Chemicals Promoting Myelination

[LongTimeWaiting]

I recently came across some information I find unbelievably interesting. It's this thing called myelin. Myelin is said to play an important role in learning ANY and EVERY skill. I myself like to write, draw, and play chess so I was wondering how we could go about inducing myelination with the use of chemicals and practice?

I understand practice is still key, but does anyone know of a way to induce myelination through use of chemicals? Whether it is eating a certain way or taking a stack of supplements. I'm currently researching this myself and I'm running every possible chemical through a program called PASS.

So far I found a few promising chemicals, but I know nothing about them. There's this one called Adenosine which seems to surely promote myelination. DHA is said to as well, but when I ran it through the PASS program it barely scored for the "myelin basic protein".

There's a lot of promise in this field of research and more is going into it every day. I still know the bare minimum about this topic so if anyone knows more please chime in.

 

[Mindlusion]

Lions mane!


Lions mane has been shown to have neuronal regenerative properties both through the production of NGF and regrowth of nerves, but also in the increased production of myelin sheath.

And yes, as you described, the myelin sheath plays a major role in neuroplasticity (ie learning). New connections are formed 'in the wires' rather than at new neurons end to end. This discovery was pretty huge, since prior to that the only purpose of the sheath known to science was its protective and insulating properties.

You can read more about this here on this blog, which contains all the citations for further reading: Myelin Facilitation of Whole Brain Neuroplasticity

Heres a couple journal articles on lions mane and the active hericenones and erinacines

Neuroregenerative potential of lion's mane mushroom, Hericium erinaceus (Bull.: Fr.) Pers. (higher Basidiomycetes), in the treatment of peripheral nerve injury (review) - PubMed

We present a model case study of the activity of aqueous extract of Hericium erinaceus fresh fruit bodies in promoting functional recovery following crush injury to the peroneal nerve in adult female Sprague-Dawley rats. The aim was to explore the possible use of this mushroom in nerve repair...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The influence of Hericium erinaceus extract on myelination process in vitro - PubMed

Myelin sheaths, wrapping axons, perform the following important functions: support, protection, feeding and isolation. Injury of myelin compact structure leads to an impairment and severe illness of the nerve system. Exact mechanisms underlying the myelination process and myelin sheaths damage...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[LongTimeWaiting]

Thanks, Mindlusion. I had no idea Lion's mane was that powerful. I'll purchase some after I read more about it, but for now, I decided on Adenosine Monophosphate and Cordyceps. I bought a spray you spray under your tongue for the adenosine and powder for the cordyceps.


My goal for this experiment will be to see how quickly I progress in two areas, drawing and chess. Obviously, this will not be rigorous or very scientific, but I will try to measure my progress as unbiasedly as possible. I'm quite amateurish in drawing and somewhat decent in chess so all I'm trying to reach is the next step in a shorter amount of time than now. (Right now I've been plateauing in chess and making little progress in drawing). I will make an update in a few months.


I also want to exercise, eat healthier, and read more, all which I'm sure will improve myelination ability.


For anyone wondering where they could access easy and understandable information on this subject check out, "The Talent Code", I have it in an audiobook.

 

[Jonabark]

One way to quickly improve drawing skills is to pay equal or more attention to negative spaces, to focus on and draw the background edge around what you are drawing. This does 2 things, it tends to shift your perception toward the right brain, and it causes you to avoid symbols or what you think you know, and compel you to see what is really there. It seems to me that improved myelin will deepen this gestalt.
Good luck.

And thanks for the information and to Mindlusion about Lion's Mane.

 

[Nydex]

I'm wondering about that Adenosine Monophosphate you mentioned. Haven't really looked into it. It goes under other names as Inositol and Vitamin B8. Does anyone have any reputable source of research into this compound? Does the human body produce enough that it doesn't need additional supplementation? And if not, how much of that thing is too much? What are the side effects? Any dangerous combinations? I don't really trust the standard web search that much, so I'd prefer to read a reputable research document about it. Sounds interesting though.

 

[LongTimeWaiting]

Nydex, I couldn't find much information about safety on Adenosine Monophosphate but Adenosine itself is used as a medication and as far I know it's impossible to physically OD and I read side effect are quite rare. As far as dangerous combinations, I'm not sure, wiki says asthma and a few other bodily issues, but it only mentions caffeine as a contradiction, saying it won't allow the Adenosine to bind as strongly.

I think the best way to obtain adenosine is Cordycep militaris, it has the highest amount of cordycepin, which is similar enough to adenosine that our enzymes cannot differentiate between the two. I read in a study somewhere how the one Chinese Olympic team used Cordyceps in high doses to achieve their quality results. Cordyceps are definitely a medicine in China as well.

