The blue numbers are references in the Steiner article.
Introduction
It is also Nutrition Month and Womens History Month. However, nutrition is related to the brain. Your brain is made from, fueled by, and repaired by the food that you eat. There is also a connection with women.
Dr. Janice Stevens is a brilliant neuroscientist. She specializes in neuropathology, but she also does brain imaging.
The Central Nervous System
The central nervous system is comprised of the brain and the spinal chord.
The Cerebral Cortex
The cerebral cortex is above the cerebellum and is divided into lobes.
Man has a much larger cerebral cortex than those of other species. The cerebral cortex is involved in thinking.
Animals can think, but their thinking is much more limited.
George Harrison (1974)
Brain Research
Brilliant discoveries have been made in brain research (1). Quinolinic acid is a metabolite of tryptophan in the kynurenine pathway, which has been suspected in various types of psychiatric disease. It seems that tryptophan is being excessively metabolized in this pathway. Bogerts, one of the authors of Ref. 1, is a very famous German neuropathologist who has been doing research for decades. Ref. 2 is consistent with Ref. 1. Both of these brilliant articles are on an academic level. Ref. 3 reports similar findings in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. It may be that depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder are all errors in tryptophan metabolism.
But what is the treatment? Tryptophan is found in the diet. Orthomolecular treatment is suggested. Clearly more research is needed. I have not been satisfied with the results of psychiatric drugs. These drugs have many bad side effects.
Ref. 4 provides more information on orthomolecular medicine.
Conclusions
We have only scratched the surface of a vast subject. Further reports will be forthcoming. Of course, there are many theories for depression (5-7). Some of these theories could be caused by medication artifacts. Other theories will be discussed in future articles.
Reference
1. J Neuroinflammation. 2011 Aug 10;8:94. Severe depression is associated with increased microglial quinolinic acid in subregions of the anterior cingulate gyrus: evidence for an immune-modulated glutamatergic neurotransmission?Steiner J, Walter M, Gos T, Guillemin GJ, Bernstein HG, Sarnyai Z, Mawrin C, Brisch R, Bielau H, Meyer zu Schwabedissen L, Bogerts B, Myint AM.
2.Dantzer R, OConnor JC, Freund GG, Johnson RW, Kelley KW. From inflammation to sickness and depression: when the immune system subjugates the brain. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2008;9:4656. doi: 10.1038/nrn2297. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Cross Ref]
3.Drexhage RC, Knijff EM, Padmos RC, Heul-Nieuwenhuijzen L, Beumer W, Versnel MA, Drexhage HA. The mononuclear phagocyte system and its cytokine inflammatory networks in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Expert Rev Neurother. 2010;10:5976. doi: 10.1586/ern.09.144. [PubMed] [Cross Ref]
4. Ford, Terra, Schizophrenia Cured: A Case History and a Look at Orthomolecular Therapy, 1994, ISBN 0919323022, Canadian Schizophrenia Foundation, 16 Florence Ave., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M2N 1E9.
5.Seidel A, Arolt V, Hunstiger M, Rink L, Behnisch A, Kirchner H. Major depressive disorder is associated with elevated monocyte counts. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1996;94:198204. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1996.tb09849.x. [PubMed] [Cross Ref]
6. Maes M, Van der Planken M, Stevens WJ, Peeters D, DeClerck LS, Bridts CH, Schotte C, Cosyns P. Leukocytosis, monocytosis and neutrophilia: hallmarks of severe depression. J Psychiatr Res. 1992;26:125134. doi: 10.1016/0022-3956(92)90004-8. [PubMed] [Cross Ref]
7. Irwin M, Smith TL, Gillin JC. Low natural killer cytotoxicity in major depression. Life Sci. 1987;41:21272133. doi: 10.1016/0024-3205(87)90531-5. [PubMed] [Cross Ref]
