19 replies to this topic

[benson123]

Check out this proposal for the Center for Neurobiological Science: http://www.cerebralhealth.com/cns.php. Go to the forum section to see details. It looks like a great idea worth donating too.

[zoolander]

Yes and LifeMirage posting the exact same posts at brainmeta.

[zoolander]

The title is brilliant!

[superiorn]

Seems very impressive. I don't understand your issue with Cerebral Health and his plan to do real research into cognition.

Introduction

by Doug Phillips, Director

Is there anything more valuable to you than your brain?

Cerebral Health seeks to provide you up-to-date information and products to help you protect your most valuable asset.

Over the past 20 years, our understanding of the brain has increased exponentially. As we move further into the 21st century, we are likely to witness tremendous advances in the brain sciences.

Cerebral Health is a resource to keep you abreast of the exciting new discoveries in the neurosciences to better help you take care of and maintain the health of your brain.

A central tenet of Cerebral Health is the idea that our brains are malleable and go through significant changes during the duration of our lives. IQ and intelligence are not fixed numerical values that forever stay constant. Rather, Cerebral Health maintains that we can help create and facilitate the development of intelligence through exposure to stimulating environments, proper nutrition, and exercise.

While the nature vs. nurture argument continues to be waged in the neuroscientific community, recent estimates suggest that approximately 50% of intelligence is inherited through genetics. Meanwhile, the other 50% of IQ and the development of intellectual capacities is derived from the environment.

Cerebral Health suggests that the maintenance of an enriching intellectual environment can lead to an optimal state of the mind and well-being of the brain. As humans endowed with the capacity to create such environments, we can make important choices about what kind of environments we want to immerse ourselves within.

An intellectually stimulating environment can and does take a myriad of forms. We can in large measure control and help mediate the kinds of information that enter our brains. Perhaps one of the most important decisions we can make in our own lives and in the lives of others regards the informational environments we help co-create.

Neuroenhancing environments are often multi-faceted and complex while taking a variety of forms. Examples of neuroenhancing environments can range from the concert hall to the ivory towers to the city streets and to the fun of the playground. The internet and an assortment of digital mediums have also become richly contoured neuroenhancing environments from which to build the contours of our neuro-self.

A new class of pharmaceuticals is now emerging whereby cognitition and memory is enhanced in healthy, normal individuals as well as those suffering from cognitive deficits of one kind or another including Alzeimer's disease.

Neuroenhancers, cognitive enhancers, and nootropics are a relatively new class of drugs that are likely to have wide-ranging effects on human society in the distant future and in the immediate years to come. As our understanding of neurogenetics, and the traditional neurosciences continues to advance, we are likely to see powerful neuroenhancers emerge in the marketplace that may call into question many of our notions of what it means to be a human being.

Considerable ethical debate continues to be waged on issues of cognitive liberty and personal freedom. Questions are being raised in the minds of neuroethicists about the potential ramifications of cognitive enhancement on both the personal and collective levels of human existence. Will neuroenhancers create a new cognitive elite? Should governments use neuroenhancers in cases of severe psychosis? Will individuals in a feverishly competitive world be able to choose not to use neuroenhancers in the future? Who will have access to neurotechnologies? Is it fair to take performance enhancing drugs before standardized tests such as the SAT? Do neuroenhancers change who we are? What safety concerns are involved? Are neuroenhancers a short-cut to psychological change and development? Such questions may only intensify and broaden as research continues in this growing field of inquiry, testing, and thorough analysis.

Cerebral Health takes a wholistic approach to brain health. While neuroenhancers of a diverse array may contribute significantly to the development of intelligence and perhaps ultimately wisdom, Cerebral Health maintains that we must integrate our brains harmoniously with our bodies as a whole. In this respect, exercise of the body facilitates the growth of the mind and vice versa.

Furthermore, Cerebral Health argues that the quality of our environment is an essential component to a healthy brain and optimal well-being. Clean air and water, fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, and meats free from pesticides and polluting chemicals is critical to a fully functional brain. Our brains are organically connected to our immediate environment. Whatever enters through our nostrils, skin, mouth, ears, and eyes impacts the growth and health of the brain.


As I mention on the CNS webpage, the center is in the preliminary stages of development and I am seeking seed funding to help get the center off the ground (or in the ground as the case may be).

