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neuroma

303 karma · joined November 18, 2017

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neuroma··on Schizoid Personality Disorder
RDOC is meant to provide a more objective, interoperable and feature focused approach. But its not very accessible
neuroma··on Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Spread Through Employee Mobility (2022)
Reminds me of how Psychiatrists have one if the highest suicide rates of all professions. Seems unusual; like an accountant who's insolvent, or a mechanics who's car always breaks down.
neuroma··on FTX’s collapse was a crime, not an accident
I wrote to a journalist called Dan Diamond who had written an article covering how FTXs 'collapse' would set back health philanthropy. He would not directly answer my reasonable questions except to say "I'm a health journalist ".

Like, if I write about how it's a sad a murderer is going to jail because they worked in a charity shop on Thursdays, that seems like distraction to the point of complicity.

It really sniffs of agenda. Crypto folk are too familiar with paying for articles. But this was in Washington Post.

neuroma··on Study links omega-3s to improved brain structure, cognition at midlife
They did adjust for confounders available in the Framington heart study.

Observational studies are less good at showing causation, sure.

Whilst I can't see the original article, the news summary insinuated a dose related effect. A sample size of >2000 is also decent.

Naturally in an ideal world you'd want a 3 arm, 20 year long, randomised placebo controlled double blinded study. But who would ever 1. Pay for it, 2. Wait that long.

neuroma··on Study: Time-Restricted Eating Improves Cardiovascular Health for Firefighters
What is late shift working? Is it different to night shift work?
neuroma··on LSD-like molecules counter depession without the trip
Maddening paywalled article; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05258-z Honestly why bother doing the science for public good on public money if the information can't be disseminated freely.
neuroma··on The Disaster of Superstition in Nutrition
I do commend the use of science and data analysis that the author is advocating.

There is a caveat. Most science, even when high calibre and delivering clear results, doesnt reliably predict wwhat individuals should do. It only speaks to an average across the population. Individuals have unique responses, which can vary by degree and also by direction. The gold standard is always careful experimentation on a case by case basis. This phenomena is more apparent in diet science where dissecting causation and elaborating mechanism is particularly difficult. Many studies are narrow in scope, with short duration, and applied to limited demographic types... limiting generalisability. Larger, longer studies in more natural contexts produce results that often conflict, presumably because of factors we don't fully understand.

So my two cents would be to remember that results of studies are not always true for individuals, annoying as that is. If you're serious about change you'll need to experiment.

neuroma··on The Disaster of Superstition in Nutrition
Is the claim that Asian women suffer lower rates of osteoporosis despite lower diary because they consume an alkaline diet something which has been studied at a scale and depth to support a causal link?
neuroma··on Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become
Honestly thought this was going to be about making small momentary alignments to love, courage, presence, gratitude....

Nope! Big career fireworks instead. Props to this guy anyway, sounds like he's enjoying whatever he's doing.

neuroma··on “No convincing evidence” that depression is caused by low serotonin levels
As we're dealing in analogies...

Better think the serotonin/ monoamine hypothesis of depression is akin to saying a server load balancing failure is because of "electricity imbalance". Whilst electrons are undeniably involved, the explanation is not useful, and distracts from better truths.

We have such a scarcity of safe and effective tools to probe and influence the human brain. Herein lies the hope that the diseases we invent might be treated neatly by the tools we posses. Yet, given the origin of disease and the tools are sparsely interlinked, it is too often just a fantasy.

Yet to "do nothing" is usually not acceptable and so we persist, and iteration or invention become the next hope.

neuroma··on I should have loved biology
Hold my beer...

Assume an experienced rider, as learning is different.

