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Science & Technology |
Researchers are working on a pill for loneliness, as studies suggest the condition is worse than obesity |
2019-08-13 |
[National Post] The volunteers at the University of Chicago’s Brain Dynamics Laboratory, all otherwise young and healthy, were tied together by really only one thing: nearly off-the-chart scores on the most widely used scale measuring loneliness. Asked how often they felt they had no one they could turn to, how often they felt their relationships seemed superficial and forced, how often they felt alone, left out, isolated or no longer closer to anyone, the answer, almost always, was "always." The volunteers agreed to be randomly dosed over eight weeks with either pregnenolone, a hormone naturally produced by the body’s adrenal gland, or a placebo. Two hours after swallowing the assigned tablet, the university’s researchers captured and recorded their brain activity while the participants looked at pictures of emotional faces or neutral scenes. Studies in animals suggest that a single injection of pregnenolone can reduce or "normalize" an exaggerated threat response in socially isolated lab mice, similar to the kind of hyper vigilance lonely people feel that makes them poor at reading other people’s intentions and feelings. The researchers have every hope the drug will work in lonely human brains, too, although they insist the goal is not an attempt to cure loneliness with a pill. Lead researcher and neuroscientist Stephanie Cacioppo has likened using a drug to rubbing frost from a windshield. Loneliness increases both a desire to connect with others, and a gut instinct for self-preservation ("if I let you get close to me, you’ll only hurt me, too"). People become more wary, cautious and self-centred. The idea is to help people see things as they are, "rather than being afraid of everyone," Cacioppo said in an interview with Smithsonian.com. |
Posted by:Besoeker |
#11 Switch off. Connect with real humans and actually listen to them. Read real books about life written by the greatest authors (hint: they're almost all dead white males). |
Posted by: Lex 2019-08-13 16:26 |
#10 Ha ! Fred's skynet subroutines must've thought you're selling drugs. |
Posted by: Dron66046 2019-08-13 16:02 |
#9 all I was tryin too say they already make it, it's called X a n a x |
Posted by: chris 2019-08-13 15:30 |
#8 Chris. could be due to some 'inappropriate' languages or too many links. try again using alternative languages (think LEET wordings) and no more than two links at a time. If you need to do more links, then open another comment post. note that picture linking count as a link. |
Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance 2019-08-13 13:49 |
#7 why will my comment not happen |
Posted by: chris 2019-08-13 13:25 |
#6 Probably the second set of laws placed by stylus to clay was how to play dice, so distractions are not a new thing. Availability and convenience may have something to do with it, but the question of the ages is what do you do with your time? One of my favorite works of art is Rockwell's 'Lift Up Thine Eyes'. "Nemesis, the goddess of retribution and revenge, learned what had happened and decided to punish Narcissus for his behaviour. She led him to a pool; there, the man saw his reflection in the |
Posted by: swksvolFF 2019-08-13 11:41 |
#5 I blame the internet, pc games and cell phones. In Other Words, get off your ass and get out there. |
Posted by: Woodrow 2019-08-13 09:43 |
#4 Whatever happened to "suck it up, buttercup" as an answer for whingeing? |
Posted by: AlanC 2019-08-13 07:27 |
#3 Maybe if you took your eyes off your smartphone and looked around you would encounter others. However, given the dystopia of modern urban life, that's what you are trying to avoid. |
Posted by: Procopius2k 2019-08-13 07:11 |
#2 Bee ? Oh ! I understand. I think. OHh ! Pregnenolone is a precursor hormone, meaning it is what later becomes progestogen or androgen steroid hormones. P5 as they call it, is also a neurosteroid that modulates the canabinoid type 1 receptors. These are activated by cannabinoids made within us (endocannabinoids). Leading to stabilized heartbeat, breathing, a general 'healthy' feeling when we are generally healthy. The modulation also facilitates triggers symptoms of ill-health, anxieties etc. Now, an over-production of endocannabinoid almost never takes place because it's proportion is hardcoded into the CR-1 gene I don't know the science that well, mostly winging it here. But so are the eggheads... bear with me.
It could act as a sufferance-reliever maybe, for people with chronic or terminal, torturous illnesses. I don't think it was approved by FDA as a unit medication, but ultra low concentrations can be used in compounds to treat schizophrenia, depression. I could be wrong though. My interest in the brain is purely rudimentary and utilitarian. | |
Posted by: Dron66046 2019-08-13 06:20 |
#1 Pill? What happened to beer? |
Posted by: Varmint Splat1454 2019-08-13 04:46 |