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1. chiasm@mastodon.online's status on Friday, 21-Jan-2022 20:44:08 UTC chiasm

   I don't write enough about the research we're doing in the lab. #science But the thing is, a lot of science is a slog, and then the paper gets written, and then the reviewers sit on it and make odd or maybe helpful comments, and then hopefully it finally gets published and it's all SO COOL!! But it's hard to explain in a few hundred characters. 😁

   • Tagomago (tagomago@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 21-Jan-2022 20:44:07 UTC Tagomago

     in reply to

     @chiasm What field you're into?

   • Tagomago (tagomago@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 21-Jan-2022 21:40:13 UTC Tagomago

     in reply to

     @chiasm Wow, that's really interesting... Recently I watched some brief TV report and learned/realized how difficult is to make progress due to, well, not being able to kill the specimens.

   • chiasm@mastodon.online's status on Friday, 21-Jan-2022 21:40:14 UTC chiasm

     in reply to

     • Tagomago

     @tagomago Neuroimaging, cognitive neuroscience, neuropsychiatry research, that sort of thing.

   • chiasm@mastodon.online's status on Saturday, 22-Jan-2022 09:43:00 UTC chiasm

     in reply to

     • Tagomago
     • MarkusL

     @markusl @tagomago Cool, thanks! Sure, I'm off now but I'll try to say more over the weekend. The short and dirty version for keeping your brain going is: Keep your cardiovascular system healthy, by whatever means you can, don't skimp on the sleep, and give it a cognitive workout every now and again, don't just use the same thinking patterns all the time.

   • MarkusL (markusl@fosstodon.org)'s status on Saturday, 22-Jan-2022 09:43:01 UTC MarkusL

     in reply to

     • Tagomago

     @tagomago @chiasm I'd really like to know more about all those subjects. As the owner and user of a brain, I'm interested in how it works and how to get the best out of it for as long as possible. Do say what you can.

     Tagomago repeated this.
   • Tagomago (tagomago@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 22-Jan-2022 09:46:17 UTC Tagomago

     in reply to

     • MarkusL

     @chiasm @markusl Yaay, thanks. Give us cognitive workouts, pls... 💪🧠

   • Tagomago (tagomago@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 22-Jan-2022 12:21:57 UTC Tagomago

     in reply to

     • MarkusL

     @chiasm @markusl 👏👏👏

   • chiasm@mastodon.online's status on Saturday, 22-Jan-2022 12:21:58 UTC chiasm

     in reply to

     • Tagomago
     • MarkusL

     @tagomago @markusl You're outside of my realm of direct expertise at that point; I study what happens when the brain breaks, generally, rather than how to avoid it. But cognitive workouts--I would count mindfulness training under that. It's changing the normal pattern of brain and cognitive activity and it's a skill you can develop. Plus, unlike playing wordle or studying Japanese ::cough:: it also lowers cortisol levels in the blood (in some studies), which can have lots of good effects. /1

   • chiasm@mastodon.online's status on Saturday, 22-Jan-2022 12:21:58 UTC chiasm

     in reply to

     • Tagomago
     • MarkusL

     @tagomago @markusl I'm no expert on cortisol, and cortisol does important things, but it also serves as a marker of too much stress, and elevated cortisol correlates with reduced hippocampal volume (do you know what the hippocampus is?). Long-term meditators seem to avoid hippocampal volume loss and frontal cortex volume loss, in some studies. The hippocampus also responds well to exercise, but badly to being overweight and smoking, iIrc. It's a sensitive part of the brain! /fin

   • Tagomago (tagomago@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 22-Jan-2022 12:24:31 UTC Tagomago

     in reply to

     • MarkusL

     @chiasm @markusl I kind of remember that hippocampus is related to archiving memories and also creating new brain cells?

   • Tagomago (tagomago@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 22-Jan-2022 12:32:06 UTC Tagomago

     in reply to

     • MarkusL

     @chiasm @markusl I just heard Duolingo's "TA-DAAA" in my head. :-D

     So I didn't know about the thalamus, but the hipothalamus rings a bell. What does the latter do?

   • chiasm@mastodon.online's status on Saturday, 22-Jan-2022 12:32:07 UTC chiasm

     in reply to

     • Tagomago
     • MarkusL

     @tagomago @markusl 🌟 🌟 Your hippocampus is working! That's the 30,000 foot view of what it does, yeah. It's one of those key brain areas for keeping our sense of temporal continuity together and allowing us to retrieve various kinds of memories. The thalamus is also really important for keeping our consciousness going, but luckily it's not as much of a weakling as the hippocampus is.

   • Tagomago (tagomago@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 22-Jan-2022 12:42:01 UTC Tagomago

     in reply to

     • MarkusL

     @chiasm @markusl Probably written by pros, it's not a field where like anyone can contribute their "opinions" linked to blogspot "sources"...

     Thanks for the masterclass!!

   • chiasm@mastodon.online's status on Saturday, 22-Jan-2022 12:42:02 UTC chiasm

     in reply to

     • Tagomago
     • MarkusL

     @tagomago @markusl that's hypothalamus, and it's a teeny little lump below the thalamus that doesn't show up well on MRI scans, isn't directly related to cognitive processes, and I tend to ignore it. 😂 But it's really important for keeping you alive, internal temperature regulation, appetite, sleep, etc. --I will put a plug in, here: Wikipedia has its faults, but for neuroanatomy and basic neuroscience ideas, generally it's trustworthy. I just checked my own memory about the hypoth. there. 😄