26.06.2013Can you speed up your mind by eating fish?

Prof. Dr. Irmgard Dietzel-Meyer, Molecular Neurochemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Sometimes you think: “How much could I achieve if I were faster?” If we were able to think faster, we could manage university more easily; several accidents would be prevented due to shorter reaction times. In the end the speed of our mind is determined by the electric processes which control the signal transmission in our nervous system. In the first part of the Brain-Café session on the 26th July the biophysical processes will be explained, which determine the speed of neurons responding to environmental stimuli. We are literally “energized” by sodium ions, which we ingest daily with common salt. The influence of the trace element iodine on this “current”, which is ingested through seafish and afterwards embedded into thyroid hormones, and the resulting effects on the functioning of neurons and muscle cells will be discussed in the second part of the lecture.