Neurochemistry proved to be everything I have hoped I would experience throughout my educational experience at Concordia. I believe that its function as a capstone course required that we students take it upon ourselves to learn the material and engage in discussion about relatively complex topics both for our educational gain and the education of our fellow neurochemistry classmates. From a pedagogical standpoint I applaud the design of the course. For the first time, we students have been given the vested responsibility to learn ourselves and help teach one another about topic covered in class as well as engage each other in discussion about the social, biological, and ethical implications of some the topics covered throughout the semester. I guess I was pleasantly surprised to see the entire class step up to the plate and authentically care about the hand they had in progressing the class forward.
In addition to the discussion based aspects of the class I found that the exam formats were very effective in allowing the students to express what they had learned through both class based discussion and general problem-solving skills. The format of the exams we took were of two parts, an in-class portion where the students were given a limited amount of information about a neurochemical problem and other factual information in addition to that problem, and secondly a take home portion of the exam in which the article the exam is based off of is given to the students and the students compose information regarding the cause of the problem as well as evaluate the accuracy of their in-class portion. I found this to be an open-ended yet extremely effective method for students to apply the problem solving skills gained throughout the semester
Finally, the blog posts have been among the most rewarding experiences throughout the summer because it gives us students the opportunity to communicate science to the general public. This scientific communication also happens to be the writing formats, which we would most like to read regarding neurochemistry and the social ramifications of particular problems in its realm. I have been extremely fortunate to participate in this course at Concordia College and I will surely not forget the educational benefits of discussion based science courses in the future.
Obesity and HFCS: Where are Nader’s Raiders Now?
Obesity in America has come to be known worldwide as the epidemic of the western world. Though the fast food industry has been the patsy of many lawsuits regarding uncontrollable weight gain, the culprit may actually be the 32 oz cola rather than the burger and fries. The most common sweetener used in soft drinks and other non-diet beverages is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) a mixture of glucose and fructose. HFCS has taken the place of sweeteners such as glucose, for two reasons: fructose is more readily supplied by corn, America’s most prevalent crop, and pound for pound HFCS tastes sweeter than glucose. Sounds great right? A smaller amount of HFCS provides the same sweet sensation that we get from an equal amount of pure glucose, thus HFCS provides more sweetness for less calories. This is true but fructose doesn’t play the same ballgame that glucose does in the body.
The Concordia Neurochemistry class focused on the role leptin and insulin play in obesity, and the results were concerning to say the least. The article under investigation clarified HFCS’s potential role in increased weight gain through an improper biological response to the sugar. Even though they both taste sweet, fructose and glucose are fundamentally different. Glucose is extremely important to our natural energy production. Glucose is transported into the cells of our body as a result of elevated insulin levels. Cellular glucose intake means increased energy production.
Fructose does not play the same role as glucose. Fructose actually bypasses the transport into the cells and goes straight to the liver, where the liver then transforms the fructose into a precursor to triglycerides (fatty molecules).
So regarding obesity in America, much of it can likely be attributed to our excessive intake of HFCS through soft drinks and processed foods. In addition to the fat producing effects of HFCS, it does not merit the same spike in insulin levels that glucose does, so we don’t realize that we are full. The absence of insulin levels while consuming food that is high in HFCS can lead to overeating which lends itself to an energy surplus, thus we gain weight. The positive correlation between fructose and weight gain is impressively strong.
In conclusion, all sugars are not equally processed. Indeed overconsumption of any calories will lead to weight gain, however, considering that HFCS is immediately converted into a fat precursor, it is advisable to opt for foods that are primarily sweetened with glucose.
More Pain More Gain or More Pain Less Brain?
