Is It Possible To Increase Your Intelligence?

[Such_Saturation]

@Such_Saturation

I was hoping for a physical theory, like the way Linus Pauling and Gilbert Ling explain things on the molecular level.

Without a physical theory, there is no way to know if you're right. People without physical theories can say whatever they want and nobody can disprove them.

But I realize that this is probably impossible with consciousness. You can convincingly explain how light (or electrons) transfer along the inside of microtubules, but there seems to be no way to make the next step towards consciousness.

How does the brain produce consciousness from light?

So...yeah. I think everything should be fully explainable (i.e. muscle contraction, nerve impulse) on the molecular level, but I can't even comprehend how consciousness could be. I wouldn't even know where to begin. Even the quantum mechanical explanations found in reputable physical journals kinda seem like nonsense to me. Saying that consciousness is produced from different quantum spin states hardly clarifies things.

This reminds me of Gödel's incompleteness theorem.

A complete theory of reality (and thus consciousness) is necessarily metaphysical. Consciousness cannot come from nothing, it is more akin to a property of space, and Orch OR states this as well if I remember correctly.

 

[Constatine]

Is this the study you are referring to?
Chronic Nicotine Exposure In Vivo and In Vitro Inhibits Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) Uptake by Pancreatic Acinar Cells. - PubMed - NCBI
I didn't find much on thiamine and tobacco smoke doesn't seem like there is much research at least on pub med. They used nicotine in the water in the rats. So if nicotine does impair thiamine uptake in humans as well then I suppose it would be a good idea to supplement B1 or eat plenty liver. What do you guys make of this study?

@BigYellowLemon @haidut

Yes that is the study. There was also a study that found thiamine administration (as Benfotiamine) improved the vascular health of rats exposed to nicotine: Benfotiamine attenuates nicotine and uric acid-induced vascular endothelial dysfunction in the rat. - PubMed - NCBI , https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijvm/2012/968761/

 

[Queequeg]

Use spellcheck. At least people won't assume you're an idiot. Fake it till you make it :)

 

[bram]

Yes that is the study. There was also a study that found thiamine administration (as Benfotiamine) improved the vascular health of rats exposed to nicotine: Benfotiamine attenuates nicotine and uric acid-induced vascular endothelial dysfunction in the rat. - PubMed - NCBI , https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijvm/2012/968761/

okay interesting, and what do you guys have to say about the worsening of your vo2 when smokinglike lets say a pack a day. I play hockey on a high level and smoking messes with my conditioning

 

[A. squamosa]

For sure you can! There are a range of different markers for intelligence. You can improve memory, focus, creative flow, reasoning, breadth of knowledge, and so on.

Anecdotally, when I was studying formal logic I noticed my performance in other areas of study (I'm a philosophy major, english minor, history mini!) improved. My ability to hold complex arguments in my mind, focusing on them and working them through, was noticeably improved.

There is a writing practice we're encouraged to use in english which also helped me. You get up, and for the first hour of your day, or until you're up to six pages, you write as fast as you can and you don't think about what you're writing (certainly don't allow critical thoughts like "that's stupid/embarrassing/stressful" to affect you, dismiss them). The hr/6 pages is arbitrary. I found myself writing about all sorts of things, sometimes just describing my desk!

There are also a lot of different techniques for improving memory which I definitely need to use - my memory is ***t.

Also, don't leave emotional intelligence by the wayside

 

[Constatine]

okay interesting, and what do you guys have to say about the worsening of your vo2 when smokinglike lets say a pack a day. I play hockey on a high level and smoking messes with my conditioning

That's probably due to vasoconstriction and poor lung health. Smoking actually increases red blood cell count.

 

[Travis]

There is a difference between American Spirits that come pre-made, and the ones that you make yourself. The pre-made ones have ammonia, which raise the pH and increase nicotine bioavailability.

Going 100% pure tobacco is probably a good idea. Other companies have even more additives, but they aren't always as toxic as some people imply. Many additives are natural plant extracts (but there can be solvents involved).