Intention is set, requiring the basal ganglia and fore brain and either a notion of free will, determinism, or whatever you fancy. The area ahead is scanned and mapped for a clear path via retina- optic nerve - visual cortex and particularly the dorsal parietal pathway. Initial organised motor signal sequences originate in pre and pre pre motor areas, hitting motor strip of the brain, particularly those homoncular areas corresponding to legs, arms and torso. Basal ganglia loops prime these circuits into action and help maintain their engagement. Activated motor strip neurons pass through the internal capsule, down the pyramidal tracts, the spinal cord, and meet a lower motor neuron in the anterior horn, which then carries the baton and traverses out if the cord (still the central nervous system) into the body and to the final destination: a muscle. Electrical depolarisation along the axon hops rapidly between nodes of ranvier, enabled by insulation myelination. At the terrminal synaptic bouton lower motor neurons branch across a muscle body. Each neurons innervated patch is a motor unit; multiple combine into a motor pool. Depolarisation triggers fusion of vesicles to the membrane endplate and release of acetylcholine into the thin synapse. Rapid diffusion moves thr snall molecukes to the muscle membrane, the sarcolemma, who then bind to the membrane spanning Nm nicotinic receptors which open and allow a rapid flooding of sodium into the muscle cell syncitium and efflux of potassiun into the extra cellular matrix. Depolarisation of that muscle allows further calcium released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum to activate protein machinery; myosin and actin run across each other and fibres contract. With enough activity concentric movement is achieved across the associated joint. In a manner similar to walking, various spinal reflexes and the spinal locomotor pattern generator create a local, fast framework for actualisation of the impulses. Feed back on state of the musculature ascends the spine via dorsal root ganglia and the dorsal horn. Amongst these are proprioceptive afferents, rapidly feeding back state of tension in muscle fibres from golgi tendon organs along highly myelinated type 1a fibres. These signals pass into the cerebellum where they are co processed with signals from the eyes and vestibular system. The cerebellum modulates the intensity of descending motor activity by comparing expected to perceived muscle state. It also orchestrates balance by integrating general body state, visual cues and vestibular information. In this way the small and large oscillations of riding the bike are maintained and constrained into an orderly process.

Experienced riders can dedicate higher function, i.e Executive frontal areas to other tasks, or to refined modulation of thr task to overcome specific issues. Beginners must use all their frontal powers to focus attention on the task, painstakingly sequence actions, and reflect on the numerous errors and their consequences. Learning is slow, multi system, and largely independent of autobiographical memory.

neuroma··on High-intensity exercise, some new news
Respectfully, to say you did something for at least half of your adult days, but that it wasn't rewarding, is perhaps a misuse of the term reward.

I'd suggest that whilst you may have suffered in doing the exercise for whatever reason, there was also a parallel and strong reward process embedding and sustaining that behaviour in you.

neuroma··on Modern city dwellers have lost about half their gut microbes
I think OP was rather bemoaning the lack of useful information and scientific rigor. Their points were good I thought.

Whilst microbiome is a fascinating topic people are quick to lend unsubstantiated pet theories new credence, harboured by the topics nasence and complexity.

Anecdotally, logical fallacy bingo is a great actual game and I recommend everyone play

neuroma··on MIT Ends Elsevier Negotiations (2020)
Could you kindly elaborate in why scihub isn't useful beyond individual researchers? This has not been my experience at all.
neuroma··on Indoor air filtration could lead to increased airborne endotoxin levels (2020)
More nuance could be: Forcing air through micro particles suspended in a filter creates other kinds of micro particles rarely foujd in air, and with unknown effects on health.
neuroma··on Bits of advice I wish I had known
I wasn't aware that using food as a reward is a risk factor for eating disorders. I mean it has an elegance to it, but equally, most elegant ideas don't play out well in reality. Could you add a reference or some detail?
neuroma··on Bits of advice I wish I had known
I'd suggest that 1. Psychiatrists and very different to psychologists 2. Intra job variation of personality and parenting style probably exceeds inter job variation 3. Anger at dad may not be a consequence of their job
neuroma··on The Psychedelic Experience: A new concept in psychotherapy (1962) [pdf]
Are you invoking mind body dualism?

Or referring to the limits of modern biology?

neuroma··on The Psychedelic Experience: A new concept in psychotherapy (1962) [pdf]
Yeah sadly not always true. Some people go get lasting problems from certain drugs. They can provoke psychiatric deteriorations. Examples: potent cannabinoids, amphetamines, high dose psychedelics. Lots to be said about set, setting and underlying vulnerabilities.

