Your Brain Could Be Controlling How Sick You Get - And How You Recover

Hundreds of scientists around the world are looking for ways to treat heart attacks. But few started where Hedva Haykin has: in the brain. Doctor Haykin wants to know whether stimulating a region of the brain involved in positive emotion and motivation can influence how the heart heals.

Late last year, in a small, windowless microscope room, she pulled out slides from a thin black box, one by one. On them were slices of hearts, no bigger than pumpkin seeds, from mice that had experienced heart attacks. Under a microscope, some of the samples were clearly marred by scars left in the aftermath of the infarction. Others showed mere speckles of damage visible among streaks of healthy, red-stained cells.

The difference in the hearts’ appearance originated in the brain, Haykin explains. The healthier-looking samples came from mice that had received stimulation of a brain area involved in positive emotion and motivation. Those marked with scars were from unstimulated mice. On the basis of her experiments so far, which have not yet been published, activation of this brain reward centre — called the ventral tegmental area (VTA) — seems to trigger immune changes that contribute to the reduction of scar tissue.

(Fonte: Scientific American - adaptado.)

Your Brain Could Be Controlling How Sick You Get - And How You Recover

Hundreds of scientists around the world are looking for ways to treat heart attacks. But few started where Hedva Haykin has: in the brain. Doctor Haykin wants to know whether stimulating a region of the brain involved in positive emotion and motivation can influence how the heart heals.

Late last year, in a small, windowless microscope room, she pulled out slides from a thin black box, one by one. On them were slices of hearts, no bigger than pumpkin seeds, from mice that had experienced heart attacks. Under a microscope, some of the samples were clearly marred by scars left in the aftermath of the infarction. Others showed mere speckles of damage visible among streaks of healthy, red-stained cells.

The difference in the hearts’ appearance originated in the brain, Haykin explains. The healthier-looking samples came from mice that had received stimulation of a brain area involved in positive emotion and motivation. Those marked with scars were from unstimulated mice. On the basis of her experiments so far, which have not yet been published, activation of this brain reward centre — called the ventral tegmental area (VTA) — seems to trigger immune changes that contribute to the reduction of scar tissue.

(Fonte: Scientific American - adaptado.)

Your Brain Could Be Controlling How Sick You Get - And How You Recover

Hundreds of scientists around the world are looking for ways to treat heart attacks. But few started where Hedva Haykin has: in the brain. Doctor Haykin wants to know whether stimulating a region of the brain involved in positive emotion and motivation can influence how the heart heals.

Late last year, in a small, windowless microscope room, she pulled out slides from a thin black box, one by one. On them were slices of hearts, no bigger than pumpkin seeds, from mice that had experienced heart attacks. Under a microscope, some of the samples were clearly marred by scars left in the aftermath of the infarction. Others showed mere speckles of damage visible among streaks of healthy, red-stained cells.

The difference in the hearts’ appearance originated in the brain, Haykin explains. The healthier-looking samples came from mice that had received stimulation of a brain area involved in positive emotion and motivation. Those marked with scars were from unstimulated mice. On the basis of her experiments so far, which have not yet been published, activation of this brain reward centre — called the ventral tegmental area (VTA) — seems to trigger immune changes that contribute to the reduction of scar tissue.

(Fonte: Scientific American - adaptado.)

Your Brain Could Be Controlling How Sick You Get - And How You Recover

Hundreds of scientists around the world are looking for ways to treat heart attacks. But few started where Hedva Haykin has: in the brain. Doctor Haykin wants to know whether stimulating a region of the brain involved in positive emotion and motivation can influence how the heart heals.

Late last year, in a small, windowless microscope room, she pulled out slides from a thin black box, one by one. On them were slices of hearts, no bigger than pumpkin seeds, from mice that had experienced heart attacks. Under a microscope, some of the samples were clearly marred by scars left in the aftermath of the infarction. Others showed mere speckles of damage visible among streaks of healthy, red-stained cells.

The difference in the hearts’ appearance originated in the brain, Haykin explains. The healthier-looking samples came from mice that had received stimulation of a brain area involved in positive emotion and motivation. Those marked with scars were from unstimulated mice. On the basis of her experiments so far, which have not yet been published, activation of this brain reward centre — called the ventral tegmental area (VTA) — seems to trigger immune changes that contribute to the reduction of scar tissue.