I'm going to have to read those studies⇑.

 

[Frankdee20]

I doubt Dr Peat would recommend fish oil for cognitive enhancement as it is a PUFA oil, and most fish oil supplements are rancid, but I can attest that thyroid, B1, caffeine, and magnesium are all cognitive enhancers that Dr Peat has mentioned.

Perhaps Fish Oil gets thrown in the mix as it's consumption directly increases acetylcholine.

 

[Prosper]

Anecdotally, when I was studying formal logic I noticed my performance in other areas of study (I'm a philosophy major, english minor, history mini!) improved. My ability to hold complex arguments in my mind, focusing on them and working them through, was noticeably improved.

For how long after taking a break from such exercises are you able to retain the sharp state of mind?

 

[A. squamosa]

Hard to tell, it was the second semester so I had a 3 month break after it, and didn't take the opportunity to keep my brain fit throughout. I don't imagine it would last for long. I think my improved cognition was a result of challenging my brain weekly, almost daily (not for very long or anything, but at least until the end of the exercise).

 

[Travis]

I think my improved cognition was a result of challenging my brain weekly...

This makes sense to me. The serotonergic neurons extend from the raphe nuclei throughout the brain. I think that some people "wire" (grow long neuronal processes) to different brain regions depending on their specific needs.

 

[Constatine]

Both thinking and environmental stimulation lead to increased mitochondria number in the brain. Be in a stimulating environment and ponder the world.

 

[A. squamosa]

yeah, I can imagine the same happening with learning maths, analysing poetry, doing crosswords, learning a new language, learning various other new skills, the list goes on - as long as you're being challenged frequently.

 

[BigYellowLemon]

Is this the study you are referring to?
Chronic Nicotine Exposure In Vivo and In Vitro Inhibits Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) Uptake by Pancreatic Acinar Cells. - PubMed - NCBI
I didn't find much on thiamine and tobacco smoke doesn't seem like there is much research at least on pub med. They used nicotine in the water in the rats. So if nicotine does impair thiamine uptake in humans as well then I suppose it would be a good idea to supplement B1 or eat plenty liver. What do you guys make of this study?

@BigYellowLemon @haidut

I don't think it's a big deal. Rat study anyways. The amount of thiamine normal people is probably completely sufficient, I doubt nicotine will have an effect. Smokers don't seem to exhibit symptoms of thiamine deficiency.

I don't know how I feel about cigarettes or even nicotine for that matter anymore. I really don't know how to feel.

On paper, I see very little problems with it. With filters, the particulates should be extremely low, and even with particulates, I doubt they'd mess anything up (mucus in lungs is very good at protecting the lungs). Somewhat relevant, I inhaled a bunch of kratom a month or two ago and thought I was gonna die, felt pain in my throat and chest for hours, by the next day I felt completely fine).

The carbon monoxide is not a problem in my mind, the levels are too low for major in my opinion, might even be helpful in case you ever become hypoxic for whatever reason.

The carbon dioxide is probably a major benefit, and there's lots of it.

The formaldehyde/heavy metals/radiation is mostly bull**** and the levels present aren't relevant for human health at all, there's more of that stuff in a cheeseburger or a cotton t-shirt than in any cigarette, honestly I'm more concerned about heavy metals or pesticides present in the cotton filters than in the tobacco leaves. But even then, the cotton was heavily treated and purified in a way, so it might not even be a problem.

Nicotine, I am not sure how to feel. Good cognitive enhancer, one of if not the best stimulant cognitive enhancer, great for working memory. I feel like it's bad for mood in the long run though.

And tobacco has all the harmalas, possibly some nicotonic acid, and some other stuff I forget that might be good.

The heat of the smoke is bad, which is why I try to hold it in my mouth, not always though.

I definitely don't think cigarettes cause cancer or anything like that... Even according to the epidemiological data, the correlation between cigarette smoking and lung cancer is crazy low. And even then, that's just correlation, not causation, so it's clear to me the datas weak as **** for carcinogenicity.

