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I think the primary "function" attributed to adult hippocampal neurogenesis is improved memory. But the parent comment is unfair insofar as scientists don't ra

I think the primary "function" attributed to adult hippocampal neurogenesis is improved memory. But the parent comment is unfair insofar as scientists don't randomly chose to food deprive or "vivisect" animals because they think it's intrinsically fun. Running these experiments requires a huge amount of annoying busy work that I can't imagine anyone choosing to do without being paid or having some other motive. In particular, the reason intermittent fasting is studied is because there's a large and increasing body of research that suggests that it may be of benefit to a wide variety of health measures.

brudgers 6y ago
Sorry for not being clear. I don’t think people starve and vivisect mice for fun. And I agree that there being money in it is much of the moment to moment motivation for the moment by moment steps that are necessary for it to happen. Putting a happy p-hacked face on the process is how ordinary people rationalize what they are doing as something other than what it is. The business of cutting apart animals and looking at the insides claim revealed knowledge isn’t new. The Romans called it “haruspicy” and also built wealthy bureaucratic institutions in service of narratives useful to the powerful. Contemporary interest in fasting research is helpful to those who find advantage in moralizing upon obesity. Intermittent fasting is a virtue reserved for those with food security. It’s attractive to people whose socio-economic status insures that going hungry is a choice and a display of will power. Not weakness. The conclusion that it makes such people smarter is self serving. The preponderance of health evidence is that starvation is detrimental to human health and creates long term cognitive problems. But lab mice are an industrial product and labs are industrial institutions and the money keeps flowing so long as the results are acceptable to those providing it. That’s the way it has been for millennia.
SubiculumCode 6y ago
The degree to which neurogenesis improves memory is far from settled, or accepted.

brudgers 6y ago

Sorry for not being clear. I don’t think people starve and vivisect mice for fun. And I agree that there being money in it is much of the moment to moment motivation for the moment by moment steps that are necessary for it to happen. Putting a happy p-hacked face on the process is how ordinary people rationalize what they are doing as something other than what it is. The business of cutting apart animals and looking at the insides claim revealed knowledge isn’t new. The Romans called it “haruspicy” and also built wealthy bureaucratic institutions in service of narratives useful to the powerful. Contemporary interest in fasting research is helpful to those who find advantage in moralizing upon obesity. Intermittent fasting is a virtue reserved for those with food security. It’s attractive to people whose socio-economic status insures that going hungry is a choice and a display of will power. Not weakness. The conclusion that it makes such people smarter is self serving. The preponderance of health evidence is that starvation is detrimental to human health and creates long term cognitive problems. But lab mice are an industrial product and labs are industrial institutions and the money keeps flowing so long as the results are acceptable to those providing it. That’s the way it has been for millennia.

SubiculumCode 6y ago

The degree to which neurogenesis improves memory is far from settled, or accepted.