Brain plasticity, what does it mean? Usually we associate brain plasticity with the ability to readily learn new tasks and recover from potential damage, however recent research regarding concussions show that not only do periods of heightened plasticity not protect subjects from mechanical brain trauma but it makes them more vulnerable. Indeed the most common period for us to experience brain trauma is when our brains are not fully developed, specifically our frontal lobes, which continue to develop throughout the age of 25. The reason behind the long-term brain trauma vulnerability, is that the myelination, a cholesterol-like protective tissue, of our frontal lobes has not entirely taken place. So unlike brain trauma experienced by their elders, young adults exhibit a susceptibility to slower recovery and worse overall long-term cognitive outcomes in the wake of brain trauma such as a concussion.
This brings to light a serious question regarding the ethics of athletic performance throughout early adulthood especially regarding whether or not a previously concussed participant are ready to reenter the athletic field. Looking back on my high school athletic experiences what was most obvious was the potentially self-destructive notion of more pain, more gain. Keeping this in mind, and considering the glory of athletic success throughout those years, it was blatantly obvious that people, who have suffered from a concussion, were eager to “recover” so they could quickly return to the field and support their team.
Our neurochemistry class talked extensively about the potential long-term damage an athlete could subject themselves to because of premature reentry. The primary reason that premature reentry is so dangerous for concussed subjects is that the brain’s natural defense system against trauma has been drastically weakened. This defense system incorporates your brain’s ability to repair mildly damaged neurons and to re-equilibrate the chemical levels of those neurons. If a second traumatic event occurs while the brain is fervently working to repair the first concussion, the brain goes into a significant state of decreased repair, which often leads to irreparable damage.
Furthermore, in order to properly recover from a concussion it is advisable for the subject to take a break from the functions of a normal day. In fact concussion victims that immediately engage in normal tasks such as schoolwork, normal motor function, and coordinated motor function show a marked decrease in cognitive recovery rate. If such therapy required for a concussion victim to recover fully, are we ultimately jeopardizing students’ academic and cognitive future by allowing them to participate in concussion related athletics and return to the field without knowing indefinitely if they have fully recovered? While concussion related stories about professional athletes and permanent damage increases to become more prevalent in the media I believe there will be a movement toward improving concussion recovery diagnostics and much controversy surrounding the potential dangers surrounding school athletics.
House, Medical Genius and Opiate Addict
Dr. Gregory House has an uncanny knowledge of the medicine. He is able to approach medical issues from a different perspective than other doctors in the series and his biting criticism, though abundantly entertaining to viewers is unwanted but tolerated because of the man’s diagnostic expertise. So what can’t House do? Though his problem-solving skills are second to none, House is unable to break his serious addiction to vicoden, a commonly prescribed opiate used to temporarily attenuate serious pain. House began self-medicating chronic pain resulting from a leg infarction, and his addiction is hardly a surprise. Considering that opiates such as vicoden, morphine, and heroin all biologically change the way in which the brain works, discontinuing opiate intake can lead to serious and potentially life-threatening withdrawal side effects.
House is among thousands of people who suffer from opiate addiction and this is the primary reason that opiates are a last resort therapy to alleviating pain. Even short term dosage of opiates lead to tolerance by changing the landscape of the brain. When opiates are taken, they bind to opiate receptors in the brain, which eventually decrease the transmission of pain signals through our neurons. As opiates are continually taken to lessen pain signaling, a tolerance establishes, thus a higher opioid dosage is required to produce the same painkilling response.
Tolerance is most likely due to one of two hypotheses: 1.) Continued dosage of opioids cause pathways to be activated in the body, which reduce to amount of opioid receptors on the neuron, thus decreasing the overall possible opioid signal. 2.) The opioid receptor itself is disconnected from the G-protein on the inside of the neuron, which facilitates opioid signal transduction. These two possible causes of tolerance do not apply to all opioids, for instance, morphine causes a disconnection between the opioid receptor and the associated G-protein but does not cause the expression of opioid receptors on the surface of the neuron to decrease. The two hypotheses can both apply to a particular opioid or one of them can apply, but what has been shown is that in all cases, increased opioid treatment leads to tolerance. The tolerance that is developed is likely the addictive mechanism behind the danger of opioids. For example, if a frequent opioid user were to stop taking opioids, the body would be very susceptible to pain amplification which is a result of the biological change that has occurred on their neurons.
