Neuroscience & Neurology Topic
Smells Like Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson's disease has always been primarily seen as a movement disorder resulting in symptoms of shaking, tremors, rigidity, and trouble walking. Interestingly, however, at least 90% of patients with Parkinson's experience either loss or decreases in the sense of smell. Studies have shown that problems with olfaction actually generally precede the onset of other motor symptoms. Most people are not personally aware of changes in their olfactory acuity, but the increasing range and prevalence of smell tests offer a quick, easy, cheap, and non-invasive diagnostic test, as well as a measure of disease progression. In addition, the shift of focus for researchers from Parkinson’s as a motor disorder to a more global neurodegenerative disorder allows consideration of new paradigms about the causes and disease progression.
The Cost of a Good Night’s Sleep
American writer and humorist W.C. Fields once remarked that “the best cure for insomnia is to get a lot of sleep.” While this seems like an obvious remedy, a good night's sleep is not always so easy to come by. An increasing number of Americans are resorting to sleeping pills to achieve rest (up to 10% of adults by some estimates), but, according to a new study published in BMJ Open, this use of sleeping pills may lead to eternal sleep, not beauty sleep.
Shifting Paradigms of White Matter Diseases
Oligodendrocytes, the cells that make “white matter” white play an important role in conducting signals through the brain and spinal cord. The breakdown and loss of oligodendrocytes has long been implicated in demyelinating disorders, most notably multiple sclerosis (MS). However, scientists increasingly understand that oligodendrocytes dysfunction may be to blame for neuropsychological disorders such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Drug-Induced Mystical Experience
Psilocybin, a naturally occurring hallucinogen, is the main psychoactive component of psilocybe and other hallucinogenic mushrooms (so called “magic mushrooms”). Like other classic hallucinogens, such as d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and mescaline, psilocybin exerts its psychoactive effects through a sub-type of serotonin receptors (called 5-HT2a) in the brain. In some cultures, psilocybin has historically been used in religious contexts -- likely for millennia. Psilocybin has a number of effects, including changes in perception, cognition, affect, and decision-making. Clinical research on psilocybin dates back to at least the 1950s, with variable effects on the perceived affective character of the experience. Research on psilocybin administration in humans has occurred in psychotherapeutic contexts in terminally ill cancer patients dating back to the 1970s and continues today. A surprising new study reveals that, under specific conditions, acute exposure to psilocybin can elicit long-lasting positive changes and increases in mystical-type experience.
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