it for a few days and never received the wonderful rash like effects that I seem to get most times taking it. Yesterday I took it and broke out with more intensity than I ever had had in the past. Everything about yesterday was the same as the days before besides the fact that I had only had 4 hours of sleep and felt exhausted.

After thinking about it for some time, I wonder if the effects of the Niacin flush changes depending on how much sleep a person has received. It would be interesting to find a study on this, yet as I have been looking, I am unable to find one. I will continue to do my own personal research into the effects and see what hypotheses I can come up with, unless there is none.

-L

Niacin and Flush

Since the last few days I have been working on starting a research paper as well as continuing more research into a few books and have not had a lot of time, I wanted to write something fun, interesting, and short for our readers. A lot of what I write about is just concepts I have been thinking about late at night when I can’t seem to go to sleep because I am thinking too much. As funny as it sounds, thanks to this blog and the uses of different supplements, I don’t seem to have that problem as often as I used to. I still had a continuing question last night about the effects of one supplement I have been taking, vitamin b3 or Niacin. I know that R wrote some great information about Niacin in the past, but my main question is that why are some flushes that I experience with Niacin greater than others?

Two days ago I took Niacin after not taking it for a few days and never received the wonderful rash like effects that I seem to get most times taking it. Yesterday I took it and broke out with more intensity than I ever had had in the past. Everything about yesterday was the same as the days before besides the fact that I had only had 4 hours of sleep and felt exhausted.

After thinking about it for some time, I wonder if the effects of the Niacin flush changes depending on how much sleep a person has received. It would be interesting to find a study on this, yet as I have been looking, I am unable to find one. I will continue to do my own personal research into the effects and see what hypotheses I can come up with, unless there is none.

-L

Niacin and Flush

Since the last few days I have been working on starting a research paper as well as continuing more research into a few books and have not had a lot of time, I wanted to write something fun, interesting, and short for our readers. A lot of what I write about is just concepts I have been thinking about late at night when I can’t seem to go to sleep because I am thinking too much. As funny as it sounds, thanks to this blog and the uses of different supplements, I don’t seem to have that problem as often as I used to. I still had a continuing question last night about the effects of one supplement I have been taking, vitamin b3 or Niacin. I know that R wrote some great information about Niacin in the past, but my main question is that why are some flushes that I experience with Niacin greater than others?

Two days ago I took Niacin after not taking it for a few days and never received the wonderful rash like effects that I seem to get most times taking it. Yesterday I took it and broke out with more intensity than I ever had had in the past. Everything about yesterday was the same as the days before besides the fact that I had only had 4 hours of sleep and felt exhausted.

After thinking about it for some time, I wonder if the effects of the Niacin flush changes depending on how much sleep a person has received. It would be interesting to find a study on this, yet as I have been looking, I am unable to find one. I will continue to do my own personal research into the effects and see what hypotheses I can come up with, unless there is none.

-L

Niacin and Flush

Since the last few days I have been working on starting a research paper as well as continuing more research into a few books and have not had a lot of time, I wanted to write something fun, interesting, and short for our readers. A lot of what I write about is just concepts I have been thinking about late at night when I can’t seem to go to sleep because I am thinking too much. As funny as it sounds, thanks to this blog and the uses of different supplements, I don’t seem to have that problem as often as I used to. I still had a continuing question last night about the effects of one supplement I have been taking, vitamin b3 or Niacin. I know that R wrote some great information about Niacin in the past, but my main question is that why are some flushes that I experience with Niacin greater than others?

Two days ago I took Niacin after not taking it for a few days and never received the wonderful rash like effects that I seem to get most times taking it. Yesterday I took it and broke out with more intensity than I ever had had in the past. Everything about yesterday was the same as the days before besides the fact that I had only had 4 hours of sleep and felt exhausted.

After thinking about it for some time, I wonder if the effects of the Niacin flush changes depending on how much sleep a person has received. It would be interesting to find a study on this, yet as I have been looking, I am unable to find one. I will continue to do my own personal research into the effects and see what hypotheses I can come up with, unless there is none.

-L

Monday, February 23, 2009

Question of the Week: I Can't Sleep Ever!

Question:
"I can't sleep ever! I actually took a sleeping pill the other night and it made me really? It made me really tired, so I laid down and just closed my eyes without sleeping for 3 hours! i go to bed every night at around 2/3 because of this, but i have to work most mornings from 7-4. I'm only ever getting like 4 hours of sleep. It is really affecting my weight and i recently started breaking out badly. I know its bad for me, but i can't sleep!"

Answer:
"Sleep is a complicated thing. Apparently over one quarter of Americans have the same problem and take sleeping pills as well. This dilemma is partly because we as Americans don’t respect the importance of our sleep and want a fast and effective way of fixing a problem. Sleeping pills are not a long term solution.

To help you with your problem it may be a lack of education into what causes you to sleep. I’ll try to give you some information, tips, and hopefully a possible solution.

Circadian Rhythm:
You body goes in a 24 hour rhythm controlled by your brainstem that controls heart beat, body temperature, a lot of other things, and sleep. Most importantly to you it controls our sleep by the modulation of body temperature. This is why you feel hot at night and cold in the morning or if you stay up for too long you may feel different temperatures. Your body feels hot at night because when you’re your body is ready to go to sleep it starts to lower your core temperature and uses your body as a type of radiator in order to release that heat. The same thing is in the morning; your body temperature may be cold as your core temperature is trying to heat up.

You may want to try lowering the temperature of your room at night and heat it up in the morning. This will allow for your body to release that extra heat easier and to help it into that comfortable stage. Also make sure to go to bed at the same time every night. This will help your body to adjust when it should go to bed.

Melatonin:
Melatonin is a natural hormone that is created inside of your pineal gland during the night. It is controlled by the amount of light that enters your eyes, so when you close your eyes the production starts; when you open your eyes it stops. Melatonin is a very potent sleep aid because it is one of the main reasons our body temperature lowers as well as it having other sleep properties. The production of melatonin naturally requires precursors (stuff that is turned into melatonin), a neurotransmitter called serotonin. Serotonin has many different precursors as well found in many different kinds of foods, but unfortunately many foods that we eat today are low in these precursors. Many people will agree with me that malnutrition is one of the main causes of sleep deprivation today. Not only does malnutrition cause sleep disorders but it also supports the cause of many mood disorders. Many psychologists will give people medication that deals directly in either raising the amount of serotonin in the brain, or helping reduce the breakdown of serotonin to ultimately have more.

The only way to get these precursors to serotonin is to eat healthier or take supplements that are precursors to serotonin. This would help in the production of melatonin and help you sleep, however it’s hard to tell you if you are deficient in serotonin unless you go to a doctor. Also I do not recommend taking melatonin supplements since not much research has been done on the possible build up of melatonin in the brain. I always recommend the more natural way if anything. Also since light is a huge problem for the production of melatonin, make sure to turn off excess light or wear eye shades when sleeping, this will help with the production of melatonin and help you sleep.

The Cholinergic System versus the Aminergic System
According to the Activation Synthesis Hypotheses created by Dr. Hobson and McCarley, REM (an phase of sleep) is caused by the Cholinergic (REM on) and Aminergic (REM off) system. These two systems are controlled by the release of certain neurotransmitters in the PONS and cause different sleep phases. The aminergic system is made of (what I consider) the main ingredient serotonin and the Cholinergic system, acetylcholine. This balance either pushes us to sleep or keeps us away from sleep. If there is an imbalance of the neurotransmitters of serotonin or acetylcholine we either experience an absence of deep sleep (NREM) or rapid eye movement (REM).

If you have an excess amount of acetylcholine it can cause issues with you trying to sleep. You may feel energetic and unable to stop thinking about things. To help with this imbalance you can either support your system with more serotonin or help try to balance the system out with what is called an MAOI (not going to explain how this works) like Saint John’s Wort.

Before going out and buying a bunch of supplements, stressful situations during the day may also create you problems to sleep, and focusing on relaxing may help with overcoming them. You should read some books on relaxation. It’s important to know that everything in your brain is a chemical reaction and your mind has a huge amount of power to control what types of chemicals are released. We can help our mind on the problems we have with eating good and getting a good amount of exercise. Those are things that should worked on first in order to help out body before introducing medication or supplements.

