Your Brain on Food How Chemicals Control Your Thoughts and Feelings

by Wenk, Gary

• ISBN13: 9780195388541
• ISBN10: 0195388542
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-07-30
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Why is eating chocolate so pleasurable? Can the function of just one small group of chemicals really determine whether you are happy or sad? Does marijuana help to improve your memory in old age? Is it really best to drink coffee if you want to wake up and be alert? Why is a drug like PCP potentially lethal? Why does drinking alcohol make you drowsy? Do cigarettes help to relieve anxiety? What should you consume if you are having trouble staying in your chair and focusing enough to get your work done? Why do treatments for the common cold make us drowsy? Can eating less food preserve your brain? What are the possible side effects of pills that claim to make your smarter? Why is it so hard to stop smoking? Why did witches once believe that they could fly? In this book, Gary Wenk demonstrates how, as a result of their effects on certain neurotransmitters concerned with behavior, everything we put into our bodies has very direct consequences for how we think, feel, and act. The chapters introduce each of the main neurotransmitters involved with behavior, discuss its role in the brain, present some background on how it is generally turned on and off, and explain ways to influence it through what we consume.

Author Biography

Gary L. Wenk is Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience & Molecular, Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, The Ohio State University.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction, Basic Principles

Really Basic Neuroscience

Acetylcholine

Catecholamines

Serotonin

Marijuana in the Brain

Simple Molecules and Salts

Histamine & Adenosine: Sleeping vs. waking

Neuropeptides

The Myth of Cognitive Enhancement

Brain Aging and Oxygen

Suggested Readings

Index of terms

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