This last semester in Neurochemistry has been filled with interesting topics about alcoholism, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, concussions, bipolar disorder and so much more. Few, if any of us could say that we haven’t been affected in some way by at least one of these topics. At some point in our lives either we or someone close to us will be diagnosed with one of these disorders that we discussed in depth over the course of the year. Through discussing these topics I have gained a further understanding of the different possible causes for Alzheimer’s and long term effects of concussion, and much more. I may never be a neurosurgeon or participate in break through research to find the cure for autism or bipolar disorder. But nevertheless I have gained a further appreciation for neuroscience and along with that appreciation I can hopefully have a greater understanding when talking to medical professionals when either I or a loved one is diagnosed with a various disorder. Even if one of the disorders is not one that we discussed in class I feel confident in my ability to research and understand it on my own and would also feel comfortable enough to ask the doctors for further information. The quote by Sir Francis Bacon, “Knowledge is Power,” is especially applicable now. Because of this class I now have the power to understand and ask for more information in the field of neuroscience.
Neurochemistry: Integrating Many Scientific Fields
A capstone is a culmination or peak of achievement. My experience in Neurochemistry this semester fit this label well, as it integrated several scientific fields into one, encompassing field with exciting applications.
I was nervous for this class at first. I was very interested in Neurochemistry, but I lacked a through background in biochemistry or neuroscience or even rudimentary biology before the semester began. Assuming I would have to play some serious catch up, I went into the class with trepidation, but with a significant interest in this burgeoning field. The first few weeks were a little rough. Besides knowing (generally) what a neuron looked like and being able to distinguish a brain from a potato, I was completely devoid of any advanced neuroscience knowledge, and it took a decent amount of out-of-class reading to get up to where I wanted to be. However, once a sufficient background was present from out of class and in class review, it became easier to draw connections both within the field of neurochemistry and between previous fields of study. My neurochemistry course not only improved my understanding of neuroscience; it improved my understanding of cellular biology, biochemistry, and even psychology. Neurochemistry is the epitome of intellectual integration; the issues it presents can be approached from a plethora of angles, something that certainly wasn’t lost on someone who hadn’t taken the suggested coursework as a foundation.
Not only has my Neurochemistry course provided me with a greater understanding of the brain and the possible problems that can arise due to dysfunctory signaling pathways, it provided a potential research path I may want to pursue in graduate school. The articles we were provided with approached many different neurological diseases and disorders, each article containing new pathways while reiterating common themes we had discovered throughout the semester. The beautiful complexity of the brain, and the applications chemistry has in understanding it, drew me in, and it is certainly a field you wouldn’t be hard pressed to find the meaning of your research in. It has had a sizable effect on how I have approached my other chemistry courses this semester, lending extra meaning to some of their techniques and topics. This class was not only a “culmination” of my undergraduate career, but also may serve as a potent link to my future.
In conclusion, this course has been a fulfilling, encompassing experience that enabled me to draw knowledge from several fields to delve further into the subjects at hand. In this way, this course was a good simulation of a liberal arts education; a multi-faceted background can really propel your understanding of an area beyond what a narrow focus could provide.
So, what's the take-home message from our Neurochemistry class?
Have you ever wondered? ——–Why do we become forgetful as we get older? How do pain killers magically alleviate our physical pain and why are some of us addicted to them? Why is eating fruits and vegetables that are rich in Vitamin C, E, Flavonoids and Carotenoids good for reducing the chances of having Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases? What are the anti-oxidants and what role do they play in the body? How do athletes know they are safe to get back to play after having a concussion? Why do bipolar patients have episodes of severe mood swings? Why are a lot of us obese and how can we fight obesity from a young age? What is ‘good’ about alcohol and why is alcoholism and alcohol-related incidents causing a big concern for our society? How can we understand autism and help the autistic people?
