

The Limits of Neuroplasticity - tokenadult
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-limits-of-neuroplasticity/

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jCanvas
I would agree that the media do jump on anything that sounds like it is the
fountain of youth and hype it up. Obviously everyone over 40, like me, would
love to think some pill is going to give them youthful characteristics such as
improved learning ability.

But...I also blame the academic journals. Why is it published in the current
form when the study was only completed by 18 people. How come the peer
reviewers did not insist on toning down the over hyped conclusions. Maybe they
should have gone further and refused to publish until a more extensive and
reliable follow up study was performed.

In short, the academic world has to stop publishing such marginal results
before we blame the media for picking them up and adding another layer or
hyperbole.

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daeken
This study is the biggest bunch of pseudoscience I've seen in ages. 18
participants, of which 17 knew which group they were in. Even if that was
10000 participants, that ratio means that the test is _completely invalid_!

~~~
kevinalexbrown
For what it's worth, that's a problem faced by many drugs with side effects,
especially psychoactive ones. Sometimes active placebos are used, as in the
magic mushroom studies at Johns Hopkins (I believe they used a stimulant). But
even people who've never used psychedelics can probably tell whether they've
taken speed or hallucinogens.

I didn't read the study in depth, but the problem you describe is widespread
and well-known. Well-known doesn't mean solved, so perhaps you have a better
solution?

One option might come from clever experimental design, in which subjects do
not know the hypothesis you wish to test. The problem is that this is often
guessable - i.e. here subjects might not have known that AP was being tested,
but they might have believed mental performance was, and if they thought they
were in the treatment group they might have extra confidence, which could
confound the results. That's hard to design around in practice, though.

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scotty79
My lifepartner is weaning off depakote after two years of taking fairly large
doses. She's doing that because her doctor thinks it might contribute to her
low white blood cells count.

Meanwhile no superpowers were observed.

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davidgerard
_" I would also note that valproic acid is a serious drug with serious side
effect, including sedation, weight gain, and foggy mentation. As an anti-
seizure drug it also carries the possibility of withdrawal seizures if stopped
suddenly. I doubt it would have a net cognitive benefit if taken regularly,
which is another reason why I am suspicious of the findings of this study."_

Yes, this is what made me boggle when this was posted on LessWrong. l33t
mindhacking with valproate without close medical supervision is a Darwinian
move.