(Fonte: Scientific American - adaptado.)

Your Brain Could Be Controlling How Sick You Get - And How You Recover

Hundreds of scientists around the world are looking for ways to treat heart attacks. But few started where Hedva Haykin has: in the brain. Doctor Haykin wants to know whether stimulating a region of the brain involved in positive emotion and motivation can influence how the heart heals.

Late last year, in a small, microscope room, she pulled out slides from a thin black box, one by one. On them were slices of hearts, no bigger than pumpkin seeds, from mice that had experienced heart attacks. Under a microscope, some of the samples were clearly marred by scars left in the aftermath of the infarction. Others showed mere of damage visible among streaks of healthy, red-stained cells.

The difference in the hearts’ appearance originated in the brain, Haykin explains. The healthier-looking samples came from mice that had received stimulation of a brain area involved in positive emotion and motivation. Those marked with scars were from unstimulated mice. On the basis of her experiments so far, which have not yet been published, activation of this brain reward centre — called the ventral tegmental area (VTA) — seems to trigger immune changes that contribute to the reduction of scar .

(Fonte: Scientific American - adaptado.)

Em todo o mundo, as diferenças de padrão de vida são assustadoras. Em 2014, o norte-americano médio tinha uma renda de cerca de $ 55 mil. No mesmo ano, o mexicano médio ganhava cerca de $ 17 mil, o chinês médio cerca de $ 13 mil e o nigeriano médio apenas $ 6 mil. Não surpreendentemente, essa grande variação do nível de rendimento se reflete em diversos indicadores de qualidade de vida. Os cidadãos de países de renda elevada têm mais televisores e carros, melhor nutrição, melhor assistência médica e uma expectativa de vida mais longa que os cidadãos de países de baixa renda. As mudanças do padrão de vida ao longo do tempo também são grandes. Nos Estados Unidos, as rendas cresceram historicamente cerca de 2% ao ano (após ajustes que ocorreram por causa de alterações no custo de vida). A essa taxa, a renda média dobra a cada 35 anos. No último século, a renda média dos Estados Unidos aumentou aproximadamente oito vezes.

O que explica essas grandes diferenças de padrão de vida entre países ao longo do tempo? A resposta é surpreendentemente simples. Quase todas as variações de padrão de vida podem ser atribuídas a diferenças de produtividade entre países, ou seja, a quantidade de bens e serviços produzidos por unidade de insumo de mão de obra.

Em países onde os trabalhadores podem produzir uma grande quantidade de bens e serviços por unidade de tempo, a maioria das pessoas desfruta de padrões de vida elevados; em nações onde os trabalhadores são menos produtivos, a maioria das pessoas precisa enfrentar uma existência com maior escassez e, portanto, menos confortável. De forma semelhante, a taxa de crescimento da produtividade de um país determina a taxa de crescimento de sua renda média. A relação fundamental entre produtividade e padrões de vida é simples, mas suas implicações são profundas. Se a produtividade é o determinante principal do padrão de vida, outras explicações devem ser de importância secundária. Por exemplo, poderia ser tentador creditar aos sindicatos de trabalhadores ou às leis de salário-mínimo a elevação do padrão de vida dos trabalhadores norte-americanos durante o século passado. Mas a verdadeira heroína dos trabalhadores norte-americanos é sua produtividade crescente. Vejamos outro exemplo: alguns especialistas afirmaram que a competição crescente do Japão e de outros países explica o lento crescimento da renda nos Estados Unidos nas décadas de 1970 e 1980. Mas, na verdade, o vilão não era a competição internacional e, sim, o menor crescimento da produtividade no país. A relação entre produtividade e padrão de vida também traz implicações profundas para a política pública.

Quando se pensa sobre como alguma política afetará os padrões de vida, a questão-chave é como ela afetará nossa capacidade de produzir bens e serviços. Para elevar os padrões de vida, os formuladores de políticas precisam elevar a produtividade, de forma a garantir que os trabalhadores tenham uma boa educação, disponham das ferramentas de que precisam para produzir bens e serviços e tenham acesso à melhor tecnologia disponível.

(Fonte: Introdução à economia - adaptado.)