X-Message-Number: 12376 From: Thomas Donaldson <> Subject: more on more intelligence Date: Tue, 7 Sep 1999 10:03:33 +1000 (EST) Hi everyone! I did not report it in PERIASTRON for two reasons: 1) it would not help us as individuals 2) yes, I favor greater intelligence, but PERIASTRON isn't mainly about intelligence but about means to increase our longevity. However there was a previous experiment which did something quite similar, at least in its results. Basically the experimenters deleted much (but not all) of the system by which in infancy mice lose many of their neurons. This created mice with many more neurons than normal; they turned out to be smarter than ordinary mice. It is by now a commonplace that we, too, lose many of our neurons when we are infants. As for such work being "kick ass", I don't really understand why it can be described that way. Yes, both of these papers DO suggest substantive ways to make us more intelligent. First, we can remove the controls on production of new neurons in adults. Second, as the experiment of Dr. Tsien (reported by John Clark) suggests, we might also remove controls on production of one variety of NMDA receptor. To be REALLY useful, of course, we want means to do this in adults. Best and long long life, Thomas Donaldson PS: references given on request Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=12376