With the negative side effects of opioid treatment it is no wonder that doctors are reluctant to prescribe opioids for pain treatment and why Dr. House is reluctant stop taking them.
Chemistry and Obesity
This morning I did something I don’t normally do, I stopped eating. I still had food on my plate, I just didn’t feel hungry anymore. Even though it seemed like the right choice I still got scoffed at from my girlfriend for not finishing my plate, I almost felt peer pressured to eat more then I wanted to! This isn’t just my girlfriend either, it can be seen with others like from parents telling their child to finish his/her plate. Along with pressure, boredom or procrastination on homework are other pitfalls for eating.In fact in a effort to procrastinate another 5 minutes on writing this blog post I finished off the role from this morning. So with procrastination and peer pressure it would seem that our body figures are doomed. But wait, something is amiss, there must be something stopping us from eating all of the time, and as with everything else the answer lies in chemistry.
Fat is deposited into adipose tissue, so it would seem that this adipose tissue would have to communicate with the brain in some way to control how much we eat. It was proposed that there exists molecular signal that acts in the central nervous system that is proportional to body fat. So the more fat we obtain the stronger these signals are, and these signals would stop us from eating. A pretty nifty checks and balance if I do say so myself. But obviously with the level of obesity we have something must go wrong.
At the moment there are two signaling molecules that have been determined to be part of this signaling cascade. Insulin and Leptin. The paper we looked at for this week tried to tie together the different signaling pathways of the two molecules, in a effort to paint a more holistic shot of the chemistry of obesity. Our authors were able to conclude that “[both insulin and leptin] may share both intracellular signaling properties and mechanisms by which these pathways become disrupted leading to resistance to their actions.” What I would take from this message (just like my other blog posts) is that scientists are still working to get a true understanding of the body. Everybody wants the body to be simple, it would be much easier if just one chemical was responsible for obesity, and it would be great if that was the only molecule in the body. Then researchers would be able to just target that molecule and eradicate it, and obesity would be a thing of the past. Sadly this is not the case all of these molecular systems are intertwined everything seems to be dependent on everything else. There are so many factors that go into obesity, especially at the mental level. We are wired to love fatty foods, we would much rather eat a meal then write a paper, there is eating when your board, or eating when your depressed. Meaning all of these different pathways that are created by our different states of mind are connected. And it will be a long time till we are able to untangle this mess.
Final thoughts
With the semester officially over, I am left to consider what gains have been made in the past few months. Usually it’s a little challenging to identify how my knowledge has changed and grown, and what new information or skills will be immediately useful to me in the future. However, this year it’s easy. Neurochemistry has been extremely helpful in taking my knowledge of neuroscience further and integrating my understanding of the nervous systems with areas of science I am not as familiar with. This includes upper level chemistry, biology, and genetics–classes that are difficult for me to access as a psychology major unless I tack on a few extra majors or minors. Neurochemistry, however, demonstrated that this isn’t necessary, and that careful analysis of the literature and extra readings and research in areas I’m not familiar in can provide a great foundational understanding of neurochemistry.
The interdisciplinary nature of neuroscience is what drew me to the discipline in the first place. As a psychology major and neuroscience minor, I am interested in how the brain creates thought and behavior at the cellular, molecular, and systems levels. Generally, I hover somewhere in between the areas of psychology, biology, and chemistry–farther enough on the physiological end of psychology to dread the familiar, “Oh so you’re a psychology major? What are you going to be, a shrink or something?” No. No, actually, I’m not. Yet I’m not a chemist or biologist either. Neuroscience is the perfect place to blend all of these interests. Not only does it allow a multidisciplinary approach to studying the science of the brain, but I think it also fosters cooperation between scientists and fields that may contribute to better research and progress. As the scientific field becomes progressively more and more specialized and reductionistic, neuroscience remains a bastion of cooperation and integration between multiple fields. Where else can computer scientists, mathematicians, cognitive scientists, linguists, psychologists, doctors, chemists, biologists, and even philosophers meet at a common interest? Exactly.
