Epigenetics, the human brain and consciousness

[Letitia]

Hi,

 

I am new to this forum.

 

I have been interested in the work by independent researcher Tony Wright on his epigenetic theory on human evolution, the impact this has had on the brain and therefore our consciousness.

 

Outside of his newly published book 'Left in the Dark', which is gaining rave reviews by an ever increasing list of academics and pioneers in their respected fields - he has also recently written a condensed article called:

'Consciousness and the Direction of Structure' - for the Beckley foundation's new website - http://www.brainwaving.com - the article can be found here:

 

http://www.brainwaving.com/2009/11/17/377/

 

Or in pdf -

 

http://leftinthedark.org.uk/sites/default/files/Consciousness%20and%20the%20Direction%20of%20Structure.pdf

 

You can also find out more about the work here and read what other academics have got to say -

 

Home | Left in the Dark

 

I am interested in continuing to open up increasing debate around this work for those who have an interest or education in epigenetics, human evolution, and consciousness.

 

Any guidance on where I could start posting about this work on this website, or anywhere else on the internet would be very appreciated.

 

I personally believe this work needs critical attention by anyone interested in the future of the human race.

 

Thanking you in advance,

 

Letitia

[lemit]

Welcome to Hypography! That's a very impressive first post. I'm fascinated by epigenetics, but I know very little about the mechanics of it. I'll follow those links and probably have a lot of questions for you based on them.

 

Thank you and again welcome!

 

--lemit

[Letitia]

Thanks for the warm welcome.

 

My personal area of fascination is the nutritional and hormonal influence on the development of the human brain from conception until the end of weaning - which I have concluded is biologically much later in 'human simians' than is currently practised culturally.

 

However I am interested in a broad range of seemingly unrelated topics and look forward to any debate generated on the connection between epigenetics, brain development, and consciousness.

 

warm regards,

Letitia

[Essay]

Hi & Welcome....

 

This isn't exactly epigenetics, but (I'm copying some of a post from last April)....

 

 

http://hypography.com/forums/biology/16412-has-our-biological-evolution-ended-7.html#post261735

 

....

I think this may help answer many of the points brought up in this thread.

ResearchChannel - The Changing Human Genome: Implications for Disease and Evolution ...it's 1 hour.

 

I only caught the end of this broadcast recently' date=' but....

I did jot down some quotes:

...something about a [b']unique (to higher primates) gene "duplication architecture"[/b] especially as related to "hotspots that promote recurrent deletion events."

&

...something about a new view of that ~1% difference between us and chimps--along the lines of "but some regions have changed extremely rapidly." ...referring to that 1% --that has "changed extremely rapidly."

 

& something like: This unique "duplication architecture" allows for the original copy to function normally while the duplicate gene can mutate wildly (...who cares, as the original is still functioning normally, eh?)!

===

 

Also:

...it shouldn't be surprising that many of these duplicated genes (which mutate more) are associated with mental functions.

 

It's a fascinating show, regardless of your interests.... :)

 

But they also mention digestive changes associated with these same "hotspot" indels;

 

...and I wonder tangentially if you've heard of a book called "The Second Brain" by Michael Gershon....

Amazon.com: The Second Brain: A Groundbreaking New Understanding of Nervous Disorders of the Stomach and Intestine (9780060930721): Michael Gershon: Books http://www.amazon.com/Second-Brain-Groundbreaking-Understanding-Disorders/dp/0060930721

...ah, the joys of domestication....

 

~ :)

 

...but that ResearchChannel link is worth the effort!

[Letitia]

Thanks, I will check out the link.

 

I am very interested in the gut, and I have read most of Gershon's book with fascination at the depth of understanding he presents. There has been a particular interest, in regards to Wright's theory, at how MAOIs abundant in a forest fruit diet (eaten by other large brained primates) would affect gut evolution.

 

Here is a quote from an email sent by Gershon to Wright:

 

 

"If the primordial diet was rich in monoamine oxidase inhibitors, that would profoundly affect the evolution of the gut. The lining of the bowel is rich in monoamine oxidase and the cells can take up serotonin so that monoamine oxidase and other enzymes can inactivate it."

Dr Michael Gershon Neuro-gut researcher author of The Second Brain

 

Thanks for the post and interest.

[Michaelangelica]

Welcome

There is a newish thread here on Epigenetics generally; as we all tyrying to get our heads around this fascinating new idea. Please join in. It is called "Epigenetics- Exploring"

 

If you just want to just discuss the epigenetic implications for consciuosness/cogmition here is as good a place as any. I will have a read of your links and get back to you.

 

Just off the cuff. it is interesting the strong link between IBS and clinical depression. Such that IBS is being treated with anti-depressants. No one seems to know why yet but some reseach is being don at Adelaide university.

I remember reading somewhere that there were more neurons in the gut than the brain.

 

Welcome to hypography

[Michaelangelica]

I would be surprised if there was any good evidence for these assertions

Left in the Dark

Science of the Mind — POSTED BY Tony Wright on November 17, 2009 at 10:25 am

. . .

 

Contraction

 

Then around two hundred thousand years ago the rapid expansion of our brain abruptly stalled and turned to contraction. The huge reduction and near loss of the wet tropical forests during the driest period of the last ice age pulled the plug on the fomenting cauldron of chemicals that had been responsible for re-designing, re-organising and re-engineering the evolutionary development of our brain. When the last of our lineage were ejected from the forests womb like protection that had hot housed our evolution, the neural system it had nurtured was exposed to the kinds of hostile ecological and biochemical environments it had not encountered for millions of years. The physiological traits that had emerged and were dependent on a heavily modified transcription environment inevitably began to regress.

 

Catastrophic failure

 

Since that time our brain has suffered a progressive and catastrophic failure in its development, massive loss of its structural integrity at a molecular and cellular level and near total loss of the most complex biochemical cocktail in evolutionary history essential for its optimum function.

http://www.brainwaving.com/2009/11/17/377/

[Letitia]

thanks for your interest and posts Michealangelica,

 

As far as I am aware the enteric nervous system does not have more neurons than the brain.

 

"The ENS consists of some one hundred million neurons, one thousandth of the number of neurons in the brain, and considerably more than the number of neurons in the spinal cord."

 

but it certainly very interesting that the enteric nervous system has so many neurons and has been labelled 'the second brain'. I sometimes like to think of it as the first brain, and I personally experience a whole host of emotional responses in my gut.

 

It is true that some of Wright's model is currently theoretical. However there is a huge body of evidence that already exists within the scientific arena that supports the main body of the testable hypothesis.

 

For links to other scientists work that is directly related see:

 

Links | Left in the Dark

 

For downloads of related evidence check here:

 

Downloads | Left in the Dark

 

To generate the finances to co-ordinate a high level of scientific investigation, exploration and research is certainly the next step in testing the hypothesis being presented.

 

In 1998 there was some basic scientific research done on Wright and a colleague that produced unprecedented scientific results.

 

Here is a link:

 

http://www.leftinthedark.org.uk/PDF/THE%20MANCHESTER%20TRIAL.pdf

 

I will take a look at the other epigenetic post - thanks again.