Hey folks: I have a student who is interested in doing some research investigating the impact of home schooling on social and emotional development. I don't know a whole lot about this area, so we are both in the exploratory stages. I'll be doing a literature search later this week, but I'm curious if anyone on the list has done research in this area or knows of any additional resources. We have a lot of home-schooled students at our university, so we have a pretty good sample of convenience. I've always suspected, just based on anecdotal evidence, that there are some meaningful differences between our home-schooled and non-home-schooled students, but it looks like we'll now have a chance to do something a bit more scientific...
Thanks in advance! Rod ______________________________________________ Roderick D. Hetzel, Ph.D. Department of Psychology LeTourneau University Post Office Box 7001 2100 South Mobberly Avenue Longview, Texas 75607-7001 Office: Education Center 218 Phone: 903-233-3893 Fax: 903-233-3851 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > -----Original Message----- > From: David Epstein [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2003 1:42 PM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences > Subject: Re: Serotonin production in the colon > > > On Wed, 3 Sep 2003, Nathalie Cote went: > > > One of my Intro Psych students told me that he found a Web > site that > > says that the gastrointestinal tract is a bigger producer > of serotonin > > than the brain is > > That's what I've been taught--that 90% of the body's > serotonin is in the gut, where it serves functions related to > intestinal motility. > > > The student is concerned because he has had his colon removed for > > medical reasons, so he wants to know if that affects > serotonin levels > > in his brain. > > No, there's nothing to worry about there. Serotonin doesn't > penetrate the blood-brain barrier, so the student's digestive > tract can make as much (or as little) serotonin as it likes, > and his brain won't know the difference, so to speak. > > Serotonin in the brain is made in specific clusters of neuron > in the brainstem, whose axons form specific pathways with > specific (perhaps even opposing) functions in various other > brain regions. It's not something that the brain needs to be > globally bathed in, like cerebrospinal fluid, and more isn't > necessarily better. > > > 1) What do you know about serotonin in the gut? Other than > being the > > same chemical, is it related to serotonin in the brain? How? > > I think that when nature finds a useful signaling molecule, > it uses that molecule wherever it can. So the same molecules > tend to turn up in a lot of different places; that doesn't > have to mean they're serving the same functions. > > > 2) The Web site above also makes the claim that "inadequate > levels of > > serotonin and norepinephrine precursors in the diet > > ...probably constitute a condition that almost never occurs. > > > is it the case that extended use of SSRIs depletes > neurotransmitters? > > No--at least, it's never been demonstrated. There are > studies showing that huge overdoses of SSRIs can damage > serotonergic axons in rats. Those studies have no > implications for chronic use of therapeutic doses. > > > And is it the case that diet has a measurable effect on > > neurotransmitter levels in the brain? > > Generally not, unless you go to unusual lengths, such as > fasting, then drinking specially made cocktails of amino > acids from which tryptophan is deliberately excluded. > > --David Epstein > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