Still probably a healthy mantra to recite to anyone in the midst of overwhelm as most people a fine, and its a caring act.

neuroma··on Are you a baby? A litmus test
Sure, I get that simplification is essential to think and live.

But rules of thumb about how people generally are inevitably lose fidelity for individuals, making then often entirely wrong.

For example anxious people find certain things help their quality of life, but those things may be toxic to someone without an anxious disposition.

In the same way that we love someone who 'has the answer' - its cognitively relaxing - i suggest we are too easily led to sudpend judgement on issues which entirely deserve our full consideration

neuroma··on A drug that cures alcoholism may be the next anti-anxiety medication
Loved your comment.

Also I'm impulsively here to query the use of Physical vs Mental components of alcohol abuse.

I personally find it difficult to separate the two domains. I understand one is referring to detoxification and the other to habbit and belief. Both those are simultaneously physical and mental, and benefit from support within both those frames.

Mind brain dichotomy is not very useful IMO. Happy to be shown counter examples.

neuroma··on Cultural anorexia: The pursuit of thicker desires in a thinning world
Anorexia means without appetite. We are demonstrably full of hunger for culture. But the quality and nature of that culture is changing rapidly with modern tech.

I think the author's metaphor is better framed around nutritional value. Modern culture is rich in and dominated by junk. Consuming it builds junk values and junk ideas.

neuroma··on Are you a baby? A litmus test
Really enjoyed reading this.

Makes me wonder though about how we inevitably generalise people's personal stories into rules of thumb. I'm acutely aware how one person's journey for an antidote to their personality dysfunctions isn't always medicine for another person.

If Hayley has dominantly anxious-avoidant attachment style it'd explain her ambivalence. The antidote is engage executive regulation (to supress the anxiety and flight response), and downplay emotional resonance.

Common a formula as it is, could be a muddle for you or I if we don't have her underlying predispositions.

What does it say about me that I wrote this.

neuroma··on The Edited Latecomer’s Guide to Crypto
Agree, but, mind bender... this relationship also applies to currencies. A useful statistic is the volume transactions required to shift the price 2%, looking at an open order book. It gives you a notion of the available liquidity. It is liquidity that matters, as it allows influx and efflux without causing inelastic price movements.
neuroma··on Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?
Briefly,

100% oxygen is probably unhealthy, and also a fire risk. Unless OP meant targeting 100% oxygen saturation? High inspired O2 fractions have been associated with worse outcomes in conditions like stroke and myocardial infarction, although this may be a specific sub case where hypoperfusion injury creates oxidative stress.

neuroma··on Advice on accessing BBC News
Seriously? Nobody beyojd a few OAPs actually thinks the BBC is a font of perfect vision. It's simply a but less crassly propaganda ridden then most other sources, and more centrist (if you believe in the 1d political tribalism meme).

The anti BBC narrative is largely political posturing to discredit one if the few remaining sources that aren't bought by private individuals to further their personal objectives. It's an obvious business move to increase their traction and value proposition.

neuroma··on Advice on accessing BBC News
Link? Can't find any evidence that people have been prosecuted in UK for using VPN for TPB.
neuroma··on Kimchi: The latest update to Mina’s proof system
I don't care to defend a blockchain company, however, Mina has been about for a while and is one of the groups actually investing in engineering + tech. Maybe worth another look? If you can persevere past the disgust indicing food names
neuroma··on Hypertension: Is It Time to Replace Drugs with Nutrition? (2014)
This is a nice idea but unfortunately doesn't translate to significant decreases in blood pressure for most people. 4g of IV magnesium sulphate barely affects the blood pressure.

But I'd still recommend more broccoli for everyone.

neuroma··on People don't work as much as they say
Whilst I agree that there must be better ways for healthcare staff to work than at max capacity until they burn out... it seems odd to be angry at them for this. Most would prefer a healthy work life balance, and patients would surely prefer a well rested clinician.
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