There are a few other chemicals available for purchase that claim to induce myelination. Most of them are amino acids, inositol does as well, as does cyclic adenosine monophosphate and adenosine triphosphate, DHA fish oils, Nucleotides like uridine.

 

[Nydex]

Studies have shown that Acetyl L-Carnitine, when combined with Lion's Mane mushroom, greatly increases nerve growth factor. I tried it, but only for a couple of months, and I was microdosing acid at the time, which only worsened my stuttering, instead of improving it.

I wonder how powerful would a combination between ALCAR, Cordyceps and Lion's Mane be in terms of NGF improvement. Some people have reported impressive results, others not so much. Guess I'll have to try and see for myself. :d

 

[Jagube]

Studies have shown that Acetyl L-Carnitine, when combined with Lion's Mane mushroom, greatly increases nerve growth factor. I tried it, but only for a couple of months, and I was microdosing acid at the time, which only worsened my stuttering, instead of improving it.

I also have a stutter and it's my understanding (and personal experience) that things that increase or mimic dopamine worsen it. That's why I like to take San Pedro on my own and not so much with other people.
Haloperidol, a dopamine antagonist used to treat schizophrenia, is known to improve stuttering.
But there is nothing like Salvia, which switches it off for me for the duration of the effects.

I've bought some Lion's Mane for my music study, will take 400 mg 10:1 extract (4000 mg dry mushroom equivalent) daily for 3 months see how it goes. Thanks guys for this thread!

 

[Spiralout]

Lions main, harmala compounds, fish oil and microdosing of psychedelics. Intermittent fasting seems to be good for your brain. Don't have time to read much of this post or write much.

Be careful when sourcing these things; fish oil can contain heavy metals (make sure what you buy is tested by a third party and look them up on ISOF) . Lions mane is very good at picking up heavy metals too so I have decided to grow my own which I haven't had the chance to getting around to yet.

Harmalas have been shown to have pretty drastic impacts on neuronal growth. As have your classic psychedelic serotonergic compounds.

 

[Jagube]

Be careful when sourcing these things; fish oil can contain heavy metals (make sure what you buy is tested by a third party and look them up on ISOF) . Lions mane is very good at picking up heavy metals too so I have decided to grow my own which I haven't had the chance to getting around to yet.

Brazil nuts can alleviate the effect of heavy metal contamination (especially mercury, the most notorious heavy metal contaminant of fish) due to their selenium content. I eat a few Brazil nuts a day with fish oil.

 

[Bancopuma]

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) has been implicated in enhanced myelination following spinal cord injury, via its influence on neuronal cells. Ibogaine administration has been found to cause a long-term increase in GDNF expression via a positive feedback mechanism. So iboga might be something else to look into (it can be microdosed to make it more user friendly). Exercise and sunlight exposure have also been implicated in increasing GDNF levels, along with a number of other lifestyle practices and nutrients.

 

[LongTimeWaiting]

I think I owe it to the community to report on my very anecdotal experience. For roughly two months, I dosed myself daily (orally) with cordyceps, lion's mane, and a smoked dose of harmine. I used other supplements and chemicals as well like adenosine triphosphate and monophosphate, and microdoses of LSD and low smoked doses of DMT and DPT.

I'm sorry to say, but I was lazy in my record keeping. I didn't keep stats, or graphs, or anything even useful, I simply kept a memory of my activities.

The plan was to get better at chess and drawing? Well, I did indeed get better at both, because every time I took my supplements, I got to work. I had around a 990-1020 elo rating in chess before the start of the supplements and hit a peak of 1255 during the use of supplements. I floated back down to 1170-1190 where I stand to this day. Is it possible I would have brought my elo rating up that much without the use of these chemicals? Maybe?

The drawing improved as well, marginally, but it's because I was more focused on chess.

The testing was stopped as I moved on from chess to a more serious game, poker, for I think there's more to explore in poker.

These chemicals might have helped me learn more and faster, but I think they had a more positive influence on my mood, even though it was incredibly subtle.

What does this all mean? Very little. I am one man with his own unique body chemistry, you are also unique, remember that. If I had the money to keep up with all these supplements you bet I would take them every day. The stuff I read on cordyceps, lion's mane, and harmine blows my mind, they are so useful to our body.

And, in case anyone wonders about my exercise levels and diet, they were both far beyond what I could keep up with. I was walking 4-5 miles a day (Tuesday through Saturday) and eating nothing but fruits, vegetables, nuts, and a little bit of meat.

Hope this information helps, although I don't see how it could.