Locusts 'high' on Serotonin

[janeothejungle]

The cure for the anti social lurkers among us.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7858996.stm


~Kat

[wmanning]

i totally read this article yesterday..
crazy

[LadyOhh]

So I just have to tickle your hind legs to get you to swarm with the rest of us, eh??

Okeedokie

[Jyson]

Cool article. That is crazy, but fascinating.

So I just have to tickle your hind legs to get you to swarm with the rest of us, eh??

Okeedokie

[wilomn]

You know what's really fascinating? Well, to me anyway, is that we humans, mammals, are producing and getting high of the same thing that locusts, insects, do.

Now that is truly weird.

[West Coast Jungle]

It makes you think how many other animals are stimulated by this chemical?

[Morphie]

serotonin is a neurotransmitter. It should have an effect on anything with a brain or digestive system.

It should not be viable to consume it. Most things that are consumed are broken down into their basic parts and the energy derived is used to drive the building of new proteins, etc. (which is why eating brains doesn't make you smarter, and eating jellyfish doesn't make you glow)

...Maybe that's just for protein and some chemicals remain intact or promote the production of chemicals similar to themselves.

hoonoes.

[Morphie]

double post

[Morphie]

You know what's really fascinating? Well, to me anyway, is that we humans, mammals, are producing and getting high of the same thing that locusts, insects, do.

Now that is truly weird.

To me it doesn't seem that strange. The brain surely formed before the divergence of arthropoda and animalia (or their predecessors), and it doesn't seem surprising that one of the most important neurotransmitters known was part of that system so long ago when the brain was new technology.

As long as serotonin does its job effectively and the brain is a sensitive organ that does not easily tolerate changes to its machinery, the underlying mechanisms by which it works should remain unchanged... indefinitely.

right? **boggles**

[wilomn]

To me it doesn't seem that strange. The brain surely formed before the divergence of arthropoda and animalia (or their predecessors), and it doesn't seem surprising that one of the most important neurotransmitters known was part of that system so long ago when the brain was new technology.

As long as serotonin does its job effectively and the brain is a sensitive organ that does not easily tolerate changes to its machinery, the underlying mechanisms by which it works should remain unchanged... indefinitely.

right? **boggles**

No, I'm hip to that.

The weird thing is looking at that six legged creature, antenna wiggling, abdomen throbbing, multifaceted eyes, tarsic toes and all that makes a bug (I know they're not true bugs) a bug and then looking at us, two legged though four limbed, two eyed, non-antennaed, abdomen lacking (in the sence of three distinct body segments aligned as a locust's are) and I am just amazed that our brains function similarly to any outside influence.

It's pretty neat when you stop and think about it but doggone weird too.