How did neurochemistry impact my learning this semester? I feel that it has enabled me to more fully appreciate and join the multidisciplinary area of neuroscience. Before, I leaned heavily on the psychology end of things and had limited knowledge of chemistry and molecular biology. Throughout the course, however, I learned through personal research and additional reading that these concepts greatly augment my understanding of brain function. Through in class lectures and discussions of papers, I became more and more familiar with chemistry and biology concepts. There were many “aha!” moments when I realized a signalling pathway, gene, or chemical responsible for a phenomenon in psychology. I truly came to understand much more about the biochemical signalling in the brain, and to integrate that with what I already knew about behavior and the mind. I was also able to share with others my knowledge and experience with psychology and mental illness. Coming away from this class, I feel that I have much more mature understanding of brain function as well as an appreciation for the diverse perspectives that converge in the field of neuroscience.
It was also enormously effective to include a writing and communicating focus in this class. I’ve observed that many science majors, including myself, can be deficient when it comes to communicating about science to the public. This can be disastrous, as the public frequently and severely misunderstands scientific research and issues. Good communication skills will be vitally important among scientists as research progresses. I feel that this class pushed us to be better communicators–not just in reporting scientific knowledge to others in the field (i.e. us) but also to the general public. These are two quite different skills. Learning how to write in a blog format about big issues in neuroscience research was a challenge but also a lot of fun. I feel that I grew just as much as our intended audience may have as well.
As I consider a career in neuroscience myself, I’m excited about all the different directions, perspectives, and areas of expertise included in this field. Neurochemistry has taken me one step closer to joining this diverse community.
Neurochemisty at Concordia
Neurochem in a Nutshell
Well, that’s just about impossible. I learned so much information this semester that it would be inconceivable to remember all of it. Many of the particular details and acronyms of important signaling molecules elude me as I look back on the semester, but that doesn’t mean the class didn’t teach me anything. I learned that phosphorylation is a process the brain and body rely heavily upon, that inhibitors can be great activators when stopping the action of other inhibitors, and that the brain is incredibly plastic and adaptable. I learned a ton of signaling pathways including cascades that release hormones, activate gene transcription, and alter metabolism. These are just a few of the lessons that come to mind and reflect the complexity of the brain. However, this is just the tip of how this class was useful
Information is Good – Applicability is Better
The real triumph of this capstone is the real life experience it gives in interpreting and explaining scientific studies. These blogs have been a great way to practice simplifying complex neurological phenomena without using a lot of inaccessible jargon, yet not losing the validity of the information in the process. It also gave me plenty of chances to find gaps in my own understanding and the opportunity to fill them. The class had an interesting and fairly novel way of filling the gaps in knowledge that I appreciate. By allowing the class to investigate the topics within articles that were confusing or lacking, it provided each of us a chance to learn far more through cooperation. Wednesdays, when each student would present his or her chosen topic of the week, were packed with useful information that added clarity and relevance to the articles.
Neurochem is Educational, Enjoyable and Other E words
Lastly, the class made neurochemistry fun and entertaining. I always felt like the discussion on Fridays always made the topics important to my life. They provided context to hypotheses and data that would otherwise likely be unexciting to me. The issues that were brought up each week revolved around controversy and current events that made even the most dry and dense of articles worthwhile. The time and energy I put into the course were more than repaid by the edification and expertise I got out. In summery, the class gave me three E’s that every college course should provide the students that take them: education, experience, and entertainment.