I don't know. I continue to smoke. I tried vaping for a while but it made my head feel weird, didn't make me feel that great, and the coil burned and I kept hitting it, which was horrible. I haven't replaced the coil so tobacco it is.

 

[Travis]

I definitely don't think cigarettes cause cancer or anything like that... Even according to the epidemiological data, the correlation between cigarette smoking and lung cancer is crazy low.

I think it's convincing. I looked at a few old epidemiological studies, and the pyrolysis compounds are pretty complex in the chemical ones.

Glucose turns into benzene, and the plant sterols can turn into benzanthracene.

But I don't know if there has ever been a chemical study between raw tobacco and processed tobacco with sucrose and other additives. Most certainly, there never has been an epidemiological study between Newport smokers and American Spirit smokers.

But the same pyrolysis compounds are formed during the cooking of food, and people who eat cooked food probably have a similar higher risk of colon cancer vs raw food eaters than tobacco smokers have against non-smokers.

But It does seem to make a person think better, and it lowers the risk for Parkinson's so much that researchers have to correct for this effect in their statistical analysis (I'm serious. I have actually seen this done in two scientific articles.)

 

[Energizer]

I don't think it's a big deal. Rat study anyways. The amount of thiamine normal people is probably completely sufficient, I doubt nicotine will have an effect. Smokers don't seem to exhibit symptoms of thiamine deficiency.

I don't know how I feel about cigarettes or even nicotine for that matter anymore. I really don't know how to feel.

On paper, I see very little problems with it. With filters, the particulates should be extremely low, and even with particulates, I doubt they'd mess anything up (mucus in lungs is very good at protecting the lungs). Somewhat relevant, I inhaled a bunch of kratom a month or two ago and thought I was gonna die, felt pain in my throat and chest for hours, by the next day I felt completely fine).

The carbon monoxide is not a problem in my mind, the levels are too low for major in my opinion, might even be helpful in case you ever become hypoxic for whatever reason.

The carbon dioxide is probably a major benefit, and there's lots of it.

The formaldehyde/heavy metals/radiation is mostly bull**** and the levels present aren't relevant for human health at all, there's more of that stuff in a cheeseburger or a cotton t-shirt than in any cigarette, honestly I'm more concerned about heavy metals or pesticides present in the cotton filters than in the tobacco leaves. But even then, the cotton was heavily treated and purified in a way, so it might not even be a problem.

Nicotine, I am not sure how to feel. Good cognitive enhancer, one of if not the best stimulant cognitive enhancer, great for working memory. I feel like it's bad for mood in the long run though.

And tobacco has all the harmalas, possibly some nicotonic acid, and some other stuff I forget that might be good.

The heat of the smoke is bad, which is why I try to hold it in my mouth, not always though.

I definitely don't think cigarettes cause cancer or anything like that... Even according to the epidemiological data, the correlation between cigarette smoking and lung cancer is crazy low. And even then, that's just correlation, not causation, so it's clear to me the datas weak as **** for carcinogenicity.

I don't know. I continue to smoke. I tried vaping for a while but it made my head feel weird, didn't make me feel that great, and the coil burned and I kept hitting it, which was horrible. I haven't replaced the coil so tobacco it is.

I agree, and smoking is better than vaping anyway imo, nioctine is only one compound of the many in tobacco.

 

[Queequeg]

I just read that Muhammad Ali had an IQ in the mid 70s, and that was before all the rope-a-dopes. WTF

 

[Frankdee20]

Watching that guy's show, Rachel Maddow will lower IQ by ten points.

 

[meatbag]

Microtubules are 100% protein, but I'm not sure how many of them have a lipid coat in vivo. They are found in both myelinated and unmyelinated nerves.

Below are oleic acid phospolipids on a microtubule. The phospho- group is positively charged and is attracted to the microtubule:
View attachment 5944
To give an idea of scale, the diameter of a microtubule is ~250 Å.
View attachment 5942
And the length of the the lipid is hard to calculate because oleic acid has a kink and the experimenters didn't even mention if it was cis or trans. We can use trigonometry and published bond lengths to estimate cis-oleic phospholipid at around 25.4 Å.* So they are barely visible in the ↑above micrograph, about ¹⁄₁₀ the size of the microtubule.

