Special K

I've never had a chance to try this, though I've been curious since reading about it in the early 90s. Well, it turns out it may be an especially effective anti-depressant. Time to find a connection. (That's a joke, Uncle Sam.)

Choice cut:

Night club drug could ease depression
LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have unraveled how a horse tranquilizer and hallucinogenic night club drug known as "Special K" can ease depression, researchers said on Friday.

Ketamine, which can also cause feelings of detachment, could pave the way for new treatments for people suffering from depression, the researchers added.
…
The results were surprising because the researchers had expected that the ketamine would instead affect the part of the brain that controls psychosis, he added. "There was some activity there but more striking was the switching off of the depression centre," Deakin said.

Previous research had shown that ketamine improved symptoms in depressed people after just 24 hours -- far faster than the month it can take for Prozac to kick in -- but until now they did not know exactly how.

Neural Harmony

Interesting new finding about neurotransmitters from Science Daily.

Neurons Use Chemical 'Chords' To Shape Signaling
To propagate a nerve impulse within neural circuitry, one neuron launches a burst of chemical signal called a neurotransmitter at a receiving neuron, where the neurotransmitter attaches to a specific receptor--like a key fitting a lock. That neurotransmitter-specific receptor is activated to trigger a nerve impulse in the receiving neuron.

Such nerve impulses, however, rather than being the electrical equivalent of a shotgun blast, are precisely modulated signals, like the finely shaped notes of an orchestra.

How Depressing

Anyone closing in on 40 probably won't be surprised by the findings in this article from The Guardian. But I find it strangely comforting to realize the this is a relatively normal aging process and not some personality defect.

Excerpt:

Happiness Is Being Young or Old, But Middle Age Is Misery
People are most likely to become depressed in middle age, according to a worldwide study of happiness. The team of economists leading the work found that we are happiest towards the beginning and end of our lives, leaving us most miserable in middle years between 40 and 50.

Update: Just to be clear—I don't actually find this to be depressing at all. The post title was ironic. This information, if correct and confirmable, should only further destigmatize the subject of mental health, depression in particular. And that is a good thing.

Way Cool, Dude

An "herbal" vending machine. Do your best to ignore the terrible copy the correspondent reads.