Here are a few ideas I have so far of what I would like to do (but we need large amounts of funding to be able to do it). Please feel free to also share your own ideas of what you would like to see the Center become.

Since virtually all of the scientific research in brain studies appears to focus almost exclusively upon brain abnormalities and disease, I want the Center for Neurobiological Science to work on examining exceptional intelligence and brain health. I would like to conduct thorough scientific studies on genuises and artistic savants. In line with this area of research, I want to investigate the best and most efficient ways to increase intelligence and expand mental capabilities for any person. This area of research will be taking a look at pharmaceutical and technological means to enhance intelligence specifically.

In order to do the level of research I hope to conduct through the Center for Neurobiological Science, I need funding to purchase or rent PET (positron emission tomography) scanners. The scanners cost about $1 million each, but they can be rented for much cheaper. Ideally, I would like to get an fMRI scanner as well, but I think the PET scanner is better suited for the kinds of research I would like to oversee. For more info on PET scanners check out the wikipedia article at: http://en.wikipedia....sion_tomography

The Center for Neurobiological Science also needs funding to rent out or purchase space to actually house the PET scanner and a few offices. I would like to be able to provide salaries for at least one administrative assistant and initially up to three top neuroscientists. The salaries I would prefer to offer in the initial stages are about $25k for the administrative assistant and $50k for young neuroscientists. We would also need funding for test subjects who would be paid about $100 for participating in the studies. We would be seeking test subjects with the highest IQs we could find as measured by standardized tests. Preferably, all test subjects would have IQs over 130, but we also need subjects where we can measure changes in intelligence over long periods of time since the primary goal of the Center is to help faciliate cognitive expansion for virtually anyone (perhaps even those in states of coma).

These are preliminary visions I have for the Center. The Center for Neurobiological Science is a long-term dream I want to see materialize, but I can't do it all alone. I need donors and superb researchers and contributors. This is my motivation for seeking online donations. I don't know what the outcome will be quite yet. We are at the beginning stages. Fortunately, I am fairly young and have time on my side to see this dream become a reality. I don't want to take shortcuts. If it takes considerable time to create the Center, then so be it. I just want it to be one of the most cutting-edge research centers in the world on brain health and cognitive enhancement. I think we can do it, but I need your help.


I also just wanted to say a few words why I think this research is important because some potential donors might want more reasons to support the Center.

The kind of research I am proposing through the Center for Neurobiological Science is relevant to human society and the planet on a host of fronts. Perhaps if we can understand better how the brain works, we can help those suffering from severe brain abnormalities, diseases, and disorders. Yet, we also want to improve the quality of life for everyday individuals. By helping to support research in brain health and cognitive enhancement, we also contribute towards better lives (and I think this can occur on many levels simultaneously). We can expand our individual talents, help the species evolve, and maybe even help save the planet if we just act smarter. We desperately need enlightened and more intelligent answers to the difficult situations we currently face. We need to continue evolving.

While I don't want to overestimate the value of such research, helping to find ways to increase intelligence and brain health can provide us with foundational means to accomplish just about anything- from seeking remedies to our current global warming and environmental predicament to our personal bouts with depression. How we think determines our behavior both individually and collectively. A healthier and smarter brain will likely bring about better actions and an enjoyable mental well-being. Donations to the Center for Neurobiological Science will assist us in better understanding the nuances of healthy brain networks and how to nourish our most complex biological system.

Doug


www.cerebralhealth.com

What nootropics and region of the brain would you want to study?

[zoolander]

I agree prometheus. That would be quite a study, to look at the extremely skewed neurologically dysfunctional mind. What's your hypothesis?

I bet if we get a buccal sample that we would find DNA sequence variants in the phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate 5-kinase IIalpha gene (PIP5K2A) which would explain his schizophrenia. It's possible though the he may have 22q11 deletion syndrome (22qDS).

[superiorn]

I think you 2 gay men have me confused with someone else.

[zoolander]

[superiorn]

lol

[synapse]

I do hope that the center takes off and I appreciate any suggestions moving forward.

I am new to these forums and reading about the LifeMirage/UNI controversy.

Steve has been a supporter of the cerebralhealth forums and website in the past, but he may not be in the future. I am beginning to be concerned about his reputation and may need to distance myself from him to avoid a negative reflection on the cerebral health site. However, I can say my dealings with him thus far have been fair and equitable.

