martes, marzo 21, 2006

Buddha machine: sonidos para meditar

De vez en cuando viene bien relajarse. Además mucho se habla de la música y los sonidos como modificadores del estado psíquico.

Buddha machine es un pequeño aparatito que está de moda y en el tamaño de una radio a pilas tiene 9 bandas de sonido de tipo ambient realizado por el grupo musical japonés FM3.

El sitio del grupo es http://www.fm3.com.cn/ y los sonidos están disponibles en MP3

Entrevista a uno de los creadores.

Simulación en flash

Me enteré por kk.org


Actualización 1/4/07: Usar www.archive.org para el sitio de los MP3.

Ahora, en la era de YouTube podemos ver la Buddha Machine en:

Problemas con Blogger

No sé qué pasa con el sistema del blog que no se ve la columna de la izquierda y se desordena todo. Ojalá Google cuidara más las cosas. Ideas?

Mentat Wiki

Mentat Wiki: Mentat Wiki

"This wiki is a collaborative environment for exploring ways to become a better thinker. Topics that can be explored here include MemoryTechniques, MentalMath, CriticalThinking, BrainStorming, ShorthandSystems, NotebookSystems, and SmartDrugs. Other relevant topics are also welcome. How have you made yourself smarter ?"

lunes, marzo 20, 2006

Cafe con chocolate

El otro día vi el programa Un Café Con Paul Bassett episodio 12 en Travel & Living de Discovery.

Entrevistaba al Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki quien hablaba de los efectos de la cafeína. Lo interesante es que decís que los efectos vasoconstrictores de la cafeína podían ser "neutralizados" si se tomaba el café junto con una pequeña porción de chocolate amargo.

Busqué en medline y parece haber algunas referencias sobre los efectos del chocolate sobre el endotelio y la vasodilatación, pero no sé si son muy significativos. No cuesta nada probar. Yo creo que se podía agregar cacao amargo en polvo al café si no se consigue chocolate amargo que es caro.

Karl Kruszelnicki - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lo que dijo en el programa es similar a esto ,también mostró unos libros interesantes (sobre mitos del saber y otros, ver Wikipedia o su sitio):

The “Half Life”, T1/2, of a drug is the time taken for your body to metabolise, or break down, half the amount that you have in your blood stream. After another T1/2, the level of the drug in the blood stream has dropped to half of its previous level - or 25% of the original level. After the third half life, the drug is down to 12.5% of its peak level.

In humans, the caffeine half life, Caff-T1/2 varies from 3.5 to 100 hours - depending on what kind of human you are.

If you’re an adult, half the caffeine has gone from your system after 5-6 hours. But if a woman uses the oral contraceptive pill, her caffeine half life doubles to about 12 hours.

Pregnant women, have the same half life as your regular adult - until they get to about three months pregnant. Then from four to nine months, the Caff-T1/2 increases to about 10-18 hours. So for this pregnant woman, a little coffee goes a long way. But by one week after birth, the Caff-T1/2 is back down to around six hours.

Caffeine can leave the blood stream of the nursing mother, and go into her breast milk to the baby - and sometimes keep it awake, and inconsolable. The caffeine hangs around in the baby for a long time. The half life of caffeine in a premature or a new-born baby is around 100 hours. But the time the babies are 8 months old, they’re really good at getting rid of caffeine, and the Caff-T1/2 is down to four hours.

Smokers also have a very short Caff-T1/2 (3.5 hours), so they can also clear the caffeine out of their bodies rapidly. This might explain why smokers tend to drink more coffee than non-smokers. Also, when smokers give up tobacco, they become more sensitive to the effects of caffeine. They may need to cut down their coffee intake, when they give up smoking. (That’s a bit unfair - having to drop your intake of two drugs at the same time.)
http://www2.abc.net.au/science/k2/stn/december1999/posts/topic14651.shtm

domingo, marzo 19, 2006

Tomorrow's People conference, Oxford 2006

Tomorrow's People: The Challenges of Technologies for Life Extension and Enhancement

Es una conferencia y hay videos y foros, incluye nootrópicos:
Thursday 16 March 0845am   Discussion Board
Smarter?-webcast
Nick Bostrom (tiene sitio personal)
Danielle Turner
George Poste

Foro Smarter?

jueves, marzo 16, 2006

Ginkoba M/A: ginkgo biloba + ginseng

cache: Product Details - @StrictlyNatural.com: "A specific combination product containing 60 mg of Ginkgo biloba (GK501), standardized at 24% ginkgo flavone glycosides and 6% terpene lactones, and 100 mg Panax ginseng (G115) standardized at 4% ginsenosides. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center, 14-week trial, two dosing regimens of this combination product were tested in 256 healthy middle-aged volunteers. On each study day (weeks 0, 4, 8, 12, and 16) the volunteers performed the Cognitive Drug Research computerized cognitive assessment system prior to morning dosing and again at 1, 3 and 6 hours later. The tests in the system assessed various aspects of attention and memory. On each study day the volunteers also completed questionnaires about mood states, quality of life and sleep quality. The ginkgo/ginseng combination (Ginkoba M/E) was found to significantly improve different aspects of memory, including working and long-term memory as measured by the Index of Memory Quality (an average of 7.5% improvement)."