From my own personal experience, I have work out intensely at least three times a week without supplements, I have changed my diet and worked out, I have changed my diet and worked out and used supplements. Of all of those, the supplements have the biggest effect of my life and sleep. I advise you to do your own research in order to understand what would work for you best."

-L

Question of the Week: I Can't Sleep Ever!

Question:
"I can't sleep ever! I actually took a sleeping pill the other night and it made me really? It made me really tired, so I laid down and just closed my eyes without sleeping for 3 hours! i go to bed every night at around 2/3 because of this, but i have to work most mornings from 7-4. I'm only ever getting like 4 hours of sleep. It is really affecting my weight and i recently started breaking out badly. I know its bad for me, but i can't sleep!"

Answer:
"Sleep is a complicated thing. Apparently over one quarter of Americans have the same problem and take sleeping pills as well. This dilemma is partly because we as Americans don’t respect the importance of our sleep and want a fast and effective way of fixing a problem. Sleeping pills are not a long term solution.

To help you with your problem it may be a lack of education into what causes you to sleep. I’ll try to give you some information, tips, and hopefully a possible solution.

Circadian Rhythm:
You body goes in a 24 hour rhythm controlled by your brainstem that controls heart beat, body temperature, a lot of other things, and sleep. Most importantly to you it controls our sleep by the modulation of body temperature. This is why you feel hot at night and cold in the morning or if you stay up for too long you may feel different temperatures. Your body feels hot at night because when you’re your body is ready to go to sleep it starts to lower your core temperature and uses your body as a type of radiator in order to release that heat. The same thing is in the morning; your body temperature may be cold as your core temperature is trying to heat up.

You may want to try lowering the temperature of your room at night and heat it up in the morning. This will allow for your body to release that extra heat easier and to help it into that comfortable stage. Also make sure to go to bed at the same time every night. This will help your body to adjust when it should go to bed.

Melatonin:
Melatonin is a natural hormone that is created inside of your pineal gland during the night. It is controlled by the amount of light that enters your eyes, so when you close your eyes the production starts; when you open your eyes it stops. Melatonin is a very potent sleep aid because it is one of the main reasons our body temperature lowers as well as it having other sleep properties. The production of melatonin naturally requires precursors (stuff that is turned into melatonin), a neurotransmitter called serotonin. Serotonin has many different precursors as well found in many different kinds of foods, but unfortunately many foods that we eat today are low in these precursors. Many people will agree with me that malnutrition is one of the main causes of sleep deprivation today. Not only does malnutrition cause sleep disorders but it also supports the cause of many mood disorders. Many psychologists will give people medication that deals directly in either raising the amount of serotonin in the brain, or helping reduce the breakdown of serotonin to ultimately have more.

The only way to get these precursors to serotonin is to eat healthier or take supplements that are precursors to serotonin. This would help in the production of melatonin and help you sleep, however it’s hard to tell you if you are deficient in serotonin unless you go to a doctor. Also I do not recommend taking melatonin supplements since not much research has been done on the possible build up of melatonin in the brain. I always recommend the more natural way if anything. Also since light is a huge problem for the production of melatonin, make sure to turn off excess light or wear eye shades when sleeping, this will help with the production of melatonin and help you sleep.

The Cholinergic System versus the Aminergic System
According to the Activation Synthesis Hypotheses created by Dr. Hobson and McCarley, REM (an phase of sleep) is caused by the Cholinergic (REM on) and Aminergic (REM off) system. These two systems are controlled by the release of certain neurotransmitters in the PONS and cause different sleep phases. The aminergic system is made of (what I consider) the main ingredient serotonin and the Cholinergic system, acetylcholine. This balance either pushes us to sleep or keeps us away from sleep. If there is an imbalance of the neurotransmitters of serotonin or acetylcholine we either experience an absence of deep sleep (NREM) or rapid eye movement (REM).

If you have an excess amount of acetylcholine it can cause issues with you trying to sleep. You may feel energetic and unable to stop thinking about things. To help with this imbalance you can either support your system with more serotonin or help try to balance the system out with what is called an MAOI (not going to explain how this works) like Saint John’s Wort.

Before going out and buying a bunch of supplements, stressful situations during the day may also create you problems to sleep, and focusing on relaxing may help with overcoming them. You should read some books on relaxation. It’s important to know that everything in your brain is a chemical reaction and your mind has a huge amount of power to control what types of chemicals are released. We can help our mind on the problems we have with eating good and getting a good amount of exercise. Those are things that should worked on first in order to help out body before introducing medication or supplements.

From my own personal experience, I have work out intensely at least three times a week without supplements, I have changed my diet and worked out, I have changed my diet and worked out and used supplements. Of all of those, the supplements have the biggest effect of my life and sleep. I advise you to do your own research in order to understand what would work for you best."

-L

Question of the Week: I Can't Sleep Ever!

Question:
"I can't sleep ever! I actually took a sleeping pill the other night and it made me really? It made me really tired, so I laid down and just closed my eyes without sleeping for 3 hours! i go to bed every night at around 2/3 because of this, but i have to work most mornings from 7-4. I'm only ever getting like 4 hours of sleep. It is really affecting my weight and i recently started breaking out badly. I know its bad for me, but i can't sleep!"

Answer:
"Sleep is a complicated thing. Apparently over one quarter of Americans have the same problem and take sleeping pills as well. This dilemma is partly because we as Americans don’t respect the importance of our sleep and want a fast and effective way of fixing a problem. Sleeping pills are not a long term solution.

To help you with your problem it may be a lack of education into what causes you to sleep. I’ll try to give you some information, tips, and hopefully a possible solution.

Circadian Rhythm:
You body goes in a 24 hour rhythm controlled by your brainstem that controls heart beat, body temperature, a lot of other things, and sleep. Most importantly to you it controls our sleep by the modulation of body temperature. This is why you feel hot at night and cold in the morning or if you stay up for too long you may feel different temperatures. Your body feels hot at night because when you’re your body is ready to go to sleep it starts to lower your core temperature and uses your body as a type of radiator in order to release that heat. The same thing is in the morning; your body temperature may be cold as your core temperature is trying to heat up.

You may want to try lowering the temperature of your room at night and heat it up in the morning. This will allow for your body to release that extra heat easier and to help it into that comfortable stage. Also make sure to go to bed at the same time every night. This will help your body to adjust when it should go to bed.

Melatonin:
Melatonin is a natural hormone that is created inside of your pineal gland during the night. It is controlled by the amount of light that enters your eyes, so when you close your eyes the production starts; when you open your eyes it stops. Melatonin is a very potent sleep aid because it is one of the main reasons our body temperature lowers as well as it having other sleep properties. The production of melatonin naturally requires precursors (stuff that is turned into melatonin), a neurotransmitter called serotonin. Serotonin has many different precursors as well found in many different kinds of foods, but unfortunately many foods that we eat today are low in these precursors. Many people will agree with me that malnutrition is one of the main causes of sleep deprivation today. Not only does malnutrition cause sleep disorders but it also supports the cause of many mood disorders. Many psychologists will give people medication that deals directly in either raising the amount of serotonin in the brain, or helping reduce the breakdown of serotonin to ultimately have more.

The only way to get these precursors to serotonin is to eat healthier or take supplements that are precursors to serotonin. This would help in the production of melatonin and help you sleep, however it’s hard to tell you if you are deficient in serotonin unless you go to a doctor. Also I do not recommend taking melatonin supplements since not much research has been done on the possible build up of melatonin in the brain. I always recommend the more natural way if anything. Also since light is a huge problem for the production of melatonin, make sure to turn off excess light or wear eye shades when sleeping, this will help with the production of melatonin and help you sleep.

The Cholinergic System versus the Aminergic System
According to the Activation Synthesis Hypotheses created by Dr. Hobson and McCarley, REM (an phase of sleep) is caused by the Cholinergic (REM on) and Aminergic (REM off) system. These two systems are controlled by the release of certain neurotransmitters in the PONS and cause different sleep phases. The aminergic system is made of (what I consider) the main ingredient serotonin and the Cholinergic system, acetylcholine. This balance either pushes us to sleep or keeps us away from sleep. If there is an imbalance of the neurotransmitters of serotonin or acetylcholine we either experience an absence of deep sleep (NREM) or rapid eye movement (REM).

