info for your brain

minds, how do they work? No, Low Serotonin Doesn’t Cause Depression Years ago, doctors were trying to figure out what the deal with serotonin is, and they couldn’t just inject the stuff right into people (doing so wouldn’t raise brain serotonin; that separation’s called the “brain blood barrier”). They could however deprive people of a chemical needed to make serotonin, tryptophan, and when these subjects had been depressed before, robbing them of tryptophan made them depressed again. That sounded like it meant something. And yet today, we have drugs that can raise patients’ serotonin levels instantly (not by giving them serotonin directly, but through other means). And these drugs have no instant effect on depression at all. They take weeks to work. So you need weeks of high serotonin to feel good then? No, say the scientists who review all the research. To explain why not, well, that requires a little more neurological knowledge than a layperson has, but it involves studying serotonin activity in addition to just serotonin presence, through a bunch of different factors, and the conclusion is that there’s just no link to be found. Not that that means you should throw out those serotonin-boosting drugs. Because, see, those drugs do work ... they just appear to work through means independent from boosting serotonin. The drugs do multiple things. All drugs do multiple things. If nothing else, they work because placeboes are remarkably effective at treating depression. So we have absolutely no medical advice to give you based on this serotonin info. Just general advice to be humble about how little related to the brain we really know. Don’t be surprised if our descendants put us roughly on par with people who believed in the four humors. For stories that won’t depress you, check out: - [5 Mind-Blowing Ways Science Has Hacked the Human Body]( - [Man Has Mystery Illness, Gains Super Memory and Painting Powers]( - [Myth: Depression Is Just Brain Chemicals Making You Hate Your Otherwise Normal Life]( Top image: [Tom Varco]( Daily Digest [15 Pieces of Brain Bait to Ruminate]( By JhallComics / September 03rd, 2022 [Surprising First Jobs Of Famous Game Designers]( By Carolyn Page / September 03rd, 2022 [4 Secret Dirtbag Underbellies Of Favorite Hobbies]( By Carolyn Page / September 03rd, 2022 [Melissa McCarthy’s Talents Were Wasted On Sitcoms]( By Keegan Kelly / September 03rd, 2022 [18 Now-You-Know Movie Facts to Read While Stirring the Gravy]( By Erik Barnes / September 03rd, 2022 [READ MORE]( [fb]( [tw]( [yt]( [Logomark_DIGITAL_Red_50X50-px] [insta png]( [tiktok png]( [ARTICLES]( | [PICTOFACTS]( | [Videos]( Literally media Ltd. 190 West St, Suite 17B, Brooklyn NY 11222 COPYRIGHT © 2005-2022 Cracked is published by Literally media Ltd. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](. ONE CRACKED FACT | [View in browser](