Once initiated, the HPA axis begins in the brain structure known as the hypothalamus—the H in HPA. One of the most important functions of the hypothalamus (aside from its role as a metabolic master controller) is to link the brain to the body’s hormone system via the pituitary gland. The hypothalamus sends out some corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) to the pituitary gland—the meat in the HPA sandwich. After receiving word of turmoil from the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland then secretes something c a l l e d adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) into circulation. (Recall that hormones are long-range messengers, which differ from…
Author: Jones
In adults, growth hormone, or GH, is known primarily for its role as a repair hormone. Athletes have been known to use GH for its performance-enhancing qualities, namely its ability to accelerate repair of connective tissue. But GH, which is secreted by the brain’s pituitary gland, is also a powerful cognitive modulator, shown to improve many aspects of brain function, including processing speed and mood. In older adults, GH replacement therapy has been shown to boost cognitive function in patients with mild cognitive impairment (pre-dementia that often leads to Alzheimer’s disease) and in healthy controls after just five months. 17…
Sleep can also negatively affect another hormone involved in hunger called leptin. Leptin is the “satiety” hormone that helps regulate energy balance by inhibiting hunger, and it plummets with sleep deprivation. Leptin’s job is to control energy expenditure through its action on the hypothalamus, the brain’s master metabolic regulator. Because leptin is secreted by fat cells, the more fat cells one has, the more circulating leptin. The brain interprets higher levels of leptin as permission to open up the throttle a bit on the rate at which our bodies burn calories—after all, food is seemingly plentiful! But as with insulin,…
Crew Anatomy textbooks are not updated too often these days. After the advent of the microscope, physiologists were quick to slice, dice, stain, map, and draw every square millimeter of the human body—and within a few short decades, there was seemingly nothing left to explore. So it was a major geek-out moment for biology lovers when Jeffrey Iliff and his team at the University of Rochester discovered what could rightly be called an uncharted organ —th e glymphatic system. This system forcefully pushes cerebrospinal fluid through the brain while we sleep, providing a free power-wash for our brains every single…
Growing up in New York City, I would always feel my spirits drop come the fall. The impending winter months of long, dark days with little sun exposure gave rise to a kind of depression known as seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. Also known as winter depression, SAD affects an estimated ten million people in the United States—and while the majority of those affected are women, everybody is at risk. When I was seventeen, I learned that the skin made vitamin D from exposure to the sun, and I realized that my lack of sun exposure during those dark months…
Have you seen a baby lately? I’m talking about a newborn, fresh out of the womb. They’re fat. And cute. But mostly fat. Packed with stored energy prior to birth in the third trimester, the fatness of human babies is unprecedented in the mammal world. While the newborns of most mammal species average 2 to 3 percent of birth weight as body fat, humans are born with a body fat percentage of nearly 15, surpassing the fatness of even newborn seals. Why is this so? Because humans are born half-baked. When a healthy human baby emerges from the womb, she…
Social media are online interactive technologies which allow the generation or sharing/ exchange of ideas, interests, opinions, and other types of expression through virtual communities and online networks. Social media allow users to share personal information, such as blogs, photos, videos, and messages with other people who are members of the same online community. These online communities or networks can include millions of users, from all walks of life including business professionals, college students, children, parents, coworkers, celebrities, sports enthusiasts and social media junkies. Some popular social media include Facebook, Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube and FriendFeed. There are…
One of the main reasons why mobile app deployment is so challenging is because the entire procedure is disjoint. It needs proper coordination of internal resources across different systems and teams. Some aspects of the deployment process are almost completely automated while some areas are completely manual. As a result, there is a lot that needs to be done in order to successfully complete the process of app deployment. Another challenge with mobile app deployment is that it is quite easy for attackers to infiltrate the system if the app is poorly written or not properly secured. Because most mobile…
Bacteria In industrialized countries, and based on reports from those that have carried out comprehensive assessments of the number of illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths from contaminated foods, the most common causes of foodborne illness are norovirus, Salmonella enterica, Campylobacter spp., Clostridium perfringens and Staphylococcus aureus, (Scallan et al. 2011a, 2013; Adak et al. 2002; Hall and Kirk 2005). Due to its high case fatality rate, L. monocytogenes has also become a much noted cause for concern. Scallan et al. (2011a) reported that norovirus was responsible for most (58%) foodborne illness in the US, while non-typhoidal Salmonella was the leading cause of hospitalizations and…
Law is a system of civil codes, laws, and regulations designed and enforced by governmental or social institutions to control behavior in society. In its most common sense, it is an ordered system which governs conduct, with its exact definition having been a matter of long-standing debate. In more technical terms, it is known as the discipline of law and science. It is used to describe a body of knowledge that permits people to distinguish wrong from right, obligation from opportunity, and the authority of government against arbitrary action or force. The discipline of law is found throughout all of…