Mitochondria (energy) As The Main Driver Of Health, Intelligence, And Aging

haidut

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We are finally starting to see Peat enter the mainstream and article like the one below are calling for a complete review of what we know about health and aging and how intelligence is tied to them. As the authors says, or actually borrows from Peat, there is solid evidence that mitochondrial function and ATP production are the main factors driving intelligence, and levels of intelligence can be used as surrogate for general health and as predictors of future health decline. Perhaps the most important aspect of the article is its recognition that intelligence is just as dependent on energy production, as systemic health is. As such, declining energy production leads to not only declining health but also declining intelligence. The article also recognizes that chronic stress easily damages mitochondria. As such, chronic stress should be considered a major causative factor in all known diseases, as well as cognitive disturbance and declining intelligence in general that we have been seeing over the last 4 decades.

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Intelligence can link to health and aging

"...For over 100 years, scientists have sought to understand what links a person's general intelligence, health and aging. In a new study, a University of Missouri scientist suggests a model where mitochondria, or small energy producing parts of cells, could form the basis of this link. This insight could provide valuable information to researchers studying various genetic and environmental influences and alternative therapies for age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease. "There are a lot of hypotheses on what this link is, but no model to link them all together," said David Geary, Curators Distinguished Professor of Psychological Sciences in the MU College of Arts and Science. "Mitochondria produce cellular energy in the human body, and energy availability is the lowest common denominator needed for the functioning of all biological systems. My model shows mitochondrial function might help explain the link between general intelligence, health and aging."

"...Geary's insight came as he was working on a way to better understand gender-specific vulnerabilities related to language and spatial abilities with certain prenatal and other stressors, which may also involve mitochondrial functioning. Mitochondria produce ATP, or cellular energy. They also respond to their environment, so Geary said habits such as regular exercise and a diet with fruits and vegetables, can promote healthy mitochondria. "These systems are being used over and over again, and eventually their heavy use results in gradual decline," Geary said. "Knowing this, we can help explain the parallel changes in cognition and health associated with aging. Also with good mitochondrial function, the aging processes will occur much more slowly. Mitochondria have been relatively overlooked in the past, but are now considered to relate to psychiatric health and neurological diseases. Geary said chronic stress can also damage mitochondria that can affect the whole body -- such as the brain and the heart -- simultaneously."
 

ShotTrue

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I don't remember exactly, but what about the Keuryonic acid pathway? It was something Nate Hatch talked about where the body prioritizes intelligence when under stress, leading to a higher IQ or resource partitioning to the brain.
Not that I promote stress. It's just sometimes when I was unwell it seemed my brain went into overdrive, able to understand complex biological systems at times
 

lampofred

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I don't remember exactly, but what about the Keuryonic acid pathway? It was something Nate Hatch talked about where the body prioritizes intelligence when under stress, leading to a higher IQ or resource partitioning to the brain.
Not that I promote stress. It's just sometimes when I was unwell it seemed my brain went into overdrive, able to understand complex biological systems at times

I think Nate Hatch might be talking about "book smart" intelligence, whereas Haidut is talking about "street smart" kind of intelligence. The former is actually kind of superficial and amphetamine-like imo, the latter is slower but "deeper" and more accurate if that makes sense.
 

ShotTrue

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I think Nate Hatch might be talking about "book smart" intelligence, whereas Haidut is talking about "street smart" kind of intelligence. The former is actually kind of superficial and amphetamine-like imo, the latter is slower but "deeper" and more accurate if that makes sense.
To be there is a definite place for both, book smart I feel like is kind of upper tier and can really open doors in life.
 

lampofred

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book smart I feel like is kind of upper tier and can really open doors in life.

I actually feel the opposite, book smart is good if you want to be decently well-off, such a middle manager, but becoming an innovative CEO/artist/brilliant scientist like Dr. Peat/etc. necessitates having the "street smart", Dionysian type of intuitive intelligence
 

somuch4food

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I actually feel the opposite, book smart is good if you want to be decently well-off, such a middle manager, but becoming an innovative CEO/artist/brilliant scientist like Dr. Peat/etc. necessitates having the "street smart", Dionysian type of intuitive intelligence

My book smart level is pretty good and I was successful as a student. I'm no street smart though and a lot has to do with how I was educated by the system. Since I'm shy and introverted and no one guided me to acquire street smart strategies, I'm now on the difficult path of having to learn this during adulthood.
 

Amazoniac

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Will stimulating the brain during energy deprivation signal that the body can't afford an increase in stupidiol and perhaps dumbesterone, helping to preserve it at the expense of other parts..

<alien body image>​

..or fry it due to overstimulation, making it preferable to stick to kitten videos for a while running the risk of atrophy?

Please be considerate about your opinion because you're defining the destiny of a few tabs.
 

JudiBlueHen

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My book smart level is pretty good and I was successful as a student. I'm no street smart though and a lot has to do with how I was educated by the system. Since I'm shy and introverted and no one guided me to acquire street smart strategies, I'm now on the difficult path of having to learn this during adulthood.