If you have an excess amount of acetylcholine it can cause issues with you trying to sleep. You may feel energetic and unable to stop thinking about things. To help with this imbalance you can either support your system with more serotonin or help try to balance the system out with what is called an MAOI (not going to explain how this works) like Saint John’s Wort.

Before going out and buying a bunch of supplements, stressful situations during the day may also create you problems to sleep, and focusing on relaxing may help with overcoming them. You should read some books on relaxation. It’s important to know that everything in your brain is a chemical reaction and your mind has a huge amount of power to control what types of chemicals are released. We can help our mind on the problems we have with eating good and getting a good amount of exercise. Those are things that should worked on first in order to help out body before introducing medication or supplements.

From my own personal experience, I have work out intensely at least three times a week without supplements, I have changed my diet and worked out, I have changed my diet and worked out and used supplements. Of all of those, the supplements have the biggest effect of my life and sleep. I advise you to do your own research in order to understand what would work for you best."

-L

Question of the Week: I Can't Sleep Ever!

Question:
"I can't sleep ever! I actually took a sleeping pill the other night and it made me really? It made me really tired, so I laid down and just closed my eyes without sleeping for 3 hours! i go to bed every night at around 2/3 because of this, but i have to work most mornings from 7-4. I'm only ever getting like 4 hours of sleep. It is really affecting my weight and i recently started breaking out badly. I know its bad for me, but i can't sleep!"


Answer:
"Sleep is a complicated thing. Apparently over one quarter of Americans have the same problem and take sleeping pills as well. This dilemma is partly because we as Americans don’t respect the importance of our sleep and want a fast and effective way of fixing a problem. Sleeping pills are not a long term solution.

To help you with your problem it may be a lack of education into what causes you to sleep. I’ll try to give you some information, tips, and hopefully a possible solution.

Circadian Rhythm:
You body goes in a 24 hour rhythm controlled by your brainstem that controls heart beat, body temperature, a lot of other things, and sleep. Most importantly to you it controls our sleep by the modulation of body temperature. This is why you feel hot at night and cold in the morning or if you stay up for too long you may feel different temperatures. Your body feels hot at night because when you’re your body is ready to go to sleep it starts to lower your core temperature and uses your body as a type of radiator in order to release that heat. The same thing is in the morning; your body temperature may be cold as your core temperature is trying to heat up.

You may want to try lowering the temperature of your room at night and heat it up in the morning. This will allow for your body to release that extra heat easier and to help it into that comfortable stage. Also make sure to go to bed at the same time every night. This will help your body to adjust when it should go to bed.

Melatonin:
Melatonin is a natural hormone that is created inside of your pineal gland during the night. It is controlled by the amount of light that enters your eyes, so when you close your eyes the production starts; when you open your eyes it stops. Melatonin is a very potent sleep aid because it is one of the main reasons our body temperature lowers as well as it having other sleep properties. The production of melatonin naturally requires precursors (stuff that is turned into melatonin), a neurotransmitter called serotonin. Serotonin has many different precursors as well found in many different kinds of foods, but unfortunately many foods that we eat today are low in these precursors. Many people will agree with me that malnutrition is one of the main causes of sleep deprivation today. Not only does malnutrition cause sleep disorders but it also supports the cause of many mood disorders. Many psychologists will give people medication that deals directly in either raising the amount of serotonin in the brain, or helping reduce the breakdown of serotonin to ultimately have more.

The only way to get these precursors to serotonin is to eat healthier or take supplements that are precursors to serotonin. This would help in the production of melatonin and help you sleep, however it’s hard to tell you if you are deficient in serotonin unless you go to a doctor. Also I do not recommend taking melatonin supplements since not much research has been done on the possible build up of melatonin in the brain. I always recommend the more natural way if anything. Also since light is a huge problem for the production of melatonin, make sure to turn off excess light or wear eye shades when sleeping, this will help with the production of melatonin and help you sleep.

The Cholinergic System versus the Aminergic System
According to the Activation Synthesis Hypotheses created by Dr. Hobson and McCarley, REM (an phase of sleep) is caused by the Cholinergic (REM on) and Aminergic (REM off) system. These two systems are controlled by the release of certain neurotransmitters in the PONS and cause different sleep phases. The aminergic system is made of (what I consider) the main ingredient serotonin and the Cholinergic system, acetylcholine. This balance either pushes us to sleep or keeps us away from sleep. If there is an imbalance of the neurotransmitters of serotonin or acetylcholine we either experience an absence of deep sleep (NREM) or rapid eye movement (REM).

If you have an excess amount of acetylcholine it can cause issues with you trying to sleep. You may feel energetic and unable to stop thinking about things. To help with this imbalance you can either support your system with more serotonin or help try to balance the system out with what is called an MAOI (not going to explain how this works) like Saint John’s Wort.

Before going out and buying a bunch of supplements, stressful situations during the day may also create you problems to sleep, and focusing on relaxing may help with overcoming them. You should read some books on relaxation. It’s important to know that everything in your brain is a chemical reaction and your mind has a huge amount of power to control what types of chemicals are released. We can help our mind on the problems we have with eating good and getting a good amount of exercise. Those are things that should worked on first in order to help out body before introducing medication or supplements.

From my own personal experience, I have work out intensely at least three times a week without supplements, I have changed my diet and worked out, I have changed my diet and worked out and used supplements. Of all of those, the supplements have the biggest effect of my life and sleep. I advise you to do your own research in order to understand what would work for you best."


-L

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Phosphatidylserine

I recently was brought on to a fatty acid that would seem to help with memory in the fact that it may help with synaptic transmission sleep. Research has showed that in combination with cholin-esterase inhibitors that it does seem to help cognition in some way. After looking into phosphatidylserine by itself, it shows little signs in long-term memory help with both animals and humans, but does show some. How does this topic deal with dreaming? Well the Cholinergic System deals directly with REM sleep and improving this area of our mind would help greatly in improving sleep as well as dreams.

Many sites that promote phosphatidylserine will say that many studies support that the fatty acid will "greatly" improve your memory. Unfortunately I was unable to find any such articles.

One User of phosphatidylserine comments,
"In general I tend to dream very vividly and at times not very restfully. But additionally, my work in recent years has exposed me to a lot of traumatic material, leaving me with an exaggerated startle response and occasional insomnia. My chiropractor recommended PS to me. I take two of these in the evening now and my sleep is definitely deeper and more sound. My symptoms return if I stop taking it. I think it it has a mild general anxiolytic effect overall. I'm very happy with it, I just wish it were a bit less expensive. But I would recommend it to anyone with similar symptoms to mine."

You can purchase phosphatidylserine as a supplement in many health food stores.

-L

Phosphatidylserine

I recently was brought on to a fatty acid that would seem to help with memory in the fact that it may help with synaptic transmission sleep. Research has showed that in combination with cholin-esterase inhibitors that it does seem to help cognition in some way. After looking into phosphatidylserine by itself, it shows little signs in long-term memory help with both animals and humans, but does show some. How does this topic deal with dreaming? Well the Cholinergic System deals directly with REM sleep and improving this area of our mind would help greatly in improving sleep as well as dreams.

Many sites that promote phosphatidylserine will say that many studies support that the fatty acid will "greatly" improve your memory. Unfortunately I was unable to find any such articles.

One User of phosphatidylserine comments,
"In general I tend to dream very vividly and at times not very restfully. But additionally, my work in recent years has exposed me to a lot of traumatic material, leaving me with an exaggerated startle response and occasional insomnia. My chiropractor recommended PS to me. I take two of these in the evening now and my sleep is definitely deeper and more sound. My symptoms return if I stop taking it. I think it it has a mild general anxiolytic effect overall. I'm very happy with it, I just wish it were a bit less expensive. But I would recommend it to anyone with similar symptoms to mine."

You can purchase phosphatidylserine as a supplement in many health food stores.

