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kateoplis: Meet me here.

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:41:01 -0500

Meet me here.

I remember going to a lot of concerts as a teen, a lot of standing next to speakers, and a lot of...

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 23:31:46 -0500

I remember going to a lot of concerts as a teen, a lot of standing next to speakers, and a lot of friends making fun of people for wearing ear plugs.

I resented going to shows because I was too ashamed to ignore peer pressure. I hated the noise pain, the horrible sound quality, and the deafness the next day.

It wasn’t until I saw the drummer of my favorite band wearing ear plugs while checking out another act that I realized how stupid my friends were.

I wore ear plugs to every show after that and ended up loving live music for it. I’ll never understand how taking care of yourself is uncool, but I’ll always appreciate that drummer for helping me feel confident in my actions, regardless of his intentions.

There is a level in the ultra-violent game, Hotline Miami,...

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 18:33:52 -0500

There is a level in the ultra-violent game, Hotline Miami, called Highball which is a near replica of Austin’s Highball bowling alley. It’s rather eerie but was awesome to discover. RIP Highball.

Man of Steel has beautiful armor and Antje Traue is amazing.

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 17:23:00 -0500

Man of Steel has beautiful armor and Antje Traue is amazing.

cesart: For my friend Cullen’s birthday, a few friends and I...

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:45:53 -0500

cesart:

For my friend Cullen’s birthday, a few friends and I got together for a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Tomales Bay Oyster Co., shucking oysters and clams, grilling, drinking beers and just generally enjoying the sun.

theartofanimation: Patrick Faulwetter

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:45:35 -0500

theartofanimation:

Patrick Faulwetter

Photo

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:42:27 -0500

Photo

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 09:02:48 -0500

neurosciencestuff: High Sugar Intake Linked to Low Dopamine...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 22:12:01 -0500

neurosciencestuff:

High Sugar Intake Linked to Low Dopamine Release in Insulin Resistant Patients

PET study led by Stony Brook Professor indicates that overeating and weight gain contributing to onset of diabetes could be related to a deficit in reward circuits in the brain

Using positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of the brain, researchers have identified a sweet spot that operates in a disorderly way when simple sugars are introduced to people with insulin resistance, a precursor to type 2 diabetes. For those who have the metabolic syndrome, a sugar drink resulted in a lower-than-normal release of the chemical dopamine in a major pleasure center of the brain. This chemical response may be indicative of a deficient reward system, which could potentially be setting the stage for insulin resistance. This research could revolutionize the medical community’s understanding of how food-reward signaling contributes to obesity, according to a study presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging’s 2013 Annual Meeting.

“Insulin resistance is a significant contributor to obesity and diabetes,” said Gene-Jack Wang, MD, lead author of the study and Professor of Radiology at Stony Brook University and researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, N.Y. “A better understanding of the cerebral mechanisms underlying abnormal eating behaviors with insulin resistance would help in the development of interventions to counteract the deterioration caused by overeating and subsequent obesity. We suggest that insulin resistance and its association with less dopamine release in a central brain reward region might promote overeating to compensate for this deficit.”

An estimated one-third of Americans are obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The American Diabetes Association estimates that about 26 million Americans are living with diabetes and another 79 million are thought to be prediabetic, including those with insulin resistance.

The tendency to overeat may be caused by a complex biochemical relationship, as evidenced by preliminary research with rodents. Dr. Wang’s research marks the first clinical study of its kind with human subjects.

“Animal studies indicated that increased insulin resistance precedes the lack of control associated with pathological overeating,” said Wang. “They also showed that sugar ingestion releases dopamine in brain regions associated with reward. However, the central mechanism that contributes to insulin resistance, pathological eating and weight gain is unknown.”

He continued, “In this study we were able to confirm an abnormal dopamine response to glucose ingestion in the nucleus accumbens, where much of the brain’s reward circuitry is located. This may be the link we have been looking for between insulin resistance and obesity. To test this, we gave a glucose drink to an insulin-sensitive control group and an insulin-resistant group of individuals and we compared the release of dopamine in the brain reward center using PET.”

In this study, a total of 19 participants-including 11 healthy controls and eight insulin-resistant subjects-consumed a glucose drink and, on a separate day, an artificially sweetened drink containing sucralose. After each drink, PET imaging with C-11 raclopride-which binds to dopamine receptors-was performed. Researchers mapped lit-up areas of the brain and then gauged striatal dopamine receptor availability (which is inversely related to the amount of natural dopamine present in the brain). These results were matched with an evaluation in which patients were asked to document their eating behavior to assess any abnormal patterns in their day-to-day lives. Results showed agreement in receptor availability between insulin-resistant and healthy controls after ingestion of sucralose. However, after patients drank the sugary glucose, those who were insulin-resistant and had signs of disorderly eating were found to have remarkably lower natural dopamine release in response to glucose ingestion when compared with the insulin-sensitive control subjects.

“This study could help develop interventions, i.e., medication and lifestyle modification, for early-stage insulin-resistant subjects to counteract the deterioration that leads to obesity and/or diabetes,” said Wang. “The findings set a path for future clinical studies using molecular imaging methods to assess the link of peripheral hormones with brain neurotransmitter systems and their association with eating behaviors.”

I could put this on repeat for the rest of my life. So many...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 10:26:25 -0500

I could put this on repeat for the rest of my life. So many emotions.

thatfrenchman: Sony, you’ve proved me wrong and won me over....

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 22:35:02 -0500

thatfrenchman:

Sony, you’ve proved me wrong and won me over. Bravo.

Also, this is just too damn funny.

My Body Is Ready.

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 11:22:09 -0500

My Body Is Ready.

I like how the first season of Kitchen Nightmare (US) always opens with the owners discussing how...

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 01:07:03 -0500

I like how the first season of Kitchen Nightmare (US) always opens with the owners discussing how attractive they think Chef Ramsey is.

mothernaturenetwork: 6 top inflammatory foods to avoidChronic...

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 19:36:00 -0500

mothernaturenetwork:

6 top inflammatory foods to avoid
Chronic inflammation has been linked to many illnesses, so skipping these foods may improve your health.

Big Multiple Sclerosis Breakthrough: Northwestern University News

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 23:17:40 -0500

Big Multiple Sclerosis Breakthrough: Northwestern University News:

A phase 1 clinical trial for the first treatment to reset the immune system of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients showed the therapy was safe and dramatically reduced patients’ immune systems’ reactivity to myelin by 50 to 75 percent, according to new Northwestern Medicine research.

Drawing Ideas / AMA?

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 20:51:00 -0500

I dusted off my Wacom and am practicing. Ideas?

David eating sushi.

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 20:29:00 -0500

David eating sushi.

Photo

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 20:03:00 -0500

My desire for purchasing an Xbox One has just dropped...

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 22:01:00 -0500

My desire for purchasing an Xbox One has just dropped significantly thanks to Microsoft’s press release.

They’ll need Steam level price reductions at this point to make me interested.

My friend recently purchased some commercial space in Austin and wanted to convert it into an indie...

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 08:43:00 -0500

My friend recently purchased some commercial space in Austin and wanted to convert it into an indie movie theatre. He asked me to help design and monetize it, but he refused to show anything other than “The Bourne Trilogy” out of a deep love for Matt Damon. Needless to say, it caused a rift in our friendship and we don’t see each other anymore.