Alcohol – Inhibition to the Point of Activity
It’s Five O’clock Somewhere
And even if it wasn’t it probably wouldn’t stop many people from drinking. Alcohol abuse and dependence are global health issues and in the United States they affect about 14 million people. The article we read on the ethanol (alcohol) also describes that there are few choices for treatment alcohol use disorders. One reason for this is likely that the action of alcohol on the brain is not well understood. However, the article seeks to offer some possible mechanisms for the interesting ways alcohol changes cognition and behavior.
Is This an Off Switch or Not?
Alcohol has an interesting way of inhibiting particular parts of the brain, while activating others. Ethanol increases the firing rate of dopamine neurons, which play an important role in the reward pathway in the brain, yet it inhibits other neural elements known as NMDA receptors, which are another important actor in ethanol’s rewarding effects in the brain. How can this be? Interestingly, the extra dopamine firing leads to an inactivation of a molecule, called pp-1, that usually helps to shut off NMDA receptors after they’ve been activated. In other words, even though NMDA receptors have decreased action when affected by ethanol, they also have increased action because they aren’t being turned off by pp-1. It turns out that during this interaction the effect of inactivated pp-1 is larger than ethanol. Meaning that NMDA receptors aren’t inhibited much by ethanol despite its direct effect on the receptors. This is exhibited by mice that are lacking a crucial element in the pathway to inactivate pp-1, known as DARPP-32, show less ethanol self-administration than mice with DARPP-32. This is evidence that increased dopamine and NMDA receptor activity are likely important to alcohol dependence in humans as well.
Ethanol’s Big Effects – Perhaps Due to Tiny Interactions
The other interesting effect of ethanol I’m going to talk about is its incorporation into the cells of the body. An enzyme known as PLD is important to the incorporation of ethanol into the body cells. Normally this enzyme acts to produce a molecule, phosphatidic acid, which acts to relay signals to important cellular proteins. However, in the presence of ethanol, PLD would much rather hang out with ethanol and convert it into PEth so that it fits into cell membranes, which are barriers around the cells that act to keep out certain materials and letting in other. When PEth is incorporated into cell membranes it increase the rate at which ethanol can enter the cell and prevents phosphatidic acid from relaying its signal to the proteins within the cell. Both of these actions act to change cellular function and it is suggested that one of the two or both may lead to increased alcohol tolerance. Unfortunately, both alcohol tolerance and alcohol dependence have very limited options for pharmacological treatment. As usual, the best way to solve this problem is continued research and discussion. Every new discovery leads to possible solutions to issues facing many people locally and abroad.
You Booze, You Lose
It’s fewer than two weeks away from Christmas—time for get-togethers, holiday parties, and family gatherings. What’s a better way to warm up from the chill and snow than having a nice holiday drink?
It’s no surprise, then, that rates of drinking spike sharply around Christmas. This has been linked to more alcohol-related car crashes and violence around the holidays. So it’s a good idea to keep in mind how alcohol affects your body, and what a good limit for your drinking is.
We recently discussed in neurochemistry how alcohol affects the body, particularly the signaling processes in the brain. After alcohol is ingested, a chemical called gamma-aminobutyric acid GABA is released in the brain. The primary effect of GABA is to reduce the activity of cells in the brain. As the brain activity is reduced, a person feels more laid back, comfortable, and relaxed.
GABA “inhibits” the usual high activity of the brain by blocking the effect of another chemical called glutamate. Glutamate causes the neurons of the brain to fire and send signals. GABA inhibits the activity of these neurons, causing decreased activity in the brain. This is why some cognitive functions are impaired during alcohol use, specifically memory. GABA affects glutamate receptors, which are important for encoding memories. This leads to impaired memory ability and “gaps in memory.
This “relaxant” effect of alcohol is a large part of what causes people to continue using alcohol. For some people, it makes social interaction easier. For others, it makes socializing more enjoyable through the “buzz” created by alcohol. Many others just enjoy being able to relax after a hard week. However, as we know, past a certain level, the effects of alcohol become more negative and not as enjoyable. The impairment from GABA causes dizziness, slurred speech, and poor coordination. Nausea and vomiting may occur as well. This two-part effect of alcohol has been called the “biphasic effect,” since its positive results come before some its more negative aftereffects.