Those are some of the basic questions and topics that we discussed in our neurochemistry class. We discussed about biochemical, physiological and social aspects of these neurological and behavioral disorders which are the leading medical issues that we are facing today. These issues cost billions of dollars on our health care system in the United States and more or less in other parts of the world. In addition to learning about the neural mechanisms behind these disorders, we discussed about possible therapeutic targets, behavioral therapy, importance of diet, etc. and impact of each disorder on our society today. Hence, we were not only learning according to the book but we were also engaging the information we learned from the research papers into the real world applications. Most of us in class would know someone who is suffering from one of the disorders that we covered and we would relate the information of this real person with what we have learned from the literature.
From this Neurochemistry class, I not only learned about the fascinating neural mechanisms behind some of the most important neurological and psychological disorders, but I also learned about the prevalence of each disorder, the magnitude of impact it has on the lives of the patients and the society as a whole. Critically thinking and discussing about possible therapeutic targets also leads to better understanding of the symptoms and paves the way for continued studies on a certain topic of interest at the graduate level. One of the significant parts about this class is having the opportunity to share what we have learned in class with the rest of the community via these blogs on the internet. We have the opportunity to communicate with the people outside of our class or even outside of our college or town as these blogs spread the awareness of the some of the common disorders. As a neuroscience student and as a cobber, I feel rewarded and engaged after learning some of the most interesting topics and sharing what I have learned in this Neurochemistry class. I feel that this class serves its purpose of a core class at Concordia College by engaging the students into becoming responsibly engaged in the affairs of the world.
Neurochemistry as a Capstone
Neuroscience is a fairly new frontier in the scientific world. It combines biology, chemistry, psychology and other fields at the specific point of the nervous system. These interactions and their implications in the human mind are fascinating. I became so interested in neuroscience specifically for the reason that it encompassed my diverse interest in various fields of science.
Neurochemistry has been one of the most intriguing courses I have taken at Concordia. It has pushed me deeper into the world of neuroscience and into a more specific and concentrated area of it. Understanding how all of the things I learned in general chemistry, organic chemistry and biochemistry apply to our brains has been very rewarding – it is always nice to realize that what you learn in class really does apply to the real world.
The articles we read were hot topics in the world of health and diseases such as Autism, Bipolar Disorder, Cancer, Alcoholism, etc. They are huge issues currently affecting our society and currently unresolved. The articles make us evaluate what researchers have found and the validity of their conclusions based on other literature; they make us really think about what is happening in our brains and how all of these diseases are affecting that specific, and vitally important, part of our body.
I think that one of my favorite aspects of this capstone course is Friday discussions. Although we may get off topic from time to time, these discussions truly make us evaluate the issues our society is facing. It makes us apply the research to the real world and understand how it affects us and what it can lead us towards in the future. Is social media affecting multiple aspects of our life? Can you really cure alcoholism? Would everyone form cancer if they lived long enough? It makes us face questions such as these and evaluate our own lives as well.
I have also learned many valuable skills in this course related to reading scientific literature. We learn to carefully read the articles and organize them to initially understand the message the author is trying to send. We then tear through the paper and research items that we still do not understand. This teaches us how to search for credible sources and evaluate the validity of all of the information that is available to us. We then put all of this together to best understand the article and all that it can teach us. Finally, we use this information to discuss the ‘bigger picture’ and the implications it has in our lives and society in general.
Overall, neurochemistry was a great capstone course. I feel that it was a wonderful way to bring together all of the material I have learned in the chemistry field thus far at Concordia and to develop my skill sets as a scientist.
Is there a single cause of autism?
This week’s article discussed a new hypothesis for the cause of autism. It is called a redox/methylation hypothesis and suggests that environmental issues activate autism in individuals who are genetically predisposed to the condition. The hypothesis points a finger at heavy metals and xenobiotics (potentially harmful chemicals). However, it seems that if this were the case, autism levels should be lower now than they were in the past, which is not the case. National and worldwide government agencies have set increasingly more strict restrictions on the amount of heavy metals introduced to our environment. The hypothesis also mentions vaccines containing ethylmercury as a cause however, ethylmercury has been removed from vaccines and autism levels have only risen.