I share a lot of your qualities - very book-smart and not so street smart. Always an introvert, very analytical, but comfortable in professional or familiar social environments. But I attribute my lack of street smart mentality to my personality and temperament, not my upbringing per se. I'm a lot older than you and I can say that I am still not very street smart but I am a bit more observant and less easily fooled. Not so bad after all!
 

somuch4food

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I share a lot of your qualities - very book-smart and not so street smart. Always an introvert, very analytical, but comfortable in professional or familiar social environments. But I attribute my lack of street smart mentality to my personality and temperament, not my upbringing per se. I'm a lot older than you and I can say that I am still not very street smart but I am a bit more observant and less easily fooled. Not so bad after all!

I agree with you about it being personality and temperament, that's why I used 'acquire street smart strategies'. It would have been a lot easier to learn those things at a young age than it is now.
 

milk

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My book smart level is pretty good and I was successful as a student. I'm no street smart though and a lot has to do with how I was educated by the system. Since I'm shy and introverted and no one guided me to acquire street smart strategies, I'm now on the difficult path of having to learn this during adulthood.

Yes, everything here describes me pretty much. Although my "book smarts" seem to have declined a bit in adulthood...

I was at the top of my class as a kid. But the same scrupulosity that drove me to be a good obedient boy and do my homework and ace the tests became a crippling scrupulosity when I needed to deal with the ambiguous problems of real life. Real life is not black and white, there are no "right" answers, there are only optimal and suboptimal solutions to the endless complex problems we must face. Being obesessed with "rules" becomes a hindrance. Flexibility and adaptability - the opposite of the "obedient schoolboy" mindset - become key.

School primes us for bureaucratic jobs - not for risk-taking, creative, adventurous entrepreneurship. Autistic people are passive and obedient, they are bureaucrats at heart. School makes us autistic.
 

LUH 3417

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Yes, everything here describes me pretty much. Although my "book smarts" seem to have declined a bit in adulthood...

I was at the top of my class as a kid. But the same scrupulosity that drove me to be a good obedient boy and do my homework and ace the tests became a crippling scrupulosity when I needed to deal with the ambiguous problems of real life. Real life is not black and white, there are no "right" answers, there are only optimal and suboptimal solutions to the endless complex problems we must face. Being obesessed with "rules" becomes a hindrance. Flexibility and adaptability - the opposite of the "obedient schoolboy" mindset - become key.

School primes us for bureaucratic jobs - not for risk-taking, creative, adventurous entrepreneurship. Autistic people are passive and obedient, they are bureaucrats at heart. School makes us autistic.
Maybe what you say is why over educated people can be prone to depression. Perhaps they reflect on life decisions as being right or wrong rather than as choosing the most optimal path at a given time. It’s like every time you “fail” you become “bad” because that is the system you exist in.
 

Amazoniac

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Yes, everything here describes me pretty much. Although my "book smarts" seem to have declined a bit in adulthood...

I was at the top of my class as a kid. But the same scrupulosity that drove me to be a good obedient boy and do my homework and ace the tests became a crippling scrupulosity when I needed to deal with the ambiguous problems of real life. Real life is not black and white, there are no "right" answers, there are only optimal and suboptimal solutions to the endless complex problems we must face. Being obesessed with "rules" becomes a hindrance. Flexibility and adaptability - the opposite of the "obedient schoolboy" mindset - become key.

School primes us for bureaucratic jobs - not for risk-taking, creative, adventurous entrepreneurship. Autistic people are passive and obedient, they are bureaucrats at heart. School makes us autistic.
Guru, good post.
 

ShotTrue

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I’m lucky I have it good in both worlds. I got a 3.9 gpa in a top 30 high school in the US but also suspended twice and sent to correctionary school for a small bit.
I would say for men social time and androgens will go a long way.
There’s a few good sites and books I’ve read to enhance my social skills, however I think finding a friend group and getting out socially hands on is the best. You’re not risking much
 

ShotTrue

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Also taking a lot of risks helps train your mind to go for things and not sweat the small stuff. A lot of bookish people are just fearful, and training the body and picking up a sport is really good for social + physical
 

Luann

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Yes, everything here describes me pretty much. Although my "book smarts" seem to have declined a bit in adulthood...

I was at the top of my class as a kid. But the same scrupulosity that drove me to be a good obedient boy and do my homework and ace the tests became a crippling scrupulosity when I needed to deal with the ambiguous problems of real life.

I sort of understand, especially as someone who did high school & 2 years college in late teens, then returned to finish my degree some years later. I wonder if the body makes some tradeoffs to allow it to gain maturity and development of the individual :) Anyway, I can think of some pretty great people who aren't or weren't the best in school.
 

aussiebaldguy

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Randomly, dogs have many more mito per cell than us:
Thus they have extreme endurance and refuelling ability compared with us.
 

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