[synapse]

I would just like to add a couple more thoughts to the UNI situation since I am personally involved.

Prior to these fora, I had no acquaintance with what appears to be going on with Steve(?). Like I mentioned earlier, my dealings with him have been fine, but after reading about the controversy here and at Avant Labs, I am beginning to have some serious concerns. At first, I thought it was no big deal that Steve posed as LM or any other persona. However, since Steve is currently a moderater on one of the cerebralhealth forums, I need to do what is best for visitors to the site.

What concerns me specifically are the lies. There is little doubt in my mind at this point that LifeMirage=Steve=Unique Nutrition. I have no insight to offer in regards to Edward. LifeMirage states on brainmeta that he does not sell nootropics. This seems to me to be an outright lie. When I began the cerebralhealth forums, the first two users after myself were "uniquenutrition" and "lifemirage". Coincidental? I doubt it. They seem to be one and the same.

I don't care to be associated with someone who is attempting to deceive massive amounts of online users. I doubt Shawn at brainmeta would either. I have thought about emailing him personally about this situation. Thus far, I do not see any lies committed by Steve on cerebralhealth forums but they are evident elsewhere. I do think Steve has a good grasp of nootropics, but his marketing tactics may be sketchy to say the least if what is emerging is accurate.

I appreciate any insight ImmInst users may care to offer.

[neuroenhanced]

I've been told Steve Sliwa (president of Unique Nutrition) and Lee Crost MD(LifeMirage) work together, although Lee works as a consultant rather than directly for the company. I wouldn't be surprised if Lee signed up on your website upon Steve's suggestion but decided to focus on posting on Brainmeta instead.

I don't see any proof that Steve has ever posted as LifeMirage or that anyone has lied. In fact I've seen many people who e-mail and talked to both people and considered them very different people.

If anyone has hard proof otherwise I would like to see it.

[xanadu]

Very well said, neuroenhanced. I have seen a ton of accusations but virtually zero in the form of hard evidence. It has been said that if you repeat something enough times, many people will believe it.

[synapse]

To be honest, I am not sure one way or the other if Steve is Life Mirage or not or what in fact their connection is. It does seem that they post very similar posts if not identical. I am also not entirely clear why Lee Crost would spend so much time on forums promoting Unique Nutrition. And in other posts on ImmInst it appears that there is reasonable evidence that Steve does post as Life Mirage. Further, there are no postings on brainmeta from Unique Nutrition or Steve directly which would strike me as odd given his personal interests in the site.

I hope Steve is who he says he is (and not some Edward guy or posing as Lee Crost). I don't care one way or the other except for the fact that Steve is currently a moderator on the cerebralhealth forums. As I said earlier, I do not see any lies from him committed on the cerebral health site thus far and my dealings with him have been good to date. He has consistently paid his sponsorhip (sometimes paying even more that what I expect) and has been generous in other ways. As far as I can tell, his products are of top quality and he genuinely attempts to do the best for his customers and clients.

[neuroenhanced]

Steve's posts on M&M and LifeMirage posts on Brainmeta seem like night and day. Steve seems abit immature compared to what I've seen of LifeMirage's posts. Aside from a few postings that looked like they copied and pasted a few posts from each other (I think alot of people recycle posts these days) they seem like very different people.

I've seen LifeMirage insult Steve and Unique Nutrition a few times in this forum but I have not seen him promote them. Can you post a link to cite an example?

Synapse I would be interested in knowing how Steve pays for his membership.

Shawn at Brainmeta seems to be fully informed.

Also, I should note that I have reviewed all evidence against LM in this matter, and have found it unconvincing.

http://brainmeta.com...indpost&p=60926

He also appears to be involved in LifeMirage's Piracetam study, which it would seem Steve is sponsoring based on the postings at brainmeta and M&M.

http://brainmeta.com...indpost&p=69336

[synapse]

I thought it was Unique Nutrition's piracetam study?

[neuroenhanced]

It would appear Lee Crost M.D. designed the study and will be reviewing the data, while Steve Sliwa is funding it. I signed on just to check it out. Perhaps you should too.

[zoolander]

The results of the study will be extremely bias if either LM/LeeCrost have anything to do with it. Additionally there will be a conflict of interest if unique nutrition has anything to do with.