It seems that something else is playing a role in causing autism. The mother-child interactions both in-utero and once the child is born seem to be very important. It has been suggested that the mother’s attitude towards the fetus could be related. If the mother did not want the pregnancy or is unsure about her feelings towards the fetus, the fetus is not talked to as much and does not experience the same in-utero environment as a fetus whose mother truly desired the pregnancy.
Once a child is born their interactions with their mother are also crucial. If a child is not stimulated and given attention they may be at risk for difficulty with social interactions later in life. A child frequently left alone may become more independent and not desire interactions with others or not know how to properly interact with others. This seems to better trend with time and autism incident increase because mothers are more frequently going to work earlier and earlier after a child is born. A fairly average maternity leave may be as little as four weeks. After this point the child is likely taken to a child care facility of varying quality. With only a few adults per multiple children, a child is not getting as much attention as they would have say 75 years ago when many mothers did not work and stayed home with their children throughout their entire childhood.
Clearly the cause of autism still remains under investigation as no hypothesis seems to fully explain the disease. It is possible that many of the suggested hypotheses are working together as opposed to there being one single, easy answer.
Is a pharmacological cure for alcoholism in our future?
One of our recent articles discussed the effects of ethanol, or alcohol as it is more commonly referred to. Multiple signaling pathways in the brain are affected by alcohol either directly or indirectly. These affects change depending on the brain region and whether the ethanol exposure is acute or chronic. Based on the varying information provided by the article it seems that a pharmacological cure for alcoholism is far in our future. However, it raises many questions about the possibility of a drug to reverse the behavioral effects of alcohol or the possibility of an alcoholism drug.
What would be the advantage of creating a drug that would reverse the behavioral effects of acute alcohol use? What first comes to mind is use in emergency rooms for individuals who come in with alcohol poisoning. A drug could be created to reverse the effects of the alcohol and ‘sober them up’. However, if individuals experience this they may begin to think that they can drink as much alcohol as they want and all they have to do is go to the hospital and the doctor will reverse the effects with a simple injection or pill. Especially in the case of teenagers or young adults who do not yet understand the extent of the negative effects of alcohol on their bodies may abuse the creation of this drug.
Second, what aspect of alcoholism would a drug for chronic alcohol use target? Would it target the reward of the alcohol or the behavioral effects or tolerance or the drug-seeking behavior? Alcoholism is not a simple condition; there are many aspects. It seems that there would need to be a drug to encompass all of these aspects which may be unreasonable. Although, it seems that the single best area to target would be the desire to seek out alcohol. If the desire can be decreased then, in theory, the alcoholic would cease to seek out the alcohol and therefore no longer drink.
However, with the information from this article it seems that too many structures are involved with different effects from alcohol exposure to really create a successful drug. It is most likely that pharmacological ‘cures’ are a long way down the road and other options should be considered. For example, teaching children and teens about the extensive negative effects of alcohol use to prevent binge drinking and alcohol poisoning. Also, therapies or support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous may be more helpful to chronic alcohol abusers. Individuals must have the desire to face their alcohol overuse and overcome the obstacles even though it may be a more grueling process.
Is Autism really on the rise?
This week’s article discussed a hypothesis surrounding the environmental and genetic factors that may contribute to the development of autism. From 1970 to 2002, the diagnosed cases of autism rose from 3 in 1000 to 66 in 1000, increasing over twenty fold. Naturally, a lot of research has gone into why these rates seem to be increasing so dramatically. To understand this, we need to understand what can potentially cause autism.
