A study conducted by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh suggests “that a moderate dose of alcohol increases a person’s mind wandering, while at the same time reducing the likelihood of noticing that one’s mind has wandered.” The said research is the first to provide evidence that alcohol can hinder an individual’s ability to realize that he has already zoned out – a condition that is related to the impairment of the meta-consciousness or the awareness of one’s conscious state. The findings of the study also suggest the existence of various process that are concerned with the occurrence of a thought

The study was led by psychology professor Michael Sayette of the University of Pittsburgh. Along with his team composed of associate professor Erik Reichle and University of California psychology professor Jonathan Schooler, he conducted assessments of a group of male subjects. Half of the group was given alcohol while the other half got a placebo. Thirty minutes later, the subjects were asked to read a portion of “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy right from a computer screen. They were told to press a key on the keyboard each time they realize that they are zoning out or lose track of what they are reading.

The results of the study revealed that the alcohol group was mind-wandering without realizing that they have already zoned out 25 percent of the time. Because of the frequency of the mind wanderings, the group would have more opportunities to improve their awareness that their mind is wandering but they were still unable to notice.

“Researchers have known for a while that alcohol consumption can interfere with our limited-capacity powers of concentration,” says Sayette. “But this ‘double-whammy’ (i.e. more zone outs that take longer to recognize) may explain why alcohol often disrupts efforts to exercise self-control – a process requiring the ability to become aware of one’s current state in order to regulate it.”

The findings of the study present certain implications that the public should be aware of. For instance, mind-wandering caused by alcohol can also become another reason why driving is dangerous when intoxicated. Drunk drivers tend to lose track of their current state and what they are doing.

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Scientists from the University of Rochester Medical Center and Columbia University identified a protein that may be the key to processes associated with Parkinson’s disease. The said protein “could also play a role in muting the high from methamphetamine and other addictive drugs.” The findings of the said study were published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The discovery of the action of organic cation transporter 3 (oct3) has answered several questions on the occurrence of brain damage that brings about symptoms such as stiffness, slow movement, tremor and postural instability. These symptoms are typically manifested in patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease but there are lots of other possible causes for this group of symptoms otherwise known as ‘parkinsonism.’

The researchers found that oct3 is critical to the distribution of toxic chemicals into the dying brain cells as manifested in Parkinson’s. Oct3 is a kind of protein that essentially works to shepherd molecules into and out of cells and was also found to be associated in how the brain responds to addictive drugs such as methamphetamine.

The exact cause of Parkinson’s is still a medical mystery as there are cases that appear to have a genetic basis while in others, the disease is brought by a combination of genetic vulnerabilities and environmental factors. All that has been established so far is that the disease is a result of the death of the dopamine neurons. These brain cells are responsible for producing chemicals that enable another part of the brain to function.

For years, scientists have been trying to find out what makes cells die. This new study supports the idea that astrocytes may play a role in this phenomenon. “Astrocytes are definitely much more than support cells in the brain,” says Kim Tieu, Ph.D, from the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Department of Environmental Medicine and the study’s corresponding author. “Scientists are discovering their involvement in many diseases. The latest results point to their role in Parkinson’s disease.”

The researchers studied how the brain reacts to a chemical called MPTP. This chemical works to inflict damage on the same cells that are affected in Parkinson’s. The scientists found that it is oct3 that leads the toxic chemical out of the astrocytes and shepherds it around the dopamine neurons. At this point, the dopamine transporter picks up the chemical and gets it inside the neuron.

Blocking the action of oct3 in mice prevented cell death even when MPTP is still present in the brain. “The neurons affected in Parkinson’s disease don’t live in isolation in the brain,” says Serge Psedborski, MD, neurology professor at the Columbia University. “You must understand the brain environment as a whole to understand disease. For many years, people had a neuron-centric view of neurodegenerative diseases. But more and more scientists are realizing that if you wish to understand the process of neurodegeneration, you must take into account the astrocytes, the microglia, as well as the neurons. Astrocyte maintain an intimate relationship with neurons and to understand one, you have to understand the other.”

The study also looked into the role of oct3 in the brain’s response to addictive drugs. In this case, the protein works to get astrocytes to soak up the excess dopamine from around the neurons. People feel euphoria when dopamine isn’t removed from the space as quickly as it should. This can also result in brain damage. The findings suggest that those who have reduced oct3 levels in the brain are more susceptible to developing addiction.

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