Directions:
As a dietary supplement, take two capsule daily, one with breakfast and one with lunch.

Ingredients:
Ginkgo biloba extract GK501™ 60 mg (double standardized, to 24% ginkgo-flavone-glycosides and 6% terpene lactones) 60 mg per capsule
Standardized Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer extract G115™ 100 mg per capsule


Technorati tag:

miércoles, marzo 15, 2006

The Impact of Emerging Technologies: Brain-Healing Nanotechnology - Technology Review

The Impact of Emerging Technologies: Brain-Healing Nanotechnology - Technology Review: "'We think this is the basis of reconstructive brain surgery -- which is something nobody has ever heard of before,' says Rutledge Ellis-Behnke, a researcher on the project and a brain and cognitive sciences researcher at MIT.

The treatment, described online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and performed at MIT, Hong Kong University, and Fourth Military Medical University in China, may be available to humans in trials in as little as three years if all goes well in large-animal studies, the researchers say.

In their experiments, the researchers first cut into a brain structure that conveys signals for vision, causing the small lab animals to be blinded in one eye. They then injected a clear fluid containing chains of amino acids into the damaged area. Once in the environment of the brain, these chains, called peptides, bind to one another, assembling into nano-scale fibers that bridge the gap left by the damage. The mesh of fibers prevents scar tissue from forming and may also encourage cell growth (the researchers are still investigating the mechanisms involved)."

Hack: Oxigeno y glucosa

Mind Performance Hacks
Overclock Your Brain
#72
Chapter 8, Mental Fitness | 285
HACK
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/mindperfhks/chapter/hack72.pdf
[con comentarios]

...
Oxygen is used as part of glucose metabolism to provide brain cells with a number of important chemicals that allow them to support themselves and communicate with other neurons.

Mental performance relies on the functioning of the brain, and like with any
other organ, this performance is linked to how many resources are avail-
able. Research has shown that in some instances, mental performance is
rate-limited by the available glucose and oxygen. In other words, you can
increase the rate of mental processing by increasing the available fuel
.
...
One of the most reliable findings is that increasing available glucose and
oxygen seems to have a beneficial effect on memory. Importantly, the effect
is usually found for memory encoding but not memory recall
. [así que aumentar oxígeno y glucosa sirve para memorizar pero no para recordar, sin embargo debemos tener en cuenta que se recomienda hacer los exámenes en las mismas condiciones en que se estudió, por lo que debería cuidarse tener el mismo aporte]
...

Increasing glucose and oxygen supplies to the brain seems to allow informa-
tion to be committed more accurately and fully to memory
; in other words,
you learn better. This means when you come to recall it at a later stage, you
will undoubtedly do better, because the information there is clearer and
more comprehensive. The reverse does not seem to be true, however. If you
first encoded something without the aid of extra oxygen and glucose, sud-
denly making more oxygen and glucose available when you try to recall it
will not improve your overall memory performance.

Boost oxygen levels. The improvement in oxygen levels on memory
typically lasts for a few minutes only
(five is about the limit), so you need to
time your learning to happen shortly after an increase in oxygen, or ensure
that you maintain a slightly increased level for the duration of the learning
period
. Oxygen canisters are available in some shops, although they are
often expensive and unwieldy. More usefully, deliberately taking some deep
breaths will increase blood oxygen levels for a short time
, as will light exer-
cise. Going for a walk while listening to something you want to remember
on an MP3 player should do the trick, as long as the environment is not so
distracting that you cannot concentrate. [acá podría entrar la posibilidad de usar nootrópicos que favorecen el aporte de oxígeno al cerebro: vinpocetina, hydergina, nicergolina, gingko biloba, picamilon, posiblemente pirytinol y otros]

Optimize glucose supplies. Glucose has a much longer-term effect, as shown
in Figure 8-1.

Here the maximum available glucose peaks at about an hour,
although it rapidly becomes available after it has been ingested. All energy-
giving foods are broken down into glucose at some stage, although at differ-
ent rates. This graph charts the rate of pure glucose absorption, so it best
matches the effects of sugary drinks. [por lo tanto hay que tener en cuenta qué se toma y el momento, si se requiere un tiempo extendido de trabajo podría combinarse un carbohidrato de asimilación más rápida con uno más lento]

Glucose is important as a simple fuel, but it is also used in the creation of
the neurotransmitter acetylcholine
. This brain chemical is particularly linked
to memory, and it’s no accident that, like oxygen, extra glucose is linked to
an increase in memory and learning ability
.

