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How Tanning Changes the Brain By ANAHAD O'CONNOR Tony Cenicola/The New York TimesThe brains of frequent tanners may be similar to those of addicts. People who frequently use tanning beds experience changes in brain activity during their tanning sessions that mimic the patterns of drug addiction, new research shows.
Scientists have suspected for some time that frequent exposure to ultraviolet radiation has the potential to become addictive, but the new research is the first to actually peer inside the brains of people as they lay in tanning beds.
What the researchers found was that several parts of the brain that play a role in addiction were activated when the subjects were exposed to UV rays. The findings, which appear in the coming issue of the journal Addiction Biology, may help explain why some people continue to tan often despite awareness about risks such as skin cancer, premature aging and wrinkles.
“What this shows is that the brain is in fact responding to UV light, and it responds in areas that are associated with reward,” said Dr. Bryon Adinoff, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and an author of the study. “These are areas, particularly the striatum, that we see activated when someone is administered a drug or a high-value food like sugar.”
Despite all the public warnings about skin cancer, tanning remains as popular as ever, with nearly 30 million Americans tanning indoors every year, and more than a million visiting tanning salons on an average day. Frequent users say they simply enjoy the way they look with darker skin.
But in recent years, scientists also began to wonder whether deliberately ignoring the potentially lethal side effects of regular UV exposure was a sign that the motivation for frequent tanners was more than skin-deep. Could habitual tanning be an addictive behavior?
A study in 2005 did show that a large proportion of sunbathers met the psychiatric definition of a substance abuse disorder, based on their answers to a variation of a test often used to help diagnose alcohol addiction.
But Dr. Adinoff and his colleagues decided to go a step further. They recruited a small group of people from tanning salons who said that they liked to tan at least three times a week and that maintaining a tan was important to them. The frequent tanners agreed to be injected with a radioisotope that allowed researchers to monitor how tanning affected their brain activity.
On one occasion, the study subjects experienced a normal tanning session. But on another occasion, the researchers used a special filter that blocked only the UV light, although the tanners weren’t told of the change.
Brain images later showed that during regular tanning sessions, when the study subjects were exposed to UV rays, several key areas of the brain lighted up. Among those areas were the dorsal striatum, the left anterior insula and part of the orbitofrontal cortex – all areas that have been implicated in addiction. But when the UV light was filtered out, those areas of the brain showed far less activity.
The researchers also found evidence that the tanners appeared to know — on a subconscious level, at least — when they had undergone sham tanning sessions and not received their usual dose of UV rays. The tanners, questioned after each session, expressed less desire to tan after the real sessions, indicating they had gotten their fill. But on days when the tanners were unknowingly deprived of the UV rays, their desire to tan after the session remained as high as it was before the session began.
“They all liked the session where they got the real UV light,” said Dr. Adinoff. “There was some way people were able to tell when they were getting the real UV light and when they were not.”
Dr. Adinoff said the research suggests that some people appear addicted to tanning, a finding bolstered by the fact that many longtime tanners have a difficult time stopping or even just cutting back on tanning sessions. He said the research was inspired by a colleague, based on her experiences with dermatology patients.
“She approached me because of her concern about young adults who were coming to see her with these beautiful bronze tans,” he said. “And she would cut out skin cancers, and they would immediately go back to tanning.”
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Posts: 1038 | From: Franklin Park, NJ | Registered: Aug 2005
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This is what we have been posting about on the importance of the Pineal Gland functionality in human beings, the Pineal Gland being photosensitive, for a reason. When the Pineal gland is calcified, it is still photosensitive, but inhibited from manufacturing two key chemicals, serotonin and melatonin, required for normal brain activity (Waking and sleeping respectively). This explains the "Walking-Dream" state we described inherent in many whites, and almost all Jews of Ashkenazi descent.
The Human Brain is Sensitive to Light, Breakthrough Findings From Valkee and the University of Oulu
HELSINKI and BERGEN, Norway, August 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --
Valkee (http://valkee.com), inventor of the world's first bright-light headset, and scientists from the University of Oulu will present new findings on human brain's photosensitivity at the Scandinavian Physiology Society Annual Meeting 2011, August 12-14.
Their research localized the OPN3 protein - known as the light-sensitive photoreceptor protein - in all of the 18 evaluated areas of the brain. These brain areas include the core areas of serotonin and melatonin production and storage, which play key roles in mood, sleep and depression. The study shows that the human brain is sensitive to light also outside of the visual system.
"The human brain is broadly photosensitive. The photoreceptor proteins we found are known to take light stimulus and transfer it into neural signals. Channeling light directly to these brain areas via ear canal will generate a response in the photosensitive cells", commented Juuso Nissilä, Valkee co-founder and chief scientific officer.
"The study shows that we have brain cells that react to light when exposed directly. These results are encouraging, especially for bright-light therapy channeled via ear canal direct to brain tissue", summarized professor Seppo Saarela, PhD, head of the biology department and leading the research at the University of Oulu.
Valkee launched its bright-light headset in August 2010. Being based on cross-functional science in neurology, biology and psychiatry, Valkee is a CE-certified Class II(a) medical device under the EU regulations.
The research paper will be available for download at http://www.valkee.com on Friday, August 12, 2011, after its scientific presentation at noon CET.
About Valkee
The Valkee bright-light headset channels bright light direct to the human brain via ear canals to prevent and cure mood swings and circadian-rhythm disorders such as jetlag. In clinical trials, 9 of 10 patients suffering from severe seasonal affective disorder - also known as winter blues - experienced total symptom relief in 4 weeks with a daily 8-12 minute dose. Valkee is based on scientific studies carried out since 2007 and is a CE-marked Class II(a) medical device. More information and for online shop http://valkee.comPosts: 2403 | Registered: Feb 2010
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^Whites have to do studies to figure out what we intuitively know. One is natural to the Earth, the other is not.
Posts: 22721 | Registered: Oct 2005
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Jersey Shores Star "Snookie" Says Italy needs Stronger Tanning Beds.
Listen up Italy--Snooki has some suggestions for you. You may be known for your art and fine dining, but this guidette has bigger plans in store for you.
"They need to get stronger tanning beds and have a gym on every block," the "Jersey Shore" star told The Huffington Post at the launch party for her upcoming cover of YRB Magazine at New York City hotspot District 36. "And they need more nail salons with Chinese people running them."
It's these simple Seaside Heights luxuries (and "McDonald's", adds Snooki) that Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and her Jersey gal pal Deena Nicole Cortese say they missed the most while they spent a few months in Florence, Italy filming season four of the hit MTV reality show, which the girls promise is the most dramatic season yet.
You know another MAJOR symptom of people who have calcified Pineal glands is INSOMNIA. One habit they pick up to compensate for the absence of the chemical production that prompts sleep is, drinking lots and lots of alcohol. One reason why research has just shown that an unusually large number of white English are alcoholics.
Don't show that photo to The Liarness. Pretty soon she'll be posting it and swearing the girl represents the typical AE.
Posts: 2403 | Registered: Feb 2010
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quote:Originally posted by Mike111: ^Whites have to do studies to figure out what we intuitively know. One is natural to the Earth, the other is not.
Notice in that above "scientific" study, they make no mention of the Pineal Gland being responsible for manufacturing serotonin (day) and melatonin (night) during light/dark periods.
You would think it would deserve at least a mention. That unless you were attempting to hide a known fact.
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