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2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/sci/ - Science & Math

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3038595 No.3038595 [Reply] [Original]

As you probably know, one of the things that happens when you get older is that mental speed and sharpness slow due to reduced output of neurotransmitters in the brain (in short, the synapses are firing with less strength).

My question is: Would it ever be feasible some day to restore the neurotransmitter levels in the brain?

>> No.3038611

>>3038595

Not sure exactly, although IIRC there's more to it than that; you also have fewer neurons in old age due to die-off.

>> No.3038625

>>3038611

Yeah, even a totally non-senile person with all his mental faculties will still experience some cerebral atrophy.

>> No.3038626

inb4 singularity faggots

>> No.3038643

That's the thing. You can theoretically undo some aging if you kept replacing the person's organs with fresh transplants periodically, but you can't replace the brain itself.

They estimate that no matter how many times you'd replace the rest of the organs (heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, etc), the neurons would simply run out of gas and shut down after 150 years.

>> No.3038677
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3038677

The singularity is near..
PREPARE

>> No.3038679

No one knows. No one with credibility will tell you otherwise. Devote your life to fighting over a preliminary issue that arises in answering this question in an cell culture that is wildly different than human tissue. Welcome to academia.

>> No.3038682

Threshold doses of psychedelics seem to do the trick for me.

>> No.3038692
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3038692

>>3038595

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracetam

"Aging

Piracetam appears to reverse the effects of aging in the brains of mice.[27][28]

Piracetam appears to reduce levels of lipofuscin in the rat brain.[29] (Lipofuscin accumulation is a common symptom of aging and alcoholism)."

>> No.3038720

>>3038692
Proof by contradiction.
1) Suppose Wikipedia is written by people who portray an accurate view of the world.
2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_Walton
3) You are now Agent Mulder.
4) David Duchovny has had sought therapy for his compulsive behaviour in having sex with strangers.
5) You have not had sex.
6) You are simultaneously a sex addict and have not had sex.

>> No.3038750

>>3038679

No clue what you're saying exactly, but 7/10.

>> No.3038753

>>3038720

Please just shut up now, so I don't have to put any effort into showing you why you're wrong.

After a while, a man gets tired of endless internet debates.

>> No.3038781

>>3038682

So you're saying that everyone over 65 should be issued LSD as part of their Medicare plan?"

>> No.3040602

>>3038643
>implying we can't replace with those neurons with ones made by us

I find ending aging much more possible than putting consciousness onto a computer (i don't even know how in the fuck someone would do that).

so hopefully we can build some little nano shit and put it in the brain and make the brain much more better at self-repair.