Again, timing is crucial, but not so much effort is needed to constantly maintain
glucose levels. A well-timed sugary drink, 30 minutes to an hour before you want
to remember or take notice of something particularly closely, should improve how
well you remember it
.

martes, marzo 14, 2006

oreilly.com -- Online Catalog: Mind Performance Hacks

oreilly.com -- Online Catalog: Mind Performance Hacks: "Mind Performance Hacks
Tips & Tools for Overclocking Your Brain

By Ron Hale-Evans
First Edition February 2006
Series: Hacks
ISBN: 0-596-10153-8
330 pages, $24.99 US, $34.99 CA, �17.50 UK

Buy two books, get the third FREE! Use discount code 'OPC1'
Free shipping on all orders of $29.95 and above See details.



Mind Performance Hacks provides real-life tips and tools for overclocking your brain and becoming a better thinker. In the increasingly frenetic pace of today's information economy, managing your life requires hacking your brain. With this book, you'll cut through the clutter and tune up your brain intentionally, safely, and productively. [Full Description]
Sample Hacks and Code Examples

Hack 1: Remember 10 Things to Bring (PDF)
Hack 15: Speak Your Brain’s Language (PDF)
Hack 19: Seed Your Mental Random-Number Generator (PDF)
Hack 35: Put Down That Calculator (PDF)
Hack 53: Learn Morse Code Like an Efficiency Expert (PDF)
Hack 57: Learn Your Emotional ABCs (PDF)
Hack 72: Overclock Your Brain (PDF)


Download the code examples from this book. The complete set of examples is available at: http://examples.oreilly.com/mindperfhks/
Related Books
Mapping Hacks (O'Reilly)
Hackers & Painters (O'Reilly)
Mind Hacks (O'Reilly)
Astronomy Hacks (O'Reilly)"

jueves, marzo 02, 2006

Propiedades del mani


de Wikipedia

Nutritional benefits

Peanuts are a rich source of proteins (roughly 30 grams per cup after roasting) and Monounsaturated fat. Recent research on peanuts and nuts in general have shown their health benefits. [1] Peanuts are a significant source of resveratrol. A handful of peanuts contains approximately 70 micrograms of this curative substance. Resveratrol is also present in red wine, grape and the Chinese plant Polygonum cuspidatum (cholican).

Suplementos ayurvedicos

Una nota en medios de India sobre los suplementos y las exigencias de los estudiantes. Menciona varios suplementos ayurvédicos.

Uno sugiere que el maní es una buena fuente de proteína (y económica). Lástima que engorda y una vez que uno empieza no para de comer.


Chandigarh News

Need a trip to ‘memory’ lane?   
Puneet K Pardal         

Chandigarh, March 1: “A memory enhancer for children and adults - it increases your concentration and grasping power, helps improve learning, responsiveness and mental alertness.’’

Reading this advertisement, one can be easily enticed to try these products which claim to boost your memory and hence, get you better results in exams. With exams lurking over students’ heads, city markets are brimming with these ‘memory enhancers’, ‘smart pills’ or ‘brain boosters’ or, pharmaceutically-cognitive enhancers. Their market offers a range of options - pick a Brahmi, Ashvagandha, Musli, Malkangni or Turajbeen; in syrup or capsule form, and what not.

        
Says Mayank, a Class XII student, ‘‘Most of my friends are giving it a try. It helps improve our confidence level to some extent. Moreover, Ayurvedic stuff doesn’t have any side effects.’’

Amit, a chemist in Sector-28, says, ‘‘These memory tonics, especially Baidyanath Shankhapushpi Syrup and Brahmi, are quite popular with students, but regular intake is necessary for favourable results. However, we don’t recommend the use of tablets without consulting the doctor.’’

Another chemist, Mohan, says, ‘‘Students want something that boosts retention and recalling power. They prefer Ayurvedic tonics for zero side effects.’’

Dr H.V. Jindal, Medical Officer, Panjab University Dispensary, believes that if a balanced, protein-rich diet is taken throughout year, it will certainly help students. Moreover, these tonics and tablets are quite expensive. Groundnuts are a good and cheaper substitute.

Eating lots of fresh fruit or taking B-Complex supplements, along with vitamin B-12, also helps improve memory. It is actually the concentration of mind that is the most important.’’

Dr B.S. Chavan, head, Psychiatry Department, Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector-32, says, ‘‘During exams, all you need is a good diet and good sleep, and one must be focussed. Emphasis on grades prompts students to seek memory enhancers. But they have a placebo effect, whereby you feel better. Students should maintain their hobbies and not pressurise their minds.’’

Manvinder Bajwa, vice-principal, Bhavan Vidhalaya, Sector-27, shares, ‘‘We are living in extremely competitive times. Students are on tenterhooks, the pressure drives them to taking memory tablets and tonics. But these have a negative effect on one’s health as these are drugs only. Meditation and exercising are better options and help students to perform better during exams.’’

miércoles, marzo 01, 2006

Terapia combinada para el Alzheimer

Recommended Combination-Therapies for Alzheimer’s Disease
From the book Smart Drugs II: The Next Generation
by Ward Dean, M.D., John Morgenthaler, and Steven Wm. Fowkes

Lo interesante es que lista una larga serie de sustancias y brevemente describe su acción.