Sleep, blood sugar, alcohol
I've noticed a correlation between alcohol intake and vividness of dreams next day mood. Perceived depth (detail) / length of dreams seems to be positively correlated with a meal and more than modest alcohol intake (impairment). I suspect this has something to do with the conversion of alcohol to sugar and sustained blood sugar levels post meal. Eg. Most recently, I drank 3 beers and ate a fried chicken and waffles and had what seemed to be the best sleep of my life. Next day mood was right up to the point of mania; I might not have subscribed without it ;) This scenario has occurred repeatedly; I drink rarely otherwise. How can these effects be measured? How can this effect be replicated without alcohol? (doesnt seem to happen without)
Ligament injury healing protocol
A very common sports injury are ligament tears in the knee and ankle. Due to many years of soccer, my ankle ligaments have had it rough, and I frequently sprain my ankle because of its weakness. Do you have any protocols to help heal ligament injuries? It'd be interesting to see whether there is a core mechanism at play by comparing ankle to knee ligament tears (I believe ACL tears are one of the most common injuries amongst athletes).
Reading left to right vs right to left
How does reading right to left instead of left to right change your brain (if it does)? Do people who read from left to right in their mother tongue have a different brain from those who read right to left? Is it beneficial for someone who grew up reading and writing in one direction to learn a language in which reading and writing happens in the opposite direction?
How can I improve vision using VR therapy?
Hello, I've had eye laser surgery and due to a movement of the flap on the right eye, there is scar tissue that introduces a lot of noise in the visual field. This makes it sometimes difficult for me to see face expressions if there is a lot of light from the side (like an office window). I also was told that my right eye is a bit behind compared to the left eye. It makes me uncomfortable in some situations as it is hard to assess expressions of the people I interact with. I heard in one of the podcasts that light therapy using VR goggles improved eyesight in 59 out of 60 participants. I would like to know what I can do at home to improve my eyesight? (I've taken lutein which did not result in any change). - which VR headset can I buy? - what software can I use to do the therapy and where can I download/buy/get it? - I also heard about injections to the eye that restored the optical nerves, could you elaborate on this? Thanks for the amazing content :).
Neuroplasticity
Considering the massive interest in neuroplasticity I was wondering if you were able to provide insight into two pharmacological interventions clinically prescribed in non western parts of the world, namely cerebrolysin and semax. I know many studies have shed light the potential for psychedelics to increase brain growth factors to trigger neuroplasticity but these compounds come with it an inherent warning label. Cerebrolysin is administered IM/IV and contains a variety of growth factors such as BDNF, CNTF and NGF as well as amino acids. Semax is a fragment of ACTH and works as a BDNF secretagogue, a fair comparison maybe of that of GH and a GH secretagogue like sermorelin. This being said cerebrolysin has been used in so many different settings from, spinal injury, improving brain function of Down syndrome children, ADHD and off label has been used for cognitive enhancement, similarly to semax. All in all as a pharmaceutical intervention these compounds have been used in clinical settings and studies with almost no reported adverse effects. Considering the safety of these compounds, id love to see a neuroscientist’s perspective on the potential effects this may have in a variety of different applications.