Another we-almost-got-it-This-time-we-are-in-the-right-track-maybe-in-a-year-or-two-we-will-understand-it-at-last-for-sure
Not very related but this image made me laugh: http://bloviatingzeppelin.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Atheism.jpg 2014-05-28 17:23 GMT+02:00, [email protected] <[email protected]>: > > > - they were more likely to believe they were in an environment > completely different from the physical space they were actually in -----> > > sounds familiar > - they often believed to be interacting with "beings" such as > hallucinated dead people, aliens, fairies or mythical creatures ------> > machines > - the often reported "ego dissolution", a variety of experiences in > which the self ceased to exist in the user's subjective experience. > ------> > 3p? > > > > Is the key to consciousness in the claustrum?by Klaus M. Stiefel, The > Conversation > [image: Is the key to consciousness in the claustrum?] > The location of the claustrum (blue) and the cingulate cortex (green), > another brain region likely to act as a global integrator. The person whose > > brain is shown is looking to the right (see the inset in the top right > corner). Credit: Brain > …more<http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-05-key-consciousness-claustrum.html> > > Consciousness is one of the most fascinating and elusive phenomena we > humans face. Every single one of us experiences it but it remains > surprisingly poorly understood. > > That said, psychology, neuroscience and philosophy are currently making > interesting progress in the comprehension of this phenomenon. > > The main player in this story is something called the > claustrum<http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/claustrum>. > The word originally described an enclosed space in medieval European > monasteries but in the mammalian brain it refers to a small sheet of > neurons just below the > cortex<http://biology.about.com/od/anatomy/p/cerebral-cortex.htm>, > and possibly derived from it in brain development. > > The cortex <http://medicalxpress.com/tags/cortex/> is the massive folded > layer on top of the brain mainly responsible for many higher brain > functions such as language, long-term planning and our advanced sensory > functions. > > Interestingly, the claustrum is strongly reciprocally connected to many > cortical > areas <http://medicalxpress.com/tags/cortical+areas/>. The visual > cortex<http://medicalxpress.com/tags/visual+cortex/> (the > region involved in seeing) sends axons (the connecting "wires" of the > nervous system) to the claustrum, and also receives axons from the > claustrum. > > The same is true for the auditory > cortex<http://medicalxpress.com/tags/auditory+cortex/> (involved > in hearing) and a number of other cortex areas. A wealth of information > converges in the claustrum and leaves it to re-enter the cortex. > > *The connection* > > Francis > Crick<http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1962/crick-bio.html> > – > who together with James > Watson<http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1962/watson-facts.html> > gave > us the structure of DNA – was interested in a connection between the > claustrum and consciousness <http://medicalxpress.com/tags/consciousness/>. > > In a recent paper, published in Frontiers in Integrative > Neuroscience<http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnint.2014.00020/abstract>, > > we have built on the ideas he described in his very last scientific > publication <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1569501/>. > > Crick and co-author Christoph > Koch<http://www.alleninstitute.org/our-institute/our-team/profiles/christof-koch> > argued > that the claustrum could be a coordinator of cortical > function<http://www.klab.caltech.edu/news/crick-koch-05.pdf> and > hence a "conductor of consciousness". > > Such percepts as colour, form, sound, body position and social relations > are all represented in different parts of the cortex. How are they bound to > > a unified experience of consciousness? Wouldn't a region exerting a (even > limited) central control over all these cortical areas be highly useful? > > This is what Crick and Koch suggested when they hypothesised the claustrum > to be a "conductor of consciousness". But how could this hypothesis about > the claustrum's role be tested? > > *Plant power alters the mind* > [image: Is the key to consciousness in the claustrum?] > Salvia divinorum (Herba de Maria). Credit: Wikipedia, CC BY > > Enter the plant *Salvia divinorum > <https://www.erowid.org/plants/salvia/salvia.shtml>*, a type of mint native > > to Mexico. The Mazatecs civilisation's priests would chew its leaves to get > > in touch with the gods. > > It's a powerful psychedelic, but not of the usual type. Substances such as > LSD <https://www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd.shtml> > andpsylocibin<https://www.erowid.org/plants/mushrooms/mushrooms.shtml> (the > > active compound in "magic" mushrooms) mainly act by binding to the > serotonin neuromodulator receptor proteins. > > It is not completely understood how these receptors bring about altered > states of consciousness, but a reduction of the inhibitory (negative > feedback) communication between neurons in the cortex likely plays a role. > > In contrast, *Salvia divinorum* acts on the kappa-opiate > receptors<http://www.guidetopharmacology.org/GRAC/ObjectDisplayForward?objectId=318>. > > These are structurally related, but their activation has quite different > effects than the mu-opiate > receptors<http://www.guidetopharmacology.org/GRAC/ObjectDisplayForward?objectId=319>which > > bind substances such as morphine or heroin. > > In contrast to the mu-opiate receptors, which are involved in the > processing of pain, the role of the kappa-opiate receptors is somewhat > poorly understood. > > Where are these kappa-opiate receptors located in the brain? You might have > > guessed it, they are most densely concentrated in the claustrum (and > present at lower densities in a number of other brain regions such as the > frontal cortex and the amygdala). > > So, the activity of *Salvia* likely inhibits the claustrum via its > activation of the kappa-opiate receptors. Consuming *Salvia* might just > cause the inactivation of the claustrum necessary to test Crick and Koch's > hypothesis. > > *Any volunteers?* > > Did we administer this psychedelic to a group of volunteers to then record > their hallucinations and altered perceptions? Well, no. To get ethics > approval for such an experiment with a substance outlawed in Australia > would be near impossible. > > While *Salvia* is not known to be toxic or addictive, the current societal > climate is not very sympathetic towards psychoactive substances other than > alcohol. > > But fortunately we had an alternative. The website > Erowid.org<https://www.erowid.org/> hosts > a database of many thousand trip reports, submitted by psychedelic > enthusiasts, describing often in considerable detail what went on in their > minds when consuming a wide selection of substances. > > We analysed trip reports from this website written by folks who had > consumed *Salvia divinorum* and, for comparison, LSD. > > We found that subjects consuming *Salvia* were more likely to experience a > few select psychological effects: > > - they were more likely to believe they were in an environment > completely different from the physical space they were actually in > - they often believed to be interacting with "beings" such as > hallucinated dead people, aliens, fairies or mythical creatures > - the often reported "ego dissolution", a variety of experiences in > which the self ceased to exist in the user's subjective experience. > > … and this means? > > Altered surroundings, other beings and ego dissolution – this surely hints > at a disturbance of the "conductor of consciousness", as expected if the > conductor claustrum is perturbed by *Salvia divinorum*. > > If a region central to the integration of consciously represented > information is disturbed in its function, we would expect fundamental > disturbances in the conscious experience. The core of a person's > consciousness seems to be altered by *Salvia divinorum*, rather than merely > > some distortions of vision or audition. > > We believe that the psychological effects of *Salvia divinorum*, together > with the massive concentration of the kappa-opiate receptors (the target > molecules of *Salvia divinorum*) in the claustrum support its role as a > central coordinator of consciousness. > > It's worth noting that our results were not black-and-white. The users of > LSD also experienced (albeit to a lesser degree) translation into altered > environments, fairies and ego dissolution. > > This, together with a review of the literature convinced us that the > claustrum is one of the conductors of consciousness, with brain areas > cingulate cortex and pulvinar likely being the other ones. > > Still, the claustrum appears to be special in the brain's connectivity and > we think that*Salvia* can inactivate it. We hope that the experimental > neuroscience community will take advantage of the window into the mind > which this unique substance provides. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Alberto. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
