Epistimi a Science Channel: Recent Episodes
Victor Lee
Why do you get mentally tired?
We have all felt mentally exhausted, but why is that, and what causes it?
You’ve probably heard of all the famous movies that feature multiple personalities, like “Split”, “Black Swan”, and “Me, Myself, and Irene”. But how accurate are these movies in depicting multiple personality disorder now known as Dissociative Identity Disorder? Let’s do some myth-busting!
The number of symptoms that persist or are developed because of covid is massive. And one big cluster of symptoms is neurological. What do we know so far, and why do symptoms persist long after the virus goes away?
Sleep deprivation changes you.
Have you noticed that when you don't get enough sleep, you feel like punching someone in the face the next day?
Lack of sleep can affect us in many ways: we feel fatigued, and our attention, decision-making skills, and memory are considerably worse. And it also kind of makes us jerks: when we're exhausted, we become more irritable, and we tend to see things negatively.
There are many risk factors that will push someone to pick up a firearm. These can be economic and cultural factors, access to firearms, and many more. Here, we are focusing on the psychosocial and neurobiological risk factors, starting with mental health.
Recently, monkeypox cases have been reported across multiple countries, and since July 2022, WHO has declared the virus a public health emergency of international concern.
Can we grow neurons as adults?
This is a question that scientists have been pondering for quite some time, and there have been some ingenious experiments to answer this question.
We’re all afraid of something, but this fear becomes a phobia once the anxiety you feel stops you from functioning in everyday life, and the response becomes disproportionate to the threat. Learn how you can overcome your phobia with a little help, probably in less than a day.
A study of 32 million people found covid vaccines increase the risk of developing neurological disorders. From the neurological disorders examined, scientists found that the Astrazeneca vaccine increases the risk of Guillain-barre syndrome (GBS), Bell’s palsy and Myasthenic disorders. And the Pfizer vaccine increases the risk of hemorrhagic strokes.
How is this possible?
With the Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard trial, Borderline Personality Disorder has had a great deal of public attention, it’s important to educate ourselves about this mental disorder and hopefully help others reach out for the help they need.
In this video, we discuss the common symptoms and brain differences people with borderline personality disorder exhibit.
Most of us desire something. This could be being accepted into our dream university, getting a new job, or winning the lottery. And we think that if we get what we want, we will become happier. But the truth is, our brains have other plans in mind.
What makes us connect with other people? Oxytocin is a molecule that provides feelings of warmth, relaxation, and contentment when we participate in pro-social behaviors. Popularly termed as the “love hormone”, “cuddle hormone”, or “moral molecule,” this little hormone plays a big role in our connections with other people.
Why are some men so violent?
From genes to the environment around us, there are many factors that can push someone to develop aggressive behavior.
To understand how sex is determined, we first need to know what is the difference that makes males males and females females.
Do you know how thoughts affect your body? Whether it is surviving a potentially dangerous scenario, thinking that something will cure you, or having a particular mindset, our minds and thoughts produce physiological changes in our bodies that affect our health and performance.
Studies are reporting small particles of plastic are found in our poo, gut, lungs, and other organs. So there is no question on whether it is getting into our system. The question is, how is it affecting our health?
Have you ever questioned how the sense of touch works? Biologically speaking, what happens when something touches our skin? Here is a history of the most important scientific findings to understand the sense of touch!
A clinical trial of a new potential treatment for treating severe depression is reporting promising results. The method involves incorporating personalized brain stimulation to identify specific circuits in the patient’s brain to recognize when depression symptoms start and the regions involved to alleviate the symptoms.
Sources:
Research article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01480-w
Article:https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2021/09/421541/treating-severe-depression-demand-brain-stimulation
Misophonia
Do sounds made by other people make you annoyed or angry?
People with Misophonia often have a strong negative response to human sounds, with many of the trigger sounds originating from facial activity, like chewing, crunching, breathing, joint cracking, nail clipping, and tapping.
There are now several brain scans studies reporting brain differences in people with Misophonia. These brain regions are linked with emotion processing, reflex-like negative reactions, high interoception, and even brain regions that may make people with misophonia feel like they are losing control of their bodies.
Sources:
Articles: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/may/24/research-reveals-why-some-find-the-sound-of-others-eating-so-irritating
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/why-people-hate-everyday-sounds-20671684
Research articles:
The motor basis for Misophonia
https://www.jneurosci.org/content/41/26/5762
The brain basis for Misophonia
https://www.cell.com/current-biology/comments/S0960-9822(16)31530-5
Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbHgg0wR9rg
Have you ever wondered if there are personality traits that give an advantage in the dating market?
Research has shown that while individuals look for partners that match their personalities to some degree (assortative mating), they would also be willing to date someone with higher conscientiousness, agreeableness, and extraversion but lower levels of neuroticism.
And not only that, but extroverts have a higher advantage of dating someone due to their need for socializing more. In fact, this need or internal motivation can be observed by looking at the brain differences between introverts and extroverts.
Sources:
Science Direct research articles:
-Do certain personality traits provide a mating market competitive
advantage? Sex, offspring & the big 5.
-The ideal romantic partner personality
Psychology today:
How Your Personality Predicts Your Romantic Life
Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDLYU2Ug7dA
You may consider yourself a chocolate lover, a cereal person, or someone that cannot live without eating a good fillet mignon once a week. But how would you feel if the cravings, or the feeling of fullness and satisfaction we get after a meal, were being manipulated by small organisms living inside our body?