-L

Phosphatidylserine

I recently was brought on to a fatty acid that would seem to help with memory in the fact that it may help with synaptic transmission sleep. Research has showed that in combination with cholin-esterase inhibitors that it does seem to help cognition in some way. After looking into phosphatidylserine by itself, it shows little signs in long-term memory help with both animals and humans, but does show some. How does this topic deal with dreaming? Well the Cholinergic System deals directly with REM sleep and improving this area of our mind would help greatly in improving sleep as well as dreams.

Many sites that promote phosphatidylserine will say that many studies support that the fatty acid will "greatly" improve your memory. Unfortunately I was unable to find any such articles.

One User of phosphatidylserine comments,
"In general I tend to dream very vividly and at times not very restfully. But additionally, my work in recent years has exposed me to a lot of traumatic material, leaving me with an exaggerated startle response and occasional insomnia. My chiropractor recommended PS to me. I take two of these in the evening now and my sleep is definitely deeper and more sound. My symptoms return if I stop taking it. I think it it has a mild general anxiolytic effect overall. I'm very happy with it, I just wish it were a bit less expensive. But I would recommend it to anyone with similar symptoms to mine."

You can purchase phosphatidylserine as a supplement in many health food stores.

-L

Phosphatidylserine

I recently was brought on to a fatty acid that would seem to help with memory in the fact that it may help with synaptic transmission sleep. Research has showed that in combination with cholin-esterase inhibitors that it does seem to help cognition in some way. After looking into phosphatidylserine by itself, it shows little signs in long-term memory help with both animals and humans, but does show some. How does this topic deal with dreaming? Well the Cholinergic System deals directly with REM sleep and improving this area of our mind would help greatly in improving sleep as well as dreams.

Many sites that promote phosphatidylserine will say that many studies support that the fatty acid will "greatly" improve your memory. Unfortunately I was unable to find any such articles.

One User of phosphatidylserine comments,

"In general I tend to dream very vividly and at times not very restfully. But additionally, my work in recent years has exposed me to a lot of traumatic material, leaving me with an exaggerated startle response and occasional insomnia. My chiropractor recommended PS to me. I take two of these in the evening now and my sleep is definitely deeper and more sound. My symptoms return if I stop taking it. I think it it has a mild general anxiolytic effect overall. I'm very happy with it, I just wish it were a bit less expensive. But I would recommend it to anyone with similar symptoms to mine."


You can purchase phosphatidylserine as a supplement in many health food stores.

-L

Friday, February 20, 2009

Question of the Week: Sleep Paralysis and Bad Dreams


Question:
I looked it up and deleted my question but now I have tried to sleep 3 times tonight and each time it ends up being negative and now i really don't want to sleep. The first time it was me pulling out of a street and i guess it was slick so we spun and almost got into some sort of accident, i was half awake and couldn't move.
2nd time, don't remember what I dream about but in the dream i tried to wake myself up by throwing myself against the wall (still in my room in the dream)
3rd time, don't remember what happened but i was thrown against a wall so i could fit through a door into a bathroom, as of now I'm not going to bed seeing as its going to continue happening. I'm going to wait until my mom wakes up and talk to her.

Answer:
What you are experiencing is not really sleep paralysis per say. In sleep paralysis the person experiencing the effects are normally “awake” but unable to move while sometimes experiencing an overlay of dreams into real life (waking). What you are experiencing sounds more like a different event that really doesn’t have a name by science. Sometimes people misunderstand these symptoms and write down the wrong information, even in websites claiming to do research on the topics.

So what is wrong with you? Probably nothing is “wrong” with you. What you are experiencing is being aware while you transition from non-REM to REM sleep. This means that you are simi awake while you start to dream. During the process of normal sleep (if everything is working right), parts of your brain actually shut down, as well as different parts of your brain wake up. One of the areas of your brain that starts up is your amygdale, or the area of your brain that controls fear. If you remember this phase you may experience terrible dreams. Another part of your brain that shuts down is your long-term memory (prefrontal cortex, forebrain) and so you may not remember your dreams. The last area of your brain that I will talk about is your brainstem. The brainstem controls all these other things but it also partially paralysis our bodies so that we don’t move during sleep as well as get much input from the outside world. If you experience this phase you may not be able to move.

What you are experiencing is our bodies not always being a perfect system. Sometimes we miss a phase, or sometimes we remember events happening. All these events are normal events, but no one truly knows why they happen or why we dream. Even the most recent research still doesn’t answer some of the most basic questions about sleep.

To help you:
The best things I can tell you is to get good rest, go to bed at the same time every night, don’t sleep with any type of light in the room. Don’t eat sugar or drink coffee hours before going to bed, eat well whenever you can, and be active. All those things can have a good impact on your life as well as your sleep and sleep is very important to having a full life. If you are young, most people grow out of experiencing these things as our body becomes better at maintaining hormones and chemicals that control how we sleep. I know it’s scary because I experienced them too but with a change in diet, they have a good chance of going away.

-L

Question of the Week: Sleep Paralysis and Bad Dreams


Question:
I looked it up and deleted my question but now I have tried to sleep 3 times tonight and each time it ends up being negative and now i really don't want to sleep. The first time it was me pulling out of a street and i guess it was slick so we spun and almost got into some sort of accident, i was half awake and couldn't move.
2nd time, don't remember what I dream about but in the dream i tried to wake myself up by throwing myself against the wall (still in my room in the dream)
3rd time, don't remember what happened but i was thrown against a wall so i could fit through a door into a bathroom, as of now I'm not going to bed seeing as its going to continue happening. I'm going to wait until my mom wakes up and talk to her.

Answer:
What you are experiencing is not really sleep paralysis per say. In sleep paralysis the person experiencing the effects are normally “awake” but unable to move while sometimes experiencing an overlay of dreams into real life (waking). What you are experiencing sounds more like a different event that really doesn’t have a name by science. Sometimes people misunderstand these symptoms and write down the wrong information, even in websites claiming to do research on the topics.

So what is wrong with you? Probably nothing is “wrong” with you. What you are experiencing is being aware while you transition from non-REM to REM sleep. This means that you are simi awake while you start to dream. During the process of normal sleep (if everything is working right), parts of your brain actually shut down, as well as different parts of your brain wake up. One of the areas of your brain that starts up is your amygdale, or the area of your brain that controls fear. If you remember this phase you may experience terrible dreams. Another part of your brain that shuts down is your long-term memory (prefrontal cortex, forebrain) and so you may not remember your dreams. The last area of your brain that I will talk about is your brainstem. The brainstem controls all these other things but it also partially paralysis our bodies so that we don’t move during sleep as well as get much input from the outside world. If you experience this phase you may not be able to move.

What you are experiencing is our bodies not always being a perfect system. Sometimes we miss a phase, or sometimes we remember events happening. All these events are normal events, but no one truly knows why they happen or why we dream. Even the most recent research still doesn’t answer some of the most basic questions about sleep.

To help you:
The best things I can tell you is to get good rest, go to bed at the same time every night, don’t sleep with any type of light in the room. Don’t eat sugar or drink coffee hours before going to bed, eat well whenever you can, and be active. All those things can have a good impact on your life as well as your sleep and sleep is very important to having a full life. If you are young, most people grow out of experiencing these things as our body becomes better at maintaining hormones and chemicals that control how we sleep. I know it’s scary because I experienced them too but with a change in diet, they have a good chance of going away.

-L

Question of the Week: Sleep Paralysis and Bad Dreams


Question:
I looked it up and deleted my question but now I have tried to sleep 3 times tonight and each time it ends up being negative and now i really don't want to sleep. The first time it was me pulling out of a street and i guess it was slick so we spun and almost got into some sort of accident, i was half awake and couldn't move.
2nd time, don't remember what I dream about but in the dream i tried to wake myself up by throwing myself against the wall (still in my room in the dream)
3rd time, don't remember what happened but i was thrown against a wall so i could fit through a door into a bathroom, as of now I'm not going to bed seeing as its going to continue happening. I'm going to wait until my mom wakes up and talk to her.

Answer:
What you are experiencing is not really sleep paralysis per say. In sleep paralysis the person experiencing the effects are normally “awake” but unable to move while sometimes experiencing an overlay of dreams into real life (waking). What you are experiencing sounds more like a different event that really doesn’t have a name by science. Sometimes people misunderstand these symptoms and write down the wrong information, even in websites claiming to do research on the topics.

