Using nutrition to take charge of our brains
When was the last time you skipped your workout because your mind was constantly racing? Even though we believe that we are the masters of our own free will, in reality, we frequently fall short of achieving even the most basic goals that are crucial to our well-being. It is rarely possible to switch our brains from an active to a passive state solely via willpower. In fact, this is the reason why around one in four people have sleeplessness. This is caused by brain messages that function in our subconscious.
Arouse cells
Scientists have discovered a great deal about the functioning of these subconscious impulses in the last 20 years. The vital wake-up signal in humans and other animals has been identified as originating from a tiny group of cells called orexin/hypocretin neurons, located in the hypothalamus, the deepest part of the brain. Since the loss of these cells was shown to be the cause of the sleep condition narcolepsy, the 1998 discovery of orexin cells revolutionised our knowledge of brain state control. The brain’s state is fragmented in narcolepsy, which is marked by excessively frequent shifts between states and an inability to maintain either awake or sleep. On the other hand, activation of orexin cells results in alertness and increases in physical activity.
Better control over one’s mental state appears to be possible with the discovery of orexin cells. Theoretically, we could regulate our orexin cells to switch them on and off when we want to be active and sleep, respectively, and therefore alter our brain states at will.
Regretfully, orexin cells function in the subconscious, much like our hearts or other organs. We are not aware of what our orexin cells are doing and are unable to deliberately alter them since they are marching to the beat of their own drum and function outside of our direct, conscious control.
Reaching into our subconscious
Because orexin cell activity and brain state are so strongly correlated, researchers like myself and my Neurobehavioural Dynamics research team at ETH Zurich find it impossible to avoid studying them. Our goal is to comprehend how individuals can have greater control over their actions and, eventually, their consciousness. We believe that by observing how and when orexin cells fire using tiny electrical probes or genetically engineered optical sensors, we may be able to figure out how to affect brain state control through ordinary, conscious decisions like what we eat.
We are perhaps too sweet for what we eat.
We discovered that orexin cells produce wake-stimulating electrical signals on their own, but that our food and networked brain circuits can control how strong these signals are. To be more precise, orexin cells exhibit a unique sensitivity to variations in the body’s concentrations of specific dietary macronutrients, including sugar and specific amino acids.
Orexin cells are strongly inhibited by glucose. Because sugar causes microscopic holes in the orexin cell membrane known as potassium channels to open, orexin cells cease producing wake-promoting signals when ambient glucose levels rise. Orexin cells become “electrically stubborn” when there is potassium channel activity, which makes it harder for other neurons to excite them. The onset of low-activity, sluggish states and a decline in voluntary physical activity are linked to these electrical alterations in the brain. Notably, subjects lacking orexin neurons do not experience this shift to inactivity brought on by consuming glucose, as observed in narcoleptics. Glucose does not decrease physical activity in these subjects, indicating that orexin cells are a crucial mediator between sugar and inactivity.
Your wakefulness cells waking up
On the other hand, our systems’ ability to produce non-essential amino acids from food can effectively stimulate orexin cells. The majority of protein-rich foods, such eggs and tofu, include non-essential amino acids in varied amounts. Depending on the amount consumed, non-essential amino acid levels in the brain rise for around an hour after consumption. They are not nutritionally necessary to eat because the body can generate them, but ingesting them is a fantastic way to activate orexin cells!
It may be feasible to figure out how our conscious, daily decisions—like the foods we choose to eat—can affect how our brain states are controlled.
The orexin cell membrane becomes electrically active when non-essential amino acids are added, making the cells very
cells by non-essential amino acids that are consumed also lessens appetite and suppresses the need to eat. For those attempting to reduce weight, this may be excellent news, but why did this mechanism evolve in the first place?
Food was scarce at times, according to human evolution and history, therefore losing weight was not an issue. However, our theory is that orexin cells cause humans to quit eating non-necessary foods—like those that contain an excessive amount of non-essential amino acids—in order to select foods that are nutritionally needed by turning movement “on” and eating “off.” Given the limited capacity of our stomachs and their slow emptying time, it may have been evolutionary advantageous to avoid overindulging in non-essential foods when vital nutrients could be just a short distance away.
It’s too early for diet plans
For those who wish to extend their free will into the subconscious, these findings about orexin cells and their dietary sensitivity seem like excellent news. Indeed, those who struggle with sleeplessness or poor motivation to move about find great appeal in the concept of managing orexin neurons by deliberate dietary choices. But according to our research, it’s still too early to say that consuming a bag of sugar will help you fall asleep. Until designer meals that manipulate our brain states are considered safe and beneficial, a long way to go.
The body controls our blood sugar levels quickly, so eating sugar might not be sufficient to prevent orexin cells from activating for the duration of the evening. Furthermore, consuming too much sugar might result in serious illnesses like diabetes. On the other hand, anxiety and other undesirable active brain states can result from overstimulating the orexin cells.
The current goal of our research is to comprehend how many lifestyle factors and illness risks can be combined to create safe control over the subconscious brain processes that often govern our lives, such as orexin cells.