[extropy-chat] Wireheading

Anders Sandberg asa at nada.kth.se
Thu Oct 5 20:41:23 UTC 2006


Alex Ramonsky wrote:
>>I have the feeling that preventing downregulation or upregulation would
>> be
>>pretty pharmacologically useful, anybody know how well we have learned to
>>control such functions?
>
> Well if 'we' means 'the scientific community' I have no idea. If 'we'
> means the neurohackers community there are various approaches including
> using biofeedback, acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and 'pacing' [you
> take serotonin on the way up, for a slower takeoff and softer landing].
> A lot seems to depend on sleep regulation too. Ha! Discipline!  :  )

Hmm, while sleep and biofeedback likely are healthy it seems more
efficient to directly try to prevent the receptors from going into the
cytosol, being proteased and all that happens to them.

This paper suggests that at least in some cases other drugs can prevent
downregulaton (in this case of adrenergic receptors):
"Prevention by theophylline of beta-2-receptor down regulation in healthy
subjects."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11420887&dopt=Abstract


-- 
Anders Sandberg,
Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics
Philosophy Faculty of Oxford University





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