So what is wrong with you? Probably nothing is “wrong” with you. What you are experiencing is being aware while you transition from non-REM to REM sleep. This means that you are simi awake while you start to dream. During the process of normal sleep (if everything is working right), parts of your brain actually shut down, as well as different parts of your brain wake up. One of the areas of your brain that starts up is your amygdale, or the area of your brain that controls fear. If you remember this phase you may experience terrible dreams. Another part of your brain that shuts down is your long-term memory (prefrontal cortex, forebrain) and so you may not remember your dreams. The last area of your brain that I will talk about is your brainstem. The brainstem controls all these other things but it also partially paralysis our bodies so that we don’t move during sleep as well as get much input from the outside world. If you experience this phase you may not be able to move.

What you are experiencing is our bodies not always being a perfect system. Sometimes we miss a phase, or sometimes we remember events happening. All these events are normal events, but no one truly knows why they happen or why we dream. Even the most recent research still doesn’t answer some of the most basic questions about sleep.

To help you:
The best things I can tell you is to get good rest, go to bed at the same time every night, don’t sleep with any type of light in the room. Don’t eat sugar or drink coffee hours before going to bed, eat well whenever you can, and be active. All those things can have a good impact on your life as well as your sleep and sleep is very important to having a full life. If you are young, most people grow out of experiencing these things as our body becomes better at maintaining hormones and chemicals that control how we sleep. I know it’s scary because I experienced them too but with a change in diet, they have a good chance of going away.

-L

Question of the Week: Sleep Paralysis and Bad Dreams


Question:
I looked it up and deleted my question but now I have tried to sleep 3 times tonight and each time it ends up being negative and now i really don't want to sleep. The first time it was me pulling out of a street and i guess it was slick so we spun and almost got into some sort of accident, i was half awake and couldn't move.
2nd time, don't remember what I dream about but in the dream i tried to wake myself up by throwing myself against the wall (still in my room in the dream)
3rd time, don't remember what happened but i was thrown against a wall so i could fit through a door into a bathroom, as of now I'm not going to bed seeing as its going to continue happening. I'm going to wait until my mom wakes up and talk to her.


Answer:
What you are experiencing is not really sleep paralysis per say. In sleep paralysis the person experiencing the effects are normally “awake” but unable to move while sometimes experiencing an overlay of dreams into real life (waking). What you are experiencing sounds more like a different event that really doesn’t have a name by science. Sometimes people misunderstand these symptoms and write down the wrong information, even in websites claiming to do research on the topics.

So what is wrong with you? Probably nothing is “wrong” with you. What you are experiencing is being aware while you transition from non-REM to REM sleep. This means that you are simi awake while you start to dream. During the process of normal sleep (if everything is working right), parts of your brain actually shut down, as well as different parts of your brain wake up. One of the areas of your brain that starts up is your amygdale, or the area of your brain that controls fear. If you remember this phase you may experience terrible dreams. Another part of your brain that shuts down is your long-term memory (prefrontal cortex, forebrain) and so you may not remember your dreams. The last area of your brain that I will talk about is your brainstem. The brainstem controls all these other things but it also partially paralysis our bodies so that we don’t move during sleep as well as get much input from the outside world. If you experience this phase you may not be able to move.

What you are experiencing is our bodies not always being a perfect system. Sometimes we miss a phase, or sometimes we remember events happening. All these events are normal events, but no one truly knows why they happen or why we dream. Even the most recent research still doesn’t answer some of the most basic questions about sleep.

To help you:
The best things I can tell you is to get good rest, go to bed at the same time every night, don’t sleep with any type of light in the room. Don’t eat sugar or drink coffee hours before going to bed, eat well whenever you can, and be active. All those things can have a good impact on your life as well as your sleep and sleep is very important to having a full life. If you are young, most people grow out of experiencing these things as our body becomes better at maintaining hormones and chemicals that control how we sleep. I know it’s scary because I experienced them too but with a change in diet, they have a good chance of going away.

-L

Narcolepsy: The Evasion of Consciousness


Since one of our only two followers of this blog happened to have narcolepsy I wanted to write about a specific topic in another book I have been reading (still) “The Dream Drugstore” by Dr. Allan Hobson. Again if you don’t know who Allan Hobson is, he is what I like to call one of the leading scientists in dream research as well as having a strong goal to disprove anything that does with Freud.

Before I go on a tangent about how much I agree with Dr. Hobson in the sense that Freud was completely wrong (something that I have changed from before) I wanted to write about what Dr. Hobson had to say about narcolepsy and sleep.

Narcolepsy like many disorders have a strong tie to sleep and problems with sleep, but rather than getting enough of sleep or not enough, it’s a matter of when for narcoleptic patients. In narcolepsy the patients have a problem of staying awake. Not awake in the sense that they always feel sleepy and just fall asleep on spot, more like they fall asleep for what seems to be no good apparent reason. Looking more into the research and what Dr. Hobson says about the research, the effects of narcolepsy occurs when someone is stimulated. I say stimulated because it someone situations it would see that fear is the stimulant as in others it would seem that happiness is the cause.

In a “normal” person we have degrees of stimuli that our body seems to regulate to moderate how we function. In this perfect functioning system, if our bodies are over stimulated to the extreme, we may experience an altered state of consciousness in reaction to defense, or the inability to defend. In a narcolepsy patient it would see that this system is over sensitive. This over stimulation is thought to be caused by an imbalance either chemically or genetically in either the amount of chemicals or reaction of those chemicals that affect the brainstem. This brainstem activation causes what in most cases could be considered as dream onset, since most narcoleptic patients complain of dreaming once they experience an episode (Hobson, 2001). These dreams are typically overlays of waking life with hallucinations since all the key components to alter states of consciousness in dreaming are not yet into place (see sleep model). This slight spontaneous sleep onset (preferably amygdale activation, PNG activation, and anterior horn cells deactivation) during an episode of narcolepsy could be put to blame by the possibility of having a unnaturally strong cholinergic REM on system and weak amirnergic REM-off system (Hobson, 2001). In plain terms, the mechanism that controls all this (brainstem or activating chemicals) is not acting according to the best interest of the person.

Interesting enough many of the types of pharmaceuticals that are given to patients for narcolepsy deal with dopamine, norephinephrine, or serotonin. I would like to put special interest into serotonin since enhancing serotonin seems to cause super-abundance of rapid eye movement (yes rapid eye movement is not only limited to REM stage) during N-REM stages (Hobson, 2001). If someone was to have an overabundant amount of serotonin or the brainstem serotonin activators are over sensitive, it could cause a problem with keeping dreams in REM where they seem to belong. As stated before by Hobson is that the weak amirnergic REM-off system seems to be a cause. It sounds a lot like dreams are leaking through into waking life much like they do into non-REM stages when someone is influenced of SSRI’s.

In relation to the limited information that I know about narcolepsy, If I was researching the causes, I would am my research into the areas of the serotonin aminergic system as well as medicate patients with elevated the cholinergic system like acetylcholine and other type neurotransmitters. I would also look into the effects of MAOI’s on patients as it might try to help elevate and hopefully monitor the system naturally after a period of time (Clemons, Makela, Young, 2004) as the introduction of MAO’s into the system has shown decrease of narcoleptic events.

References:

Clemons, William, Makela, Eugene , & Young, John (2004). Concomitant use of modafinil and tranylcypromine in a patient with narcolepsy: a case report. Sleep Medicine. 5, 509–511.

Hobson, A. J. (2002). The Dream Drugstore: Chemically Altered States of Consciousness. MIT Press.

-L

Narcolepsy: The Evasion of Consciousness


Since one of our only two followers of this blog happened to have narcolepsy I wanted to write about a specific topic in another book I have been reading (still) “The Dream Drugstore” by Dr. Allan Hobson. Again if you don’t know who Allan Hobson is, he is what I like to call one of the leading scientists in dream research as well as having a strong goal to disprove anything that does with Freud.

