Meski namanya terdengar berat, rasanya banyak orang yang mengalami fobia sosial ini; mereka yang disebut ‘pemalu’, yang sulit bergaul dengan orang baru, lingkungan baru, atau berbicara di depan orang banyak. Tapi jangan kuatir; sejumlah peneliti dari Zurich University sedang mengujicoba sebuah obat yang bisa mengatasi hal itu.

Obat ini, yang diekstrak dari hormon alami tubuh bernama oxytocin, mengurangi aktivitas salah satu bagian otak (amygdala) yang berkaitan dengan rasa takut dan bahaya. Walhasil malu-malu kita berkurang dan rasa percaya kita terhadap orang asing meningkat. Bahkan dalam sebuah eksperimen, rasa percaya para subyek yang diujicoba tidak berkurang meski orang asing itu diketahui telah melakukan sesuatu yang merugikan kita.

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk A nasal spray which increases our trust for strangers is showing promise as a treatment for social phobia, say scientists from Zurich University. They found that people who inhaled the “love hormone” oxytocin continued to trust strangers with their money – even after they were betrayed. Nicknamed the “cuddle chemical”, oxytocin is a naturally produced hormone, which has been shown to play a role in social relations, maternal bonding, and also in sex. “We found that oxytocin has a very specific effect in social situations. It seems to diminish our fears. “Based on our results, we can now conclude that a lack of oxytocin is at least one of the causes for the fear experienced by social phobics. The hormone could also be a candidate for treating patients with autism, he says. “Autistic people also have a fear of social situations and have problems interacting, so it is very likely that oxytocin could help,” he said. Drug trials are under way and early signs are promising say the scientists.

Boleh saja kata orang ‘life begins at 40‘, tapi menurut penelitan terbaru, pada umur 40-lah kinerja otak kita mulai menurun. Ini berkaitan dengan selubung mielin (myelin sheath), salah satu bagian yang penting dari sel saraf otak. Di atas umur 40, tubuh kita mulai kehilangan kemampuan untuk terus-menerus memperbaharui selubung itu, sehinga menyebabkan berbagai gejala kognitif yang dikaitkan dengan penuaan.

clipped from www.dailymail.co.uk According to the latest research, our brain is fastest at 39 and afterwards declines ‘at an accelerating rate.’ The slowdown occurs because of the loss of a fatty sheath which coats the nerve cells, called neurons, during middle age, experts say. The coating acts as insulation, similar to the plastic covering on an electrical cable, and allows for fast bursts of signals around the body and brain. When the sheath deteriorates, signals passing along the neurons in the brain slow down. This means reaction times in the body are slower too. Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, say that after 40 the body ‘loses the battle’  to repair the protective sheaths. The finding was made after researchers tested how quickly men aged from 23 to 80 could tap their index fingers in ten seconds. The results from the 72 participants showed that both ‘had lifespan trajectories that were virtually indistinguishable’ – and, significantly, peaked at 39.