So it's difficult to see if they are actually lipidated in vivo. I don't know if the micrograph below had been defatted or not, as I couldn't find the original citation. This was prepared for electron microscopy so any lipids were probably removed during fixing, leaving the bare protein skeleton.
View attachment 5943
So I'm not really sure if they usually have a lipid coat or not. These things are so small that they are hard to image. Raman spectroscopy could probably find out since you can image live cells and use the IR spectrum of the phosphoester bond to see if it's present. I don't think this has been done. I can't find anything on this.

Most papers deal with the inside of the tubules. An interesting paper is called Detection of Tryptophan to Tryptophan Energy Transfer in Proteins.

Photons can fluoresce from one tryptophan (indole) to another. The acceptor indole can the re-emit the photon. If they are close enough, then there is very little energy wasted in the transition. This is called Förster resonance energy transfer.

This is the most plausible mechanism of nerve transmission throughout the body. Microtubules are directly coupled to mitochondria which could act as the energy source to excite the indoles.
View attachment 5945
This is a micrograph of microtubules stained with fluorescent antibodies. These are like nerves within nerves and the true carriers of information.

I made the analogy of microtubles to fiber optic cables, only to realize that this has already been done. Perhaps the best article is called EMISSION OF MITOCHONDRIAL BIOPHOTONS AND THEIR EFFECT ON ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY OF MEMBRANE VIA MICROTUBULES. This in interesting and was authored by a physicist who uses the Schrödinger Wave Equation to model waveforms inside of microtubules. He even compares his calculated waves to actual EEG readings.

However, he makes no mention of the word "indole" or "tryptophan" even once. Since these are the things which actually guide the biophotons—and not the diameter of the microtubule—I think the mathematical foundation should be laid using the
Förster resonance energy transfer equations.

Biophotons are a reality and have been measured emanating from living cells. Sometimes this is called 'ultraweak emission'.

What is interesting about psychedelic molecules is that there psychedelic potency correlates with their highest occupied molecular orbital. Nothing else correlates. This makes the idea of a protein receptor—which fits in a lock-and-key manner depending on the molecule's shape—seem wrong in this case.† Psychedelics seem to be able to donate electrons to the inside of the microtubules or affect the wave frequency or amplitude in some way. Anesthetics seem to be capable of quenching photonic transmission.

Some Articles
•A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE HALLUCINOGENIC ACTIVITY OF DRUGS AND THEIR ELECTRONIC CONFIGURATION
•THE CHEMILUMINESCENCE OF CERTAIN INDOLES
•Fluoresence Quenching of the Indole Ring System by Lanthanide Ions
•Trifluoroethanol Quenches Indole Fluorescence by Excited-State Proton Transfer
•Brain chemiluminescence and oxidative stress in hyperthyroid rats



*For cis-stearic acid:
lengh A (terminal oxygen to carbon ω–9)=12(1.54Å)sin(54.75°)+2(1.43Å)sin(55.15°)+2(1.47Å)sin(54.75°)=20.28Å
lengh B (carbon ω–9 to carbon ω )=8(1.54Å)sin(54.75°)=10.06Å
Law of cosines calculator with 109° kink angle
†But the "lock-and-key" relationship still holds for some enzyme and antibody interactions.

This a great post Sir Travisord (yes im stealing that from @Amazoniac ; you should just change your screen name at this point honestly)

Do you have an experiment that you believe best demonstrates the conductiveness of the microtubles?

 

[meatbag]

This a great post Sir Travisord (yes im stealing that from @Amazoniac ; you should just change your screen name at this point honestly)

Do you have an experiment that you believe best demonstrates the conductiveness of the microtubles?

I asked a question and I found an answer, I think now I am changed

Here's the interesting articles I found, you might like it and it has some interesting citations: http://www.cell.com/biophysj/fulltext/S0006-3495(06)72554-1?scriptOff=true