Before I go on a tangent about how much I agree with Dr. Hobson in the sense that Freud was completely wrong (something that I have changed from before) I wanted to write about what Dr. Hobson had to say about narcolepsy and sleep.

Narcolepsy like many disorders have a strong tie to sleep and problems with sleep, but rather than getting enough of sleep or not enough, it’s a matter of when for narcoleptic patients. In narcolepsy the patients have a problem of staying awake. Not awake in the sense that they always feel sleepy and just fall asleep on spot, more like they fall asleep for what seems to be no good apparent reason. Looking more into the research and what Dr. Hobson says about the research, the effects of narcolepsy occurs when someone is stimulated. I say stimulated because it someone situations it would see that fear is the stimulant as in others it would seem that happiness is the cause.

In a “normal” person we have degrees of stimuli that our body seems to regulate to moderate how we function. In this perfect functioning system, if our bodies are over stimulated to the extreme, we may experience an altered state of consciousness in reaction to defense, or the inability to defend. In a narcolepsy patient it would see that this system is over sensitive. This over stimulation is thought to be caused by an imbalance either chemically or genetically in either the amount of chemicals or reaction of those chemicals that affect the brainstem. This brainstem activation causes what in most cases could be considered as dream onset, since most narcoleptic patients complain of dreaming once they experience an episode (Hobson, 2001). These dreams are typically overlays of waking life with hallucinations since all the key components to alter states of consciousness in dreaming are not yet into place (see sleep model). This slight spontaneous sleep onset (preferably amygdale activation, PNG activation, and anterior horn cells deactivation) during an episode of narcolepsy could be put to blame by the possibility of having a unnaturally strong cholinergic REM on system and weak amirnergic REM-off system (Hobson, 2001). In plain terms, the mechanism that controls all this (brainstem or activating chemicals) is not acting according to the best interest of the person.

Interesting enough many of the types of pharmaceuticals that are given to patients for narcolepsy deal with dopamine, norephinephrine, or serotonin. I would like to put special interest into serotonin since enhancing serotonin seems to cause super-abundance of rapid eye movement (yes rapid eye movement is not only limited to REM stage) during N-REM stages (Hobson, 2001). If someone was to have an overabundant amount of serotonin or the brainstem serotonin activators are over sensitive, it could cause a problem with keeping dreams in REM where they seem to belong. As stated before by Hobson is that the weak amirnergic REM-off system seems to be a cause. It sounds a lot like dreams are leaking through into waking life much like they do into non-REM stages when someone is influenced of SSRI’s.

In relation to the limited information that I know about narcolepsy, If I was researching the causes, I would am my research into the areas of the serotonin aminergic system as well as medicate patients with elevated the cholinergic system like acetylcholine and other type neurotransmitters. I would also look into the effects of MAOI’s on patients as it might try to help elevate and hopefully monitor the system naturally after a period of time (Clemons, Makela, Young, 2004) as the introduction of MAO’s into the system has shown decrease of narcoleptic events.

References:

Clemons, William, Makela, Eugene , & Young, John (2004). Concomitant use of modafinil and tranylcypromine in a patient with narcolepsy: a case report. Sleep Medicine. 5, 509–511.

Hobson, A. J. (2002). The Dream Drugstore: Chemically Altered States of Consciousness. MIT Press.

-L

Narcolepsy: The Evasion of Consciousness


Since one of our only two followers of this blog happened to have narcolepsy I wanted to write about a specific topic in another book I have been reading (still) “The Dream Drugstore” by Dr. Allan Hobson. Again if you don’t know who Allan Hobson is, he is what I like to call one of the leading scientists in dream research as well as having a strong goal to disprove anything that does with Freud.

Before I go on a tangent about how much I agree with Dr. Hobson in the sense that Freud was completely wrong (something that I have changed from before) I wanted to write about what Dr. Hobson had to say about narcolepsy and sleep.

Narcolepsy like many disorders have a strong tie to sleep and problems with sleep, but rather than getting enough of sleep or not enough, it’s a matter of when for narcoleptic patients. In narcolepsy the patients have a problem of staying awake. Not awake in the sense that they always feel sleepy and just fall asleep on spot, more like they fall asleep for what seems to be no good apparent reason. Looking more into the research and what Dr. Hobson says about the research, the effects of narcolepsy occurs when someone is stimulated. I say stimulated because it someone situations it would see that fear is the stimulant as in others it would seem that happiness is the cause.

In a “normal” person we have degrees of stimuli that our body seems to regulate to moderate how we function. In this perfect functioning system, if our bodies are over stimulated to the extreme, we may experience an altered state of consciousness in reaction to defense, or the inability to defend. In a narcolepsy patient it would see that this system is over sensitive. This over stimulation is thought to be caused by an imbalance either chemically or genetically in either the amount of chemicals or reaction of those chemicals that affect the brainstem. This brainstem activation causes what in most cases could be considered as dream onset, since most narcoleptic patients complain of dreaming once they experience an episode (Hobson, 2001). These dreams are typically overlays of waking life with hallucinations since all the key components to alter states of consciousness in dreaming are not yet into place (see sleep model). This slight spontaneous sleep onset (preferably amygdale activation, PNG activation, and anterior horn cells deactivation) during an episode of narcolepsy could be put to blame by the possibility of having a unnaturally strong cholinergic REM on system and weak amirnergic REM-off system (Hobson, 2001). In plain terms, the mechanism that controls all this (brainstem or activating chemicals) is not acting according to the best interest of the person.

Interesting enough many of the types of pharmaceuticals that are given to patients for narcolepsy deal with dopamine, norephinephrine, or serotonin. I would like to put special interest into serotonin since enhancing serotonin seems to cause super-abundance of rapid eye movement (yes rapid eye movement is not only limited to REM stage) during N-REM stages (Hobson, 2001). If someone was to have an overabundant amount of serotonin or the brainstem serotonin activators are over sensitive, it could cause a problem with keeping dreams in REM where they seem to belong. As stated before by Hobson is that the weak amirnergic REM-off system seems to be a cause. It sounds a lot like dreams are leaking through into waking life much like they do into non-REM stages when someone is influenced of SSRI’s.

In relation to the limited information that I know about narcolepsy, If I was researching the causes, I would am my research into the areas of the serotonin aminergic system as well as medicate patients with elevated the cholinergic system like acetylcholine and other type neurotransmitters. I would also look into the effects of MAOI’s on patients as it might try to help elevate and hopefully monitor the system naturally after a period of time (Clemons, Makela, Young, 2004) as the introduction of MAO’s into the system has shown decrease of narcoleptic events.

References:

Clemons, William, Makela, Eugene , & Young, John (2004). Concomitant use of modafinil and tranylcypromine in a patient with narcolepsy: a case report. Sleep Medicine. 5, 509–511.

Hobson, A. J. (2002). The Dream Drugstore: Chemically Altered States of Consciousness. MIT Press.

-L

Narcolepsy: The Evasion of Consciousness


Since one of our only two followers of this blog happened to have narcolepsy I wanted to write about a specific topic in another book I have been reading (still) “The Dream Drugstore” by Dr. Allan Hobson. Again if you don’t know who Allan Hobson is, he is what I like to call one of the leading scientists in dream research as well as having a strong goal to disprove anything that does with Freud.

Before I go on a tangent about how much I agree with Dr. Hobson in the sense that Freud was completely wrong (something that I have changed from before) I wanted to write about what Dr. Hobson had to say about narcolepsy and sleep.

Narcolepsy like many disorders have a strong tie to sleep and problems with sleep, but rather than getting enough of sleep or not enough, it’s a matter of when for narcoleptic patients. In narcolepsy the patients have a problem of staying awake. Not awake in the sense that they always feel sleepy and just fall asleep on spot, more like they fall asleep for what seems to be no good apparent reason. Looking more into the research and what Dr. Hobson says about the research, the effects of narcolepsy occurs when someone is stimulated. I say stimulated because it someone situations it would see that fear is the stimulant as in others it would seem that happiness is the cause.