Neurological diseases or disorders are complex, and focusing in on a single neurological dysfunction is rarely possible. The complexity of our human brain often leads to multiple hypotheses on what causes each disease. While genetic factors play a role, there are environmental factors that can cause autism as well. While multiple theories for the causes of autism exist, our paper this week focused on the role of heavy metal toxicity and oxidative stress in facilitating its development. Heavy metals, such as cadmium, arsenic, lead, and mercury, can have profound effects on the brain even at small concentrations, being correlated with disorders like ADHD and autism, and even diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
Heavy metal compounds can be referred to as xenobiotics, chemicals found in our body that are not produced or expected to be present in our biological system. Heavy metals can bind strongly to sulfur containing compounds in our bodies, disrupting normal paths of sulfur metabolism. Sulfur, through glutathione, methionine, and other molecules, plays an integral role in DNA methylation, which is important in gene regulation and other processes. Particularly, this metabolism is crucial during oxidative stress, thus metal’s interfering with this pathway can lead to general dysfunction, leading to symptoms that often characterize autism. For example, the body attempts to clear xenobiotics from the body by binding them to glutathione and clearing them in urine. Therefore, heavy metals can remove important sulfur-containing compounds from our bodies, leaving us more vulnerable to oxidative stress.
Can the actions of heavy metals explain the surge in cases of documented autism? If this was the case, we would have to expect rising levels of heavy metals being inadvertently consumed/entering the body. A well-known controversy surrounding heavy metals involved thiomersal, an ethylmercury-based preservative used to prevent bacterial infections, found in vaccines. Rising awareness of the deleterious effects of mercury in the 1970’s led to a well-publicized, fierce backlash against the vaccine. Despite extensive research among scientists declaring the concentrations of mercury in these vaccines were far below toxic levels, controversy still surrounds the compound, and it has been removed completely from vaccines. Its removal did not decrease the rising autism rates, reliably indicating it wasn’t a significant cause of autism. In addition, heavy metals are sometimes present in soil, while trace amounts of heavy metals can be found in certain cosmetics. These levels aren’t in themselves very dangerous, but regular usage is hypothesized to have possible side effects. Despite our possible exposure to heavy metals, little is known about whether exposure is increasing. In fact, increased awareness of the toxic effects of heavy metals has led to government agencies cutting back their usage. Thus, it is possible heavy metal exposure may even be decreasing, despite autism levels still rising.
What else could cause autism? A less chemical explanation is lack of proper social interaction. Studies have shown that babies who didn’t receive much touch from their parents or didn’t receive much attention in early childhood were at a greater risk for developing autism. In a society where it is becoming more likely for both parents to have jobs, it is possible children on average are receiving far less attention from their parents than children raised forty, or even ten years ago. This lack of social interaction could lend itself to the social problems that are displayed by autistic children. However, children who may not see their parents as often still may get plenty of social interaction at their daycare or school. Thus, it is possible this phenomenon isn’t a significant contributor. Because it is hard, even impossible, to provide reliable quantifiable data of this effect, it isn’t easy to cite this as a main cause of the surfacing epidemic.
It is possible that as scientists we are missing a universal factor lending itself to increasing levels of autism. Most likely, it is a random combination of factors leading to each autistic case. However, is it possible that cases of autism aren’t actually increasing? Awareness of autism is constantly increasing, which could lend heavily to the increased amount of documented cases. Cases that may have previously gone unnoticed forty years ago may be diagnosed readily in the current climate. Perhaps the “increasing levels” of autism is actually a marker of a good thing: children with autism being diagnosed more readily may receive positive treatment whereas a child in their same position decades ago may have gone unnoticed, which provides them a better chance to live normal, successful lives.
Most neurological disorders are as complicated as they are devastating. The etiology of current disorders like autism are often filled with hazy areas and judgment calls. While it may be difficult in the short run to develop a universal “cure” for autism or similar disorders, increasing awareness can help provide treatment for those in need. However, there is a fine line between increased awareness and trigger-happy diagnoses. Diagnosis with social disorder often comes with a stigma that may make the patients feel even more helpless. As we seek to find the scientific explanations of these disorders, it is important for us to treat each case with care and deliberation.
Your Brain on Heavy Metals.
This week in Neurochem we talked about a very controversial and growingly prevalent topic – autism. As most people know, autism is a disorder characterized by a difficulty in verbal/nonverbal communication, social interactions, relationships, and disinterest/extreme interest in various activities. And, interestingly, the disorder is becoming more and more prevalent. According to the article, “How environmental and genetic factors combine to cause autism: A redox/methylation hypothesis,” by Deth et al. of Northeastern University, the incidences of autism have grown from 3 in every 10,000 children in 1970 to 66 in 10,000 children in 2002. This shocking increase has many people (especially mothers) wondering…why? What are we doing differently that is causing this drastic increase? While some attribute the increase to advanced diagnosis ability and awareness, it still leaves you wondering if there are other reasons as well.