After continued use of alcohol, tolerance can develop. This means that the body has become accustomed to the alcohol in the system and now can counteract the impairment. Glutamate becomes more active, overpowering the inhibitory effect of GABA. How does this happen? There’s evidence that several different chemicals and molecules in the brain are involved in reversing glutamate receptors desensitivity caused by GABA. One molecule called Fyn is important for cellular structures in the brain and seems to be involved in this process. It interacts with glutamate receptors and change their shape so that they become more active. Increased activity of glutamate means less effects of alcohol on the brain.
When a person becomes more tolerant to alcohol, this can impact their drinking habits. First of all, when someone becomes “used” to alcohol, he or she will be more likely to drink more to get the same effect. Thus, they are at greater risk of inadvertently drinking a toxic amount of alcohol. 
Additionally, when a person becomes tolerant, there is evidence from animal studies showing that part of tolerance is due to the environment they are used to drinking in. For example, a person might develop alcohol tolerance from typically drinking with friends in a club on Friday night. In this case, being in the club will help produce their reduced response (high GABA activity) to alcohol, leading them to increase their alcohol intake. But if they try to drink a similar large amount of alcohol in a different environment, their tolerance may be reduced from being in a different environment. This dose may overpower their system, resulting in possible harm.
Alcohol’s effects, then, are more complicated than GABA’s relaxing effects on the body and inhibitory action on chemicals like glutamate. Instead, your drinking habits and experiences shape how your body and brain respond to alcohol. Keep those in mind as you celebrate this holiday season!
Drunken words are honest thoughts.
Alcoholism is a serious problem around the world and especially in the U.S. Alcoholism affects some 14 million people in the United States alone, costing $ 184 billion a year (Newton &Messing, 2006). Heavy drinkers are also more susceptible to cancer than those who drink on occasion or not at all. This very common substance in our society was once illegal. But in the present day, it is very much legal to those of age and there are no restrictions on how much one individual can buy. The types and proofs of alcohol available for purchase can contain up to 80% alcohol!
Have you ever wondered why alcoholic beverages are also referred to as “spirits”? The mechanisms of alcohol in the brain work in a way that inhibits our inhibitions. Our inhibitions are those that restrain us from being inappropriate in public, speaking out of turn and the way we talk to each other. What I mean by this is that when people are inebriated, they act differently than if they were sober (obviously). But how does this happen?
Alcohol is substance that brings individuals a sense of unwinding and relaxation. In other instances it is used for celebrating and partying. I am often told by my fellow foreign exchange students that alcoholic beverages are abused in the U.S. unlike European countries; it is safe to say that alcohol could be a drug of abuse. When we imbibe, we are activating the reward center of our brain which is mediated by dopamine. Dopamine continues to activate neurons in the central nervous system called glutamate receptors that counterbalance inhibition by alcohol. The release of opioids in the brain, caused by alcohol, trigger a cascade of GABA release, which is an inhibitory neurotransmitter and is vital in inhibiting dopamine neurons. This also causes our decision making and response time to decrease. Have you ever heard of someone being called an emotional drunk? Alcohol plays a large role in emotion as we can see by the inhibition of inhibitions. But when alcohol is consumed regularly, substance dependence can eventually form due to the activation of the pleasure/reward system. The substance (alcohol) is usually the beginning of addiction. But when actions of drinking start to become habitual, the motion and/or holding the beverage become a fixation to the individual.
I’m not trying to insist that alcohol is the root of all evil and that anyone who consumes it will become an alcoholic. It is actually a fact that occasional ingestion of such libations is good for the body and heart. But when it becomes apparent to us that someone that we care about is abusing this substance, should we do something about it? Or should we let them handle it themselves?
http://www.alcohol-facts.net/