There are many reasons we feel cravings or satisfied, and one of those reasons is the bacteria living in our gut.
There are approximately 40 trillion bacteria in our bodies; most of them live in the large intestine.
Bacteria can control our feeding behavior through a variety of mechanisms. For example, gut bacteria can make us crave the type of food containing the nutrients they need, change the flavor of the food we eat making it tastier, make us feel good after eating certain dishes, and even induce the feeling of fullness or satiety after absorbing the nutrients they needed. In this video, I’ll share some ways for controlling which bacteria gets to live inside our bodies.
How can you control or change your cravings? Make sure to watch the video.
Hosted and scripted by: Victor Lee
Animations: Luis Lee
Sources:
Review: Is eating behavior manipulated by the gastrointestinal microbiota? Evolutionary pressures and potential mechanisms
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/bies.201400071
The shocking source of your cravings
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mood-microbe/201905/the-shocking-source-your-cravings
Do gut bacteria rule our minds? In an ecosystem within us, microbes evolved to sway food choices
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140815192240.htm
Bacteria In Mouth Help Make Certain Foods Tasty
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081110181811.htm
Gut microbes signal to the brain when they're full
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151124143330.htm
Are you sure you developed lasting immunity against Covid-19?
9 out of 10 asymptomatic patients and 1 out of 4 symptomatic patients did not show lasting immunity about half a year after recovering from Covid-19. So unless you are really sure that you mounted a lasting immune response, it is quite a gamble not boosting our immune system with a vaccine shot.
Sources
Research article. Oxford preprint study:
https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-612205/v1
CDC report
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7032e1.htm?s_cid=mm7032e1_w
Article
https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/vaccine-immunity-stronger-than-natural-infection-covid/
Disclaimer
This video was scripted with published and preprint studies up to July 2021.
New studies have reported that immunity gained from natural infection is stronger than a vaccine shot, as seems to be the case against the delta variant. However, the issue remains that some people will mount this effective and strong naturally acquired immune response while others will not. On top of that, getting infected without any acquired immune response is risky.
5 ways to optimize your immune system against Covid-19.
There are many conditions that can affect the severity of Covid-19, like cancer, diabetes, weak immune system, or something as simple as our age. While many people have a compromised immune system because of an underlying disease. Many of us have a weakened immune system because of our diet, lifestyle, or even the way we think. Here are five ways to improve your immune system with a more in-depth explanation of why these methods could protect us from Covid-19.
Hydrotherapy:
Hydrotherapy is using water at various temperatures for health purposes, and in this case, the idea is to use it for activating our immune system and slowing down the progression of the disease.
Supplements:
When the pandemic started researchers and physicians noticed that many patients with severe covid-19 were vitamin D deficient. But when researchers tried vitamin D as a potential treatment for hospitalized patients with severe covid-19, results showed no significant reduction in their hospital length of stay. However, in a randomized control trial study, which is what doctors consider the gold standard to determine if a treatment could actually be used in medical practice, researchers found that on asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients with vitamin D deficiency, receiving doses of vitamin D3 supplements helped them clear the virus.
Exercise:
A new study found that doing ~150 min/week or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity before getting infected, the chances of being hospitalized with severe covid-19 are reduced. The research also showed that even if the patient exercised between 11-149 min/week before being diagnosed, they had some protection against severe covid-19 illness.
Sleep:
A recent study has found that poor sleep is associated with a prolonged hospital stay in covid-19 patients, a higher risk of developing severe pneumonia, and a seriously dysregulated immune system.
Vaccine:
A vaccine is designed to induce our bodies to generate the necessary antibodies to protect us from the Sars-CoV-2 virus.
How does covid affect the brain?
Covid-19 affects multiple organs, including the brain. In fact, one-third of covid-19 patients will experience a neurological or psychiatric disorder within 6 months since being diagnosed with covid-19.
Covid-19 patients may suffer from headaches, have difficulties thinking, dizziness, brain fog, and can sometimes even developmental disorders like depression and anxiety.
The question is, how does it affect the brain? Is it by infecting the neurons, or is it damaging the brain through indirect mechanisms.
Main sources:
Autopsy study:
https://academic.oup.com/brain/advance-article/doi/10.1093/brain/awab148/6226391
Possible neuroinvasion pathways:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32964419/#:~:text=of%20the%20brain-,Neuroinvasion%20of%20SARS%2DCoV%2D2%20may%20play%20a%20role%20in,J%20Med%20Virol.
Neurological disorders
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(21)00084-5/fulltext
Omega-3 are fatty acids that are integral to our cells. We need them for muscle activity, cell growth, lower levels of inflammation, and the production of hormones that regulate blood clotting, and the contraction and relaxation of artery walls.
Research suggests that the omega-3 found in fish and seaweed decreases the risk of heart diseases, that it may lower blood pressure, triglycerides, the chances of abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia), and the likelihood of heart attacks and strokes.
However new research is showing that we need to be more careful when taking fish oil supplements, as they contain different levels of EPA and DHA
There are several reasons why we dislike cockroaches so much and here we discuss all of the main proposals on why do we fear them.
We all know sitting the whole day is no good for our health, so how much exercise should you be doing to offset a day of sitting?
Science alert: https://www.sciencealert.com/getting-a-sweat-on-for-30-40-minutes-could-offset-a-day-of-sitting-down
WHO guidelines: https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/54/24/1451
Research article: https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/54/24/1499