When talking about the causes of autism, it’s hard not to mention the thimerosal debate. Thimerosal is an inorganic mercury compound that has been used as a preservative in vaccines since the 1930’s. In 1999, new research on the toxicity of thimerosal was conducted by the FDA, and, although research didn’t suggest anything to cause alarm, it was still decided to phase out thimerosal as a precautionary measure due to its structural relatedness to methylmercury.3 In 2000, parents of autistic children started forming groups based on the belief that vaccines had caused their children’s disorders. Although much research has disproved the thimerosal/autism link, the debate still lives on today.3
While thimerosal, a heavy metal derivative, seems not to cause autism, there is reason to believe that heavy metals could still be a culprit of the disorder. According to this week’s article, a redox/methylation hypothesis of autism is still a valid argument and explanation. This is based on the tendency of heavy metals to inhibit an important protein of sulfur metabolism, methionine synthase.
Homocysteine is an amino acid derivative of cysteine. In sulfur metabolism, HCY can be converted to three other molecules – S-Adenosyl-L-homocysteine (SAH), methionine (MET), or cystathionine, a glutathione precursor. In times of oxidative stress due to heavy metal exposure, most of this HCY is shunted to cystathionine production due to glutathione’s role as a powerful antioxidant. Essentially, methionine synthase is shut down to deal with more pressing issues – the oxidative stress. This leads to all sorts of effects for the cell.
One effect is SAH accumulation, since the reaction between HCY and SAH is reversible and no HCY is being utilized by methionine synthase. This inhibits two types of methylation reactions in the cell – DNA methylation and phospholipid methylation. DNA methylation is very important in turning certain genes on and off, so this can have astounding effects on the cell. Phospholipid methylation is related to dopamine release and neural synchronization which is responsible for attention and focus-related thinking skills. Genetic factors are very important in predisposing an individual in autism, however, they don’t totally cause autism, supporting this heavy metal hypothesis. Many genetic mutations and polymorphisms in autism appear in molecules related to this redox/methylation hypothesis.
Although the exact mechanisms of autism have yet to be elucidated, the redox/methylation hypothesis seems quite likely considering the joint environmental/genetic factors. Since it seems quite likely that the environmental part of autism could be causing the dramatic increase in cases seen in recent decades, further research in this area is in dire need. Furthermore, as rates increase, advocating for increased awareness about the disorder is desperately needed as well. Autism creates new educational/social challenges which will require novel methods of interpersonal interaction and treatment for these individuals.
http://www.morphonix.com/software/education/science/brain/game/specimens/wet_brain.html
http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Articles&ArticleID=1098
http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/autism-symptoms
Deth, R., Muratore, C., Benzecry, J., Power-Charnitsky, V., and Waly, M. How environmental and genetic factors combine to cause autism: A redox/methylation hypothesis. Neurotoxicology 2008;29:190-201.
http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/thimerosal.php
Final Reflections
I enjoyed this Neurochemistry capstone course firstly, because of the interesting and fascinating topics that we covered. In the beginning part of the course, we discussed more of the biochemistry aspects and learned about different pathways, receptors, and substances within the human body that would provide us with a foundation for understanding the articles that were later to come. I don’t think that I would have gotten nearly as much out of the papers if we hadn’t discussed some of these pathways and mechanisms beforehand. The topics of the papers we discussed included concussions, addiction, obesity, bipolar, autism, and others. These were great articles to discuss because they covered a broad spectrum of disorders and they were also things that most of us have heard of and encountered at some point in our lives. However, I think that the most important skill I learned in this course is how to dissect these papers, and investigate different aspects of them in order to understand more about the whole picture. This will be a valuable skill as I continue my education and need to know how to investigate every aspect of a topic in order to fully understand it. Other aspects of this course such as the discussion of our individual areas of investigation, class discussions, and writing blog posts are all important skills to being a scientist. Concordia prides itself in “sending out thoughtful and informed individuals to influence the affairs of the world.” In order to be an effective scientist, one needs to share their area of expertise with other scientists, and know how to communicate their knowledge and discoveries both with other scientists and the general public. In this way, ideas and knowledge can be shared, and scientific advances and further discoveries can be made. This course has taught me how to do that through class discussions, investigations, and writing blog posts for the public to see.