In a “normal” person we have degrees of stimuli that our body seems to regulate to moderate how we function. In this perfect functioning system, if our bodies are over stimulated to the extreme, we may experience an altered state of consciousness in reaction to defense, or the inability to defend. In a narcolepsy patient it would see that this system is over sensitive. This over stimulation is thought to be caused by an imbalance either chemically or genetically in either the amount of chemicals or reaction of those chemicals that affect the brainstem. This brainstem activation causes what in most cases could be considered as dream onset, since most narcoleptic patients complain of dreaming once they experience an episode (Hobson, 2001). These dreams are typically overlays of waking life with hallucinations since all the key components to alter states of consciousness in dreaming are not yet into place (see sleep model). This slight spontaneous sleep onset (preferably amygdale activation, PNG activation, and anterior horn cells deactivation) during an episode of narcolepsy could be put to blame by the possibility of having a unnaturally strong cholinergic REM on system and weak amirnergic REM-off system (Hobson, 2001). In plain terms, the mechanism that controls all this (brainstem or activating chemicals) is not acting according to the best interest of the person.

Interesting enough many of the types of pharmaceuticals that are given to patients for narcolepsy deal with dopamine, norephinephrine, or serotonin. I would like to put special interest into serotonin since enhancing serotonin seems to cause super-abundance of rapid eye movement (yes rapid eye movement is not only limited to REM stage) during N-REM stages (Hobson, 2001). If someone was to have an overabundant amount of serotonin or the brainstem serotonin activators are over sensitive, it could cause a problem with keeping dreams in REM where they seem to belong. As stated before by Hobson is that the weak amirnergic REM-off system seems to be a cause. It sounds a lot like dreams are leaking through into waking life much like they do into non-REM stages when someone is influenced of SSRI’s.

In relation to the limited information that I know about narcolepsy, If I was researching the causes, I would am my research into the areas of the serotonin aminergic system as well as medicate patients with elevated the cholinergic system like acetylcholine and other type neurotransmitters. I would also look into the effects of MAOI’s on patients as it might try to help elevate and hopefully monitor the system naturally after a period of time (Clemons, Makela, Young, 2004) as the introduction of MAO’s into the system has shown decrease of narcoleptic events.

References:

Clemons, William, Makela, Eugene , & Young, John (2004). Concomitant use of modafinil and tranylcypromine in a patient with narcolepsy: a case report. Sleep Medicine. 5, 509–511.

Hobson, A. J. (2002). The Dream Drugstore: Chemically Altered States of Consciousness. MIT Press.

-L

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

More of DMT

I read a lot more into the book "Inner Paths to Outer Space" and noticed something interesting in the works by Luis Eduard Luna, a Ph.D and very interesting person who has done a ton of research into Ayahuasca. In Chapter 4 of the book Dr. Luna talks about his experiences as well as much of his research he conducted throughout many years and concluded with some information that supports Strassman and his hypthosis that our brains make and require DMT during sleep. Apparently people who use Ayahuasca (a form of DMT) don't need to sleep as long as most people. They feel well rested after 4-5 hours of sleep. It was also noted in chapter 4 that people have who have taken Ayahuasca consistently over the years show no disorders and actually show better control of moods as well as emotions. Dr. Luna documented that pregnant woman in many cultures take Ayahuasca as well as breast fed while consuming and show no signs of birth defects in offspring. Apparently Ayahuasca or DMT is something that seems to be very important to our sleep cycle as well as helps us in normal day functions.

-L

More of DMT

I read a lot more into the book "Inner Paths to Outer Space" and noticed something interesting in the works by Luis Eduard Luna, a Ph.D and very interesting person who has done a ton of research into Ayahuasca. In Chapter 4 of the book Dr. Luna talks about his experiences as well as much of his research he conducted throughout many years and concluded with some information that supports Strassman and his hypthosis that our brains make and require DMT during sleep. Apparently people who use Ayahuasca (a form of DMT) don't need to sleep as long as most people. They feel well rested after 4-5 hours of sleep. It was also noted in chapter 4 that people have who have taken Ayahuasca consistently over the years show no disorders and actually show better control of moods as well as emotions. Dr. Luna documented that pregnant woman in many cultures take Ayahuasca as well as breast fed while consuming and show no signs of birth defects in offspring. Apparently Ayahuasca or DMT is something that seems to be very important to our sleep cycle as well as helps us in normal day functions.

-L

More of DMT

I read a lot more into the book "Inner Paths to Outer Space" and noticed something interesting in the works by Luis Eduard Luna, a Ph.D and very interesting person who has done a ton of research into Ayahuasca. In Chapter 4 of the book Dr. Luna talks about his experiences as well as much of his research he conducted throughout many years and concluded with some information that supports Strassman and his hypthosis that our brains make and require DMT during sleep. Apparently people who use Ayahuasca (a form of DMT) don't need to sleep as long as most people. They feel well rested after 4-5 hours of sleep. It was also noted in chapter 4 that people have who have taken Ayahuasca consistently over the years show no disorders and actually show better control of moods as well as emotions. Dr. Luna documented that pregnant woman in many cultures take Ayahuasca as well as breast fed while consuming and show no signs of birth defects in offspring. Apparently Ayahuasca or DMT is something that seems to be very important to our sleep cycle as well as helps us in normal day functions.

-L

More of DMT

I read a lot more into the book "Inner Paths to Outer Space" and noticed something interesting in the works by Luis Eduard Luna, a Ph.D and very interesting person who has done a ton of research into Ayahuasca. In Chapter 4 of the book Dr. Luna talks about his experiences as well as much of his research he conducted throughout many years and concluded with some information that supports Strassman and his hypthosis that our brains make and require DMT during sleep. Apparently people who use Ayahuasca (a form of DMT) don't need to sleep as long as most people. They feel well rested after 4-5 hours of sleep. It was also noted in chapter 4 that people have who have taken Ayahuasca consistently over the years show no disorders and actually show better control of moods as well as emotions. Dr. Luna documented that pregnant woman in many cultures take Ayahuasca as well as breast fed while consuming and show no signs of birth defects in offspring. Apparently Ayahuasca or DMT is something that seems to be very important to our sleep cycle as well as helps us in normal day functions.

-L

Monday, February 16, 2009

Question of the Week: Strange dreams right before sleep?

Question:

Before I fall asleep, I tend to have weird little dreams. One that happens pretty frequently (about every few months), I'll see myself suddenly fall down the stairs and I'll feel the Impact while I'm lying in my bed. It actually feels as if I've fallen down the stairs and I always open my eyes, startled. The other dream that comes to me almost every night before sleep is one in which I will suddenly start speaking complete nonsense, but everyone understands me. I'll say something like, "Ernest Hemingway needed to make sure he had enough chickens to go to school."

Why do I have these dreams while I am still conscious and what do they mean?


Answer:
Even if you are not fully “asleep” yet doesn’t mean you can’t dream. Many people experience what you describe before going to bed because at this time our brain is switching into different modes. During our sleep, our brain actually shuts down different areas of it as well as activates different areas. Dreams are thought to be causes by our brain trying to make sense of this action reaction. If you happen to be conscious during this transition you may experience visual, auditory, or even a combination of hallucinations until the process is completed and then you are fully “asleep”.

Sleeping is just not one process; it’s a combination of processes that take time to complete. No two brains are identical and so each person experiences different processes differently. Also our brains are continually changing, and so you many experience dreaming differently every given night.

About what your dreams mean, I would say nothing. I believe dreams that we experience are a combination of dissociation and past memory access. That theory is backed up by much of the most recent research being conducted on sleep. People who still believe dreams have meaning supported Freud who had little to no neuroscience type of background and still is unable to test his theory. In short, dreams only have the meaning we put into them, according to science.


-L

Question of the Week: Strange dreams right before sleep?

Question:

Before I fall asleep, I tend to have weird little dreams. One that happens pretty frequently (about every few months), I'll see myself suddenly fall down the stairs and I'll feel the Impact while I'm lying in my bed. It actually feels as if I've fallen down the stairs and I always open my eyes, startled. The other dream that comes to me almost every night before sleep is one in which I will suddenly start speaking complete nonsense, but everyone understands me. I'll say something like, "Ernest Hemingway needed to make sure he had enough chickens to go to school."

Why do I have these dreams while I am still conscious and what do they mean?


