QueeneMUSE@aol.com writes:
> In a message dated 5/19/2000 6:18:08 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
> asa@nada.kth.se writes:
> > I think one of the first things I will do when I get the chance to
> > redesign my brain is to fix the monoaminergic systems - they are far
> > too important and pervasive to be allowed to run without good
> > supervision and optimisation. Evolution has just optimised them to
> > work well enough on average in the entire population, not well enough
> > in me as an individual.
> >
> > Demand accountability of the catecholamines!
>
> for the laymen this translates to_________?
There are a few systems in the brain that send out signals using
monoamine neuromodulators, that is neurochemicals containing a single
amine group: serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine and
acetylcholine. These modulators affect how other neurons work, they
essentially set the mode of thinking. Dopamine is involved among other
things in reward/learning, norepinephrine
wakefullness/alertness/startle, acetylcholine (my favorite)
memory/attention and so on. Very important stuff, the baseline leves
we have probably determine at least some of our personality and
general mood. Drugs that affect them (such as antidepressants,
stimulants etc) have profound effects on mood and the way we think. So
I was thinking that it would be a good thing to keep them more
optimized and under tighter control.
-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension! asa@nada.kth.se http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/ GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y
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