Synchronized Dance Therapy for Autism
A new hypothesis in the cause of Autism is that of a dysfunctional motor neuron system. Motor neurons were discovered in the early 1990s while studying the brains of macaque monkeys. Researchers found that a group of neurons in the front part of their brains known as the ventral premotor cortex (just in front of the brain’s motor area) were activated when the monkey performed different tasks. The big shocker however, was that these same neurons were activated when the monkey watched someone else do the same action, just as if it had been doing the task itself. Much more research has been done since their discovery, and motor neurons are now known to be important to the tasks of empathy and socializing with other people, including communicating our emotions through facial expressions. In fact, it has been found that people with autism have dysfunctional mirror neuron systems. A characteristic of the disorder is difficulty socializing with others, and dysfunctional mirror neurons play a role in their inability to understand the intentions of others based on the action they observe. It has also been shown that the more severe the symptoms of autism are, the more inactive their mirror neurons are. The finding of these correlations has led to new therapeutic approaches that include autism patients imitating the actions of others.
V.S Ramachandran is a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Diego and is very well known and respected in the field of behavioural neurology. I have read is book: Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind that describes different neurological disorders, some of which are very rare and phenomenal, and how these “abnormalities” help us to understand how the brain is suppose to function under “normal” circumstances. I would highly recommend it to anyone fascinated by the mysteries of the human brain. Ramachandran has been studying this theory of autism that has come to be known as the “Broken Mirror” theory of autism. In a recent correspondence in Medical Hypotheses, Ramachandran and his colleague E.L. Seckel proposed a type of dance therapy for autism based on the theory that the mirror neuron system in autistic patients is not missing, but merely “dormant”. In Phantoms in the Brain, Ramachandran describes a therapy that he developed for patients with phantom limb involving mirrors. In a similar fashion, the therapy for autism that Ramachandran proposes is that an autistic patient would be in a room with multiple mirrors at different angles, and three neurotypical people. These people would dance to a rhythm and the autistic patient would mimic their movements and be able to watch themselves performing these actions in the many mirrors. In addition, Ramachandran and Seckel propose that various patterns of touch be administered to the autistic patient while they are watching themselves in the mirror, because of the existence of mirror neurons that fire when you watch someone else being touched. I would assume that the goal with this therapy is that the multiple ways to stimulate the mirror neurons would aim to restore the function of dormant mirror neurons in autistic patients.
This is a fascinating and novel therapy, and it will be interesting to see the future of therapies of this kind. Our paper with week was about the other pathways that may be a cause for autism. I think that future research should look at the theory of mirror neurons in conjunction with this article. Could the redox/methylation hypothesis be linked to these dormant mirror neurons, or can environmental factors impact mirror neurons in the same way that they can harm other pathways leading to autism? Findings about this link would also help to create combination treatments, which often seem to work better for many disorders, than one treatment alone.
For more information of mirror neurons and this new treatment, read the full articles that I have described, they’re very interesting!: http://www.sciencedirect.com.cordproxy.mnpals.net/science?_ob=MiamiImageURL&_cid=272414&_user=1822410&_pii=S0306987710004603&_check=y&_origin=search&_zone=rslt_list_item&_coverDate=2011-01-31&wchp=dGLzVlS-zSkzS&md5=499e9bc883e9a5c8121decf6c6450459/1-s2.0-S0306987710004603-main.pdf ; http://www.sfn.org/index.aspx?pagename=brainbriefings_mirrorneurons