Answer:
Even if you are not fully “asleep” yet doesn’t mean you can’t dream. Many people experience what you describe before going to bed because at this time our brain is switching into different modes. During our sleep, our brain actually shuts down different areas of it as well as activates different areas. Dreams are thought to be causes by our brain trying to make sense of this action reaction. If you happen to be conscious during this transition you may experience visual, auditory, or even a combination of hallucinations until the process is completed and then you are fully “asleep”.

Sleeping is just not one process; it’s a combination of processes that take time to complete. No two brains are identical and so each person experiences different processes differently. Also our brains are continually changing, and so you many experience dreaming differently every given night.

About what your dreams mean, I would say nothing. I believe dreams that we experience are a combination of dissociation and past memory access. That theory is backed up by much of the most recent research being conducted on sleep. People who still believe dreams have meaning supported Freud who had little to no neuroscience type of background and still is unable to test his theory. In short, dreams only have the meaning we put into them, according to science.


-L

Question of the Week: Strange dreams right before sleep?

Question:

Before I fall asleep, I tend to have weird little dreams. One that happens pretty frequently (about every few months), I'll see myself suddenly fall down the stairs and I'll feel the Impact while I'm lying in my bed. It actually feels as if I've fallen down the stairs and I always open my eyes, startled. The other dream that comes to me almost every night before sleep is one in which I will suddenly start speaking complete nonsense, but everyone understands me. I'll say something like, "Ernest Hemingway needed to make sure he had enough chickens to go to school."

Why do I have these dreams while I am still conscious and what do they mean?


Answer:
Even if you are not fully “asleep” yet doesn’t mean you can’t dream. Many people experience what you describe before going to bed because at this time our brain is switching into different modes. During our sleep, our brain actually shuts down different areas of it as well as activates different areas. Dreams are thought to be causes by our brain trying to make sense of this action reaction. If you happen to be conscious during this transition you may experience visual, auditory, or even a combination of hallucinations until the process is completed and then you are fully “asleep”.

Sleeping is just not one process; it’s a combination of processes that take time to complete. No two brains are identical and so each person experiences different processes differently. Also our brains are continually changing, and so you many experience dreaming differently every given night.

About what your dreams mean, I would say nothing. I believe dreams that we experience are a combination of dissociation and past memory access. That theory is backed up by much of the most recent research being conducted on sleep. People who still believe dreams have meaning supported Freud who had little to no neuroscience type of background and still is unable to test his theory. In short, dreams only have the meaning we put into them, according to science.


-L

Question of the Week: Strange dreams right before sleep?

Question:

Before I fall asleep, I tend to have weird little dreams. One that happens pretty frequently (about every few months), I'll see myself suddenly fall down the stairs and I'll feel the Impact while I'm lying in my bed. It actually feels as if I've fallen down the stairs and I always open my eyes, startled. The other dream that comes to me almost every night before sleep is one in which I will suddenly start speaking complete nonsense, but everyone understands me. I'll say something like, "Ernest Hemingway needed to make sure he had enough chickens to go to school."

Why do I have these dreams while I am still conscious and what do they mean?


Answer:
Even if you are not fully “asleep” yet doesn’t mean you can’t dream. Many people experience what you describe before going to bed because at this time our brain is switching into different modes. During our sleep, our brain actually shuts down different areas of it as well as activates different areas. Dreams are thought to be causes by our brain trying to make sense of this action reaction. If you happen to be conscious during this transition you may experience visual, auditory, or even a combination of hallucinations until the process is completed and then you are fully “asleep”.

Sleeping is just not one process; it’s a combination of processes that take time to complete. No two brains are identical and so each person experiences different processes differently. Also our brains are continually changing, and so you many experience dreaming differently every given night.

About what your dreams mean, I would say nothing. I believe dreams that we experience are a combination of dissociation and past memory access. That theory is backed up by much of the most recent research being conducted on sleep. People who still believe dreams have meaning supported Freud who had little to no neuroscience type of background and still is unable to test his theory. In short, dreams only have the meaning we put into them, according to science.


-L

DMT Consciousness

I have been reading up on a new book that I got last month and just haven’t had time to really read into, “Inner Paths to Outer Space.” Though the title is a little misleading, it’s really about the different scientific experiments that have taken place and combination of well written papers about psychedelic effects of DMT and related drugs.

In relation to something that was written by Dr. Strassman at the end of chapter 3, he talks about the possible requirement for DMT use during the day in our brains. It comes to remind me of a conversation that R and I had when we talked about normal consciousness possibly being a state of psychedelic trip or at least requiring some type of fuel for the imagination aspect of it. As Dr. Strassman describes DMT is endogenous, rises during stressful times, is present in our lugs, and possibly apparent in the pineal gland. With this being true, DMT would be a very important aspect of not only our normal consciousness but also a way to change our consciousness with the process of disassociation. It would also make sense that the production of DMT would be very important to our survival which shows evidence of happening during or sleep stages as there is some type of tryptamine type drug being produced in our pineal gland.

Anyways I know that I have probably already stated all this information in one form or another, but I guess there is nothing wrong with affirming information.

-L

DMT Consciousness

I have been reading up on a new book that I got last month and just haven’t had time to really read into, “Inner Paths to Outer Space.” Though the title is a little misleading, it’s really about the different scientific experiments that have taken place and combination of well written papers about psychedelic effects of DMT and related drugs.

In relation to something that was written by Dr. Strassman at the end of chapter 3, he talks about the possible requirement for DMT use during the day in our brains. It comes to remind me of a conversation that R and I had when we talked about normal consciousness possibly being a state of psychedelic trip or at least requiring some type of fuel for the imagination aspect of it. As Dr. Strassman describes DMT is endogenous, rises during stressful times, is present in our lugs, and possibly apparent in the pineal gland. With this being true, DMT would be a very important aspect of not only our normal consciousness but also a way to change our consciousness with the process of disassociation. It would also make sense that the production of DMT would be very important to our survival which shows evidence of happening during or sleep stages as there is some type of tryptamine type drug being produced in our pineal gland.

Anyways I know that I have probably already stated all this information in one form or another, but I guess there is nothing wrong with affirming information.

-L

DMT Consciousness

I have been reading up on a new book that I got last month and just haven’t had time to really read into, “Inner Paths to Outer Space.” Though the title is a little misleading, it’s really about the different scientific experiments that have taken place and combination of well written papers about psychedelic effects of DMT and related drugs.

In relation to something that was written by Dr. Strassman at the end of chapter 3, he talks about the possible requirement for DMT use during the day in our brains. It comes to remind me of a conversation that R and I had when we talked about normal consciousness possibly being a state of psychedelic trip or at least requiring some type of fuel for the imagination aspect of it. As Dr. Strassman describes DMT is endogenous, rises during stressful times, is present in our lugs, and possibly apparent in the pineal gland. With this being true, DMT would be a very important aspect of not only our normal consciousness but also a way to change our consciousness with the process of disassociation. It would also make sense that the production of DMT would be very important to our survival which shows evidence of happening during or sleep stages as there is some type of tryptamine type drug being produced in our pineal gland.

Anyways I know that I have probably already stated all this information in one form or another, but I guess there is nothing wrong with affirming information.

-L

DMT Consciousness

I have been reading up on a new book that I got last month and just haven’t had time to really read into, “Inner Paths to Outer Space.” Though the title is a little misleading, it’s really about the different scientific experiments that have taken place and combination of well written papers about psychedelic effects of DMT and related drugs.

In relation to something that was written by Dr. Strassman at the end of chapter 3, he talks about the possible requirement for DMT use during the day in our brains. It comes to remind me of a conversation that R and I had when we talked about normal consciousness possibly being a state of psychedelic trip or at least requiring some type of fuel for the imagination aspect of it. As Dr. Strassman describes DMT is endogenous, rises during stressful times, is present in our lugs, and possibly apparent in the pineal gland. With this being true, DMT would be a very important aspect of not only our normal consciousness but also a way to change our consciousness with the process of disassociation. It would also make sense that the production of DMT would be very important to our survival which shows evidence of happening during or sleep stages as there is some type of tryptamine type drug being produced in our pineal gland.

Anyways I know that I have probably already stated all this information in one form or another, but I guess there is nothing wrong with affirming information.

-L