Landri
Oct 16, 2011, 12:55 PM
Does anyone have a comprehensive list of what hormones are involved with mental processes?
For example, I read that testosterone levels are linked with spatial memory. Would this be a direct or indirect relationship? (Ie. is the testosterone merely releasing more neurotransmitters or is it doing its unique biochemistry?)
Flex
Oct 16, 2011, 01:56 PM
My personal belief is that eicosanoids are the real hormones of interest. Pregnenolone, DHEA, vassopressin may be of interest to you. Hormones act indirectly by creating a signaling cascade, but to be fair, everything dealing with the brain is not just poorly understood, but horribly understood. Best to steer clear of hormones (with the exception of altering eicosanoids, and all other hormones for that matter directly through diet).
Landri
Oct 29, 2011, 09:09 AM
After going on andro patches I can definitively say testosterone impacts working memory and long term memory. When I was on ketoconazole (which took my T below 200ng/dL) I noticed it took longer to retrieve information and my mental chalk board was smaller... that is I could not do arithmetic as fast as I couldn't visualize that many digits in my head. Encoding information seemed to be harder too. I confirmed these observations with dual n-back games, my scores were maybe 10-30% lower. These things were literally resolved overnight with the andro patch. It almost felt like taking a stimulant... I felt more charged, animated... but unfortunately more impulsive.
Now this was only fixing a deficiency. I wonder what would happen if one raised their T to higher levels. Unfortunately body builders aren't the best people to hold conversations with. It would be interesting to know.